Why JB Hates Taylor Hall

A Quick Blog from JB:

The date is June 25th, 2010, an 11 year old just finished elementary school and he's excited to watch his first ever draft and he doesn't even have to stay up past his bedtime as Edmonton picks first. There has been a lot of buzz from sports media about the draft, especially "Taylor vs Tyler" and out of those two, he knows who he wants the Edmonton Oilers to pick. The player in question is Taylor Hall plays in Windsor with the Spitfire, whom won the memorial cup just a month prior and just like the kid, he is an Alberta boy. The kid dreams about centering a line with Hall and Jordan Eberle, shattering all of Wayne Gretzky's records. Daydreaming, the kid notices that the Edmonton's GM, Steve Tambellini, is already on the podium ready to make the pick.



"… and with the first overall pick, the Edmonton Oilers pick from the Ontario Hockey League..."



The suspense is killing the kid, Tambellini seems to be teasing the Oiler's fans, picking Taylor Hall will lead the Oilers to past glories of the 80's, picking Tyler Seguin will probably just lead the Oilers into more mediocre years.

"… the Windsor Spitfire, Taylor Hall!"



The kid jumps up on his feet rapidly, in the process waking his mother up. He can't wait for his father to call from Afghanistan the next day to let him know that his beloved Toronto Maple Leafs didn't miss picking anyone big. His dream of finally seeing another dynasty unfold has finally come true! Or has it?



The kid is now almost an adult, 17 years of age. Noticing his dream of playing hockey has long past, he aspires to write professionally for the Edmonton Oilers and wants to put an end to this stupid debate. To be brief, his with dreams of playing hockey faded and along with that so has his optimism every new season. He now thinks to himself: "Did Tambellini make the right draft pick?"



Well in all truth, he has and hasn't. Both Taylor Hall and Tyler Seguin have had incredible careers thus far. Considering this, why is the "Taylor vs Tyler" argument still around? Truthfully, it's because we are hockey fans, it's what fans do, but I'm going to elaborate more.



Aforementioned, both players have had incredible careers which includes Seguin to win a cup with the Boston Bruins, it's hard to compare them, both bring extraordinary skill sets. For example, Seguin has more points (377 Games Played and 314 Points, 0.83 PPG) but a lower point per game stat than Hall ( 322 Games Played, 288 Points, 0.89 PPG). When discussing whom Edmonton should have picked, one has to put in context that Seguin has played for better players and teams. If so, one has to point out that Hall's ability should make Edmonton a better team.



So in summary, STOP WITH THE DEBATE, reiterating once again, both players bring a certain set of skills that the other doesn't and the only time a debate should arise should be when Dallas and Edmonton play.