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Post by mikeb on Jan 10, 2023 23:46:39 GMT -4
Yeah i love what hulton has done during his overall time here but not gonna sugarcoat this Sonething stinks here I agree. At first I just thought it was a couple bad moves, but this year has been a disaster with starting the rebuild. I'm definitely getting nervous for the future of this team, but I'm not at the panic button stage yet. It's not too often that Hulton has had to rebuild and more than one team have looked to stumble somewhat so I think he can be given some leeway. I would gladly change Dwyer here in Bathurst for Hulton. |
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Post by sc74 on Jan 11, 2023 0:06:08 GMT -4
But Hulton would have to either respond to the Quebec based reporter in French ….and I think he is 100% Anglo….or respond in English and have the reporter translate as he sees fit….less than ideal on either count. I supposed that maybe Guy Girouard would be the guy for the reporter to talk to, but of course the media would be less interested in talking to the assistant GM compared to CHL and QMJHL coach of the year. People do speak English in Quebec. Some speak it better than you. Making it a language issue makes your post seem bigoted. Btw I am from Quebec and I speak English quite well thank you. Anyway the journalist that wrote the article, Jean-François Plante, is from Ontario and is married to an english speaking British Columbian. No language issue here. |
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Post by scotiahockey on Jan 11, 2023 2:10:23 GMT -4
I mean I get cutting him if he isn't good enough or isn't helping the room. But why do it 3 hours after the deadline for him to find another Major Jr team? I understand wanting to do right by the kids… teams do that every year, at the same time I can understand wanting to do what’s best for the team. Maybe they didn’t know they’d get Robillard until after it was too late for Austin? You’d think if you really wanted him, he’d easily be thrown into the Brabenec deal though. Kids are done wrong by every year in the CHL though, you don’t hear a lot about it but there’s a lot of empty promises to get kids in the door (this isn’t that scenario though) and then the business side of the league takes over. It’s no different in the NCAA (scholarships are reviewed yearly and just because you have a “full-ride” 4 year deal doesn’t mean it lasts 4 years) or wherever these kids choose to chase their hockey dream. As much as the CHL and the people running the leagues want you to think otherwise, it’s a business and is treated as such by all involved. Unfortunately that means kids get caught in the cross fire and put into shitty situations, I’ll never know the real reason this went down the way it does but it’s not Charlottetown specific or an isolated incident unfortunately. |
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Post by Score on Jan 11, 2023 7:55:45 GMT -4
We all know the culture that Jim runs and requires off the ice.
Strong leadership and quality character players.
I have no information on this, but perhaps those that were acquired and released didn't show those qualities....??
It also wouldn't be the 1st time that Gat has sent us players over the years that also lacked those qualities.
Nobody really knows what the reasons behind the recent moves are.....but sometimes it's for the best.
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Post by blueeagle on Jan 11, 2023 9:02:37 GMT -4
I mean I get cutting him if he isn't good enough or isn't helping the room. But why do it 3 hours after the deadline for him to find another Major Jr team? I understand wanting to do right by the kids… teams do that every year, at the same time I can understand wanting to do what’s best for the team. Maybe they didn’t know they’d get Robillard until after it was too late for Austin? You’d think if you really wanted him, he’d easily be thrown into the Brabenec deal though. Kids are done wrong by every year in the CHL though, you don’t hear a lot about it but there’s a lot of empty promises to get kids in the door (this isn’t that scenario though) and then the business side of the league takes over. It’s no different in the NCAA (scholarships are reviewed yearly and just because you have a “full-ride” 4 year deal doesn’t mean it lasts 4 years) or wherever these kids choose to chase their hockey dream. As much as the CHL and the people running the leagues want you to think otherwise, it’s a business and is treated as such by all involved. Unfortunately that means kids get caught in the cross fire and put into shitty situations, I’ll never know the real reason this went down the way it does but it’s not Charlottetown specific or an isolated incident unfortunately. If it is because they didn't know they could get Robillard, fine, that is running a hockey club and I agree. If they were aware and had the opportunity to release Austin before the deadline, then that is not just running a hockey club. If you hold players to the standards of character that people on here say Hulton does, you also have to run the club by that standard of character. Again, I'm not saying they shouldn't have released him, and I'm definitely not saying they should have passed on Robillard just to do right by Austin. We don't know what's going on behind the scenes and we never will. But the consequence of that is that we are left to put the pieces together ourselves and those pieces don't look great here. I understand how high level sport works. Obviously I don't think kids should be guaranteed anything, and I understand it's a results based business. But people management is also a very key part of any managers job, and unless the situation was the one specific one you outlined above, then this doesn't seem to be a good example of this, as Isles fans themselves are saying. No issues with the releases. Just really hoping this wasn't management trying to prove some kind of point by playing god with some kids career. |
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Post by Score on Jan 11, 2023 9:53:26 GMT -4
Jim Hulton:
We have improved our club by adding Jakob Robillard and recently acquiring forward Kiefer Lyons through waivers” commented Hulton. “These are both purely business moves necessary at this time of year. Every team is trying to get better or find a piece that will improve their club through the waiver wire and free agent pool. With that, comes the decision or situation where you have to let players go. We wish both Robbie and Tye the best of luck.”
