When the Leafs first signed this top college free agent back on March 31, 2009, he was already famous before he had even played a single game in the NHL. Being the son of the famous Dave Hanson, one of the iconic Hanson brothers from the movie Slap Shot, Christian already had a reputation to live up to before he ever made it to the NHL.
Christian Hanson had a tough rookie season and found it hard to adjust his game to NHL as soon as most people were expecting. He may not have had an excellent rookie season in the NHL scoring two goals and seven points in 31 games, but his game was very solid defensively and he showed a lot of promise down the stretch on a younger and more confident Toronto Maple Leafs team.
For people who think that Hanson has showed little to convince us of his offensive upside, just look at his numbers in the AHL this past season. He was fourth on the Marlies in scoring with 31 points, but he only played in 38 games.
For his first complete pro year, spending time in both the AHL and NHL, his numbers may not be something to brag about but they are certainly not something to judge a career over.
The most comparable si ...
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Article written by Neil Grewal
Toronto Maple Leafs’ Christian Hanson: Why People Shouldn’t Give Up on Him Yet
May 31st, 2010 by Neil Grewal Leave a reply »
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