Sput
04-28-2007, 10:43 AM
Well...now that the run is over (ironically 10 years after the last 'Cinderella run' of '97) I'll put my thoughts in on how the year was, as I saw it.
On paper this was probably the strongest team that has been here. What went wrong on the ice, no one seems to know. Chemistry? Heart? Upheaval in the team/organization? Who knows.
The year started off poor with few wins and a lot of talk on what was going wrong. Defense should have been stronger than it showed. Dudas was often injured could have made a big difference thruoghout the year had he been healthy enough to stay in the lineup. Wishart, in my opinion didn't play up to the expectations of a first rounder. I did hear he had been playing with "health issues" for most of the season, which would explain his performance. Vlady was hot and cold. Some games he looked very good, others it made you wonder how he got to be drafted at all. Much like his country-mate Chara, I think this guy will grow into his size, and end up being a solid d-man in the NHL some day. Sagart was the solid, stay-at-home guy that every team needs. Through the regular season and the first two rounds, I thought his play was steady, consistant and not flashy. Most nights you didn't notice him, IMH because he did the same things game in game out, and helped out his goalie as much as possible. I don't remember who they were playing (Kamloops I think) when Real tweeked his knee before Christmas. You could see that Cyr was in a world of pain, and slow to react/recover in the net. Kalvin was the one guy that always hung back, way behind the play, and covered his goalie as much as he could. He blocked shots, cleared the zone, and I think was on the ice for 90% of the second and third periods, just to help Real.
Up front, this group had the most talent I've ever seen. Robertson coming in from Medicine Hat should have been a great pick up. Prying Setoguchi from Saskatoon was no less than amazing. Right after that thrade, that sent Stephan Elliot to the Blades, and a first round pick, I wondered why did we do this. Seto wasn't playing well at all, floating many nights, and not really performing up to expectations. Come to find out his knee that was injured at training camp was still bothering him a lot, and he couldn't get the speed he normally had. Once Devin got healthy and got his explosive speed back, he was worth the price of admission most nights. The way the guy can skate, and blow past most guys, is fun to watch. His shot will come at you fast, and from anywhere, giving goalies fits when he was on his game. Hunter, Captain Eric, was his usual pesty self. Many nights I wanted him to just shut-up and play the game, but thats his style. Get under guy's skin and be that pest. Wearing the 'C' I think put a lot of pressure on Eric, that he wasn't prepared to handle. Over the year he did manage his title well. It was hard to watch his season come to an end the way it did in Everett. I know he could have made something of a difference in the Vancouver series, but it wasn't ment to be. He was given the chance to do the color commentary thru the rest of the playoffs, and did a truely amazing job. The yannounced last night that Eric will be in the booth with Ron for the broadcasts during the RBC tournament here starting May 5. Drazenovic, some nights you frusterated me to no end, other nights you amazed me with your talents. Often times I wanted you to just pass, or shoot, or do something other than stick handle in the corner. Looking at the stats, you did well. Led the team in assists with 32, so I guess you were passing more than it appeared. Walker....what does this guy have to do to get an invite to a pro camp? 55 regular season points, 21 playoff points, hits, steady, solid. I'm sure someone will be talking to Jared fairly soon.
The 'supporting cast' of forwards, Gardner, Fuller, Durand (traded for from Seattle for Robertson), Rapac, Tyrell, Hunt, Deagle. You guys all worked your tails off for this team. Gardner, IMH, deserves to be a captain next year, and hopefully its here. Greg led by example all year, and made the most of the opportunities he got. His role changed part way thru the season, with the change in coaches, and he took full advantage of it and turned it into points on the scoresheet. Evan...I would have loved to see you scrap a little more, but you still did your job well. Rapac, once you got into the system you turned things around from when you played in Moose Jaw. Towards the end of the season I was truely impressed with your play. You've sure made your case for being tagged as an overager AND a Euro for next year. We'll have to wait and see how it plays out. Dana, Dale, Jordy...I'm really looking forward to seeing you develop next season. The experience from this playoff run is only going to make you better in the long run. Take it as a learning experience and learn from it.
Real and Scotty. Not much to say there other than solid in net. Both of you are great goalies, and IMH the best one-two punch of any team in the Dub. It was confusing how the team ended up releasing Scott at the OA dealine and going with Cyr and White. Jordan wasn't ready to play at the Dub level, and the team made the right choice to bring Bowles back in. The OHL treated you well in letting you pass waivers and come back to the team that you wanted to play for. Real....unreal season. Stood on your head many nights, and gave your team the chance to win. I really believe it is a no-brainer that you will be back as an OA naxt year.
