Rate Mr Hanowski

[GreenLantern2814]

Liked that in a game where he was obviously overflowing with nerves, his main move was to make simpler safe smart plays.

Agree with those saying he's awkward, not slow. He gets to where he needs to be.

His lack of hits was a little concerning, but clearly it's only one game and more time is needed. I don't know if we'll ever see him become much of a pugilist, he's never played in a league where it was legal, and if he just drops the gloves with a guy with five or ten NHL fights, it could go very badly for him. But this is a separate issue.

Looks like he needs at least a few months with Troy ward. But he should be a useful guy going forward, and if he develops some offensive touch at the NHL level, awesome. Good luck, Ben!

[FAN]

Don't really care how he looks out there. It's all about the results. If he puts up the numbers and isn't a defensive liability he's good.

[calgarywinning]

I think it was just smart to give him a taste of the big game and see if he can span the gap to want to play in the NHL. Very smart by management. What do we have to lose?

[dying4acup]

He pretty much made nemiczs obsolete in one night. Lol

Hoping he can become a Brian McClellan or Colin Patterson as a scoring winger on a top line.

[FlameZilla]

Originally Posted by HitterD

I was at the game as well. i'd give him a B, he got a goal and should have scored another on a nice give and go with Cammy. He showed a good quick release but it was a nice save from backstrom. Other than those two shifts, however, he did virtually nothing. Hopefully, with a few more games of experience, he plays with a little more edge, he's got the frame to be an effective 3rd line winger with scoring potential, as long as he can get in on the forecheck a little better.

From watching the broadcast I wouldn't say he did 'virtually nothing' in all but 2 shifts. Possibly easier to follow him on the ice from the broadcast position as the camera focused on him quite a bit.

He started off totally lost (caught offside on the first shift of the game) and I though 'someone teach this guy the offside rule!'. He was obviously awestruck. He skated hard and tried to throw the body as much as he could. He made a few good decisions with the puck, showing better poise and vision than I expected. Got a great shot on Backstrom after the give&go with Cammy. From then on I think he got rid of the butterflies & played a solid game. Tried to muck it up on the boards when he could get there in time. Would have liked to have seen some aggression when one of the Wild took some liberties in our crease with Joey MacDonald. Very happy to see him rewarded with a goal.

He made roughly the same contribution that Iggy would make for us on an 'off' night the last few seasons He's also the only guy other than Jackman who has the size & ability to muck it up in front of the net. He, for all intents & purposes, has replaced David Moss based on that performance. We'll have to see how he does when the adrenaline wears off & he settles in.

[trublmaker]

He got the first goal out of the way, good for him, beyond that lets wait and see.

[Flames Fan in Exile]

Awkward skating.... Reminds me of Mullins stride.... But good for him on that goal.

[Split98]

Originally Posted by oldschoolcalgary

Agreed wrt the one game comment. Simply remarking on the physical similarities and the expected challenges that Hanowski will need to overcome.

Scoring in your first game isn't necessarily a sign of anything.

No, and especially a goal like that. But it's worth mentioning if we're going to take that one game (not directed at you, just the thread in general) as a basis for evaluation.

And yeah, I'd like for him to use his size a bit more but I doubt we'll have a problem seeing that from him. Besides a net presence, I didn't see any similarities in playing style to Niemsz.

I'll bet once he becomes more familiar with who he's playing with and playing against he'll get some more jam. Right now, I'm sure 'don't look like an idiot' was forefront on his mind. So hauling ass up the wrong wing, taking a roughing or charging penalty, putting the play offside, taking the wrong net assignment, and missing a defensive cover were all things that he was mindful of out there. When you start worrying about these things, you don't have loose feet and a good ice flow; and you become flat footed and tentative. Give him a few days to get more confident in his role and then I'll start thinking about what we really have in this guy.

Attitude wise however, I'm loving what I'm seeing so far. Between him, Mac, and oddly Hudler I'm happy we have some character in a locker room that could feel like a prison some nights.

[EldrickOnIce]

Originally Posted by Split98

No, and especially a goal like that.

A goal like what? One where you support the puck along the wall, win the battle for it, chip it to a team mate and then get to the front of the net and bang it in? That kinda goal?
Cuz goals like that say a lot in my books - not about whether you will ever play more than a game or two in the NHL, but a lot about who you are as a player. And Hanowski is a good one

[flambers]

He played well for his first Professional game, he scored once... should have had two (Wild's goalie made a great save).

Sure, he has lots of areas he can work on..... that is to be expected

[Hockeyguy15]

Another thing I might add, on top of going from NCAA to NHL he also had to go from full face mask to a visor and that takes a bit to get used to as well.

