2012/13 Prospect Stats & Updates Thread

[Vulcan]

Originally Posted by kehatch

Never want to be a damper on prospects. Especially when there is no other hockey to get excited about. But I would take Culkin with a grain of salt. He is on the best offensive team in the QMJHL and it is just 8-games in.

Still a positive sign and definite development from last season.

Yeah, IIRC JD Watt was leading the WHL in scoring early in one season. It didn't mean much but glad to see Culkin progressing at this stage.

[Bowvechkin]

What's going on with Turner Elson? In the dog house or injured?

[moon]

Originally Posted by Francis's Hairpiece

But weren't these guys you mentioned all first round picks? IF (big IF) Culkin keeps it up, that's impressive as a fifth rounder.

There have been about 1 or 2 a year in the OHL that weren't 1st round or even drafted but most have been in their 20 year old season.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by Francis's Hairpiece

But weren't these guys you mentioned all first round picks? IF (big IF) Culkin keeps it up, that's impressive as a fifth rounder.

Sure those guys were drafted high. I didn't mention most of the names who lead the OHL, WHL and QMJHL in scoring who are often not highly regarded prospects. Especially in the WHL and QMJHL there is a history of mediocre prospects or non-prospects leading the league in defensemen scoring or up near the top.

Basically what you can deduce from looking at a decade of the top 5 in defensemen scoring from all the junior leagues is that you'll see a few highly regarded names but there's also as many or more guys you'd probably have never heard of unless you're a big junior fan. So point per game average for a defensemen is not necessarily highly correlated with being an elite prospect.

Obviously the same is true of a lot of high scoring junior forwards who never even make the NHL.

So my point? It's always nice when your prospects are scoring well in junior but in general you can't read too much into stats. It's nice to see Culkin producing but we're not going to anoint him the next Brodie in our pipeline just yet. Hopefully he continues to have a great year and is solid overall as a defenseman.

[Freeway]

Adam Kambeitz has been traded from Red Deer. Turner Elson is staying in Red Deer.

[Drake]

Laurent Brossoit and his Edmonton Oil Kings teammates will be on WHL On Shaw as they are in Medicine Hat to take on the Tigers tomorrow at 7:00 PM MT.

[Ashasx]

Don't really want to create a thread for these, but I love this kind of stuff:




Weisbrod: "If it doesn't work out, I'll take the heat."

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

^^ I liked watching those too. It's neat to see the behind the scenes stuff.

[Henry Fool]

Second straight shutout for Ortio, 27 saves in a 3-0 win, and Granlund showed good vision on a pass on HIFK's third goal.

Highlights: http://www.ruutu.fi/ohjelmat/sm-liiga/hifk-hpk-9102012

EDIT: the other goalie's saves were 3+3+5=11, so it appears that Ortio really was the difference.

[Tilley]

Turner Elson back in the line up for Red Deer and has apparently been named the new captain of the Rebels.

Tyler Wotherspoon also back in action for the Winterhawks.

[J epworth]

Originally Posted by Tilley

Turner Elson back in the line up for Red Deer and has apparently been named the new captain of the Rebels.

Tyler Wotherspoon also back in action for the Winterhawks.

I'm going to be going to the Blades vs Winterhawks game tomorrow night, happy to hear that Wotherspoon will be in the line-up, but I'd be lying if I didn't say that Seth Jones is the main reason I'm going to the game tomorrow.

[cznTiburon]

Originally Posted by Henry Fool

Second straight shutout for Ortio, 27 saves in a 3-0 win, and Granlund showed good vision on a pass on HIFK's third goal.

Highlights: http://www.ruutu.fi/ohjelmat/sm-liiga/hifk-hpk-9102012

EDIT: the other goalie's saves were 3+3+5=11, so it appears that Ortio really was the difference.

sooo... what is up with those gold helmats? instead of the C do captains wear those? looks like a power up for the EA games

[sevenarms]

Originally Posted by cznTiburon

sooo... what is up with those gold helmats? instead of the C do captains wear those? looks like a power up for the EA games

I believe it's the leading scorer.

[devo22]

yeah, the leading scorer of every team in Finland wears a golden helmet.

[J epworth]

Wotherspoon with 2 assists after 2. He's been playing with Jones all night, they've both looked dominating at times. 3-0 winter hawks right now

[Ashasx]

Fantastic game by Brossoit in 4-2 win. First star.

[J epworth]

Winterhawks ended up winning tonight 4-0. I ended up cheering for them, mainly because the Blades fans were so quiet all night, and the team so uninspiring that I just couldn't bring myself to cheer for them. Weird being in a city where I really just don't care for the team, and just like watching the games.

Anyways, Wotherspoon was very solid all night, you can tell he's 2 years older than a lot of the players on the ice, his size and poise gives the Winterhawks a good veteran presence. Not surprised at all that he was wearing an 'A'. Only saw one mistake where he blindly passed the puck right into the slot, luckily the Blades players were surprised he made such a bonehead play and weren't ready for the gift pass.

Jones showed flashes of complete brilliance out there, especially on his goal. You can tell why scouts are singing his praises. He reminds me of Bouwmeester (in a good way) in that he covers the ice so well without it looking like he is putting any effort into it. He still is a bit raw though, much like Jankowski was at camp this summer. You see that the talent is there, it's just not being totally executed yet to it's full potential. At this point I can't see him being one of those guys who makes the jump straight to pro out of his draft year, but he is going to definitely be a solid NHLer.

Quick note on the Blades. I'll be going to more games this winter, probably most likely only when a Flames prospect or a top prospect is coming to town. But at this point I am not going to be enjoying watching them play. They have absolutely no desire or drive out there. It was very similar to last season, they are a team that just doesn't look like they really care. Lukas Sutter is by far my favourite on the team, I'm also really liking the addition of Jessey Astles to the team. Overall though, they need to improve by miles if they don't want to embarrass themselves at the Memorial Cup this spring. Hopefully they can get a few more good acquisitions and become a bit more exciting of a team to watch.

[Roughneck]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

Don't really want to create a thread for these, but I love this kind of stuff:




Weisbrod: "If it doesn't work out, I'll take the heat."

Is it weird that I have more faith in the scouting department because of the footage of the scouts showing they aren't all "yes men" and actually argue with each other?

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

Originally Posted by Roughneck

Is it weird that I have more faith in the scouting department because of the footage of the scouts showing they aren't all "yes men" and actually argue with each other?

Not at all.

I, too, am happy that 'groupthink' isn't a factor in scouting decision-making.

My experience with groups is usually it dumbs down the conversation and the ideas generated in those discussions. I'm glad that's not happening with the Flames.

[Freeway]

Fun fact: the Flames scouting department does not share notes with each other on players outside of the meetings, as they don't want to "lead" anybody to like or not like a player based on somebody else's notions of them.