12/19/24
July 22, 2006
What a Day for Hawks and Havs!: Redline Report. After dissecting the 2006 NHL Draft, Chicago comes out on top while Montreal is the only Canadian Team to crack Redline's Top 10. Where is your squad? With results 3-4 years out do these draft ratings have any merit? Feel free to rant or produce your own ratings.
posted by skydivedad to hockey at 10:16 AM - 8 comments
I don't think you can really rate how a draft went until at least 2 years down the line, and probably closer to 4. You really need those four years for defensemen and goalies. See: Jack Johnson with regard to the Carolina Hurricanes. He's going to spend another year with the Wolverines, maybe even another year beyond this one. He's going to need at least half a season at the AHL level to get a feel for the pro game and to get used to the gruelling schedules. Which is a good thing. He's supposedly going to be another Chris Pronger, but this franchise cannot afford to have another Chris Pronger affair. I hate it when teams try to bring a goalie or d-man up too early. Which is what the 'Canes did to David Tanabe. He showed brilliance and flash at times, but overall, he was kind of a liability. However, they let Cam Ward mature at the Junior and then AHL levels over a couple of seasons and it was the right decision. I'd like to get the opinion from you hockey experts (and more importantly, hockey experts from St. Louis) on how quickly St. Louis will right their ship? I'm getting the feeling that they won't be on the ouside looking in next season.
posted by NoMich at 10:46 AM on July 22, 2006
Nice to see the BlackHawks #1 at something although I find this dubious at best. It does give us BHawks fans something to hang our hats on but that's sure to backfire on us. I personally feel the Blues deserve the #1 rating only because they landed the top D-man prospect of the last 15 years in Johnson (according to Redline). It remains to be seen if the Blackhawks don't screw this up as is their recent history concerning top prospects. I'm tired of waiting for my squad to show some life and let's face it Toews isn't going to step on NHL ice anytime in the 2007 season. I really wanted and expected some immediate help from this draft. I don't know how Redline can keep the Caps from a Top 10 rating with the addition of Nicklas Backstrom an NHL ready player and Simeon Varmalov. They then added significant depth across the board with 5 quality later round picks. Washington made two selections in the fourth round, choosing forward Oskar Osala of Mississauga of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) with the 97th pick of the draft. Osala, a native of Vassa, Finland, is 6’4”, 217 pounds and recorded 43 points (17 goals, 26 assists) in 68 games in 2005-06. He played for Team Finland in the 2004 Under-18 World Championship. This guy was a steal at #97.
posted by skydivedad at 11:02 AM on July 22, 2006
Damn, I miss hockey.
posted by Desert Dog at 04:26 PM on July 22, 2006
Damn, I miss hockey. yea me too! Just got done watching a replay of the 5-5 OT tie between Michigan and Michigan State during Hockey Day Michigan 2006. It was on Fox Sports Net but dang it's just not the same.
posted by skydivedad at 07:11 PM on July 22, 2006
I'm a total sucker for draft rankings. You can't take them very seriously, though. In 2003, when the Bruins picked up Mark Stuart and Patrice Bergeron, Sportsnet rated Boston's draft a "D". That same year, when Montreal picked Andrei Kostitsyn and Cory Urquhart with their first picks, they were rated an "A". Just saying.
posted by Samsonov14 at 07:34 PM on July 22, 2006
My club isn't even in the top ten, but I find draft speculation useless. Anyone remember Juri Dopita? Suppsoedly he was the best player not in the NHL back in '01 or '02. I think you really can't evluate a player until they are in a couple NHL games. Damn, I miss hockey. I with you guys. I used to get roller hockey fix during the dog days but with most of my friends growing up and taking life seriously, they can't afford to call out sick to work because of hockey related injuries. We've had a whooping zero games this summer and a total of two last year. Getting old sucks.
posted by HATER 187 at 09:46 PM on July 22, 2006
Soon, people. Soon. I'm trying to get stuff done in the off-season. Reading, starting a band, meeting new friends, you know, stuff. Missing hockey feels kinda good, in a way. I'll just focus on that.
posted by chicobangs at 02:04 AM on July 23, 2006
With results 3-4 years out do these draft ratings have any merit? Unless the players drafted were absolute locks as being superstars (Crosby, Lemieux, Lindros), then there is always the chance they fizzle (Daigle, S.Turgeon, Wickenheiser). I don't think you can really rate how a draft went until at least 2 years down the line, and probably closer to 4.