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Post by Penguins23® on Aug 13, 2015 13:08:31 GMT -4
Cyr looked really good this morning until he got hurt. Him and Crossman hooked up for a nice goal to open the scoring.
Benji Curtis thinks it's WWE. He jumped Garland then kept punching when the linesman is trying to pull him off of Garland then in the penalty box he's acting all tough punching the glass and hitting it with his helmet, etc. It's a scrimmage, no need to put on a show for the 20 fans in attendance.
Klima twins looked decent, nothing to write home about but they could play in the Q. Not sure they are second line material but we will see.
As stated above, I don't put much stock into how players with guaranteed spots look, if I based it only on this scrimmage then Sweeney would be on the bubble lol. They have nothing to prove and they are just out there for a good time. Garland was even behind his own net after back checking for a shift.
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Post by El Guapo }~ on Aug 13, 2015 13:26:11 GMT -4
I know it is early but... I can see them going with a first line of Garland/Leger/Askew Second line of Klima/Klima/Weiderer (Murphy might be a better fit than a Klima) Third line of Smith/Cormier/Johnson Fourth line of Corson/ Bower/ MacEwen Extras Murphy/(Ramin or Meisenheimer)/Crossman/Leishman Do they take 19 year olds MacEwan and Leishman? Do they trade Johnson? if so Bower slides in there. I actually like MacEwan on first line rather than Askew. Haven't seen Vachon play and don't think Cyr is physically ready. I don't see them playing 19 and 20 year olds on the 3rd line. The Smith-Johnson line would be better than Klima-Klima-Weiderer anyways... I'm sure Murphy Crossman and Cyr will be in the lineup, they'll move older players if needed. They already traded Jacob, Bowers Tibbo or Leger could be next. I'd rather see a high upside 16 year old play than a 19 year old who won't be around at 20 or an 18 year old who's upside is 3rd line. Not sure they have any high end 16 & 17 yo. Problem is that the young guys are small and not suited for 4th line duty. Going in to some of the smaller rinks you need size to grind out games. Even tough it is junior hockey it is still a business and you still have to entertain and win.
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Post by Captain Obvious on Aug 13, 2015 13:36:51 GMT -4
I don't see them playing 19 and 20 year olds on the 3rd line. The Smith-Johnson line would be better than Klima-Klima-Weiderer anyways... I'm sure Murphy Crossman and Cyr will be in the lineup, they'll move older players if needed. They already traded Jacob, Bowers Tibbo or Leger could be next. I'd rather see a high upside 16 year old play than a 19 year old who won't be around at 20 or an 18 year old who's upside is 3rd line. Not sure they have any high end 16 & 17 yo. Problem is that the young guys are small and not suited for 4th line duty. Going in to some of the smaller rinks you need size to grind out games. Even tough it is junior hockey it is still a business and you still have to entertain and win. This isn't the Q of 10 or 20 years ago where 4th lines were PK guys, fighters and bangers. I'd rather see young skill guys on the 4th line than guys with no upside. Cyr Crossman and Murphy(when he decides to play) are definitely above average 16-17 year olds.
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Post by El Guapo }~ on Aug 13, 2015 14:55:27 GMT -4
Not sure they have any high end 16 & 17 yo. Problem is that the young guys are small and not suited for 4th line duty. Going in to some of the smaller rinks you need size to grind out games. Even tough it is junior hockey it is still a business and you still have to entertain and win. This isn't the Q of 10 or 20 years ago where 4th lines were PK guys, fighters and bangers. I'd rather see young skill guys on the 4th line than guys with no upside. Cyr Crossman and Murphy(when he decides to play) are definitely above average 16-17 year olds. Agree but they are not suited for the 4th line.
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Post by Captain Obvious on Aug 13, 2015 15:07:25 GMT -4
This isn't the Q of 10 or 20 years ago where 4th lines were PK guys, fighters and bangers. I'd rather see young skill guys on the 4th line than guys with no upside. Cyr Crossman and Murphy(when he decides to play) are definitely above average 16-17 year olds. Agree but they are not suited for the 4th line. The problem is not who they are it's that you have pre conceived notions on a 4th line. What you see mostly in the Q nowadays, especially on non-powerhouse teams, is a lot of 16 and 17 year olds playing 4th line and getting easy matchups and offensive zone starts to help them get used to the level and gain quality experience. Last year the Cats had guys like Jacob Murphy Leger Cormier Bower play most of the minutes on the 4th line with a bit of Cobham Curtis Duquette mixed in. Same for PEI SJ and a lot of other teams.
