Lang's first year

[Some_Arrogant_Jerk]

The general opinion is that he is at least an improvement from Parker...but how would you grade his performance?

Personally, I thought he made alot of small but smart moves this year. The bigger trades look allright so far as well, and the franchise at least appears to have direction unlike before. And of course there is the offseason too, but we will see what happens with coaches and extra players etc.

I'll probably look at some of the trades more closely later today.

[patsdude114]

I personally think Lang's 1st season was a huge success. Yes we didnt make the playoffs but then again we werent expected to make the playoffs either. We were in a playoff race right until the final week of the season. With the roster Lang had at the start of the season & the roster we have at the end of the year i think the roster now has more depth but not as much high end skill.

When Lang acquired Frazee from MJ I do think it was a move to set himself up for a trade deadline deal with Frazee. Which ultimately did happen, & Lang bettered his return (got the 2nd rd pick back plus Martell who has some upside) then what he paid for Frazee. Frazee did give us more offense but outside of our 1st line we were still a terrible team.

Carter Ashton when he 1st came back to junior from TB he had no interest in being here at all. His game picked up in Novemeber & was playing the best i had ever seen him play until he was traded to TC just before the WJs training camp. The return for Ashton I liked alot, Moser is going to be twice the player Hood ever was/will be, Olstad is a quality player as well sure not going to wow anyone but played a great role all season long, plus we got the 1st rd pick back. The only bad thing about the deal Parker did to get Ashton was the 1st rd pick which is going to be a top 3 pick, the players Parker sent had zero impact on the Canes this season Balog played 1 game for them this season who was expected to be the key in the deal.

Lang made alot of other minor deals to add some depth into our organization players such as Bidlevskii, Schiedl, Ouellette along with all 3 20yr olds Scheinder, Reddin & Negium. The past 3 weeks Scheidl has been showing huge signs of his offensive potential. He will be given every chance next season to play with Weal on the 1st line, as Scheidl can keep up & has the skill to play with Weal.

Lang still has alot of work to do this franchise, as it was left to him in a complete mess. This will be his 1st off-season with the Pats, more importantly his 1st Bantam draft with the Pats. All you have to do is look down the highway at the Warriors to see what type of players Lang likes to draft & how to build his teams. The roster in MJ still has Lang's finger prints all over it (for the most part) the biggest question mark this off-season that Lang will have to access is the Coaching position.

Is Hunt the right guy to move this team forward?

In all fairness to Hunt, after the Xmas break he had the Pats playing the best hockey the Pats have played in the past 3 seasons. The Pats were competing in games & dug themselves into a playoff race. Hunt did what he could with the skill level this team has. There will be yet another youth movement starting next season as personally i think as many as 4 16yr olds could be on the Pats next season. Kilmchuk is a lock as he didnt look out of place at all in the games he has played.

I personally would love to see Coach Sutter be the Head Coach of this team, i think he has alot of traits that Jesse Wallin has in Red Deer.

Just some quick inputs as this season winds down this weekend. I know there will be alot more comments to come from myself & other fans (be it of the Pats or around the league)

[WHEATMAN]

I haven't really payed attention to a lot of the deals Lang has made, but with respect to the Gustafsson trade I think Lang was on the losing end. Yeah, it wasn't a big deal considering McCrimmon gave up a 6th round pick, but what if Regina had another 30-40 point guy like Gustafsson in the lineup? That might have been the difference between making the playoffs and missing out.

Also, I don't know why Lang wanted Schneider. It doesn't look like he has added much (-46?). I guess Favreau wasn't in high demand either, but it would have made more sense to deal Favreau and a pick for a defenceman that is younger than Schneider and not the defensive liability he is (not to mention how soft and injury prone he is as well).

Kudos to Lang for trading Ashton though. Lord knows Parker would have screwed that up too.

[Some_Arrogant_Jerk]

I have to agree with the Gustafsson trade. I mean, yeah we started the season off with alot of small players, so I can at least see the reasoning behind moving him, since he hasnt ever been great defensively...though I always liked his upside and style. Even for a one year player, the pats lost that one. If there is a positive to it, its that Olstad is a similar player who we will have for potentially two more years.

As for Schneider's play, it really hasnt been as bad as his numbers suggest it was. If anything, the fact he has been healthy the whole season makes the trade worth it in my mind. Perhaps some dont remember how horrendous the pats D group before Schneider arrived, and he added to the depth like we expected him to. Even though Schneider is pretty average, Id say for what Favreau was bringing to the pats(something like 2 goals in two seasons), we didnt do all that bad.

[patsdude114]

Yes i also agree with the Gustafsson trade but the thing was Hunt never gave the guy a chance to play an offensive role so him staying in Regina would of been pointless. Hunt didnt turn a page in his coaching til xmas time. He was still in his whole "veterns play no matter what mistakes they do, & the youngsters can sit on the bench" once Lang moved Frazee & Ashton Hunt had no choice but to roll all his lines. This is where Gustafsson would of finally gotten a chance to show what he could do.

I loved watching BRN come here to play this season just to watch Gustafsson & show us Pats fans what the guy can really do when given a bigger role. Hell alot of times he was the point man on the PP just seemed like KM gave him alot of free wheel to do what he wanted with the puck.

As for the Favreau & Scheinder deal... Id do that trade again in a second, Favreau had no value, he doesnt have no size to him, his skill level isnt really WHL level & he was a 1st round flop (which i guess is to blame on our scouting as they did screw that 1 up) our D was horrid before Scheinder came here, Scheinder did bring a older body who has played at a high level (even if it was as the 6th Dman in BRN) he stayed healthy all season long & i am very sure younger Dmen did learn stuff from him. Yes his +/- was terrible but that really didnt reflect his play most nights. He played against alot of other teams top guys was always the next guy on after Bell & Davidson. Lets face it the Pats werent a great team all season long so his #s do show thru alot but his overall play was fine all season long.

[lordstanley]

I love how in OT tonight Curtis Hunt calls the ref over and makes schenn take of his chain he had around his neck, then right after the faceoff Schenn comes in down the wing with a laser beam shot for the Winner, then glared over at hunt haha eat crow hunt eat crow :turkey:

[west coast]

The best trade that Lang made was to trade Frazee and acquire Neigum and Martell for immediate results and draft picks.Neigum showed an amazing compete level.His leadership seemed to rejuvenate the troops.This trade seemed to coincide with a improved team work ethic that propelled the Pats into a playoff drive.It will be interesting to see what moves Lang makes in the off season .

[bkdevil]

To me the biggest steal was Schiedle for Guhle

[patsdude114]

To me the biggest steal was Schiedle for Guhle

Yes that was prob the biggest steal in the trades Lang made, but really Schiedl didnt really start to produce until the last few weeks of the season but that doesnt mean he wasnt getting chances.

He will be a great fit for Weal next season & if Mitchell happens to return for his 20yr old season we will have a solid 1st line right from opening day.