Coach Schoneck. Not a bad run for the 'Junior B' coach that was brought in. I can't see how anyone can argue that you aren't the guy for the job now. You were handed a team part way thru, and made a few minor changes to make this team gel. You were the leader behind the bench. You got this team as far as you could get them. Always positive, yet always humble. I look forward to watching you develop a good work ethic into the team that you build for the future.
Now for some contraversy. Mike Vandekamp started the year as head coach, with Stu Malgunas as assistant coach. Part way thru, November I think, they were both released of duties. Some of it was hockey related, some of it was off ice issues that developed between the coach and the organization. I felt for Stu, as I think he was caught in the middle. Throughout his career with the Cougars, he managed to survive two previous head coach firings, and still got some good experience in coaching. I think Stu will be back behind the bench in the WHL somewhere in the next few years. He will be getting good experience with the Spruce Kings, and will take that and turn it into a higher job eventually. Just my opinion.
In closing, I was both frusterated and impressed with this season. There were moves made that made a lot of Cougar fans question what was going on. In the long run, I think we got value for our money this year. We did trade away some players/prospects that did not want to report here, for wahtever reason, for players that came here and played well, and got a new lease on hockey life. I feel the organization has some big steps to make to continue getting fans to come to the CN Center (as does the City....re: fix the friggin ice problems!!). As always I loved watching our home team play, and enjoyed seeing many players that I'll be able to watch in the NHL some day soon. One sight I do have to give tho, is to the 'fans'. I do understand many people don't like the ownership here, but you still need to show up to watch if you want to keep WHL hockey in PG for years to come. It was awsome to see the fans come out in droves for the playoffs, even if it made my gettin gout of the parking lot hell some nights. Hopefully this longer run will bring some people back for next year, and get some new fans in the seats. I hate the sea of green we had all season, and don't want to see it all the time again.
Heres to the all the Cougars! applause You made me a happy hockey fan this year. To bad it couldn't have lasted a round or two longer. Most of all thank you to the over agers, Scott Bowles, Eric Hunter and Jared Walker. Its been fun watching you all, and I wish you the best in the future. To the 19YO's, you are making things hard for the coaching staff to make the OA decisions for next year. I'd love to see yo all beck, but I know it won't/can't happen. Good luck to those that end up elsewhere next year. To the returnees...Use the experience you gained this year and run with it. It has and will make you better players, and better people, for it.
On paper this was probably the strongest team that has been here. What went wrong on the ice, no one seems to know. Chemistry? Heart? Upheaval in the team/organization? Who knows.
The year started off poor with few wins and a lot of talk on what was going wrong. Defense should have been stronger than it showed. Dudas was often injured could have made a big difference thruoghout the year had he been healthy enough to stay in the lineup. Wishart, in my opinion didn't play up to the expectations of a first rounder. I did hear he had been playing with "health issues" for most of the season, which would explain his performance. Vlady was hot and cold. Some games he looked very good, others it made you wonder how he got to be drafted at all. Much like his country-mate Chara, I think this guy will grow into his size, and end up being a solid d-man in the NHL some day. Sagart was the solid, stay-at-home guy that every team needs. Through the regular season and the first two rounds, I thought his play was steady, consistant and not flashy. Most nights you didn't notice him, IMH because he did the same things game in game out, and helped out his goalie as much as possible. I don't remember who they were playing (Kamloops I think) when Real tweeked his knee before Christmas. You could see that Cyr was in a world of pain, and slow to react/recover in the net. Kalvin was the one guy that always hung back, way behind the play, and covered his goalie as much as he could. He blocked shots, cleared the zone, and I think was on the ice for 90% of the second and third periods, just to help Real.
Up front, this group had the most talent I've ever seen. Robertson coming in from Medicine Hat should have been a great pick up. Prying Setoguchi from Saskatoon was no less than amazing. Right after that thrade, that sent Stephan Elliot to the Blades, and a first round pick, I wondered why did we do this. Seto wasn't playing well at all, floating many nights, and not really performing up to expectations. Come to find out his knee that was injured at training camp was still bothering him a lot, and he couldn't get the speed he normally had. Once Devin got healthy and got his explosive speed back, he was worth the price of admission most nights. The way the guy can skate, and blow past most guys, is fun to watch. His shot will come at you fast, and from anywhere, giving goalies fits when he was on his game. Hunter, Captain Eric, was his usual pesty self. Many nights I wanted him to just shut-up and play the game, but thats his style. Get under guy's skin and be that pest. Wearing the 'C' I think put a lot of pressure on Eric, that he wasn't prepared to handle. Over the year he did manage his title well. It was hard to watch his season come to an end the way it did in Everett. I know he could have made something of a difference in the Vancouver series, but it wasn't ment to be. He was given the chance to do the color commentary thru the rest of the playoffs, and did a truely amazing job. The yannounced last night that Eric will be in the booth with Ron for the broadcasts during the RBC tournament here starting May 5. Drazenovic, some nights you frusterated me to no end, other nights you amazed me with your talents. Often times I wanted you to just pass, or shoot, or do something other than stick handle in the corner. Looking at the stats, you did well. Led the team in assists with 32, so I guess you were passing more than it appeared. Walker....what does this guy have to do to get an invite to a pro camp? 55 regular season points, 21 playoff points, hits, steady, solid. I'm sure someone will be talking to Jared fairly soon.