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Post by El Guapo }~ on Aug 13, 2015 15:14:20 GMT -4
Agree but they are not suited for the 4th line. The problem is not who they are it's that you have pre conceived notions on a 4th line. What you see mostly in the Q nowadays, especially on non-powerhouse teams, is a lot of 16 and 17 year olds playing 4th line and getting easy matchups and offensive zone starts to help them get used to the level and gain quality experience. Last year the Cats had guys like Jacob Murphy Leger Cormier Bower play most of the minutes on the 4th line with a bit of Cobham Curtis Duquette mixed in. Same for PEI SJ and a lot of other teams. I know what you are saying but for the most part those guys you mentioned are either energy guys or have size.
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ronmac
Blue-Chip Prospect
Posts: 376
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Post by ronmac on Aug 13, 2015 15:23:45 GMT -4
Unfortunately we don't have that big physical 4th line that is required, instead we like the smaller ballerina players, that play with no emotion, makes you wonder why that want to be there. A game of hockey without emotion is not much of a hockey game to watch in my books.
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Post by Captain Obvious on Aug 13, 2015 15:23:46 GMT -4
The problem is not who they are it's that you have pre conceived notions on a 4th line. What you see mostly in the Q nowadays, especially on non-powerhouse teams, is a lot of 16 and 17 year olds playing 4th line and getting easy matchups and offensive zone starts to help them get used to the level and gain quality experience. Last year the Cats had guys like Jacob Murphy Leger Cormier Bower play most of the minutes on the 4th line with a bit of Cobham Curtis Duquette mixed in. Same for PEI SJ and a lot of other teams. I know what you are saying but for the most part those guys you mentioned are either energy guys or have size. You're too hung up on the size thing. The goal is to develop your young players and break them into this level.
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Post by catnut on Aug 13, 2015 15:32:22 GMT -4
You're too hung up on the size thing. Does the expression "smurf" ring a bell? How ironic.
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Post by Captain Obvious on Aug 13, 2015 15:51:44 GMT -4
You're too hung up on the size thing. Does the expression "smurf" ring a bell? How ironic. I'm not a fan of a team full of smurfs, but once you draft them, may as well develop them. Drafting a 5'7" kid in round 2, them cutting him because he's 5'7" would be asinine.
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Post by El Guapo }~ on Aug 13, 2015 19:02:20 GMT -4
Does the expression "smurf" ring a bell? How ironic. I'm not a fan of a team full of smurfs, but once you draft them, may as well develop them. Drafting a 5'7" kid in round 2, them cutting him because he's 5'7" would be asinine. [/quote That's the problem...outside of Askew and Cormier we don't have anyone over 6' in our top 12. You can't defend against bigger teams without more size. There is nothing wrong with having "smurfs" but having 10 of them...especially young ones doesn't help there development.
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ronmac
Blue-Chip Prospect
Posts: 376
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Post by ronmac on Aug 13, 2015 19:17:57 GMT -4
If you look at the teams that make it to the Memorial Cup, they are not full of SMURF's I agree once you have drafted all these smaller players you don't have much choice, but to try and use them, but you certainly could make better picks, there is definitely a place for some smaller skilled players, but they should not makeup the majority of your team, there needs to be a better mix, we need some size so that these smaller players are not scared to touch the puck as some else will take there head off. Need players that play with emotion and passion. There my rant for the day.
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Post by Arnold Slick on Aug 13, 2015 20:37:18 GMT -4
Had a chance to catch all but the opening scrimmage so far and here are my much anticipate thoughts on what I've seen.
We'll start with the goaltenders and quite frankly there's too many in camp. Six goalies in every game which leads to pretty minimal playing time. I'm not going to call anyone out because that wouldn't be fair, but why they felt the need to invite certain goaltenders to camp is beyond me. There's a few that are clearly out of their league and it does nothing but clog things for no reason.
Jason Rioux and Hugo Talbot-Tassi - They've both been fairly pedestrian so far. Couple weak goals allowed by each. Rioux needs to have a phenomenal camp to stick around and that hasn't happened so far.
Dillan Kelly - Good size and very good reflexes. Has allowed a couple goals short side by going down too early. Otherwise he's been solid.
