So much to come before camp starts. [Archive]

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Warrior Fan

05-08-2007, 09:16 AM

Warrior Fan

05-08-2007, 09:23 AM

Reige................. Bast..................Nyren
Grecica.............Prokop............Grantham
Reese..............Labreche..........Sommers
Howden.........Bougeois............Maylan

* Reese is a center but I don't think he breaks up Bast or Prokop that much. I drop him to 3rd line to help out the 18 year olds.
*Not sure of any new draft picks that might make the team so I will have to wait and see for the rest of the lineup.

Erhardt Stanton
Suer Hamonic
Smith McLirath
Cox

*McLirath and Cox should be solid contributers. They are solid kids who work hard and have good offensive upside. Of course things can change.

Warrior Fan

05-08-2007, 09:26 AM

We have the Euro draft in which I fully expect the Warriors to go after a 17 year old dynamic forward or a 18/19 year old dman.
The expansion draft is yet to come as well. I hold out faith that the Warriors will make a trade to move a prospect of there choice so we can keep our team together. I would like to see a Jory and prospect but not the high end one we may lose if we allow them to pick.

As I see it for next season....

Holzapfel......... Reese.............Calla
Knackstedt....... Bast..............Nyren
Reige.................Prokop............Grantham
Grecica............Labreche.........Sommers

Maylan as well will make the team. I am not sure of Labreche's status with the club right now.

Hengen Sutter
Erhardt Stanton
Suer Hamonic
Smith

Back end looks good.

Of course we have to leave some room for the Euro and that is why I think an older dman might be where we go in the Euro draft. If we can find a Kubina type player. I think we just have to make sure we have an impact player for next season one way or the other.

Robinson, McCallum, Hull are going to fight for spots on the roster as well.
robinson will be 18 and coming off of a serious injury as well all know.
McCallum will also be 18. He led the midget AAA league in scoring for much of the season and was the best player on the ice during the allstar game.
Hull will be 17 and this will be his second crack at the Warriors. He is a big bodied kid with good hands and just knows how to score and control along the boards. If he has improved his skating he could be a dark horse to make this team this year.

Warriorfanatic

05-11-2007, 08:26 PM

It is too early to worry about line ups, we need to worry about our goalies. Secondly we need to worry about why no one goes to the front of the net, why our power play is so bad, why our penalty kill is bad, and why we cannot break through a trap. Why penalties seem to follow our boys like flies to garbage. I also sense that the locker room is not a completely happy place, I am told through the grape vine that the team was very divided over the Steve Young termination, there was a Steve Camp and a Rene Camp. I would tend to believe this as the team lacked cohesive esprit de corp. That might be my military training kicking in but that was an unhappy bench. We need team unity before we worry about team line ups. Hopefully they pick a better team Capt this year, Steve is a fine young man, but he did not lead the team like Troy did. When Steve lost the big 'C' he played better, did he not? He seemed relieved.

I believe that Brady Calla is our new goto guy for the big 'C'. I think it should have been his at the end of last year.

Warrior Fan

05-11-2007, 11:13 PM

Dressing room was an issure early in the year. Later in the year it was less of a problem. It was more a leadership or lack of leadership that caused many problems. Gillen having house parties and getting teammates to skip curfew. Not good from the captain of the team. Only a few passed on that chance likely adding to some of the division. So be it. Some want to be pro's and some want to be Joe's. That is life.

Goaltending will take care of itself. We don't really know where we sit in that dept til after the expansion draft and the Euro draft. We will see.

Our Pk stunk because Young had the worst PK style I have ever witnessed. If it wasn't Young's then whoever designed it should be fired. Not a slight to anyone just the truth.
Our PP stunk because of our D's lack of ability to hit the net or get shots through to the net around defenders. Huge part of playing D espescially on the PP. We also lacked a ton of intensity when it came to the PP. We were out hustled and muscled off the puck when on the PP. Just bad coaching again. We have more than enough talent to score on the PP but the breakout was garbage and forecheck was no existent. It has to have a purpose.

I won't be suprised if the Warriors look to a dman or top end forward for the draft. I guess it depends on what is available. Hengen and Sutter aren't our awnsers for leaders on the backend. Sutter lacks desire and strenght not to mention confidence to lead this team. He has to play tougher and meaner on a consistent basis in order to be effective. Hengen is a player that just doesn't fit in. He is soft and doesn't shoot well. Too many giveaways. Lets hope we see a different man come camp. Who knows right?

I do wish we had some more tending prospects. I still hold out hope on Jebson. He has looked sharp for 2 straight camps. I think this year if he can wrap his head around being a top notch goalie then he may just be the man we are looking for. He has to be ready to compete a little harder this year and show he wants it real bad. No matter what. Karambelas is a decent tender but not as highly touted in my books. Willow looks to be lightning quick and could be a decent tender. He is small so we will have to see what happens at camp this year. Murray is our only real blue chip tender we have. He is interested in NTDP in the US but that doesn't mean he has made that team yet. He still has to make the team. That is going to be a tougher task then first anticipated. We will see what comes of it. He would be a welcome addition at this years camp.

Our strengths are obvious. We are very deep on the backend and we have a wide range of offensive talent as well. Our young but capable D will continue to progress and will make huge strides by seasons end. I am looking forward to the gifted Erhardt making strides in his defensive game. If he can do that look out. He will be a double threat that can look after both ends of the ice. Must get stronger though and play tougher in the corners and compete a little harder. Hamonic and Suer are as stong as they come. Physical mobile defensman like this don't just grow on tree's. They are rock solid and will cause a tone of havoc for other teams for years to come. Stanton may be the future heavyweight. He is as tough as they come and competes very hard. Going to be interesting to say the least watching this guy realize his full potential as a leader and player on this team.

