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Post by seventeen on Sept 2, 2019 0:28:22 GMT -5
He seems to have that instinct you can't teach. Where the puck is going to be in a few seconds and to get there just at the right time.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Sept 2, 2019 15:44:47 GMT -5
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Sept 2, 2019 15:47:21 GMT -5
And a very interesting piece on Suzuki.
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Post by folatre on Sept 2, 2019 16:42:56 GMT -5
Interesting. Suzuki would not be the first player to reference futbol/soccer helping coordination and vision. I believe that Kirk Muller said that his uncanny ability to touch a puck at his skates onto this stick was honed on the pitch.
Like Bobby Orr was saying a few weeks ago, it is a shame that youth hockey players have less and less time to play other sports. My son's second favourite sport is futbol but with the formal hockey season starting this week he does not have the flexibility to play fall soccer. Fortunately, he can play it in the spring (though in that case, he cannot play baseball). It is tough. There is too much intentional (nothing is involuntary or accidental) boundary expansion of the calendar. The people who run hockey leagues/teams are largely to blame for this, along with some blame being reserved for hyper-focused parents who want their kids playing hockey non-stop for seven months.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Sept 6, 2019 9:30:44 GMT -5
I always appreciate videos that people produce that show the shift by shift coverage of a particular prospect/player. Here is one of Olofsson's recent games in the Champions Hockey League. He is #38 in black.
He does a number of good things in the video (puck possession, cycling, board battles, faceoff wins, vision, hockey IQ). I just want to him to improve in one key area this year: PUT. UP. MORE. POINTS.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Sept 6, 2019 9:49:28 GMT -5
An interview that the NHL Network did with Goal Caufield. It is best to click on the link in the tweet for the full interview.
Cheers.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Sept 6, 2019 10:00:15 GMT -5
Coach Madigan (a Montreal native by the way) talks about freshman Jayden Struble and the upcoming season for Northeastern. Lots of Hab flavour there the last few seasons with Primeau and Harris.
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Post by frozone on Sept 6, 2019 10:39:17 GMT -5
I always appreciate videos that people produce that show the shift by shift coverage of a particular prospect/player. Here is one of Olofsson's recent games in the Champions Hockey League. He is #38 in black. He does a number of good things in the video (puck possession, cycling, board battles, faceoff wins, vision, hockey IQ). I just want to him to improve in one key area this year: PUT. UP. MORE. POINTS. I hate to say it, but I'm getting a very De-La-Rosey vibe from Olofsson's game... Lots of similarities between them by the looks of it. |
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Post by BadCompany on Sept 6, 2019 11:39:15 GMT -5
I always appreciate videos that people produce that show the shift by shift coverage of a particular prospect/player. Here is one of Olofsson's recent games in the Champions Hockey League. He is #38 in black. He does a number of good things in the video (puck possession, cycling, board battles, faceoff wins, vision, hockey IQ). I just want to him to improve in one key area this year: PUT. UP. MORE. POINTS. I hate to say it, but I'm getting a very De-La-Rosey vibe from Olofsson's game... Lots of similarities between them by the looks of it. Despite never having actually watched him play, I was thinking the exact same thing. Now having said that, of all the players we have lost to waivers of late (Scherbak, Agostino, Davidson, Barberio, Condon, De La Rose – geez, for a last place team others seem to really want our guys) DLR was the one I was most miffed about. Not because I think he’s going to explode or anything – he is what he is – but his skill set would have been a nice addition to our 4th line. I think he’s a better option than Thompson, or McCarron, for example. He’s big, can skate, is defensively responsible, can kill penalties… you could do worse with your 12th-13th forward (and we have). But he was also easily replaceable, so I didn’t lose too much sleep over it. |
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Sept 6, 2019 11:48:08 GMT -5
