Quote:
Originally Posted by Matty81
I don't think it would be terrible but I wouldn't be really excited to see him sent to Brandon either.
Maybe it's changing if Provorov and Pulock pan out but it's not been a very good program for NHL defencemen as long as I can remember under the same regime. Probably missing somebody but the last guy I remember coming out of there who became an NHL regular D man was Wade Redden in the mid 90s (Tollefson is probably the only other guy who even came close in 20 years). Watching Eric Roy there the last few years - and it could have been the player, but his development flatlined at best.
Facilities are not great, they play in a 50+ year old stadium and the players are really under the microscope day to day in the small WHL prairie towns.
That said, great team this year, and they've done a good job producing NHL forwards so maybe it's just been bad luck.
Not that I'm aware of a slam dunk program, but if he has to go down I'd at least rather see him in a bigger centre with better facilities. Kelowna has been the D factory in the WHL for years but has a new coaching staff now and the blueline is much younger and weaker than it has been in years past so I wouldn't advocate for a move here the same way I would have in past years.
Can he go to the ECHL? Makes more sense to me.
|
Ryan Huska, the coach of that Kelowna D factory, is our AHL boss. No better place for Kylington than Stockton.