2016 Penticton Young Stars Sept 16-19

[puckedoff]

I'll be the guy in the Rough Riders jersey. Come say hi!

[Party Elephant]

Originally Posted by puckedoff

I'll be the guy in the Rough Riders jersey. Come say hi!

Cool, like one of these?

[Rejean31]

Originally Posted by FFR

Ha! Sat down for breakfast and Treliving sat down beside us. I will be carefully listening to the conversation....

Where did you have brekkie?

[FFR]

Originally Posted by Rejean31

Where did you have brekkie?

Bears Den at the Coast Hotel

[Street Pharmacist]

The Jets prospects sure look awful

[Moneyhands23]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

The Jets prospects sure look awful

Patrick isn't here man! Lol

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by Moneyhands23

Patrick isn't here man! Lol

Connor looks weak and scared and De Leo is very meh

[The Original FFIV]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

The Jets prospects sure look awful

Vancouver is very thin up front as well. Look ok on d but can't believe they haven't been more aggressive in ncaa free agent market.

But yeah, outside of Lemieux haven't seen much. Connor has been a non factor today which is a bit surprising.

[thymebalm]

Jets have been a tough watch. Connor good everywhere but around the net. Lemieux and De Leo trying hard but nothing happpening. Lemieux is a major puck hog.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by thymebalm

Jets have been a tough watch. Connor good everywhere but around the net. Lemieux and De Leo trying hard but nothing happpening. Lemieux is a major puck hog.

Roger Lodge looked good. On Vancouver I enjoyed Bridget Moynahan and Ann Coulter

[Incogneto]

Story time:

After the game on Saturday night, my brother (JohnnyTitan), and friend (a Canucks fan) decided to go out for some drinks, so we walked across from the arena to the Ramada Hotel Bar/Lounge. After being there for about 10-15 minutes, I see Craig Conroy come in. I say 'Hey, it's Craig Conroy' a little too loud and he hears it. He cranes his neck in our direction, gives us a big wave and a smile, and saunters on over to say hi. We sit and chat for 5-10 minutes with Conroy when I say 'Hey, and now Marty Gelinas is walking in!'. Again, a little too loud, so Marty looks over, see's conny with us, and comes over to say hi as well.

We chat with them for a bit about Tkachuk, Penticton, 03-04 playoffs, etc, and finally say bye. They walk away and I notice that they walk to a table with all the Flames Brass. By the end of the night, it had Huska, Guletzen, Cameron, Pascall, Treliving, etc etc, sitting at it.

When Conny and Gelinas walk away, I notice Aaron Vickers walk in. ....Then Ryan Leslie... Then I see Wes Gilbertson walk in. Next is Wills and Lou. And Steinburg. And Haynes.

1-by-1 we stop each of them and say hi. They were all super nice and gracious in dealing with fans like us. We asked all of them about Tkachuk, and his piss-n-vinigar, and every one of them lit up when we talked about his snarl. 'It's just something that this team is missing.'

I have a 1-degree-of-seperation from Steinburg, so I intro myself to him, and let him know who our mutual friend is. He ends up coming over with Will Nault, Vickers, and a few others for a shot, and we shoot the 'S' for about 20 minutes before calling it a night.

Needless to say, it was a pretty cool experience to be sitting between all the brass and all the media while everyone was having a few drinks.

Some tidbits:
- The common perception among all the media is that Tkachuk needs another year in the minors. 'His game is a JR game. He needs to learn how to harness that more.' Sounds like everyone is expecting him to go back to London at some point.
- Heard from a few people that Jankowski is NHL ready. One guy said that he fully expects him to start in the NHL, although said that he wouldn't be surprised if it was 'with another team.'
- Talking about Johnny, sounds like its going to get done. One guy said that its been going on all summer, and 'hopes its done before the camp. It should be!'

Those were the biggest take-a-ways....Maybe my brother can fill in some of the gaps, because by the end of the night, there were a few....

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by InCoGnEtO

- Heard from a few people that Jankowski is NHL ready. One guy said that he fully expects him to start in the NHL, although said that he wouldn't be surprised if it was 'with another team.'

Really hope that guy is not a decision-making member of the organization.

[Street Pharmacist]

Awesome story. Any word on lineups today?

[DJones]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

Really hope that guy is not a decision-making member of the organization.

I would be outraged if he got traded. Especially when he would fit perfectly on the wing of either Bennett or Backlund.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by InCoGnEtO

- Heard from a few people that Jankowski is NHL ready. One guy said that he fully expects him to start in the NHL, although said that he wouldn't be surprised if it was 'with another team.'
.