Forwards again now and in the future are going to be our strong point. Prokop is going to have a much better season. Maybe he will get some ice time that was lacking last year. Grecica is going to have to buckle down if he hopes to stick around. He will be traded away if he doesn't get his game together and focus alot better. Nyren is a budding offensive star. He has a nose for the net and if he can realize his skills will make his linemates better look out. He lacks a little size and strength but makes up for it in skill. He could be a leading scorer on this team. Holzapfel is a given. Nothing to say there. He is going to be the leader on and off the ice. This team will go as far as he is willing to take them. He does have a supporting cast that most teams would love to have in Knackstedt, Calla and Reese. This group of 19 year old forwards are going to be relied upon heavily to lead the younger group into the future. Holzapfel is a better player when he keeps his game simple and just pushes the puck deep and uses his smarts and aggressiveness to get the puck back. Needs a gifted playmaker to set his shot up. Knackstedt is going to be a huge asset to this team. He has all the tools to be a great player. Needs to stay consistent and work hard defensively. Calla is going to be the leader on this team emotionally. He has the heart of a lion and never takes a shift off. Can you say Kris Draper. Reese may be that playmaker for Ryley. If he can work hard and take care of his own end they will make a great top line. 50 goals is not out of reach for Holzapfel. Our PK will be strong with the likes of Bast and Reige. Don't be surprised to see both of these players be very close to the 20 goal mark. Reigen works like no other player. He will sell his soul to make a play or block a shot to win a game. Bast, well he was voted fan favorite for a reason. He is as steady as they come and works his tail off every game. Don't be suprised to see him come out in a big way this season. He will break the 50 point plateau for sure. He will have scoring linemates. I would like to see the Warriors use Prokop in the PK role a little more this season. He has tremendous skill at reading plays and his reach has to be the best on the team.

I am sure there are holes to fil and one is the D. We need that one guy that can help lead the younger guys. I don't want to see a deal that includes any of our young talent.

Maylan, Bougeios, Sommers, Hull, McCallum are all going to challenge for spots on this team this season. Maylan has tremendous pucks skills and is going to be a great playmaker. Bougeois is just a workhorse. Darcy Tucker type and is built for the Whl game. Sommers is an early favorite for one spot on the front end. He is a skilled player with decent size and speed. He should be a nice addition to a deep forward list. Hull came to camp last season and I expect him to compete for a regular spot as a 17 year old this year. He has great size but lacked some speed at this level. Maybe the year in the SJHL helped take that to the next level. McCallum was the leading scorer in the midget AAA league for much of the season. He played with Cullen Morrin who the Warriors traded to the Red Deer Rebels. Cullen finished the seasons strong. He and McCallum were both 17 year olds so that will make next year their 18 year old season. McCallum played in the AAA all star game and was the best forward on the ice. Very good skater and puck handler. He may be a good fit on the 3rd line for this season with lots of room to improve and earn more ice time. It will come down to who worked the hardest on their weaknesses to make the difference.
Smith is a no brainer on the backend as a 7th dman. He will learn the ropes and get in when he can. Smart player with lots of potential at both ends of the ice. Reads plays very well and seemed to catch on to the speed of the game. Playing with players like Bast, Hamonic, Suer, Stanton and Erhardt will benefit him over the next couple of seasons as well.

Warriorfanatic

05-15-2007, 06:57 AM

That was a great post. I thought it was just me who realized how bad our PP was. There was absolutely no traffic in front of the net. I agree with your post, you have put a lot of thought into this. As I said before, we have the potential, we just need the Sargent Major who is going to kick ass and motivate the boys to come out and play, 120 minutes of hockey each game. I also agree that Gillen hurt the team, we got a call the night of the big party by Rene who was looking for players. I'm a billet dad, and fortunately our little fella was in his room catching up on homework. I like Rene, as I have said in another post, and he was pleased our little warrior was at home. Do you think Joey will be back this year?

Warrior Fan

05-15-2007, 06:21 PM

He is a very good goalie. I guess the problem is he just doesn't have that killer instinct. I wish he had some more competitiveness in him. Joey is big and mobile and when he is one he controls rebounds and plays with confidence he is almost unbeatable. He just has to get that consistency down pat and realize he has to work for what he wants. Lets face it being in high school when you are 19 going on 20 is not a good thing no matter who you are or whatever you are doing.

So much potential with this team.

The PP was horrid because of inconsistency and lack of personnel at the right time. You have to have a consistent set up on the PP that everyone knows so whenever you are on the ice is the same thing all the time. Timing is everything. Puck movement is another huge plus. It just has to be done. No screwing around. Players play for ice time so if you see a guy like Bast working his balls off he goes on the PP if a guy like Gillen is not buckling down he goes to the 3rd or 4th line. I don't care how old you are. This is a job for these kids and their future relies on turning into good pro's.

The PK was good if Reige and Bast was on the ice otherwise it was a little shakey.

Warriorfanatic

05-16-2007, 12:22 PM

I really like Jason Bast and I believe that he worked as hard as any two warriors. maybe three put together. I don't care that he is a little guy, he always played like he was 10 feet tall.

I also agree with your comments on the PP. Our billet was one of the new kids this year and he has a wicked shot, he was on the blue line for PP and I remember him having a great opportunity to slam one in on the net just like Dion, but he passed it. I asked him about that when he got home and he said he was told that was not his job, he was to feed it in and to keep the puck in the defensive zone on attempted clear outs. I don't understand that, I told him to respect his coach but understand that the puck will never go in if it is never shot at the net. Maybe I don't understand the game as well as the coaches do, but I think the opposing goalie needs to see so much rubber that he will begin to think that he is the Trans-Canada Highway.

They have so much talent that it hurts to see them fail. I may also be biased, but I really believe in this team, they just need to believe in themselves the way we do.