The 'supporting cast' of forwards, Gardner, Fuller, Durand (traded for from Seattle for Robertson), Rapac, Tyrell, Hunt, Deagle. You guys all worked your tails off for this team. Gardner, IMH, deserves to be a captain next year, and hopefully its here. Greg led by example all year, and made the most of the opportunities he got. His role changed part way thru the season, with the change in coaches, and he took full advantage of it and turned it into points on the scoresheet. Evan...I would have loved to see you scrap a little more, but you still did your job well. Rapac, once you got into the system you turned things around from when you played in Moose Jaw. Towards the end of the season I was truely impressed with your play. You've sure made your case for being tagged as an overager AND a Euro for next year. We'll have to wait and see how it plays out. Dana, Dale, Jordy...I'm really looking forward to seeing you develop next season. The experience from this playoff run is only going to make you better in the long run. Take it as a learning experience and learn from it.
Real and Scotty. Not much to say there other than solid in net. Both of you are great goalies, and IMH the best one-two punch of any team in the Dub. It was confusing how the team ended up releasing Scott at the OA dealine and going with Cyr and White. Jordan wasn't ready to play at the Dub level, and the team made the right choice to bring Bowles back in. The OHL treated you well in letting you pass waivers and come back to the team that you wanted to play for. Real....unreal season. Stood on your head many nights, and gave your team the chance to win. I really believe it is a no-brainer that you will be back as an OA naxt year.
Coach Schoneck. Not a bad run for the 'Junior B' coach that was brought in. I can't see how anyone can argue that you aren't the guy for the job now. You were handed a team part way thru, and made a few minor changes to make this team gel. You were the leader behind the bench. You got this team as far as you could get them. Always positive, yet always humble. I look forward to watching you develop a good work ethic into the team that you build for the future.
Now for some contraversy. Mike Vandekamp started the year as head coach, with Stu Malgunas as assistant coach. Part way thru, November I think, they were both released of duties. Some of it was hockey related, some of it was off ice issues that developed between the coach and the organization. I felt for Stu, as I think he was caught in the middle. Throughout his career with the Cougars, he managed to survive two previous head coach firings, and still got some good experience in coaching. I think Stu will be back behind the bench in the WHL somewhere in the next few years. He will be getting good experience with the Spruce Kings, and will take that and turn it into a higher job eventually. Just my opinion.
In closing, I was both frusterated and impressed with this season. There were moves made that made a lot of Cougar fans question what was going on. In the long run, I think we got value for our money this year. We did trade away some players/prospects that did not want to report here, for wahtever reason, for players that came here and played well, and got a new lease on hockey life. I feel the organization has some big steps to make to continue getting fans to come to the CN Center (as does the City....re: fix the friggin ice problems!!). As always I loved watching our home team play, and enjoyed seeing many players that I'll be able to watch in the NHL some day soon. One sight I do have to give tho, is to the 'fans'. I do understand many people don't like the ownership here, but you still need to show up to watch if you want to keep WHL hockey in PG for years to come. It was awsome to see the fans come out in droves for the playoffs, even if it made my gettin gout of the parking lot hell some nights. Hopefully this longer run will bring some people back for next year, and get some new fans in the seats. I hate the sea of green we had all season, and don't want to see it all the time again.
Heres to the all the Cougars! applause You made me a happy hockey fan this year. To bad it couldn't have lasted a round or two longer. Most of all thank you to the over agers, Scott Bowles, Eric Hunter and Jared Walker. Its been fun watching you all, and I wish you the best in the future. To the 19YO's, you are making things hard for the coaching staff to make the OA decisions for next year. I'd love to see yo all beck, but I know it won't/can't happen. Good luck to those that end up elsewhere next year. To the returnees...Use the experience you gained this year and run with it. It has and will make you better players, and better people, for it.