[News] With the 21st overall pick Flames select C Mark Jankowski

[Olsy]

Originally Posted by opendoor

I don't know that I'd compare Wheeler's level of competition pre draft to Jankowski's. They're both high school leagues, but there are a host of NHL players who've played USHS both as 17-18 year olds (Parise, Wheeler, Oshie, Stepan, Kreider, etc.) as well as younger players who played as 16-17 year olds (Crosby, Toews, Stafford, etc.). As far as I'm aware an NHL player has never come out of the league Jankowski played in.

That doesn't mean he won't succeed, but comparing USHS to CAHS is a bit of a stretch.

Here are some alumni that played in the same league... not great but not bad.... http://www.esportsdesk.com/leagues/n...leagueID=10778

its not a purely Canadian league

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Olsy

Here are some alumni that played in the same league... not great but not bad.... http://www.esportsdesk.com/leagues/n...leagueID=10778

its not a purely Canadian league

So it's not like no one comes from that system.

Montoya, Stempniak, Purcell, Aaron Miller and Kaleta are all recognizable names.

[Olsy]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

So it's not like no one comes from that system.

Montoya, Stempniak, Purcell, Aaron Miller and Kaleta are all recognizable names.

Plus they played in a lot of tournaments in the New England area from what I heard, even more recognizable names at those schools.

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

Originally Posted by opendoor

BCHL players get drafted all the time. Benn, Turris, J. Schultz are a few recent successes just off the top of my head.

And Exeter is part of the USHS, from which 18 players were drafted this year, so I'm not sure why that's considered odd.

The CCHL one is the only really odd league, as it's a Tier 1 Junior A league.

I know. They're decent leagues that produce a few good players.

I was more or less making fun of a lot of posters on CP for freaking out yesterday because a player is drafted from a "non-traditional" league.

Not really making fun of the Canucks or their picks. No reason to... yet haha.

[Vinny01]

This kid was what 2-3 days old enough to be eligible for this draft. Basically I think it is a great risk. We may have drafted a player that would go top 5-10 had he been drafted next year. I love this risk right now and hope it pans out

[opendoor]

Originally Posted by Olsy

Here are some alumni that played in the same league... not great but not bad.... http://www.esportsdesk.com/leagues/n...leagueID=10778

its not a purely Canadian league

Most of Jankowski's games weren't in that league though. Only 13 of his 70 games were in the MPHL with the other 57 being in a Canadian high school league.

I'm not aware of any NHL players who've come from Canadian prep schools, but it'll be a pretty cool story if he can succeed.

[LickTheEnvelope]

As an outsider the pick was okay, high-risk/high-reward. I suppose the real test down the road is how good he is compared to Girgensons (and how useful Sieloff can be) as I was very surprised the Flames didn't take Girgensons.

[Olsy]

Originally Posted by opendoor

Most of Jankowski's games weren't in that league though. Only 13 of his 70 games were in the MPHL with the other 57 being in a Canadian high school league.

I'm not aware of any NHL players who've come from Canadian prep schools, but it'll be a pretty cool story if he can succeed.

Looks like mostly American teams to me....

http://www.stansteadcollege.com/athl...ms.php?S=5&C=5

[Roof-Daddy]

I really look forward to seeing how Jankowski does if he goes to Dubuque next season.

A good measuring stick, if he does, will be Girgensons 55 points in 49 games.

[Jake]

For the first time in years I have some trust in the Flames scouting abilities... it is a fragile trust, but it has been consistently gotten stronger over the last few years... so I am fine with the Jankowski pick.

I hope he goes to the OHL next season.

[Flamezzz]

Originally Posted by OutOfTheCube

From a purely fan perspective it's hard to like the pick, it's a player no one has heard of. But we aren't scouts or management.

From a Flames fan perspective, I'd be disappointed that they passed on (seemingly) better picks at the #14 spot. Though we won't know for sure for a number of years, it's only natural for a large number of the fanbase to be disappointed at this time.

You do know that not all fans are alike? You shouldn't generalize because there isn't one fan perspecitive.

With that being said, I'm not disappointed with the pick just because I haven't heard of the guys name. I'll put faith in our management and trust that they've done their homework on this young man.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by opendoor

I'm not aware of any NHL players who've come from Canadian prep schools, but it'll be a pretty cool story if he can succeed.

Based on what someone was saying last night, Stanstead is trying to build itself up to be similar to the Notre Dame Hounds program in Saskatchewan and Shattuck St. Mary's in Minnesota.

Plenty of NHL players (including Brad Richards at Notre Dame, and Sidney Crosby at Shattuck) played for some time at those schools, but had gone elsewhere before their draft, so they weren't drafted from the prep school. Because of his young age, Jankowski hasn't graduated to the next level yet, so he was drafted out of Stanstead. If he was 2 days younger, he would have been drafted next year out of Dubuque and no one would have batted an eye.



For years, we've complained that the Flames only draft big kids from the WHL and aren't taking advantage of the less-scouted areas like they were doing 25-30 years ago when they were stealing NCAA guys like Suter, Otto, Hull, and Nieuwendyk. This has the potential to be that kind of pick.

We've put our faith in Weisbrod being a mad hockey genius, now, we find out whether or not that faith was misplaced.

[Alberta_Beef]

Originally Posted by Oil Stain

They obviously aren't that impressed with his skills and potential or the kid would have been ranked, and went higher then 21st overall. 2/3rds of NHL scouting teams passed him by.

You have to remember certain things, first only 18 teams passed on Jankowski (Tampa & Buffalo did twice), so thats still 12 teams that could have taken him.

second, being passed over by alot of teams doesn't mean the player can't be a home run, your own Eberle was picked 22nd.

[Mitch]

Hollyy look at his hands.

[Roof-Daddy]

Originally Posted by Mitch

Hollyy look at his hands.

They're monstrous......but don't call me Hollyy.

[trublmaker]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

They're monstrous......but don't call me Hollyy.

Hopefully he fills out to fit those canned hams

[Mitch]

nm

[Francis's Hairpiece]

Damn he looks like a German Shepard puppy, with those huge paws. As mentioned I hope he grows into them.

[T@T]

Just heard from a friend somewhat in the know that Florida,Vancouver and Detroit wanted him. Apparently Detroit had a deal in place for a high first rounder and pulled it off the table when Calgary took him.

[GGG]

I think one of the problems with evaluating a draft in the future is that when you look at busts they are compared to the best player that wasnt chosen.

So if Jankowski is a bust it isnt fair to compare him to the best of TT, Ceci, Gergunsen oe Gaunce because we couldnt have had all of those players we would have only have had one. So if you wanted to draft TT and both he and Jankoski are busts but gergensen is an all star you shouldnt really be outraged because you would have also been upset if the flames drafted gergensen.

So if in the future you want to complain about this pick i think it is important to compare him to the player you would have picked and not to the field.

Also even if Jankowski is a bust that doesnt mean he was the wrong pick because we are looking at probabilities rather than absolutes. You might have to draft 10 Jankowskis to get a bonified number 1 center and 1 second line center but if you draft 10 Gaunces you might get 8 number 3 center and 1 number 2 center. So years down the road if Gauce is a number 2 center and Jankowski is a wash out does that mean he was the wrong choice? I dont think it does as what we were trying to draft was a number 1 center and that comes with higher risk.

So even if he doesnt pan out it might still have been the right choice as if you keep taking the high rish, high reward players eventually you should get rewarded.