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

Really hope that guy is not a decision-making member of the organization.

Going to assume it was from one media member, but that would be truly dissapointing. To follow him for four years, now a 5th, and see him moved would be a gut punch.

But if it's a good move, it's a good move.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

Really hope that guy is not a decision-making member of the organization.

Yeah, that really doesn't make sense that they think he'll start in the NHL, but not with the Flames. I can't imagine the Flames trading him at this point. He's waiver exempt for two seasons, so there's no pressure to move him or lose him.

[JohnnyTitan]

So ya - I was with InCoGnEtO and it was hella fun. Of everyone...we probably talked to Haynes the longest and he just came across as a true fan and a good guy. He was the least "Creeped-Out" by the drunks throwing questions his way...lol. He actually leaned on our table and was quite at-ease. Others (Gelinas) were more like, "Answer a few questions and then get the heck away from these fanatics!" Haha.

InCoG was very consistent making sure the very first topic of conversation with each person we talked to was Tkachuk. The (loaded) question was always framed, "Is he just going to run around and be a dick or are we going to grow to love this guy?"

The best two responses:
Conroy (in 1/10th of a second): "Yeah - but he's OUR dick!"
Loubo: "Oh man, come on. Our team is going to love him and 29 other teams are going to want to stab him through the heart!"

Both instant classics in my mind...I laughed at both.

The other tidbit I got from Conroy was my question...kinda transitioning from Tkachuk to Bennett. I kinda drew a parallel to Bennett about how he tried a little too hard early on and ran-around a little bit....but MAN how awesome would it be to see Tkachuk and Bennett teamed-up. Conroy responded, "Wouldn't that be an awesome 2nd line!".

I found that funny. I've been beating the "There is more a top-9 in today's NHL...less a 1st, 2nd and 3rd line anymore" drum for the entire summer...but to hear Conroy almost let that slip in Fan-Mode vs Assistant-GM-Mode was kinda cool. It made me realize it's more than just a bunch of message-board fan-boys thinking about that possibility. The Flames Brass is thinking about (and drooling over) the idea of Bennett-Tkachuck teamed up and Conroy even went the extra mile to throw in the "2nd Line" thing as-if our rebuild is complete when Backs-and-Frolik are most certainly our #3.

We did chat with Steinburg and his cast-of-characters (Nault, Vickers, Camera guy) for quite a while and although I was less surprised at their "Janko = pro already" comments it was interesting how not-a-big deal they thought there comments were coming across. It was like, "Ya, Jankowski is ready to be an NHLer. Obviously. Next question"

Final tid-bit. I made Lou laugh a bit when I slurred at him, "All the media is here except the Kristins. Where are the Kristins?!?" He giggled and quipped, "You have a good eye my friend". LOL.

And just in case anyone is wondering, we made it abundantly clear that it was AWESOME to see Lou out-and-about and it was cool that he was back doing what he was meant to do. He looked good and happy to be in Penticton and we mentioned a couple times that we were really happy that he was healthy.

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

But if it's a good move, it's a good move.

The reason I would be against it is because right now Jankowski's stock is low. We as Flames fans are aware of his upside but he hasn't proven it at a pro level to the extent that we could get a return we'd be happy with.

I mean if the Canucks and Weisbrod wanna hand us Boeser for him, I'll do it.

But much more likely, you're getting lowball offers. To trade him now just doesn't make sense.

[Incogneto]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

Going to assume it was from one media member, but that would be truly dissapointing. To follow him for four years, now a 5th, and see him moved would be a gut punch.

But if it's a good move, it's a good move.

It was a media member (I don't really want to name name's here on who said what...I feel like they would be pissed if I said who said what).

The idea of playing Stajan on the wing and Janko playing 4th line C came up and was dandied about. Sounds like that could be an option, as well.

[saillias]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

Roger Lodge looked good. On Vancouver I enjoyed Bridget Moynahan and Ann Coulter

was that an autocorrect or is there really an Ann Coulter on the Canucks Penticton roster?

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

The reason I would be against it is because right now Jankowski's stock is low. We as Flames fans are aware of his upside but he hasn't proven it at a pro level to the extent that we could get a return we'd be happy with.

I mean if the Canucks and Weisbrod wanna hand us Boeser for him, I'll do it.

But much more likely, you're getting lowball offers. To trade him now just doesn't make sense.

just spitballing, but I wonder if he would be a throw-in to dump a wideman or other bad contract.