Mark "Fricken" Jankowski (aka The Big Jankowski)

[Alberta_Beef]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Yeah, I don't want to take anything away from Maatta making the team and putting up some points, but let's be clear here: Salo is playing top 4 for Finland and there is no way in hell I would want him on the Flames.

Maatta has been playing well but the Canadians brutally exposed him more than once. Still, I give him credit for what he has done.

Oh definitely, he is a very good young player there is no doubt about that.

[PeteMoss]

i thought Matta looked pretty darn good in that Finland/Canada game. Salo is old. Matta is 19... still junior eligible and he hung with Team Canada for the most part. Its pretty darn impressive.

[saXon]

Its been 4 days since I last checked this thread. The same argument is still going on.

The Flames didn't pick Maatta. They picked Jankowski. They also picked Erixon, Nemisz, Kidd, Fata, Irving, Pelech, and Krahn.

Woulda coulda shoulda, move the #### on already.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by saXon

Its been 4 days since I last checked this thread. The same argument is still going on.

The Flames didn't pick Maatta. They picked Jankowski. They also picked Erixon, Nemisz, Kidd, Fata, Irving, Pelech, and Krahn.

Woulda coulda shoulda, move the #### on already.

You don't come around here much eh?

No topic can ever be beaten up enough.....

[Crumpy-Gunt]

Originally Posted by saXon

Its been 4 days since I last checked this thread. The same argument is still going on.

The Flames didn't pick Maatta. They picked Jankowski. They also picked Erixon, Nemisz, Kidd, Fata, Irving, Pelech, and Krahn.

Woulda coulda shoulda, move the #### on already.

I love when people check threads they dont like or are annoyed with the conversation going on just to complain. Why dont you just move on from this thread?

The point is people are already saying Maata and other players like Hertl would have been much better picks when none of these players have proven too much or are on rebuilding teams. A lot of the people making these claims have probably never even watched Jankowski more than a hand full of times. Have some humility Folks. Who knows how Janko will turn out and its unfair to compare him to a defenceman who was drafted by the Pens and is playing for the Finish mens national team (with a few young players like Maata). I'd love to see Maata achieve the same honours as a Canadian D man playing for Edmonton or Buffalo who went the NCAA route and already cracked the NHL.

Some of you guys are so impatient and seem to be able to predict the future careers of players in their 2nd NCAA season, and first NHL seasons.

I'm not saying Jankowski will be the next Crosby, and I really like Maata's game but I definitely saved a lot of quotes and usernames from this thread for when Jankowski does play in the NHL. Could be interesting.

[Heavy Jack]

Originally Posted by PeteMoss

i thought Matta looked pretty darn good in that Finland/Canada game. Salo is old. Matta is 19... still junior eligible and he hung with Team Canada for the most part. Its pretty darn impressive.

I too wish we choose this kid but we didn't. Janko hasn't even had a chance yet to prove himself at the next level and he was picked knowing that he was going to be a project pick. I wanna see more posts about Janko in his thread instead of posts about guys we passed on to pick him. Maybe in the future that would be fair discussion but both players still are young in their respective careers. What if Maatta pulls a Luke Schenn and regresses to a bottom pairing D?? What if Janko establishes himself as a big-game Center once he fully matures his game?? It's too young to make any sudden judgements on Janko or players relating to his draft choice.

[saXon]

Originally Posted by Crumpy-Gunt

I love when people check threads they dont like or are annoyed with the conversation going on just to complain. Why dont you just move on from this thread?

I come to the prospect threads daily for news and insight as to what is going on in the world of the kids in the Flames' prospect system. not to be spoon fed dead horse that's been kicked to death and rotting for 2.5 years.

Since this thread is about Janko, and not about Maatta, why don't you just move on from the conversation?

Maybe start a 'Who the Flames should have picked' thread and move your issues there so we can get back to the real news.

[stignasty]

[nik-]

My stance on the Jankowski pick is pretty clear ... but even as someone who doesn't think he's anything special, I was expecting his production would improve more than it did this year. Pretty disappointing.

[Alberta_Beef]

Originally Posted by nik-

My stance on the Jankowski pick is pretty clear ... but even as someone who doesn't think he's anything special, I was expecting his production would improve more than it did this year. Pretty disappointing.

How much production did you actually expect and did you alter those expectations when it became clear the role he was going to be playing? I ask that because I think many had it in their heads than Janko would be a top line player this year.

He has already exceeded his goal totals and matched his points totals from a year ago. Last year he played wing with Mauermann (Providence's leading scorer this year) as his centreman, this year his linemates have very little offensive instincts. He has also moved from wing to centre and greatly improved his defensive game. The fact he his production is increasing with lesser linemates should actually be seen as quite encouraging.

If Providence had kept Jankowski on LW this year and played him with Mauermann I have little doubt Jankowski would have met if not exceeded the expectations many placed on him.

I would temper expectations next year as well unless Mauermann leaves school early for an NHL deal (which I doubt will happen) because as a senior that #1 centre spot will be his and other than Mauermann, Jankowski and Saracino the Friars will have next no offensive talented players. The best thing for Jankowski would be if Leaman decided to move Mauermann to RW and have a Saracino/Jankowski/Mauermann line, but I would not expect that as many coaches don't like putting all their eggs in one basket.