I always appreciate videos that people produce that show the shift by shift coverage of a particular prospect/player. Here is one of Olofsson's recent games in the Champions Hockey League. He is #38 in black. He does a number of good things in the video (puck possession, cycling, board battles, faceoff wins, vision, hockey IQ). I just want to him to improve in one key area this year: PUT. UP. MORE. POINTS. I hate to say it, but I'm getting a very De-La-Rosey vibe from Olofsson's game... Lots of similarities between them by the looks of it. That is my worry with him. In his season leading up to his draft, he was a key offensive contributor for Timra in the Allsvenskan and a big part of why they won their bid to move up to the SHL. He also was named the league's top rookie. He had size, speed, IQ, and decent offensive skills for a 17 year old. That was why I was pretty high on him as a second round target for that draft. He struggled offensively last year on a very weak Timra team, but my bigger concern was his lack of offense at the WJC, where he was expected to play a big top 6 centre role for the team. He has since moved on to a stronger SHL club, Skellefteå. The move is a double edged sword. He will play on a more offensively minded team and likely with better players, but he will also move down the depth chart as his new club has a stronger lineup and depth. He has been getting 3C spots in preseason, which is still not bad for a 19 year old in the SHL. It is up to him to show what he can do with it this season. This is a pretty big show-me year for three Euro prospects: Olofsson, Ylonen and Ikonen. They all could be looking at trying to secure their ELC and make a move to Laval next season, so this is a key developmental season for them. Ylonen has looked very solid in preseason, and Ikonen came off a very short injury season last year looking stronger and more offensively confident. He will need to keep that going this year. Olofsson will need to show more offensive instincts and abilities. Maybe he just needs a year or two of Bouchard screaming in his ear. |
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Post by seventeen on Sept 6, 2019 12:21:02 GMT -5
You can teach an offensive forward to play defense (Guy Carbonneau) but I can't recall any defensive players suddenly learning how to score. It's about instincts (Caufield) and mindset and the physical factors, of course. If anyone can recall a guy who was a mediocre scorer in juniour suddenly lighting it up, let me know.
It was too early to judge the kid (WJC year), but DLR was a black hole in his first WJC year and only slightly better in his second. Lots of opportunities, few results. There's usually a good reason for that. Nonetheless, as BC says, he had his virtues and keeping him might not have been the worst decision. Perhaps he didnt' have good enough character. (snort).
I was a bit worried about Ikonen, but he seems to be coming around. He HAS to score. Ylonen looks good enough, sort of like a mini William Nylander, but being Finnish, he is likely more 'involved'. (Apologies to Peter Forsberg and if you're as non-physical as Elias Pettersson, give me more of that).
Given teh competition, Olofsson is going to have to learn to put up an eventual 35 points per season or so to at least secure a 4th line centre spot. A better DLR in other words.
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Post by folatre on Sept 6, 2019 12:58:13 GMT -5
I concur with what you guys are saying about offensive instincts in general and Olofsson in particular. I really do not keep close tabs on the SHL aside from glancing at stats. However, I watched most of Olofsson's games this past January at the World Juniors and honestly I simply see a checking centre with pretty nice size and mobility. I know that Sweden was an offensively challenged group (that sure will not be the case this year) but there was nothing about Olofsson that suggests an offensive diamond in the rough.
Who knows about Ikonen? Injuries have delayed his development. I recall watching videos of him a couple of years ago and thinking this kid holds the puck too long and that overall his game just will not translate to North America. Montreal's prospect pool does not have a wealth of fast wingers who have already looked the part as a two-way player in a professional league, so for me Ylonen looks like a valuable asset.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Sept 6, 2019 16:25:23 GMT -5
KHL season is underway, and Romanov is up to his old tricks (knocking forwards down!). Looks like he was on the top pairing today after starting the season in the #7 spot.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Sept 6, 2019 16:48:07 GMT -5
And more minor news from Russia. Our 6th round pick from this summer, overage forward Arsen Khisamutdinov, was assigned from Neftekhimik in the KHL to CSK VVS Samara in the VHL (second league). He played his first game today with 14:38 of ice time, but was held pointless as was his entire team.
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Post by seventeen on Sept 6, 2019 18:26:00 GMT -5
KHL season is underway, and Romanov is up to his old tricks (knocking forwards down!). Looks like he was on the top pairing today after starting the season in the #7 spot. *just to clarify* |
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Sept 7, 2019 0:24:40 GMT -5
KHL season is underway, and Romanov is up to his old tricks (knocking forwards down!). Looks like he was on the top pairing today after starting the season in the #7 spot. *just to clarify* He actually played the season opener as #7 D but still got in lots of shifts. His coach has used him on a number of pairings, but he still does not see the special teams ice in the KHL that he gets on the junior national team. He will though. |
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Sept 8, 2019 15:03:39 GMT -5
Norlinder returns to the ice after his training injury this summer. He gets some preseason play and picks up an assist. He is the LHD who pinches on this lay, and the fire off a shot that leads to the goal. His skating is smooth.
