Toews has a case over Bickell/Lucic... but can you legitimately take Toews over Zetterberg? He scored two fewer points in nine fewer games (12 in 14 vs 14 in 23) and was a large part of the reason Toews' stats are so underwhelming. And Zetterberg played in a defensive role in both the Anaheim series and the Chicago series.
Not sure how he can NOT be the third guy after Kane and Krejci.
I'm gonna go out on a huge limb here and say that perhaps it was because Zetterberg's team got bounced in round 2.
Not that it's an exact science, but if you don't play in the final you probably would need to lead the playoffs in scoring as a losing semi-finalist to be up for discussion.
By the way, Toews played in a defensive role pretty much the entire post-season. Outside of three games against Detroit, he did exactly what his coach required of him. Which was outplay the other team's top center/centers at even strength. He neutralized the Koivu line, outlasted Datsyuk and Zetterberg after early struggles, outplayed Richards, and kept Krejci under control while outplaying Bergeron.
Stat-gazers think Toews underperformed. People who watched the entire post-season unfold know better. The main reason his scoring totals were down was because Chicago's PP was so incredibly terrible. So he can be criticized for that, but I think you have to blame the entire unit when a PP struggles.
Howard massively outplayed Crawford in round two, and Crawford didn't look any better in other rounds. You can take Crawford over Rask if you like, but Howard absolutely goes above Crawford.
I'd take Rask over Crawford as well. How Crawford can be lower than 2nd is beyond me though. I mean if we're going to start talking about 2nd round ousters as potential all-stars, I guess Henrik Lundqvist should be #1.
Crawford was Jekyl and Hyde. Or Tim Thomas if you prefer. Specific instances of great goaltending that kept his team in games during lapses of concentration. Some awful goals surrendered that forced his team to respond with big efforts to make up for it.
Brilliant in winning a triple OT game in he finals, wretched in allowing five goals when his team's back was against the wall in Game 4 of that series. Outplayed reigning Smythe winner Quick in the semi-final. Allowed a floater to give the Red Wings the lead in a do or die Game 6 that his team rallied from, and was general sub-par in that series. Kept Chicago in the game last night which allowed their eventual triumph. Overall he played pretty well, it`s just that his let-downs seemed to occur at the worst possible moments when his team desperately needed him.
Rask didn't allow the weak goals Crawford did, most of the time he was let down by shoddy defending. The Blackhawks got loose and Pronger-ed Chara in the latter half of the series.
Tough year to select a playoff AST on the wings. Little to choose from between Bickell and Lucic. I think Lucic was a little better overall, but Bickell deserves credit for knocking Chara around in the final. Patrick Sharp and Nathan Horton are both in the discussion too. I thought Sharp was Chicago`s most consistent forward throughout the four rounds while Horton tailed off. Kane won the Smythe, a rather dubious slection IMO, but you can`t leave him out of the discussion either.
