2014 NHL Draft Combine May 26-31 aka the Pull-Up thread

[Rick M.]

Originally Posted by MattyC

Red Pandas are awesome.

But can they skate?

[Coach]

Originally Posted by Rick M.

But can they skate?

Doesn't matter. Only pull ups.

[Gaskal]

Only a matter of time until there's a @FrailSamBennett twitter account at this rate...

[Erick Estrada]

Corey Pronman of ESPN has his first mock draft up. It's an insider article so I won't link it but his prediction for the top 4 is;

1. Panthers: Ekblad
2. Sabres: Reinhart
3. Oilers: Draisaitl
4. Flames: Bennett

I would be pretty happy if things play out this way and it's starting to feel like there's a legitimate chance Bennett may slip to the Flames. Pronman also says it's his understanding that the Flames will take the same "best player available" approach they did with Monahan last year so if either of Reinhart or Bennett fall to this spot they will take him. Says if both Sam's are gone they may take Dal Colle over Draisaitl. Also interesting is when he got to the Coyotes he said it's tough to project their pick because Brad Treliving was a big part of their draft.

[haiku]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Video of Bennett failing at his pull up. He wasn't even close to getting done (0:50 mark)

http://www.tsn.ca/VideoHub/?collection=72&show=373754

wow, how pathetic
just fired off 17 here
in my mom’s basement

[Coach]

Is fired one syllable or two?

Does anyone else count out all of haiku's posts?

[Oil Stain]

Originally Posted by ignite09

Not doing a pull up isn't a big deal, but it's indicative of what scouts have been saying for months. He is projecting to be the smallest and weakest of the three centres, somewhere between 6'1 and 190-195 at the NHL level. That's a decent size, but if your a team with a top six already on the small size it might be an issue. Even for the Flames, it might mean a LW prospect or two might be moved out to bring in some bigger wingers.

It's a big deal because the fans need something to talk about when it comes to the top prospects.

RNH for example got the too weak and skinny attention and still does. He outweighed Bennett at the combine and did 6 benches to Bennett's 2.

This thing will follow Bennett for years unless he has a monster breakout in his first couple of NHL seasons.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Oil Stain

It's a big deal because the fans need something to talk about when it comes to the top prospects.

RNH for example got the too weak and skinny attention and still does. He outweighed Bennett at the combine and did 6 benches to Bennett's 2.

This thing will follow Bennett for years unless he has a monster breakout in his first couple of NHL seasons.

You're probably right - the Oilers would be wise to stay clear of him

[Robbob]

Originally Posted by Oil Stain

It's a big deal because the fans need something to talk about when it comes to the top prospects.

RNH for example got the too weak and skinny attention and still does. He outweighed Bennett at the combine and did 6 benches to Bennett's 2.

This thing will follow Bennett for years unless he has a monster breakout in his first couple of NHL seasons.

RNH was a shade over 170 according the TSN Youtube vid I just watched (was looking for the some special quote). Pretty sure Bennett is almost pushing 180.

[mile]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Corey Pronman of ESPN has his first mock draft up. It's an insider article so I won't link it but his prediction for the top 4 is;

1. Panthers: Ekblad
2. Sabres: Reinhart
3. Oilers: Draisaitl
4. Flames: Bennett

I would be pretty happy if things play out this way and it's starting to feel like there's a legitimate chance Bennett may slip to the Flames. Pronman also says it's his understanding that the Flames will take the same "best player available" approach they did with Monahan last year so if either of Reinhart or Bennett fall to this spot they will take him. Says if both Sam's are gone they may take Dal Colle over Draisaitl. Also interesting is when he got to the Coyotes he said it's tough to project their pick because Brad Treliving was a big part of their draft.

Yeah - although Bennett has been talked more and more about being a top 2 pick by some scouts, what is giving me hope is that a lot of mock drafts and fan polls still seem to have the Flames picking him at 4.

This top 4 is still pretty even but of course with trades things can change quickly.

[AC]

I think Burke's comments about teams picking for organizational need instead of BPA might help us land one of Reinhart or Bennett. Edmonton seemingly needs Draisaitl and Ekblad won't slip past 1 or 2 IMO.

Can't wait!

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by Oil Stain

It's a big deal because the fans need something to talk about when it comes to the top prospects.

RNH for example got the too weak and skinny attention and still does. He outweighed Bennett at the combine and did 6 benches to Bennett's 2.

This thing will follow Bennett for years unless he has a monster breakout in his first couple of NHL seasons.

It won't follow him for years if he's sent back to junior and fills out, and continues to develop. Just because he's a potential top pick doesn't mean he should be rushed to the NHL. These players still need to develop.

Bennett should pray the Oilers don't select him and shove him into pro hockey before he's physical ready.

[Poe969]

When is the draft

[Ashasx]

I wish they would do the draft all on one day again. I thoroughly enjoyed that Sunday.

[Monahan23]

Originally Posted by Poe969

When is the draft

27th and 28th

[nik-]

I'm gonna get really drunk on draft day

[Bar-Down]

I still hope we get Reinhart.

His hockey IQ is off the charts.

Having two very hockey smart centres in Reinhart and Monahan will do wonders for the team going forward.

Reinhart
Monahan
Backlund

as our top 3 in the future, then draft/trade/sign some big wingers for them and we will be set!

[Calgary4LIfe]

Any rumors on who the Flames may be inviting to their own combine? I know the prospects that have gone to the NHL combine are not eligible, but prospects that weren't invited are allowed to go to individual team combines. Would be nice to know who the Flames invite, as well as who other teams invite (though I am going to assume that information will be very difficult to come by - therefore looking for 'rumors' that may be circulating around).

[sureLoss]

Bennett now claims he can do 2 pull ups!

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-pu...iacontentstory

Attention hockey world: Sam Bennett can now do a pull-up.

Two, actually.

This is significant because Bennett, the top rated hockey prospect in North America ahead of June’s NHL Entry Draft in Philadelphia, couldn’t do one at the NHL Scouting Combine last month. And this became news. National news.

“Really didn’t think it was that big a deal until the next couple of days when it went crazy,” said Bennett on Monday, attending the Stanley Cup Final with other top prospects.

The news spread quickly through junior hockey blogs. The Toronto Star did a roundup of hockey fitness experts’ opinions on his pull-up deficiency. Bennett, projected as a top five pick from the Kingston Frontenacs, was suddenly The Guy Who Can’t Do a Pull-Up.

“It really did bother me. It’s just … I know I couldn’t do them, but obviously I’m going to keep working on them,” he said. “I guess that’s how people are labeling me right now. There’s nothing I can really do about it, except for work hard in the gym and get better.”

And so he hit the gym after that, working on his upper body strength. In a development that’s likely to get a lot less coverage, he can do multiple pull-ups now.

“I can do at least two. It’s not really a big deal. It was just the wrong time to get zero,” he said. “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger in the end. To experience this at a young age, maybe helps be get through something when I’m older.”

[trackercowe]

I am not sure if it's already been posted, but TSN has a segment up where Duthie quizzes the top five picks.

http://www.tsn.ca/

I assume that means Cherry will also be doing a segment on them tonight.