Question from Bruins Fan

[D_J]

Just curious if any of you had some thoughts about how Colby Kulhanek made out in the second half of the season in Red Deer.

Colby was a bona fide heart and soul player in Chilliwack, getting time on the power play and penalty kill. He stepped up his game this season and clearly showed leadership in a number of situations, putting up numbers with our club and showing himself as an obvious leader in our second year as a franchise.

I kept an eye on him after the trade because he had made so many improvements in Chilliwack this year and it really didn't seem like he was a factor in the game notes in Red Deer after the trade. I was only reading box scores but they didn't demonstrate the sort of player that we had come to rely on in Chilliwack. I am certain that he was dangled as trade bait because he had developed so much as a WHL contributor with our club and his leadership was evident pretty much every time he took to the ice.

I checked the Rebels website tonight and they hadn't even updated his season stats.

Just curious about what expectations are in store in for Colby next year and whether he will be given an opportunity to contribute where his skills are?

In Chilliwack this year we benefited from substantial contributions from Evan Pighin, who showed less than stellar numbers with Red Deer.

I know the Rebels struggled this year and there was a heavy reliance on a small number of players. I guess my point is it would be unfortunate to see Colby lost in the shuffle..... Not seeing the Rebels on a regular basis and not knowing the systems I am just wondering how the outcomes could be so varied....

[SectionNDeserter]

Colby was a bona fide heart and soul player in Chilliwack, getting time on the power play and penalty kill. He stepped up his game this season and clearly showed leadership in a number of situations, putting up numbers with our club and showing himself as an obvious leader in our second year as a franchise.Well, he had 29 points in 110 games with Chilliwack, that would definately place any player that isn't going to be just a checker as a 'work in progress' in my books. Good news is that his numbers (as well as his plus minus) were improving.


I kept an eye on him after the trade because he had made so many improvements in Chilliwack this year and it really didn't seem like he was a factor in the game notes in Red Deer after the trade. I was only reading box scores but they didn't demonstrate the sort of player that we had come to rely on in Chilliwack.Seeing any Red Deer forward in the opponent's end of the ice (with the puck) this season was a rather rare occurance, so it shouldn't be a surprise to see a decrease in his offensive numbers after coming over. He also only had a couple of playing stints here, sandwiched between some injuries as well.


I am certain that he was dangled as trade bait because he had developed so much as a WHL contributor with our club and his leadership was evident pretty much every time he took to the ice.Seems odd that a player that was a contributing factor with your team, and a strong leader would have been dangled as trade bait, and then traded for a player like Strong that might become a good defenseman one day, but could hardly be expected to make a huge impact right away. I think there is more to this story, and more factors involved than we are aware of.


I checked the Rebels website tonight and they hadn't even updated his season stats.I wouldn't worry about that, they have never done that for any player until the start of the following season some time.


Just curious about what expectations are in store in for Colby next year and whether he will be given an opportunity to contribute where his skills are?Due to injuries, being shuffled around a lot between the lines and the team's overall lack of a transition game, I decided to reserve my judgement on him until I see him play a bit more. What I did see from him so far was that he was pretty much invisible when he was playing anywhere but the top line, and I thought he complimented Brandon Sutter rather well when he was on the top line. One thing that was good to see was that he was one of the more upbeat players in the warmup, communicating a great deal with the other players, and smiling and laughing a lot.


In Chilliwack this year we benefited from substantial contributions from Evan Pighin, who showed less than stellar numbers with Red Deer.He was an 18/19 year old rookie when he was here, and was largely used in a defensive role. Would have been nice to still have, but good to see that he found his way to another WHL team, that was able to give him more ice time.

[D_J]

Thanks for the reply.

His numbers were a little skewed IMO because his role on the team varied greatly between year one and year two out here in the Wack. The numbers meant a bit less in our teams case due to the fact that they were an expansion team. I think he was traded because he had shown alot of potential with increased responsibility and the team was able to convert that into filling a hole on a D line that was full of averagers and they had to look to the future.

Good luck next year.