Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Who Is Mark Lamb?

I often say that the Edmonton Oilers are comprised of 26 Mark Lamb's, but who exactly is Mark Lamb?

Mark Lamb is best described as "tenacious" and "hard-working." Mark Lamb is a grinder, a player with "heart," a "character player," which another way of saying his lack of pure hockey skill is accommodated by his work ethic. Mark Lamb is a classic 3rd line Center in the NHL - gritty, tough, tenacious, hard working, and occasionally shows flashes of offensive brilliance, particularly in the playoffs.

Does this player model sound familiar? The Craig MacTavish and Kevin Lowe Era has created a team of hard-working, tenacious players with heart who lack high levels of pure hockey skill (with some exceptions, namely Ales Hemsky). But really - the nucleus of the Edmonton Oilers is Mark Lamb. Let's name some, focusing on forwards:
  • Ethan Moreau
  • Fernando Pisani
  • Dustin Penner
  • Erik Cole
  • Shawn Horcoff
  • Kyle Brodziak
  • Marc Pouliot
  • Zach Scortini
As you'll notice, a lot of our forwards follow this model of gritty, grinding "heart" players. This trend has been accumulating for some time. Let's name some past Oilers from the dark years (1992-1993 and beyond):
  • Hot Toddy Marchant
  • Kelly Buchburger
  • Mike Grier
  • Craig MacTavish
  • Ryan Smyth
  • Bill Guerin
That's good for now. Go Mark Go!

1 comment:

DoubleA said...

You forgot Rem Murray!