apsco17
11-18-2009, 07:33 PM
Article in the Dub Hub Vancouver Province:
http://communities.canada.com/theprovince/blogs/dubhub/default.aspx
Young stars drawing comparisons to Phaneuf, etc.
By Steve Ewen44 Wed, Nov 18 2009
Hockey fans may not know Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, David Musil and Shane McColgan, but they are well versed in the players the 16-year-old WHL rookies are starting to be compared to.
The league’s 1993-born class is beginning to get mentioned alongside its 1985-born group that included Dion Phaneuf, Brent Seabrook, Ryan Getzlaf and Shea Weber. That’s the bunch that went on to be part of a 2003 NHL entry draft commonly considered one of the best in league history.
“It’ll be close to 1985,” said Jason Ripplinger, who, as the Giants director of player personnel, heads up Vancouver’s scouting. “There’s a lot of high-end guys.
“They’re above their age. These guys are true players. They know what it takes to be ‘The Guy.’”
Or as Kelowna Rockets coach Ryan Huska explained: “Most teams have at least one guy that makes you say, ‘Holy, he’s beyond his years.’”
There are numbers that vouch for them. Nugent-Hopkins, a forward from Burnaby with the Red Deer Rebels, has 12 goals and 26 points in 23 games. Heading into league action Tuesday, he was tied for the WHL lead in rookie scoring with 17-year-old Medicine Hat Tiger forward Emerson Etem.
McColgan, a right winger from Manhattan Beach, Calif., was right behind them, with 24 points, including six goals, in 23 games.
It’s more than just stats, though.
Giants coach Don Hay likes to use one rearguard and two forwards when opponents are on a two-man power play, and Musil is generally the first blueliner he sends out.
The 6-foot-3, 191-pound son of former NHL rearguard Frank Musil is so active with his stick that you half wonder if it jumps around when he puts it down. Musil, who was born in Edmonton and played last year in the Czech Republic, is not a picturesque skater, yet his brain always leaves his one step ahead of opponents.
The Rockets think enough of McColgan that he regularly mans the point on the power play. The Seattle Thunderbirds have been doing the same with Colin Jacobs, a winger by trade from Coppell, Texas.
“His skills are very good, even top end, but I really love his drive to become a player,” Seattle coach Rob Sumner said of Jacobs. “He’s totally into what he’s doing. He doesn’t have ups and downs as far as focus. He’s a driven young guy.”
That’s maybe the common thread through all these players. They aren’t interested in being complementary guys now; they’re vying for lead roles. They don’t want to act their age.
Consider that in an Oct. 9 game with the Giants, the 5-foot-10, 160-pound McColgan picked a fight with Vancouver defenceman Kevin Connauton, 19, when he felt the 6-foot-1, 196-pound rearguard was taking liberties with a teammate. The 6-foot-2, 194-pound Jacobs did the same in a Nov. 8 contest, duking it out with Chilliwack Bruins defenceman Tyler Stahl, 17, who comes in at 6-foot-2 and 201 pounds.
Huska played with the Kamloops Blazers during their 1990s dynasty and remembers Darcy Tucker being that type as a rookie, a guy with a belief in himself whose play always said, “I don’t care if I’m 16...I’m better than those 19 year olds.”
Tucker’s closing in on 900 NHL games. That’s one of the better compliments these youngsters can get.
“I don’t want to say that this group is cocky,” said Huska,“but they do seem to have a swagger to them.
“I think sometimes you have to be careful with young players, because you don’t want to set them up to fail, but when you do have a player who is capable of handling different types of pressure situation, you have to challenge them. And that’s what these young guys are showing -- their respective coaches are challenging them.”
*****************************
There are four things you need to know about Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
The rookie centre from Burnaby has 12 goals in 23 WHL games for the Red Deer Rebels.
Last season, Brett Connolly, a left winger for the Prince George Cougars, counted 30 markers in 65 games and became the first 16-year-old to hit that goal plateau in the WHL since Patrick Marleau bagged 32 for the Seattle Thunderbirds in 1995-96.
Two seasons ago, left winger Evander Kane scored 24 goals in 65 games as a 16-year-old with the Vancouver Giants.
Kane went fourth overall in this year’s NHL entry draft and has stuck with the Atlanta Thrashers as an 18-year-old and Connolly has been pegged as a top-five pick in the upcoming entry draft.
How good could Nugent-Hopkins be? As good as it gets, or maybe even better.
“On a consistent basis, he’s been arguably our top forward every night,” said Red Deer assistant coach Bryce Thoma. “For a 16-year-old to come in and do what he’s been doing night in and night out is a great credit to him.
“The main reason why he does it is that he’s got a very good work ethic. He sticks with it and keeps working.”
The 6-foot, 160-pound Hopkins was the first overall pick in the 2008 WHL bantam draft and followed that up last year by dominating the B.C. major midget loop. His 87 points, including 40 goals, in 36 games with the Vancouver Northwest Giants left him 24 points ahead of his nearest rival.
“Ever since I was a young kid, it’s been about working your hardest and the chances will come,” said Nugent-Hopkins, a left-handed shot who sits second in scoring on the Rebels currently, with 26 points in 23 games.
“Everything just moves slower when you’re working as hard as you can.”
He admits to being excited about being part of such a stellar 1993-born class in the WHL, alongside the likes of Vancouver Giants defenceman David Musil, Kelowna Rockets winger Shane McColgan and Seattle Thunderbirds winger Colin Jacobs.
“You’ve got some really good competition,” he said.
And while most WHLers admit to having an NHLer they emulate, Nugent-Hopkins does not.
