Liles nominated for NHL Foundation Award

[CarltonTheBear]

Mike Fisher of the Nashville Predators, John-Michael Liles of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Matt Moulson of the New York Islanders stood out among their peers, and for that reason they have been nominated for the 2012 NHL Foundation Player Award, presented to "an NHL player who applies the core values of hockey -- commitment, perseverance and teamwork -- to enrich the lives of people in his community."

http://mapleleafs.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=630105

The article goes on to explain some of the things Liles did for the community of Toronto after being traded. The bit about him serving breakfast to the homeless community on Christmas day was something I hadn't heard about him before. Hopefully he's able to get back to his pre-concussion form next season. He's easily my first choice for an A if/when it becomes available.

 

[pnjunction]

Hopefully he's able to get back to his pre-concussion form next season. He's easily my first choice for an A if/when it becomes available.

Good on him and I agree.  I just realized he had 21 points in 34 games before his injury, that's a 50-point pace.  Even though he was back we sure did miss that level of production when we went into the tailspin. 

(Wow he was +2 before the injury and -16 in 32 games afterwards?  Ouch, but I wonder how much that is even related to him as the whole team was stinking.)

 

[proteus2000]

Had no idea that he would be top 3 in the league for community involvement, no reason to in a new city other than he felt it. He played so solidly before getting concussed, and even signed a fair contract early in the season without any threat of going to FA. The leafs could sure use liles at his finest, esp on the PP.

 

[Kin]

Isn't this just the Clancy?

 

[bustaheims]

Isn't this just the Clancy?

Pretty much, except it comes from the NHL head office instead of the media.

 

[rdowdall]

He had a similar drop off in play last year in the second half of the season.  He may be a first half performer.

 

[riff raff]

Had no idea that he would be top 3 in the league for community involvement, no reason to in a new city other than he felt it. He played so solidly before getting concussed, and even signed a fair contract early in the season without any threat of going to FA. The leafs could sure use liles at his finest, esp on the PP.

I read that his introductory press conference was held at Sick Kids. He arrived seriously committed to giving back.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Had no idea that he would be top 3 in the league for community involvement, no reason to in a new city other than he felt it. He played so solidly before getting concussed, and even signed a fair contract early in the season without any threat of going to FA. The leafs could sure use liles at his finest, esp on the PP.

I read that his introductory press conference was held at Sick Kids. He arrived seriously committed to giving back.

He was very involved with community service in Colorado too. Giving back is obviously something he's taken very seriously for a long time now. It's nice that he's getting some recognition for it.

 

[Tigger]

He had a similar drop off in play last year in the second half of the season.  He may be a first half performer.

Well, I didn't see him play last year like this year but he wasn't the same player when he came back from concussion, at least last year his production was decent, 2g 20a from Dec 1 to the end of the year. His +/- was nasty during that stretch, -14 but it's difficult to put that in context, especially with one game alone giving a -6 result ( feb 14 2011 against Calgary ).

Before the concussion I thought he was a pretty effective offensive dman for the most part.

He did have a good first couple months the year before though, 11a +7 in his first 9 games, then another stretch of 4g7a +5 in 7 games in November so maybe he's stronger in the first half like you say but I don't think he was invisible in the second half like this year.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

His drop off this season was wayyyyyyy worse than his 2nd half drop-off last season.  Numerous players have commented on how long it took them to get back into it after having a concussion.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

His drop off this season was wayyyyyyy worse than his 2nd half drop-off last season.  Numerous players have commented on how long it took them to get back into it after having a concussion.

His drop in Colorado really wasn't even that awful. It's just that he was playing way over his head in the first half of that season (close to a PPG pace) and then he came back to earth.