Quote:
Originally Posted by Pierre "Monster" McGuire
I absolutely love the way this team is playing right now. They had a few crappy games, but seem to have snapped out of it these last couple of games.
My one concern is this:
Will these veteran players like Walter, Kolanos, Laing, Rheault, Wilson, Piskula, Henry, etc. take ice time away from our real prospects like Byron, Nemisz, Bouma, Brodie, Breen, Sylvester, Howse, Wahl, Bancks, etc.?
I really hope this isn't the case, there's a very fine line between the AHL being completely for development purposes and creating a winning AHL club. I just hope Feaster, Ward, and the rest of the people in the organization don't start leaning too far towards the "winning" side. That may sound weird, and don't get me wrong I love watching them win, but not at the sacrifice of the development of our prospects via lack of ice time.
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I think we are seeing the results of a meritocracy. Players are earning their ice time on a nightly basis. Troy Ward and Jay Feaster have effectively used the ECHL to condition players not performing to par, and the same goes for AHL ice time.
Bouma and Breen have seen plenty of time and haven't been able to use it effectively. Byron sees quite a bit of ice as well. I often question Brent Sutter's allocation of minutes on the main roster, but Troy Ward really seems on point with giving the right guys the right minutes. Right now, providing a little shelter for the likes of Nemisz, Sylvester, Howse, Wahl and Bancks probably helps their development, not hinders it. The pressure for ice time might be a big part of what makes Abbotsford such a strong defensive club.
I haven't seen enough to worry about prospects being buried, though I wonder what Wahl's road to recovery will look like. With 5 goals and 7 points in 5 games in the ECHL, it seems like he is about ready to return to the AHL. Bouma might swap places with him, which probably wouldn't hurt either player at this point.