Chucko

[The Fonz]

How's he looking this year?

I just realized his offense has picked up quite a bit this season, doubled actually.

06/07 80GP 14G 14A 28PTS
07/08 80GP 15G 15A 30PTS
08/09 43GP 16G 17A 33PTS

Is Chucko a player that could make the team next year?

[dobbles]

my opinion is that chucko improved a lot in the offseason. last season i felt he was one of the worst players on the team. i just didn't like what i saw. this year he improved a lot with his skating and puck handling. i personally would say he is at about the same level as most of the forwards skill wise this year. he has benefited from playing on a line with lundmark and greentree. i personally feel he is riding their coat tails so to speak. all too often you will see lundmark of greentree making great plays to fight for the puck and win battles and generate chances, then chucko just kinda glides in and gets an ugly rebound goal. and i do recognize you have to make the most of those chances and be in the right place at the right time, i just feel that so much of his point total has been created by other players. i would even go as far as saying his point total is just plain misleading.

the other big thing is his physicality. i have never felt he was very physical. we have several guys down here that will hit everyone (peters, sutter, cunning) and many more that make hits when necessary. but chucko seems to shy away from hits. he also does this weird thing before he does hit someone where he will move his arms away from the person and then swing them towards the guy as he hits them. its a magnet for penalties. (and also a huge clue that hes going for hit; which causes lots of whiffs) additionally, he is still not real strong on the wall or in front of the net.

with all that said, he is definitely in the top 5 for forwards this year, and i would probably have to rate him the 3rd best forward behind lundmark and greentree. will he make the team next year? well a lot of that depends on the roster up there, but with a half season to go i don't know if it would happen. i think he could use another year down here. and if he shows the offseason improvement that he showed this year, then i think he would be a top player down here and could be a callup as he continues to put the finishing touches on his game.

hopefully my opinion doesn't seem too harsh. as i have mentioned in the past, i am a tough evaluator in general.

[SparkyOne]

I agree with dobbles that Chucko might need another year in the A, but that's about as far as the agreement goes.

Maybe it's because dobbles sits on the glass....I sat at that level for years, and thought it was awesome and that I was seeing everything up close and personal. This year, I moved up to the first row of the upper bowl, and you see an entirely different game at that level. You see plays develop, you see player movement, you see hits that you can't see when you're sitting lower. There are often bodies in the way from the glass view, and you can't see around them. If there's action in front of you on the glass, and other action away from that play, it's often hard to see it all from the lower level.

Chucko has improved 110% since last year. He's faster, he's tougher, he's using his head. He's been a bit lucky in being in the right place at the right time for some of his goals, but that happens to every player who's out there working. He has more goals than Lundmark, who's amassed his points on assists. (Which I consider just as important as goals....but he's in line with Greentree in that respect....)

He hits, and hits hard. As for being a penalty "magnet"....the guy has 40 penalty minutes for the season. Greentree has 39, VanderGulik has 40, Peters has 43, and Armstrong has 46. Doesn't seem like he's taken too many unnecessary penalties from some kind of unorthodox hitting!

Lundmark, Greentree, and Chucko are at the top of the team in +/-, with a -11, -6, and -8. This is part of our problem this year....our forwards have to think and play a little more offensively and defensively around the net.

[dobbles]

just for clarifications sake, i didn't mean to imply chucko was a penalty magnet. i was saying that weird move he does is a magnet for penalties.

certainly every view has advantages and disadvantages. but i have never felt that my view is an impairment to me viewing the game. additionally, last season i sat all over the arena trying to figure out where i liked. what i can see real well from my seat is when people are battling for pucks and working hard on the boards. i can get an excellent view of how feet and hands are doing specific things and what strategies and effort players are putting into the play. i also get a great view of in front of the net plays.

and yeah, you do bring up the +/- which is something that is important. but i didn't feel like it was a big deal as just about the whole team is minus players!

[cyclone3483]

great insight from both of you, thanks

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by SparkyOne

Maybe it's because dobbles sits on the glass....I sat at that level for years, and thought it was awesome and that I was seeing everything up close and personal. This year, I moved up to the first row of the upper bowl, and you see an entirely different game at that level. You see plays develop, you see player movement, you see hits that you can't see when you're sitting lower. There are often bodies in the way from the glass view, and you can't see around them. If there's action in front of you on the glass, and other action away from that play, it's often hard to see it all from the lower level..

This is actually something very interesting that you've brought up. I know pro scouts usually tend to sit in the upper bowl, and not close to the ice surface to watch a game.

[SparkyOne]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

This is actually something very interesting that you've brought up. I know pro scouts usually tend to sit in the upper bowl, and not close to the ice surface to watch a game.

When we first moved upstairs this season, I didn't like it. It takes a few games to get used to, but now I am actually surprised at how much more I see from up there! I've watched a couple of games this season downstairs and (unless I want to get some pictures), I'm eager to get back to what I consider my better view.

We were kinda surprised on the second night we were in Grand Rapids last week to find that we had a Florida Panthers scout right behind us...and we were three rows from the top of the lower bowl.

Really a nice guy and we chatted from time to time. He said things similar to what I did....that he wants to see how the guy "fits in", how he moves with the team. You can also see feet and hands, but if they're doing the other things right, the feet and hands are usually doing the right things as well!!

And dobbles, your "in front of the net" comment is right on....but since I sit right above you, I get that as well....

[dobbles]

btw - how did that game killing turnover by chucko look from your vantage point last night?!?!?!