The Future Looks Bright: Nemisz and Backlund win on Sunday

[Freeway]

Flames prospect Greg Nemisz won his second-straight Memorial Cup as a member of the Windsor Spitfires and fellow prospect Mikael Backlund won a bronze medal at the World Championships with Sweden on Sunday.

Who says the Flames don't have any good prospects?

Congrats to both and hopefully they can carry that momentum into training camp in the fall.

[Jesse834]

nm.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by Jesse834

Never been big on Greg Nemisz as I believe he is too lanky of a kid..

This is of course, a joke?

[puckluck]

I really don't ever get a chance to watch Nemisz so can someone that watches him give his strenghts and weaknesses?

[mikey_the_redneck]

Originally Posted by puckluck

I really don't ever get a chance to watch Nemisz so can someone that watches him give his strenghts and weaknesses?

Some posters have criticized his skating, but for what it's worth I thought he looked just fine in that department.

Seems good along the boards, and wins most of his faceoffs.
Goes to the net and looks like he has a firm grasp on the defensive side of the game.

[icarus]

Six posts into a prospects thread... I better do the obligatory "great just what we need, more grinders"

[dash_pinched]

Originally Posted by icarus

Six posts into a prospects thread... I better do the obligatory "great just what we need, more grinders"

It's a shame that in this case it's the truth. Nemisz looks more and more like a plumber with every outing that I see him. Who cares if he's big, the guy has stone hands.

[Loob/Backlund]

Nemisz does not have hands of stone. In fact he has really soft hands and is creative as well. No he is not the best skater but for his size and talent he moves pretty good. I have also noticed a big improvement in his skating since last year, it takes bigger guys a little longer for their feet to catch up with their hands. Nemisz is a quality prospect for the Flames no doubt about it.
Here is just a small taste of the skill of Nemisz around the net. Watch both goals he really does have soft hands!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcaRkA-C9CY

[DropIt]

Nemisz definately has the hands and instincts of a born playmaker. I'm not sure where the 'hands of stone' came from but he has a very accurate pass and is quite calm with the puck.
As said earlier, he is great along the boards and in the corners at using his size and hands to fish out pucks and is pretty solid on his skates.
His weakness is his skating, however. He seems to require the extra stride or two then most to hit his speed.
Either way, he is a good prospect, as most 1st round selections are and I would anticipate he will be on the Flames team in the 2013-2014 season

[Robbob]

The other thing I have heard is Nemisz has great hockey sense and is a really big body. People figure he should be around 220-230 lbs when he starts playing pro. He is also a really dependable defensive player already. A lot of good things if you ask me.

[boogerz]

Originally Posted by DropIt

Nemisz definately has the hands and instincts of a born playmaker

I've noticed that as well

Big man who plays like a small man



Although my one complaint is that every game in the Mem Cup whenever he had the puck in the offensive zone he'd go in, toe drag, and immediately shoot it wide or pass it off. Very predictable. Hopefully that was just a one off type of thing and won't carry over to the Heat next year

[oldschoolcalgary]

Originally Posted by DropIt

Nemisz definately has the hands and instincts of a born playmaker. I'm not sure where the 'hands of stone' came from but he has a very accurate pass and is quite calm with the puck.
As said earlier, he is great along the boards and in the corners at using his size and hands to fish out pucks and is pretty solid on his skates.
His weakness is his skating, however. He seems to require the extra stride or two then most to hit his speed.
Either way, he is a good prospect, as most 1st round selections are and I would anticipate he will be on the Flames team in the 2013-2014 season

IMO, if the kid isn't up with the club after 2 years of minors at the most, he isn't going to amount to much.

the skating is not at the elite level, despite the teams at the Mem Cup. the WJC was a better gauge of the talent he'll be facing at the NHL level, and Nemisz didn't set the world on fire there, say, unlike Backlund or even Dustin Boyd or Nigel Dawes or Iggy.

That's the relative comparison imo.

[JiriHrdina]

Originally Posted by oldschoolcalgary

IMO, if the kid isn't up with the club after 2 years of minors at the most, he isn't going to amount to much.

the skating is not at the elite level, despite the teams at the Mem Cup. the WJC was a better gauge of the talent he'll be facing at the NHL level, and Nemisz didn't set the world on fire there, say, unlike Backlund or even Dustin Boyd or Nigel Dawes or Iggy.

