I appreciate your opinion "Pierre". I was not thinking so much of "favouritism" as much as to me it appear some players have been give more chances on the meritocracy ladder than others. Of course I concede that this likley happens on every team. My other concern is that with the exception of perhaps Rheault most of the forwards are on track for less producton. You just have to look at the stats for guys like Byron, Walter, Desbien, Bancks, Patterson, Bouma. If you look at points garnered in the same number of games you see a downward trend. I am not saying this has anything to do with the coaching but it is not a good trend especially on a team that was doing so well earlier in the year. It was great having Kolanos score all those goals but maybe there was too much reliance on that happening and not enough developing. Players need confidence to excel and just being on a "winning" team is not the only way to build confidence. Hmmm.....I see I am going "off on a tangent"...LOL!! Anyway just my humble opinion.
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Bartschi has been more impressive then a few guys picked ahead of him that were also sent back to junior this year, at least stats wise. Can anybody who watches the games on a regular basis give an honest opinion on his potential? Do we have a sure thing finally?
To be honest, the entire org is suffering due to injuries and transactions. The brunt of that is being felt in Abbotsford.
No Bouma, Nemisz, Laing, Brodie and Irving for most of the year? Yeah, probably not ideal.
No kidding.
Missing your top goaltender and MVP in Irving.
Missing your top forward and point producer in Kolanos.
Missing your best young forward in Nemisz.
Missing your best young defensemen in TJ Brodie.
Add in the captain is down to injury, and they have a rotating roster of ECHL players/NHL callups and you honestly cant expect the results to remain the same.
Hopefully things can get straightened out both down in Abbotsford and up here in Calgary as soon as possible.
It was a great night for our WHL prospects - every skater was on the scoresheet and Brossoit had a shutout! Overview:
Turner Elson had 1 goal and 1 assist in a 8-5 loss to Moose Jaw.
Overall season stats for Elson: 48 gp, 20 g, 24 a, 44 p, -4, 53 PIM
Laurent Brossoit had 24 saves and a shutout in a 5-0 win over Prince George.
Overall season stats for Brossoit: 47 gp, 32-10-5, 2.42 GAA, .915% Svs, 3 SO
Max Reinhart had 1 assist in a 5-2 win over Saskatoon.
Overall season stats for Reinhart: 46 gp, 20 g, 39 a, 59 p, +17, 34 PIM
Joey Leach had 2 assists in a 5-2 win over Saskatoon.
Overall season stats for Leach: 55 gp, 8 g, 26 a, 34 p, +25, 69 PIM
Sven Bärtschi had 1 goal and 2 assists in a 7-2 win over Seattle.
Overall season stats for Bärtschi: 36 gp, 20 g, 50 a, 70 p, +2, 28 PIM
Tyler Wotherspoon had 1 assist in a 7-2 win over Seattle.
Overall season stats for Wotherspoon: 50 gp, 7 g, 17 a, 24 p, +5, 32 PIM
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Well of course the other goalie in the Euro Hockey Tour tournament got sick as well, leaving Ortio as the starter against Sweden. Playing right now.
Ortio's first national team game. Shame that I'm not able to watch it.
EDIT: Found a way to watch between periods. Second period was AWFUL for Finland but Ortio was brilliant, tracked puck well in chaotic situations and made one really big pad save. Whole period at Finland's end and after 15 minutes Sweden finally scores on their third PP of the period, 1-0. Tough game for Ortio but he's quite composed. Good pace, almost constant pressure by Sweden.
EDIT2: Sweden wins 3-1. Finland woke up for the third period and was chasing Sweden at 2-1 but then some random plumber whipped a Datsyuk backhand top corner through traffic with 2 mins left.
I don't think Ortio had a chance on any of the goals. Without question he was the best Finn out there, probably player of the game. Everyone's praising him.
Shame that he didn't get the win, but it was a great debut.
Last edited by Henry Fool; 02-12-2012 at 09:46 AM.
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Missing your top goaltender and MVP in Irving.
Missing your top forward and point producer in Kolanos.
Missing your best young forward in Nemisz.
Missing your best young defensemen in TJ Brodie.
Add in the captain is down to injury, and they have a rotating roster of ECHL players/NHL callups and you honestly cant expect the results to remain the same.
Hopefully things can get straightened out both down in Abbotsford and up here in Calgary as soon as possible.
Ward in particular referred to Bouma as the heart of the team. Losing him and his compete level is a big blow for that club.
Ortio was indeed amazing today and has most of the headlines today are along the lines of "Sweden give Finland a doing, but Ortio was pretty awesome."
I've seen both of his games since returning to TPS and he's been incredibly solid in both. They've had trouble all season with both Schwarz and Ahlquist being prone to absolute howlers. There are more teenagers playing this season for TPS (including two sixteen year olds) than players in their thirties and the lack of experience shows at times in defence. However, the presence of Ortio and the much needed addition of a top centre (Juraj Mikus from Poprad in the KHL) has really given the whole team some much needed confidence.
It will be interesting to see how he's performing in a month or so's time, once the honeymoon period is over. If he has a bad night or two we'll be able to see how he reacts to it, or when he's rested for Schwarz, who is capable of turning in very good performances when he is in the mood.
I think this loan is exactly what he needs at this stage. Hopefully he can guide TPS to a decent playoff performance and be ready to see the ice a lot more next season back across the Atlantic.
At the moment though, he couldn't have wished for his return to go any better.
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We may as well leave Ortio in Finland. What's the rush? He doesn't have much SM-liiga experience and this was only the first year of his ELC. Let him become a dominant starter on TPS and then bring him over in a year or two. He's also likely in no rush to return to Abbotsford.
I hope he keeps playing well. He's talented, but it's always best to be patient with goaltenders.
Here's a clip from Ramage's huge hit a couple of games ago. This is just a massive open ice hit.
I can't wait until we can see how his game translates to the pro game. I don't know how others feel, but I think he's our best defensive prospect not named TJ Brodie.
Found this link on John Ramage from Matchsticks & Gasoline. It's from Chuck Schwartz, a writer of a Wisconsin Badgers blog:
Quote:
John has had an interesting season. He was named team captain and with that comes a lot of pressure. Unfortunately for Wisconsin this season they are extremely young with just five upperclassmen (1 senior) in the lineup on an average night with everyone healthy.
Ramage is best when he plays a simple, hard, physical game like he did his first two seasons in Madison. However this year he was given an expanded role and at times he's struggled trying to play outside of his capabilities. John was outstanding in a pairing with Brendan Smith a few years ago when he let Brendan roam and push the puck and he just worried about shutting down the opposition and making a great first pass out of the zone.
At times this season I think Ramage has put the pressure on himself to try and push the play and create offense and it's taken him out of his game.
He's also caught some unlucky breaks this season. I've never seen a defenseman with worse luck than he's had. There have been multiple occasions where a puck has bounced off him and gone in the back of the Badger net. Once, I can see. But three or four times makes you feel bad for the guy.
John has played much better in the second half and I think it's because he's focused on he things that make his game effective. He's focused on being a physical player, blocking shots, and clearing bodies in his own zone.
Last edited by Pierre "Monster" McGuire; 02-13-2012 at 09:51 PM.
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