[IgiTang]

From College hockey straight to the NHL with 0 practices with a brand new team. Suddenly playing with Cammi. Anyone surprised he looked a little out of place, or alot out of place for that matter is out to lunch.

To bring the kind of attitude, nerves, and charactor Ben did is amazing.

Offside on his first nhl shift with never a single "profesional" practice under his belt... Come on...

The guy is clearly a gamer and will just get better.

[Northendzone]

personally, i'd trade him now - he is a proven goal a game scorer, his value will never be higher.

[GreenLantern]

He looked about as slow out there as Iggy did his first few games with the Pens.

Good confidence boosting game, but he definitely looked out of place.

[Stay Golden]

Hanowski looks like a kid that will be a hard worker. Knows where he needs to be to score goals but needs to work on how to get there quicker, needs to improve his skating.
I think he shows alot of promise as a big body Lucic type player.
Not saying he is as good as Lucic but has that kind of potential.
After driving home from the game i heard him on 960 he wasn't gloating about his goal or his game instead said "i have a lot of work to do. I need to get better".

To me that answer is telling of a young guy that is going to be very teachable.
Over all he was much better than i what i expected for a guy going from NCAA to the NHL within a 2-3 days without practices facing NHL caliber D men.

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by Stay Golden

Hanowski looks like a kid that will be a hard worker. Knows where he needs to be to score goals but needs to work on how to get there quicker, needs to improve his skating.
I think he shows alot of promise as a big body Lucic type player.
Not saying he is as good as Lucic but has that kind of potential.
After driving home from the game i heard him on 960 he wasn't gloating about his goal or his game instead said "i have a lot of work to do. I need to get better".

To me that answer is telling of a young guy that is going to be very teachable.
Over all he was much better than i what i expected for a guy going from NCAA to the NHL within a 2-3 days without practices facing NHL caliber D men.

And playing an unusually large amount of time against Ryan suter.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

I have never played at the NCAA level, or the NHL level, but I suspect there might be a bit of a difference.

Perhaps it might be better to review this fella's play at the end of next season.

fyp

[oldschoolcalgary]

Originally Posted by Stay Golden

Hanowski looks like a kid that will be a hard worker. Knows where he needs to be to score goals but needs to work on how to get there quicker, needs to improve his skating.
I think he shows alot of promise as a big body Lucic type player.
Not saying he is as good as Lucic but has that kind of potential.
After driving home from the game i heard him on 960 he wasn't gloating about his goal or his game instead said "i have a lot of work to do. I need to get better".

To me that answer is telling of a young guy that is going to be very teachable.
Over all he was much better than i what i expected for a guy going from NCAA to the NHL within a 2-3 days without practices facing NHL caliber D men.

That's one of the questions with Hanowski; will he play big? Doesn't mean he needs to fight, but he definitely has the added potential of being hard to play against if he understands leverage and the use of his body.

Not to harp on Neimisz, but that was part of his issue. He wasn't nearly physical enough. Especially to play in the hard areas of the ice that posters seemed to think would fit his skillset

Hanowski's skating is an issue-whether he can overcome that remains to be seen (neimisz never did and I don't think the organization even considers him a prospect at this point)

Ps pretty sure the hair is part of a cancer fund raising thing that St.Cloud was doing...which is a great cause, just sayin I wouldn't get too attached to it

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by GGG

He has much needed size and toughness. You put him, Reinhart and a small skill guy on the third line next year and it would be fun to watch.

I think his energy level, if he can maintain it, will be very helpful next year.

I also love the hair. The key to the playoffs is good beards and good hair.

If you are thinking that he will be with the Flames next year, I think you need to manage your expectations.

I agree with the posters who said awkward skating style but not slow. As for being lost - absolutely, no one should have expected any different. However, despite the fact that his head was swivelling around like a 14 year-old in a strip club, I thought he handled the situation well. He kept working hard and trying to do his job.

Love his attitude, and because of that, I think he could be in the NHL in a year or two.

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

Without paying strict attention I couldn't tell sometimes which player was Max and which one was Hanowski. Both wearing number 50s and both had the hockey hair going haha.

I guess if I were conclude anything from his one game, I'd say it'd be nice to see a bit more physicality out of the kid, but I think that'll come in time. That 6'2" 210 frame shouldn't go to waste.

Happy for him that he got that goal, but my god, he's painful to listen to in interviews. He's so damn stoic. He never even cracks a smile. You see guys like Aliu and Sven and they're just beaming and then there's Hanowski who looks like someone just killed his dog haha.