Blues at Oilers, G26 '10-'11

This is Bernie Federko. More than any other hockey player, his reputation as a player has suffered because he's in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Federko was a helluva player. His peak value arrived just about the time Edmonton was posting Stanley's annually, so his name showed up well down the list of scorers, etc. Showing up in the top 10 scorers every year doesn't sound like much, but it's a tremendous challenge when the Oilers, Islanders and Nordiques were locked and loaded every game.

I'm not saying Federko belongs in the HHOF, my views on that institution are well known (I suggest we start over). However, as time rolls along Federko seems to be a punchline and his career somehow without merit.

Bernie Federko was an outstanding hockey player. I thought someone should say that, it seems to have been awhile.
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Have you looked at the RelCorsi's lately? The kids (Hall, Eberle) are lighting it up:

1. Hall 14.5
2. Eberle 10.5
3. Penner 9.3
4. Horcoff 6.9
5. Gagner 6.8
6. Hemsky 6.6

That's exceptional. The puck is headed in the right direction and they're babies. Shawn Horcoff isn't getting a lot of credit, but he should be and I think Penner is hugely underrated too based on what I'm reading out there right now. This top 6 is humming.
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Do you remember the Gretzky shot over Vernon's shoulder? Or the Yzerman rip that we saw coming at us from the endzone camera? One day, Taylor Hall may score a goal like that one. Until then, I'll remember his backhand beauty for a long time. His terrific speed got him past an actual NHL defensemen and then he went "Dave Keon backhand" on the goaler. I don't know if Taylor Hall knew he could do that, but he does now.

Jesus Mary and Joseph. Kid's a beauty.
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Do you have some concern about the qualcomp numbers Gabriel is posting this season? I think his system is fine but honestly question it because the coaches seem to be rolling 4 lines. There's more luck involved than the MacT hard match days imo, and when I see Ales Hemsky facing the soft parade I'm not certain it's real. Here are the current qual comp's for all forwards (toughest to easiest minutes):

1. Eberle .196
2. Horcoff .152
3. Jacques .140
4. Cogliano .123
5. Hall .105
6. Pääjärvi .102
7. Brule .096
8. Penner .017
9. Gagner -.005
10. Fraser -.008
11. Stortini -.036
12. Jones -.042
13. Hemsky -.042
14. MacIntyre -.129

I'm all for stats versus "saw him good" and Desjardins' work is brilliant. I'm just wondering if there'a point in the season when these things will correct themselves, or if the "rolling 4 lines" syndrome means the qual comp impression isn't as strong. Thoughts?
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I wonder if there's a point where Steve Tambellini will pick up the phone and add a right handed checking center, a veteran defender and maybe a two-way winger to replace Stortini (who the coach doesn't like). This team is unlikely to make the playoffs and my hope is that the club adds only for the future, but with Fraser not looking like that checker/pk man, with Jones more a scorer than 2-way winger and with the team having holes along the blue addressing these problems now gives the club a head start on summer.