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Post by seventeen on Sept 8, 2019 16:13:04 GMT -5
A good, very early 3rd round pick. I hope he develops well.
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Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Sept 8, 2019 16:33:01 GMT -5
A fastball coming up ... anyone who wants to see the WPG/MTL game tonight, I have an extra ticket comp ... drop me a PM a d we can go from there ...
Cheers.
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Post by seventeen on Sept 8, 2019 16:37:22 GMT -5
I don't think the jet from BC can make it there soon enough Dis, but thanks anyway.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Sept 8, 2019 18:31:41 GMT -5
Fairbrother rushes deep and sets up Pezzetta open in front, but denied. Gotta bury those. 1-1 right now, our goal from Alain. Suzuki still on RW alongside Poehling.
Worst turnover in the first...LeGuerrier. Primeau bailed him out.
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Post by Cranky on Sept 8, 2019 19:25:02 GMT -5
An educated guess on why it's easier to teach forwards defense then offensive instincts is......instinct, aka, "muscle memory". We all watch as things happen on tv, but on the ice, the vast majority of moves must be based on instinct otherwise, the game is simply too fast to think it through.
Going back to beating my favorite mule....Kiomisarek never learned how to play defense. The size and a few seconds he had to think of the next move in junior evaporated at the NHL level. That 3 second window became less then a half a second where even the slightest, fraction of a second hesitation and the guy traveling at 44 feet per second is long gone. Yes, 44 feet per second. The 20 foot gap closing is done in half a second. Either the right choice is done, or wave byebye.
30mph x 5280ft devided by 3600 second in an hour equal.....44 feet per second.
Even butt skating special like me can hit 15mph....before I crash into the boards. I know because i tried. Both. The speed and the boards. So Komi would still have a problem figuring out in a ONE second if I'm going inside or outside...but little would he know that I'm going through him. LOL
It's no different from forwards and scoring. They have to have that "instinct" for scoring which basically means that the puck must be leaving their stick before they are "aware of it". Debating where the puck should go and to wrist or slap shot it is.....straight to the ECHL. To teach defense to a forward is more about hard work. Get back at full speed and cover your man or close the lanes. They don't have to develop the "instinct" of learning how the entire game is unfolding in front of them and reacting "instinctively".
In every case, when a forward is good defensively, it's based on hard work. Prime example is Danault. And inversely, how many time have we complained about Drouin. And the complaint is....he's "too lazy". It's certainly not the size or skating.
That's my two shekels on the subject.....
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Sept 9, 2019 9:53:26 GMT -5
McKeen's latest ranking of the top prospects. We have lots of names in the list, and KK is no longer considered a prospect at the tender age of 19.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Sept 9, 2019 22:11:04 GMT -5
Although chosen by Sudbury in the CHL export draft, our big Danish goalie is staying in Europe, playing in the Swedish junior elite league with Malmo.
A wee bit of news.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Sept 12, 2019 16:18:57 GMT -5
Arsen Khisamutdinov had a productive day today with Samara in the VHL. He scored the team's third goal on a nice power move to the net. He also scored a beauty shootout goal which was the insurance goal that lead to his team's 4-3 SO win. He now has two points in his first 3 VHL games, plus his SO goal today.
He is #64 in blue. In the first video, he is the tall left-handed RW who takes the cross ice pass and scores the goal.
His shootout goal showing some nice mitts.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Sept 14, 2019 7:48:22 GMT -5
Not a good start for two guys who will want to have a good year this season. Hope they are back in the lineup soon.  |
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Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Sept 14, 2019 8:54:11 GMT -5
I don't think the jet from BC can make it there soon enough Dis, but thanks anyway. I'm sure, beyond a doubt, you'd have liked that tournament, Mur ... Cheers. |
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Post by seventeen on Sept 14, 2019 13:00:25 GMT -5
I had a chance to see the prospects game live in Kelowna in 2012 and took it in. Years later, it is apparent it was one of the weaker draft classes. Best player on the ice was Derrick Pouliot. Sigh.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Sept 15, 2019 9:18:04 GMT -5
Another of our lesser known guys due to playing in high school hockey last year, here are some Pitlick highlights from his USHL preseason game. He is buzzing everywhere.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Sept 15, 2019 9:20:11 GMT -5
The video is crapola, but if he keeps this up, I expect he will get a call back up to his KHL team. He seems to be making his mark with his VHL squad so far.
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