Quote:
Originally Posted by wingmaker
My point is Howse's issues persisted for several years AFTER he turned pro. With Anderssen, these concerns seem way premature. His supposed conditioning issues have not affected his play or his progression. All of this stems from him not being in shape at a summer development camp. And this after a dominant season. I mean, ok, it's something to refer to over the next year as he turns pro, but to create big concerns over a junior age player seems like making mountains out of molehills. By all means, change your prospect rankings, but also realize that a 19 year old who isn't acting like an established pro is not necessarily a problem.
|
Except it is a problem. It was identified as a weakness a year ago and the player chose not to correct the deficiency. That speaks to the player's commitment to his craft. You also don't think that management is looking at this as a non-compliance issue? In professional sports you get very few opportunities to make impressions, and those opportunities can be fleeting. There were some pretty decent prospects the Flames just cast aside, and some of those guys got a two year window to show their stuff. Decisions on players are being made very quickly now, so it is in the best interest of the player to behave like a pro as early as possible.
It should be pointed out that Andersson has already signed a contract with the Flames. This is not a situation of some junior aged kid that is still playing for a contract. This is a player who has already been contracted and has responsibilities to live up to the terms and expectations of that contract. The minute Andersson put pen to paper he became a professional. I can understand why the Flames would be pissed just for this aspect alone. Andersson is a talent, but he is in an organization with plenty of talent at that position. He needs to understand that and start taking his training seriously.
Quote:
Originally Posted by activeStick
I can see people's arguments for most prospects but the one guy I fail to understand is those who have Poirier still rated high in this poll. There's the argument against guys like Mangiapane for not having proven themselves yet in the A, yet Poirier while having a good first season looked really bad last year. There's those that question how well Shinkaruk can keep a spot in the NHL but "feel" that Poirier will have a greater likelihood despite Shinkaruk already showing through actual games that he can produce more and looks to be a better fit than Poirier who frankly looked pretty below average while up in the NHL.
If it's ceiling, there's no clear advantage Poirier has over Shinkaruk or Mangiapane IMO if we look at their production to this point in junior, the A and NHL. If it's likelihood, Shinkaruk would appear to also have proven more as well as of today.
|
I would like to know what is success in your books, and how you are measuring success? Player growth is not always about seeing point totals increase. This was pointed out time-and-time-again in the Jankowski development thread. Sometimes your coach wants you to work on certain aspects of your game and gives you assignments that focus on that part of the game, rather than the side of the game you have already developed. For Poirier the weakest part of his game was always his defense and awareness on the ice. When Poirier was up for his cup of coffee last season he showed much improvement in this regard. He thought defense first and didn't take many risks. That is what was expected of a player in his role.
Shinkaruk and Mangiapane may end up going through the same thing Poirier did last season. Shinkaruk was horrible in his defensive coverage with the Flames last year. This was glaring. Under the old coaching staff this would require correction, and that likely would have happened in the minors. With the new coaching staff we'll see what their approach looks like. I think both of these offense first players are going to experience a period of adjustment to learn to pay more attention to the defensive side of the puck.
I would like to point out one thing to the stats watchers. Of Stockton's top scorers from last season, five of the top seven were cut loose this spring. Hamilton is the only guy older than Poirier left on that list, and Hamilton still does not have a contract with the Flames for next season. Points is not how you measure if a prospect is doing well and growing as a player. Especially with the Calgary Flames.
