So I just read Michael Clifford’s ramblings, and tempered my outrage into this post.

The Ted Lindsay award is voted by the PLAYERS, and who is Clifford to throw analytics at something he clearly only partially could ever understand? Sure, I’m admittedly a Penguins fan, but I’d have been totally OK if the players - their PEERS - voted for Marchand. There are absolutely things I’ll never understand about this game, I mostly just enjoy it. But analysts aren’t the be-all and end-all either. Hardest to line up across from? Respect for one’s work put in, day in and day out?

Tim Benz wrote a year-end piece that Brian Rust and Jake Guentzel are both good players, but without Sid ?? If the Pens top line is top-10 in the league, it’s ALL one player.

I’m not going to pretend. I don’t have a vote here, I don’t deserve one, and my understanding of the game I love is as a FAN. Mike Clifford, let the players vote and then respect what they say.