Let's Go Blues

Yes, it is very early in his career and very early into his breakout season...but so far? Damn.
My brothers and I were talking over Thanksgiving, and I had a hard time coming up with a guy we've had that is as dynamic of a goal scorer as Tarasenko is.

Who have we had that could score goals the way Tarasenko has?
Yes, we've had some great goal scorers.... Hull, Shanahan, Demitra, Mullen, Federko, etc... but is Tarasenko better than them so far in his career?

I refer to him as the best goal scorer that we've had since Hull. It's certainly possible that he's better than Hull, but I'm not ready to go that far yet.

Didn't really catch the Hull era, so for me, it's a clear yes on Vova.

When Vova is scoring 70-80 goals a season and Lehtera is popping 90-100 assists a season we can make that comparison.

I think giving Tarasenko this title this early in his career undermines how good Hullie was. Not that any of us here would underestimate #16. I will say that Senko definitely has the upside where he can achieve this title. But it's a long way to go. I want to see him continue this type of thing for 3-4-5 seasons in a row.

I can't recall a guy being able to score the kinds of goals that Tarasenko is scoring right now, as often as he is scoring them. We've never had a guy who could do that.

Maybe Demitra had the skills to pull some of these goals off, but not as frequently as Tarasenko is. I mean it's almost every night that he is scoring a pretty impressive goal.

Tarasenko is a walking highlight reel. He doesn't score boring goals.

Check out some of Ken Wilson's great calls on Hull's goals. Get back to me when Tank scores 86 goals in a season which he will NEVER do!

JesusNEVERexisted wrote:Check out some of Ken Wilson's great calls on Hull's goals. Get back to me when Tank scores 86 goals in a season which he will NEVER do!

It's a different era.

He's better than Hull in skating and overall creativity. His snapshot appears to be just as good if not better.

In that sense, yes he is more dynamic. But it's really apples and oranges. Different eras to boot.

And if he can't keep up the pace, the conversation is moot.

I've had similar conversations on whether or not we've had a guy like this, ever. I can't think of anyone.

goon attack wrote:He's better than Hull in skating and overall creativity. His snapshot appears to be just as good if not better.

In that sense, yes he is more dynamic. But it's really apples and oranges. Different eras to boot.

And if he can't keep up the pace, the conversation is moot.

I've had similar conversations on whether or not we've had a guy like this, ever. I can't think of anyone.

But is he too much of a pansy? That's the important question.

Actually, no. He already has one career fighting major... which is something Hull never got. He should have had one against Dallas (I think) that one time but they gave him a double minor.

goon attack wrote:Actually, no. He already has one career fighting major... which is something Hull never got. He should have had one against Dallas (I think) that one time but they gave him a double minor.

And he wasn't afraid to get into it a little with Backes. There's not a lot of "dynamic scorers" who can say that.

That's true, I forgot he had a Gordie Howe hat trick earlier this season.

cardsfan04 wrote:

JesusNEVERexisted wrote:Check out some of Ken Wilson's great calls on Hull's goals. Get back to me when Tank scores 86 goals in a season which he will NEVER do!

It's a different area.

FTFY.

F Keenan wrote:

cardsfan04 wrote:

JesusNEVERexisted wrote:Check out some of Ken Wilson's great calls on Hull's goals. Get back to me when Tank scores 86 goals in a season which he will NEVER do!

It's a different area.

FTFY.

How will the "It's a different era" area be remembered?

Hull got on the cover of Sports Illustrated and went on Late Night with David Letterman more than once. Tank won't get on the cover of SI unless the Blues go to the Cup and he is a major force in the Cup run. LOL..can't see Tank on Late Night TV. In Russia but not here.

A few things:

1. If you take Tarasenko's number (91) and turn it upside down, WHOSE NUMBER DO YOU GET?

Saying that:

2. Tarasenko has playes 24 games, 14 G, 12 A, 26 P. If we take goals alone and figure that he keeps this pace up, without injury or slumps, at 82 games, he's looking at 44 goals in his second year as a pro. Hull scored 41 in his >>fourth<< year as a pro.

Can not base all of the magazine cover/talk show appearances of a guy who is retired over a very young, very new player to the league; Brett is the then, Frank is definently the now. And people are quickly taking notice. Gurantee you come next year, Frank WILL be on the cover of SI.

Frank??!?

How is Vladimir Tarasenko called Frank?

I'd say Tarasenko is better than everyone else you could throw out there, except for Hull....right now.

It's too early to say one is better than the other, but I'd certainly say that Tarasenko has the potential to be. I'm not saying he's going to score 70-80 goals in a season. That's probably not happening, and I don't think anyone expects that. However, going by raw skill level and how they play, I may have to give the edge to Tarasenko, but that might be because I was just a kid back in Hull's hay-day with the Blues. I remember seeing a few games but it's just not enough to give a fair comparison. When I was able to see more games it was later in his career.

I'd have to leave the full evaluation to someone else who actually watched Hull with regularity when he was Taresenko's age. That's the comparison you want to make.

I just know I haven't seen anyone in a Blues uniform that has the physical edge and creativity with the puck that Tarasenko has in all of my days as a Blues fan. It's pretty fun to watch, especially since he's only 22 and is technically "still learning"...

Frank the Tank.....but Hull was beast.