SIDNEY CROSBY? NAH.
Ryan Getzlaf? Nope.
Rick Nash? Not a chance.
Ask Jake Voracek in December if he thought he could have kept pace in the NHL's scoring race with those players and those would have been his answers.
He didn't believe he belonged then. He refused to believe he was an elite NHL forward after leading the All-Star Game in Columbus with six points.
Even now, nearly 3 weeks after being booted from contention in the Stanley Cup playoffs, Voracek isn't sure. Perhaps the sour taste of another early spring is muddling his ability to look back at what he accomplished.