“I just try to play my own game,” he said. “If I play like somebody, then I play like somebody. You can say that you want to play like Sidney Crosby, but I don’t think many guys can play exactly like him.”
http://communities.canada.com/theprovince/blogs/dubhub/default.aspx
Young stars drawing comparisons to Phaneuf, etc.
By Steve Ewen44 Wed, Nov 18 2009
Hockey fans may not know Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, David Musil and Shane McColgan, but they are well versed in the players the 16-year-old WHL rookies are starting to be compared to.
The league’s 1993-born class is beginning to get mentioned alongside its 1985-born group that included Dion Phaneuf, Brent Seabrook, Ryan Getzlaf and Shea Weber. That’s the bunch that went on to be part of a 2003 NHL entry draft commonly considered one of the best in league history.
“It’ll be close to 1985,” said Jason Ripplinger, who, as the Giants director of player personnel, heads up Vancouver’s scouting. “There’s a lot of high-end guys.
“They’re above their age. These guys are true players. They know what it takes to be ‘The Guy.’”
Or as Kelowna Rockets coach Ryan Huska explained: “Most teams have at least one guy that makes you say, ‘Holy, he’s beyond his years.’”
There are numbers that vouch for them. Nugent-Hopkins, a forward from Burnaby with the Red Deer Rebels, has 12 goals and 26 points in 23 games. Heading into league action Tuesday, he was tied for the WHL lead in rookie scoring with 17-year-old Medicine Hat Tiger forward Emerson Etem.
McColgan, a right winger from Manhattan Beach, Calif., was right behind them, with 24 points, including six goals, in 23 games.
It’s more than just stats, though.
Giants coach Don Hay likes to use one rearguard and two forwards when opponents are on a two-man power play, and Musil is generally the first blueliner he sends out.
The 6-foot-3, 191-pound son of former NHL rearguard Frank Musil is so active with his stick that you half wonder if it jumps around when he puts it down. Musil, who was born in Edmonton and played last year in the Czech Republic, is not a picturesque skater, yet his brain always leaves his one step ahead of opponents.
The Rockets think enough of McColgan that he regularly mans the point on the power play. The Seattle Thunderbirds have been doing the same with Colin Jacobs, a winger by trade from Coppell, Texas.
“His skills are very good, even top end, but I really love his drive to become a player,” Seattle coach Rob Sumner said of Jacobs. “He’s totally into what he’s doing. He doesn’t have ups and downs as far as focus. He’s a driven young guy.”
That’s maybe the common thread through all these players. They aren’t interested in being complementary guys now; they’re vying for lead roles. They don’t want to act their age.
Consider that in an Oct. 9 game with the Giants, the 5-foot-10, 160-pound McColgan picked a fight with Vancouver defenceman Kevin Connauton, 19, when he felt the 6-foot-1, 196-pound rearguard was taking liberties with a teammate. The 6-foot-2, 194-pound Jacobs did the same in a Nov. 8 contest, duking it out with Chilliwack Bruins defenceman Tyler Stahl, 17, who comes in at 6-foot-2 and 201 pounds.
Huska played with the Kamloops Blazers during their 1990s dynasty and remembers Darcy Tucker being that type as a rookie, a guy with a belief in himself whose play always said, “I don’t care if I’m 16...I’m better than those 19 year olds.”
Tucker’s closing in on 900 NHL games. That’s one of the better compliments these youngsters can get.
“I don’t want to say that this group is cocky,” said Huska,“but they do seem to have a swagger to them.
“I think sometimes you have to be careful with young players, because you don’t want to set them up to fail, but when you do have a player who is capable of handling different types of pressure situation, you have to challenge them. And that’s what these young guys are showing -- their respective coaches are challenging them.”
*****************************
There are four things you need to know about Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
The rookie centre from Burnaby has 12 goals in 23 WHL games for the Red Deer Rebels.
Last season, Brett Connolly, a left winger for the Prince George Cougars, counted 30 markers in 65 games and became the first 16-year-old to hit that goal plateau in the WHL since Patrick Marleau bagged 32 for the Seattle Thunderbirds in 1995-96.
Two seasons ago, left winger Evander Kane scored 24 goals in 65 games as a 16-year-old with the Vancouver Giants.
Kane went fourth overall in this year’s NHL entry draft and has stuck with the Atlanta Thrashers as an 18-year-old and Connolly has been pegged as a top-five pick in the upcoming entry draft.
How good could Nugent-Hopkins be? As good as it gets, or maybe even better.
“On a consistent basis, he’s been arguably our top forward every night,” said Red Deer assistant coach Bryce Thoma. “For a 16-year-old to come in and do what he’s been doing night in and night out is a great credit to him.
“The main reason why he does it is that he’s got a very good work ethic. He sticks with it and keeps working.”
The 6-foot, 160-pound Hopkins was the first overall pick in the 2008 WHL bantam draft and followed that up last year by dominating the B.C. major midget loop. His 87 points, including 40 goals, in 36 games with the Vancouver Northwest Giants left him 24 points ahead of his nearest rival.
“Ever since I was a young kid, it’s been about working your hardest and the chances will come,” said Nugent-Hopkins, a left-handed shot who sits second in scoring on the Rebels currently, with 26 points in 23 games.
“Everything just moves slower when you’re working as hard as you can.”
He admits to being excited about being part of such a stellar 1993-born class in the WHL, alongside the likes of Vancouver Giants defenceman David Musil, Kelowna Rockets winger Shane McColgan and Seattle Thunderbirds winger Colin Jacobs.
“You’ve got some really good competition,” he said.
And while most WHLers admit to having an NHLer they emulate, Nugent-Hopkins does not.
“I just try to play my own game,” he said. “If I play like somebody, then I play like somebody. You can say that you want to play like Sidney Crosby, but I don’t think many guys can play exactly like him.”