Why All The Hits?

[CowboyinAmerica 2,759]

 

Davos -- A little over two-thirds of the way through the season, Davos forward Gabriel McAllister isn't an MVP candidate like he was last season. He is, however, in the running for the Top Two-Way Forward award for one distinct, possibly weird reason: He's hitting like a damned maniac.

 

Through 53 games, McAllister has 334 hits, 70 more than second-place Aleksei Federov and 93 more than third place Fook Yu. Coupled with his 70 points and 36 goals, it's clear that he's having a well-rounded season.

 

So why did I call his hit total "possibly weird"? Well, he entered the league as a pure playmaker, and in his second season totaled just 19 hits for a pretty bad Seattle Bears team. Before this year, his highest hit total was just 292 hits in Season 58 - the only time to date he has won the Top Two-Way Forward award.

 

"Yeah, it's something I've worked on, and I'm happy to see my hard work come to fruition," McAllister said after another recent 7 hit performance. "I've seen the light in the benefit of knocking people off the puck, and I'm glad I can contribute in a way that my team probably didn't expect."