That's the relative comparison imo.

No it's not at all because he was asked to fill a completely different role than what those guys were.

It's not a relative comparison in the least.

Moreover the WJCs is not a good way to assess talent because the sample size is too small.

[oldschoolcalgary]

Originally Posted by JiriHrdina

No it's not at all because he was asked to fill a completely different role than what those guys were.

It's not a relative comparison in the least.

Moreover the WJCs is not a good way to assess talent because the sample size is too small.

was he asked, or was that the level at which he could contribute to the team?

if, hypothetically, Nemisz lit it up at the WJC, people would cite that as a reason for being excited about him and using a dominant performance against other elite competition as being a harbinger of future success - despite the small sample size that you speak of...the fact that wasn't the case does not invalidate that argument.

That's human nature - we want to hope for the best and will tailor the data to support the argument. I know that the way I post is skewed to some degree.

As with all these discussions on player potential, its all speculative, all opinion, at the end of the day, so we'll reach an impasse pretty quickly.

I'll happily eat crow if Nemisz turns out to be the player that the optimists believe he can be. Luckily, all we have to do is wait and see...

[JiriHrdina]

Originally Posted by oldschoolcalgary

was he asked, or was that the level at which he could contribute to the team?

if, hypothetically, Nemisz lit it up at the WJC, people would cite that as a reason for being excited about him and using a dominant performance against other elite competition as being a harbinger of future success - despite the small sample size that you speak of...the fact that wasn't the case does not invalidate that argument.

I am countering your opinion about what is and is not a "relative comparison" as you called it. I've long maintained the WJCs are not the best way to assess any prospect - so this is nothing new for me or specific to Nemisz.

The fact is that when it comes to prospect point totals are less important than assessing the raw skills and abilities with an aim to try and guess how they will translate to the next level.

The fact that he didn't score much at the WJCs really doesn't matter much at all in the long-term.

[oldschoolcalgary]

Originally Posted by JiriHrdina

I am countering your opinion about what is and is not a "relative comparison" as you called it. I've long maintained the WJCs are not the best way to assess any prospect - so this is nothing new for me or specific to Nemisz.

The fact is that when it comes to prospect point totals are less important than assessing the raw skills and abilities with an aim to try and guess how they will translate to the next level.

The fact that he didn't score much at the WJCs really doesn't matter much at all in the long-term.

fair enough.

point totals can be misleading, as certain styles/skillsets are better suited to the NHL as opposed to Jr. for example. Maybe Nemisz has that skillset.

That being said, in terms of statistical arguments, if Nemisz did light it up in junior, people would be salivating, because those point totals are a quantifiable measure of skill set...high point totals, nor low point totals, are not a 100% accurate metric for future success, however, that is all fans have to go on at this stage of player's careers.

[sevenarms]

What I got from the WJC was that Nemisz was always playing defensive will Kadri went in to the offensive zone and lost the puck. The reason Nemisz didn't shine at the WJC was because he had to cover for that bonehead's mistakes. Coupled with not playing on the PP and it's not a surprise that Nemisz had poor stats.

[mikey_the_redneck]

Originally Posted by oldschoolcalgary

fair enough.

point totals can be misleading, as certain styles/skillsets are better suited to the NHL as opposed to Jr. for example. Maybe Nemisz has that skillset.

That being said, in terms of statistical arguments, if Nemisz did light it up in junior, people would be salivating, because those point totals are a quantifiable measure of skill set...high point totals, nor low point totals, are not a 100% accurate metric for future success, however, that is all fans have to go on at this stage of player's careers.

If it is point totals you're after....

...had he not missed any time this year from injury and WJC ...Nemisz production with the Spitfires would have been around 45 goals with about 93 points...

I would say that's pretty skilled...

[oldschoolcalgary]

Originally Posted by mikey_the_redneck

If it is point totals you're after....

...had he not missed any time this year from injury and WJC ...Nemisz production with the Spitfires would have been around 45 goals with about 93 points...

I would say that's pretty skilled...

I guess we'll find out pretty soon then - with those numbers, the kid should only have enough time for a cup of coffee in the minors...a year tops right?.

[FlamesFanStrandedInEDM]

The Flames Dont have good prospects

Sincerely

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