Matthew Waite - I've really been impressed with him so far. He's not overly quick, but he plays well positionally and is good at tracking the puck. There's some future potential here!
Jack Grant has been OK but I haven't seen much of him. I also don't have a lot to say about team white's goalies as quite frankly I was having a hard time figuring out who was in nets for them.
Some thoughts on the newcomers in camp:
Dawson Grenier/Jamie Penney - Both defencemen who have really enjoyed carrying the puck and jumping up into the play. They've also both got caught up ice a few times so the decision making has been a bit interesting to say the least. Grenier is only 17 though and I really like his skating so he could be someone to watch.
Marcus Tesink - He's really kept things simple so far and has looked good. Terrific skater.
Manuel Wiederer - Like I said before he's good on the puck and distributes it well. Definitely has skill. Also worth noting that he's mainly been playing with the likes of Alex Hambly, Brodie MacArthur and Brett Yochum.
Brett Yochum - He's interesting in that he's got size, speed and skill. The problem is that he's 19 and I really haven't seen quite enough to justify keeping him around.
Noah Corson - He's been involved in the play frequently, but I'd love to see a bit more offensive flair from him.
Jonathan Aspirot - I've been impressed with him so far. He's played a steady game, not afraid to play the body and has a good active stick in the defensive zone. Him and Shayne Dominie have formed a pretty good D pairing thus far.
Doug D'Arnall - He's been a really pleasant surprise for me. Good skater and he's responsible defensively. Not seeing much in the way of offence from him, but could definitely see him as a good 3rd line player in the future.
Jeremy McKenna - There's definitely some offensive skill there that has come in flashes. Looked pretty good playing with Askew and Bower in the latter stages of the game tonight.
Dylan Wheatley - Noticeable because of size, but otherwise I haven't seen much from him.
Hunter Leishman - He was pretty useless the first game I saw and then was quite effective tonight. Age is working against him as I don't see him being worth keeping on the roster.
Jamie Ramin - He's got skill, has looked good on the puck and has made some nice plays in the offensive zone. I'm not sold on his skating though for this level. Worth a longer look if he's willing to stick around.
Alex Lavoie/Brendon Bornstein - Only got one viewing of these two and they played a fairly solid all-around game. Would like to see more of them.
Brandon Worthen - I don't see the Cats sending a draft pick to Halifax to be able to keep him.
Ethan Crossman - Good skater, good speed and good skill. He'll be one of the star attractions when the new building opens.
Sam Meisenheimer - Very skilled and scored a nifty goal this morning. What I really liked is that he had an extremely high compete level and wasn't afraid to go into traffic despite not being the biggest guy. Definitely deserving of a longer look.
Kevin Klima/Kelly Klima - They looked better than I expected. Quick and obviously have some skill. Not sure they deserve to be pegged for the second line right off the bat though.
Max Glassl - Really didn't notice him much at all. That's not necessarily a bad thing.
I won't get into the returnees too much. For me no one has stood out in a bad way and that's the most important thing for these scrimmages. Beaton has seemingly been on a mission and hopefully they can find a place for him in the Q. Bower looks to have a little bit of an extra gear so far. Kudos to him for the improvement over the past year because he didn't look like he deserved a spot on the team at this point last season.
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Post by Arnold Slick on Aug 13, 2015 20:40:27 GMT -4
Cats have named Zach Fortin the starter. That means CB now gets a 4th round pick in 2016. Can't say I'm overly thrilled with this, but hopefully he proves me wrong.
That essentially rules out 19-year-olds Rioux and Kelly for the back-up role. Waite and Grant won't be playing any pre-season games to maintain NCAA eligibility.
The battle for the back-up spot is realistically down to Mann-Dixon, Dupre and Talbot-Tassi.
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Post by Captain Obvious on Aug 13, 2015 22:17:57 GMT -4
Cats have named Zach Fortin the starter. That means CB now gets a 4th round pick in 2016. Can't say I'm overly thrilled with this, but hopefully he proves me wrong. That essentially rules out 19-year-olds Rioux and Kelly for the back-up role. Waite and Grant won't be playing any pre-season games to maintain NCAA eligibility. The battle for the back-up spot is realistically down to Mann-Dixon, Dupre and Talbot-Tassi. Where/when did they name him the starter? Not a big fan of a 20 year old and 18 year old, that was the case last year and it led to basically no real returning goalie this year. Ideally one of the young guys earns the #2 spot, a "goalie of the future" is needed.
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