[Calgary4LIfe]

Originally Posted by nik-

My stance on the Jankowski pick is pretty clear ... but even as someone who doesn't think he's anything special, I was expecting his production would improve more than it did this year. Pretty disappointing.

Everything is still relative. While we all wanted to see him explode offensively, he is still finding his groove playing center at the NCAA this season (was a winger last year), and Providence is a fairly weak offensive team. He doesn't have many players to play with that can generate offence well. I think it is safe to say his production would have been much higher if he was in Boston.

What Providence is giving him is great systems development, however. He should come out of that program being a very responsible center (which really lowers his bust potential), but will also inherit the #1 center role next year. Next year will be a much more telling year for him offensively, as he is more used to his role as a center, and he will have more offensive opportunities (and will also hopefully be a bit thicker so he can battle through the opposition's defence better).

[Alberta_Beef]

Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe

Everything is still relative. While we all wanted to see him explode offensively, he is still finding his groove playing center at the NCAA this season (was a winger last year), and Providence is a fairly weak offensive team. He doesn't have many players to play with that can generate offence well. I think it is safe to say his production would have been much higher if he was in Boston.

What Providence is giving him is great systems development, however. He should come out of that program being a very responsible center (which really lowers his bust potential), but will also inherit the #1 center role next year. Next year will be a much more telling year for him offensively, as he is more used to his role as a center, and he will have more offensive opportunities (and will also hopefully be a bit thicker so he can battle through the opposition's defence better).

Mauermann is only a Junior, he will likely be around another year unless he gets a contract offer and goes pro

[Calgary4LIfe]

Originally Posted by Alberta_Beef

Mauermann is only a Junior, he will likely be around another year unless he gets a contract offer and goes pro

I stand corrected.

I also didn't see your post above mine. Must have had this thread loaded up while I was busy on the phone. Kind of made my post irrelevant. lol

[nik-]

Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe

Everything is still relative. While we all wanted to see him explode offensively, he is still finding his groove playing center at the NCAA this season (was a winger last year), and Providence is a fairly weak offensive team. He doesn't have many players to play with that can generate offence well. I think it is safe to say his production would have been much higher if he was in Boston.

What Providence is giving him is great systems development, however. He should come out of that program being a very responsible center (which really lowers his bust potential), but will also inherit the #1 center role next year. Next year will be a much more telling year for him offensively, as he is more used to his role as a center, and he will have more offensive opportunities (and will also hopefully be a bit thicker so he can battle through the opposition's defence better).

Weak offensive team is one thing, but being pretty much flat in production your second year is a bad sign. This supposed super talented kid should find a way. I wasn't expecting an explosion but I was hoping for a 25% bump.

[Alberta_Beef]

Originally Posted by nik-

Weak offensive team is one thing, but being pretty much flat in production your second year is a bad sign. This supposed super talented kid should find a way. I wasn't expecting an explosion but I was hoping for a 25% bump.

His current pace leaves him 2 points shy of a 25% bump. And he will see more than a 30% increase in goals. If his linemates had anything resembling offensive skills his assist totals would be much higher.

[nik-]

Originally Posted by Alberta_Beef

His current pace leaves him 2 points shy of a 25% bump. And he will see more than a 30% increase in goals. If his linemates had anything resembling offensive skills his assist totals would be much higher.

Well lets just hope the linemates and system excuse doesn't become a pattern

[T@T]

I don't think people realise what a crap offensive team Providence has, were talking epic boredom watching this team and still Jankowski is second on the team in goals and 3rd in points and he's 19 years old. people need to calm down a little.

[FlameZilla]

Originally Posted by T@T

I don't think people realise what a crap offensive team Providence has, were talking epic boredom watching this team and still Jankowski is second on the team in goals and 3rd in points and he's 19 years old. people need to calm down a little.

If/when Jankowski cracks the Flames lineup he is going to have to be versatile. Being adept at playing a shut-down role on the 3rd line is going to be essential for him, especially with the acquisition & development of centre depth ahead of him (Monahan, Backlund, Colborne, Knight etc).

At Providence he's being drilled in solid fundamentals of responsible hockey. When he's surrounded by pro-calibre players in a couple of years he should be able to rack up points.

Jankowski is as intriguing a prospect as ever. He's hardly a sure thing, but he's no Pelech or Chucko either.

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by nik-

My stance on the Jankowski pick is pretty clear ... but even as someone who doesn't think he's anything special, I was expecting his production would improve more than it did this year. Pretty disappointing.

If your expectations are always production growth, regardless of a players situation, you must be apoplectic over Baertschi this year. A 7% drop in scoring from last year to this year in NHL scoring, and then a 38% drop in AHL scoring on top of that. Based on the magic 25% increase in scoring method, Baertschi is off where he should be by 32% at the NHL level and 52% at the AHL level! Good thing point production doesn't make a hill of beans when it comes to evaluating players in their preparation for playing in the NHL.

Relax and let these kids work with their coaches and learn to play the game as their respective teams expect them to play. I'll take a highly skilled kid who is coachable and play a 200 foot game over ones who are not, any day of the week. Look up the QE2 to see what uncoachable skill gets you.

[Husky]

Originally Posted by nik-

My stance on the Jankowski pick is pretty clear ... but even as someone who doesn't think he's anything special, I was expecting his production would improve more than it did this year. Pretty disappointing.

And it looks to have improved so far this year...higher point per game ratio. If you were thinking his ratio should double from last year....your expectations are overstated.