Poirier's goal and 2 assists tonight, pretty damn awesome:
I enjoy watching this over and over. I'm impressed that he seems to have taken a spot on the Heat for the playoffs and is starring but lets let the story unfold.
My thoughts from last night's game (I was in attendance) in the game thread:
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Just got back from the game and am headed to bed. I'll type more later, but wanted to say that Poirier looked friggin awesome. Fast as hell, Good positioning, good hands and a little chippy. Just as advertised.
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Poirier - Awesome as stated above. He also had another breakaway very similar to the the one he scored on the highlights above where he just blew by everyone. I will honestly be shocked if he isn't a regular in Calgary by the end of next season. The only negative I could see is that on a couple shifts he went to the bench early because he was out of breath, but that obviously can be fixed. He also floated a bit on his first shift, but that was corrected quickly. Another part of his game that I liked was how often he stuck up for his teammates in a scrum, he was usually the first guy in there.
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Poirier has all the tools: blazing speed, decent size, great shot, and grit. He has progressed nicely this year , and his early showing with the Heat is very encouraging.
What I want to see next is his desire / commitment to becoming an NHLer. It's all there for him, all he has to do is put in the work. So I am really hoping to see him commit to his training this summer and come to camp determined to be a great pro.
If he does that, I think we have us a beauty here.
I have never seen Poirer play and basically just seen some of the highlights and of course reading from CP. His two games in Abby really impressed me though. From what I heard and read, the kid got wheels, scoring touch and can be annoying to play against as well. I guess Flames did a good job in drafting him. If he succeed in the NHL, hats off to the scouting team for finding this guy.
His goal in the video is the exact type of goal you see on everyone of his highlight videos. Good to see that his speed is translating to higher level and that he can still score these type of goals.
And it's so exciting to have all these guys that will be knocking on the door at camp this year... Poirier, baertschi, granlund, gaudreau, this year's first round pick (depending on who it is), Wotherspoon, Max Reinhart, Knight... Great to have this kind of prospect depth in the organization. Even better that some guys will earn a spot on the team and others will get to develop into even better players than they are now by continuing to develop in the AHL.
The last 5 draft years have really turned this franchise around.
You can't assume guys getting signed and a look in the AHL will all turn out to be NHL contributors, but at some point you have to take a bow for quantity as well as quality.
2103 - 5 players with Heat or done an NHL season
2012 - 4 players with Heat and two in providence on course
2011 - 3 with Heat, one played in NHL, another dealt for Smid
2010 - 3 with Heat, one traded, another played in Calgary (1 game)
2009 - potential franchise goaltender drafted, Erixon flipped for 2011 success
The last 5 draft years have really turned this franchise around.
You can't assume guys getting signed and a look in the AHL will all turn out to be NHL contributors, but at some point you have to take a bow for quantity as well as quality.
2103 - 5 players with Heat or done an NHL season
2012 - 4 players with Heat and two in providence on course
2011 - 3 with Heat, one played in NHL, another dealt for Smid
2010 - 3 with Heat, one traded, another played in Calgary (1 game)
2009 - potential franchise goaltender drafted, Erixon flipped for 2011 success
its been quite a run
Plus 2008, where we nabbed two NHLers in the mid rounds....one a constantly improving top two defense an, and the other a heart and soul bottom six stud.
Yeah on top of that ridiculous size/reach advantage he has good character and hockey IQ. Would look great next to Sieloff in a shutdown pairing role.
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“A huge defenceman,” Button said that night at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., “but the first thing we noticed about him? We thought he understood the game very well and that he had high character, high intangibles. Off the ice leadership. On the ice leadership. He’s a great teammate. For us, it was an area we talked about — getting rough and tumble on the back-end — but he’s got a good brain, too.”
The only negative I could see is that on a couple shifts he went to the bench early because he was out of breath, but that obviously can be fixed.
Sounds like overall conditioning/cardio might be the thing he still needs to work on. I remember the Flames saying at last years camp, that one of the reasons he was sent back down was that he just wasn't in NHL shape yet. I'm sure being in the AHL will help with that.
