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Thread: Final Thoughts - The Defense and Goaltending

  1. #1
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    Default Final Thoughts - The Defense and Goaltending

    Aaron Borejko - Played in 32 games, half of which was sandwiched between two really bad concussions. Not really fair to even give him a rating, as he wasn't anywhere near the same player that he was when he returned after the first concussion. The team really went into a downward spiral when he went down with the first concussion, as he chewed up a lot of minutes, and some guys that weren't quite ready for full-time action were pressed into service. As an overage player, he has moved on with the season's conclusion.

    Kayle Doetzel (C+) - Not much really changed here, he continued to struggle defensively in the second half, until he suffered a season-ending injury with about two months left on the season. He was rushed into full-time action before he was really ready, due to all the injuries, and he made a number of 'game-losing' mistakes that a more experienced player wouldn't make. The coaching staff seems to have a lot of confidence in him, but he has played about 30 games full-time in the last two seasons, and I think he still has a long ways to go. I still see this kid on the 3rd pairing next season, barring any injury problems again.

    Matt Dumba - (B-) - He was just a couple of goals away from leading the team in points this season. On the flip side, it was really really hard to watch all the mistakes that he made on the defensive side of things, and he had maybe one of his signature huge open-ice hits in the entire last half of the season. It is going to be really hard for NHL teams to overlook his offensive production, but I see him back in Red Deer next season, as being that much out of position most of the time isn't going to fly at the NHL level, and he still has a lot of work to do on that.

    Stephen Hak - (C+) - I was pleasantly surprised at how much he improved with the added ice time he got when they were down to four or five defenseman for the last half of the season. He has great positioning, and decent mobility. If he can get a bit more meat on his bones, he should be a fixture on the second pairing next season.

    Alex Petrovic - (A++) - He is one of the biggest reasons that this season turned out to be an average season, rather than an awful season. He played 40+ minutes on a lot of nights in the second half, when they were down to four defensemen, and lost THIRTEEN pounds in the last month of the regular season. By far the team MVP this season. He will be an overage next season, but there is almost zero chance of him returning from pro.

    Devan Fafard - (C+) - I didn't really know a lot about him, besides that he was a rookie defenseman with Saskatoon when they dealt for him. Looking at the stats alone, I didn't really see the point of the trade, but I think it really just came down to him being a year younger and not as fragile as Pufahl. He plays a rugged, physical game, and skates well with the puck. Skating needs a little work, but he doesn't tend to gamble, so it doesn't really detract from his overall game. He should feature on the first or second pairing next season, and do a lot of penalty killing, and see a little power play time.

    Cody Thiel - (C-) - His game and his confidence continued to improve a bit as he got tons of ice time in the second half. One of the biggest things I noticed about him this past season, was that when a lot of the time when he was on the ice, the puck wouldn't leave the Rebels' end of the ice for long stretches of time. He is rounding into a decent second pairing defenseman for the upcoming season, as well as a decent powerplay QB. Unfortunately he will be a 19 year old with 25 or so games of full-time WHL experience, which would find him in a real battle for a job next season, were the Rebels not losing three of their top four defensemen next season.

    Justin Weller - He didn't really play in the second half, so no letter grade. A key loss on the back end, that the Rebels didn't really have a replacement option for. This was his final season of WHL eligibility, and he will move on to a spot in Phoenix's system.

    Goalies:

    Patrik Bartosak - Another key player that didn't play in the second half. Despite his season-ending injury, I believe that he will hear his named called at the NHL draft. A great goaltender, and an import player that REALLY wants to be here, if you follow his Twitter feed. This guy is the starter next season, unless something really changes.

    Deven Dubyk (B-) - The Rebels' lone overage player in the second half of the season. Would he be a WHL starter under other circumstances? Probably not. Can he play well enough to keep a team in most games? Absolutely! Basically turned down a free ticket to the RBC cup as the host team to rejoin the WHL halfway into the season and help a team out that was in a real bad situation. I think this really speaks volumes to his character, and I wish him the best of luck as he graduates from the WHL as a starting goaltender!

    Boulton Pouliot (C+) - Didn't get a ton of starts down the stretch, but I thought he looked a lot more focused and poised in the games that he did start in. If he can keep up the strong play, he could hang on to the backup job next season.

  2. #2
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    Getting to chat with you is always interesting but a B- for a guy who might get drafted in the top five this year....wow

  3. #3
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    Dumba's defensive play, how he dealt with the added ice time as well as the fact that he is in fact an elite prospect all factored into it. There were a lot of times where he was out of position to make an offensive play (which is his game), but there were also a lot of times that he was just out of position for no real reason, and at least 5 of those times this season it cost them two points. To his credit, he did bounce back from a horrendous 15 games or so before Christmas, and I did upgrade his rating from mid-season accordingly.

    I think he has also lost a little of his 'wow' factor in drastically reducing his number of big hits. I think this is in response to the league changing the definition of a hip-check part of the way into the season, and delivering a big open-ice hit seems to also draw mixed reception from the league as well.

  4. #4
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    More Opinions Than Don Cherry. I am glad you include this in your handle because sometimes you and Don are both a a little off the wall. Dumba has had a very good year and if he cost us a few games it's part of the maturation process. He was playing over 30 minutes a game for the last 3 months as a 17 year old that alone should be enough for a A-. Still appreciate both you and Don's opinion though

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Red celtic View Post
    He was playing over 30 minutes a game for the last 3 months as a 17 year old that alone should be enough for a A-.
    I think that 17 years old or not, once you have been taking a regular shift in the league for TWO seasons, as well as assorted international tournaments, the rookie defensive lapses should start to occur with less frequency than they do, especially when you are talking about an elite prospect.
    Still appreciate both you and Don's opinion though
    I know you do!

  6. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by SectionNDeserter View Post
    I think that 17 years old or not, once you have been taking a regular shift in the league for TWO seasons, as well as assorted international tournaments, the rookie defensive lapses should start to occur with less frequency than they do, especially when you are talking about an elite prospect.
    I know you do!
    The honest opinion is appreciated, sometimes we pimp our teams guys a little too hard, so this was interesting. No doubt we would all want Dumba on our dub team.
    Never argue with idiots, they just drag you down to their level then beat you with experience.

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