I had a pretty good chuckle over your comparison, Derek....And I have to agree...last night, I think that if Allen had of been any slower, he would have been going backwards. When you are blessed with size like he possesses, you don't need to be the fastest guy out there, but you better be the meanest SOB out there, and know how to play some angles, neither of which he seems to be able to do. Everybody wants the kind of defenseman that you described, and if you remember not that long ago, we had one. (Thanks again for the glorious trade, Mr. Robson). But, don't sell everyone back there short. Neilsen has shown some flashes, he's tough as nails, and plays the power play quite well. Once he matures and stops panicking which results in endless giveaways, I believe he will be a solid defenseman. Same with Jensen, same applies to Pankiwiez, who runs a pretty good powerplay, and is showing some offensive flair. You are right, you can't beat natural talent, but if these boys are presented a proper "system" , and forced to be accountable, along with the forwards playing a sound defensive game, I think this group will be ok.
Better to be smarter than you look than to look smarter than you are....
Despite the fact that tonight's game is between one of the best and one of the worst teams in the entire CHL, I am interested to see how it goes. While I don't expect the Canes to win, I think it might be a closer game than it appears to be on paper.
The Rocket's just played 2 of the better teams in the East and have the Ice tomorrow night. The game tonight might be close as Kelowna might just mail it in.
If you were Anholt who would get the start tonight? At first glance it seems like a no brainer. Sittler should get the nod as he has been really good and has won his last 2 starts. Sittler deserves to start tonight. The one drawback to that is does this start to make a very young Skinner start to second guess himself?
Last edited by HURRICANE'S ROCK; 01-30-2015 at 04:47 PM.
An opinion should be the result of thought, not a substitute for it.
Well, it appears that the decision is in on Kelowna....WOW! I have to say, that is one of the best teams that I have ever seen roll through the Sportsplex, they are simply amazing. This looks like how a hockey team should be built, big and fast, very talented forwards, punishing, mobile defensemen, and good specialty teams. I think our boys held in there pretty well for about the first 10 minutes or so, and if they would have scored on even one of the multitude of chances they had....who knows. After the first Kelowna goal, scored on yet another blown coverage assignment, The Rockets cranked it up, and that was it. The 6-3 score was extremely flattering to the Canes, and Kelowna made them look very, very average.
I do agree with you, Skinner needs to get some starts, and needs to get another real good performance under his belt. He has looked jittery the last few times I have seen him, and been pulled both times. I can only hope that his confidence has not been too badly shaken, and that he will rebound. On the + side, Sittler is looking like a great acquisition, and seems to be holding down the fort pretty well. To be fair to both of these guys, though, all these 40 and 50+ shot games cannot end well for them, and with sharpshooters like Kelowna has, 50 shots can feel like a hundred. The Canes' lack of a solid defensive system was again on display last night, almost laughably so as it seemed like we had a 5 man blob following the puck all night. Kelowna certainly is the cream of the crop and can even make defensively sound teams look bad, but our defensive weaknesses were certainly highlighted. At least we got a look of what a really good hockey team looks like, and can start to aim in that direction.
Better to be smarter than you look than to look smarter than you are....
I understand there is a process that needs to be followed and people repeating that ad naseum gets tiresome. It isn't like it is impossible to sell the team so the steps need to be taken asap to do that as we have seen that with public ownership this organization is an embarrassment.
Well...
98, Cody Allen 2g, 17a in 38 games at Osoyoos, KIJHL, Jr B
98, Connor Rokosh has 0g 1a in 27 AMHL games this year
98, Jesse Sheen, 2g 10a in 22 games in AMHL
99, Koltrane Wilson has 1g, 0a in 29 AMHL games this year
99, Ethan King has 3g, 10a in 33 games at POE
99 Nick Watson has 3g, 6a in 20 games at Delta Hockey Academy
99 Roche-Setoguchi 0g, 7a in 28 AMHL games
These are the highest D men taken in the last two drafts, there does not appear to be a really skilled puck moving D Man that will make an impact next year....
Except when they need an offensive deffenseman, one who can move the puck and run a powerplay. Chances are if the guys are not putting up numbers in lower levels, they will not put them up at a higher level, a kid with one or two points in midget is not likely to put up 30 or 40 points in the WHL.