John Frickin Gaudreau!

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by Pierre "Monster" McGuire

Canucks fans don't even know 80% of their own farm team. I don't think they'll know what a Gaudreau is.

In theory, that'd be awesome, but unless Crosby or Datsyuk join the Heat, the attendance is going to be abysmal.

It goes beyond just professional hockey. I was at a Bantam House tournament for my son in Chilliwack and spent some time talking to parents from Chilliwack and Abbotsford. Hardly any of the Chilliwack patents had heard of the Heat, and of the Abbotsford parents, only a handful of them had been to a great game. They all told me playing hockey or even watching just isn't a big activity there. Lots and lots of sports, but hockey isn't king like it is elsewhere.

Case in point:

Chilliwack Bruins Minor Hockey serves approximately 100K people and only had 2 Rep and 6 house teams.
Kamloops Minor hockey has 3 Rep and 10 house teams.

By Midget the disparity is even bigger. They would need a serious grassroots movement for hockey to catch on in the lower mainland outside of the major hubs

[Parallex]

Originally Posted by nemanja2306

I'm sure this has been discussed elsewhere but would Calgary be able to support an AHL team? That would be awesome.

Doubt it. Just don't think there is a big enough consumer market to support an NHL team, WHL team, and an AHL team.

[metroneck]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

It goes beyond just professional hockey. I was at a Bantam House tournament for my son in Chilliwack and spent some time talking to parents from Chilliwack and Abbotsford. Hardly any of the Chilliwack patents had heard of the Heat, and of the Abbotsford parents, only a handful of them had been to a great game. They all told me playing hockey or even watching just isn't a big activity there. Lots and lots of sports, but hockey isn't king like it is elsewhere.

Case in point:

Chilliwack Bruins Minor Hockey serves approximately 100K people and only had 2 Rep and 6 house teams.
Kamloops Minor hockey has 3 Rep and 10 house teams.

By Midget the disparity is even bigger. They would need a serious grassroots movement for hockey to catch on in the lower mainland outside of the major hubs

I'd agree with this... While there are some really strong minor hockey programs here, enrollment does not seem to be that high, especially when you compare to soccer (seasons run in parallel).

For Canadian market with almost 3 million people in the region, there are not that many hard core hockey fans per capita as you'd find elsewhere.

[Moneyhands23]

http://www.thehockeynews.com/blog/jo...y-baker-award/

THN write up on Johnny

[PeteMoss]

Hard not to get excited about Johnny.

[BloodFetish]

Originally Posted by metroneck

I'd agree with this... While there are some really strong minor hockey programs here, enrollment does not seem to be that high, especially when you compare to soccer (seasons run in parallel).

For Canadian market with almost 3 million people in the region, there are not that many hard core hockey fans per capita as you'd find elsewhere.

Maybe because cost of living is so high here that putting your kid in hockey is just not affordable for most folks?

[Fuzzy14]

That line about Flames fans wishing we could pick up Hayes is interesting. I wonder if Burke would ever consider that. He's a hell of a player and likely wouldn't come on the cheap.

Is he the type of player who could potentially go UFA once his 4th year of college is over?

[sun]

Originally Posted by BloodFetish

Maybe because cost of living is so high here that putting your kid in hockey is just not affordable for most folks?

One of my clients told me he spends ~$30k per year on his kid playing AAA Bantam in Vancouver.

[saXon]

Originally Posted by moon

Would you go to a Canucks AHL game to watch Bo Horvat play?

If it was the only brand of hockey around in an hour and a half radius, yeah, I would.

[saXon]

Johnny is on record saying he wanted to play this season @ BC with his brother, yet it only shows Matthew Gaudreau suiting up for 4 games.

Is the kid injured? Did he drop out?

[moon]

Originally Posted by saXon

If it was the only brand of hockey around in an hour and a half radius, yeah, I would.

Fair enough but that sounds like you would already be a Heat fan.

We are talking about people who don't want to go to hockey even if it is the only thing 1.5 hours away going to the game because if an okay known prospect from likely your rival teams organization.

[Robbob]

Originally Posted by saXon

Johnny is on record saying he wanted to play this season @ BC with his brother, yet it only shows Matthew Gaudreau suiting up for 4 games.

Is the kid injured? Did he drop out?

Just not as skilled as his brother. Pretty tough lineup to break into as a freshman.

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

It goes beyond just professional hockey. I was at a Bantam House tournament for my son in Chilliwack and spent some time talking to parents from Chilliwack and Abbotsford. Hardly any of the Chilliwack patents had heard of the Heat, and of the Abbotsford parents, only a handful of them had been to a great game. They all told me playing hockey or even watching just isn't a big activity there. Lots and lots of sports, but hockey isn't king like it is elsewhere.

Case in point:

Chilliwack Bruins Minor Hockey serves approximately 100K people and only had 2 Rep and 6 house teams.
Kamloops Minor hockey has 3 Rep and 10 house teams.

By Midget the disparity is even bigger. They would need a serious grassroots movement for hockey to catch on in the lower mainland outside of the major hubs

Just moving this discussion over to the Canucks/Heat/Abbotsford thread. My response to this is over there.

[metroneck]

Originally Posted by sun

One of my clients told me he spends ~$30k per year on his kid playing AAA Bantam in Vancouver.

Depends on the team... Join one of the Winter Clubs or other privates, ya it's super spendy... 7 year olds are on the ice 6x a week in some of those programs.

Poor people like me have lower expectations I guess. Registration, a couple tournements, and a few team extras runs about $1000 per season. That average out to about 3x per week on the ice.

[sun]

Originally Posted by metroneck

Depends on the team... Join one of the Winter Clubs or other privates, ya it's super spendy... 7 year olds are on the ice 6x a week in some of those programs.

Poor people like me have lower expectations I guess. Registration, a couple tournements, and a few team extras runs about $1000 per season. That average out to about 3x per week on the ice.

Yeah, he plays for the NSWC I believe.

[macrov]

Originally Posted by sun

One of my clients told me he spends ~$30k per year on his kid playing AAA Bantam in Vancouver.

A guy I worked with in Ottawa said 15k for his 14 y.o son

[djsFlames]

How many other college players in history have notched 50 pts in 25 games?

[T@T]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy14

That line about Flames fans wishing we could pick up Hayes is interesting. I wonder if Burke would ever consider that. He's a hell of a player and likely wouldn't come on the cheap.

Is he the type of player who could potentially go UFA once his 4th year of college is over?

Chicago has until aug to sign him.

[djsFlames]

So, I guess the question is..

Is Hayes worth a Sven? / Is Sven worth a Hayes?

Or is that going too far, haha? I'm curious to see how intrigued Burke would be to acquiring the full trio. Or if he thinks Hayes is to some extent a beneficiary of the other two, or he doesn't believe in retaining proven chemistry at a inferior level of hockey.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy14

That line about Flames fans wishing we could pick up Hayes is interesting. I wonder if Burke would ever consider that. He's a hell of a player and likely wouldn't come on the cheap.

Is he the type of player who could potentially go UFA once his 4th year of college is over?

Like every other college player who is either not offered or does not sign his ELC upon graduation, in theory, yes. However, it should be noted that first-round picks virtually never make it to free agency from college. I think it is probably close to a foregone conclusion that Hayes will be signed by the Blackhawks this summer.

But furthermore, that line about Flames fans wishing we could pick up Hayes is not so much interesting as it is irritating. I have seen it mentioned by a handful of posters on this board, but it has also been countered by the correct observation that drafting and development should not (in almost every instance) proceed from line combinations in Juniour. I hope that the Flames would not consider paying the price that would be required to acquire Hayes. There are already a couple of prospects in the organisation (Poirier and Ferland) who are essentially close to the same kinds of pieces, and the team is likely better served developing their current assets and drafting more.

This is a bad idea.

Originally Posted by djsFlames

So, I guess the question is..

Is Hayes worth a Sven? / Is Sven worth a Hayes?

Not to this team, he is not. Baertschi is younger than Hayes, and has already played NHL games in two seasons. This is Hayes' first season in four years of NCAA hockey in which he has produced above a point/game pace, which is not especially impressive, and likely has as much to do with his good fortune of playing with Gaudreau as it does his own level of skill. From his sophomore to his junior season, he improved by a factor of 0.28 points/game, which is a fraction of his 0.87 improvement ratio this year.

Coversely, Arnold improved 0.06 from his sophomore to junior season, and then 0.52 from last year to this year. Gaudreau improved 0.45 points/game from his freshman to sophomore seasons, and 0.54 from last year to this year.

Gaudreau is the common denominator here. It is a huge factor.

Originally Posted by djsFlames

Or is that going too far, haha? I'm curious to see how intrigued Burke would be to acquiring the full trio. Or if he thinks Hayes is to some extent a beneficiary of the other two, or he doesn't believe in retaining proven chemistry at a inferior level of hockey.

Yes, it is going too far, and no, I certainly hope that Burke's interest in acquiring Hayes is entirely limited to how he, individually, contributes to rebuilding the Flames, balanced against the cost to acquire him from the Blackhawks. As near as I can tell, there aren't any scouts or GMs in the NHL who put any stock at all into "retaining proven chemistry" at the juniour level, so it is really a moot point to begin with. As mentioned above, Hayes absolutely benefits from the chance to play with Gaudreau, as does Arnold. The Flames already have a player or two (and I believe Poirier will be a better player in the long run) who could probably reproduce what Hayes is doing given the same opportunity.