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Post by Briwhel on Jan 11, 2023 9:54:56 GMT -4
Jim Hulton: We have improved our club by adding Jakob Robillard and recently acquiring forward Kiefer Lyons through waivers” commented Hulton. “These are both purely business moves necessary at this time of year. Every team is trying to get better or find a piece that will improve their club through the waiver wire and free agent pool. With that, comes the decision or situation where you have to let players go. We wish both Robbie and Tye the best of luck.” But Austin is the better goalie? He had better numbers on a worse team. |
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Post by scotiahockey on Jan 11, 2023 10:11:28 GMT -4
Jim Hulton: We have improved our club by adding Jakob Robillard and recently acquiring forward Kiefer Lyons through waivers” commented Hulton. “These are both purely business moves necessary at this time of year. Every team is trying to get better or find a piece that will improve their club through the waiver wire and free agent pool. With that, comes the decision or situation where you have to let players go. We wish both Robbie and Tye the best of luck.” But Austin is the better goalie? He had better numbers on a worse team. Is he though? I mean he never had a save % above .880 in 3 OHL seasons. We know stats don’t tell the whole story with goalies, especially when we’re talking non-elite CHL goalies. Robillard averaged under 20 shots a game and Austin over 25 this season… it’s possible that Robillard’s 20 shots wielded more high quality chances then Austin’s 25 and while his numbers are worse, he made bigger saves. Austin may very well turn out to be the better goalie but I’m not so certain that he is. |
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Post by countryboy on Jan 11, 2023 10:15:23 GMT -4
There's been lots on this.... on the ice, I'm curious as to whether Robillard is the better goalie of the two. We know Austin had good numbers in Gatineau prior to the trade. As has been mentioned, statistically, his 20 y/o season in Gatineau was stronger than Robillard's in Sherbrooke... both playing in front of good teams.
Austin has a lengthy track record playing major junior. He played in the OHL starting as a 16 y/o. His stats suggest time as a backup, plus the OHL had a complete shut down in 20-21, plus we have heard injuries were a significant factor to date in his junior career.
As for Robillard, last year as a 19 y/o was really his first season playing major junior. He came through the CCHL and I'm not sure if there was an NCAA pathway for him or if he just is something of a late bloomer. To me, it's worth something that he was Sherbrooke's go to goaltender in the 2022 playoffs where they had a very good team. Their other goalie that year was Euro Ivan Zhigalov, who was NHL drafted and came through the Q as a decent goaltending prospect. Obviously, Sherbrooke saw something good in Robillard to use him over Zhigalov in the playoffs. Plus, Zhigalov was eligible to return to the Phoenix for his 19 y/o season but Sherbrooke decided to cut him loose and go a different direction with Euro players and instead started the season with 20 y/o Robillard. While he doesn't have the track record of Austin, there are number of good arrows for Robillard as well.
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Post by blueeagle on Jan 11, 2023 10:27:51 GMT -4
I haven't seen Robillard this year, but fwiw (and it's not worth much), when I saw Austin this year I thought his numbers flattered him, so I see scotiahockey's point.
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Post by countryboy on Jan 11, 2023 10:33:40 GMT -4
Been a lot of talk about goaltending and game start times of late..... but one thing that we haven't discussed in a while is who is going to be scoring the goals. The offense needs to get rolling. We have scored 99 goals which is last place in the league and trails the next worst team (SJ) by 13 goals. We have not scored a 5X5 goal in either of our last two games. The team has had a lengthy practice time between last Sunday's game in Moncton and next Saturday's game in Bathurst. Time to try to force out a little bit more production!
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Post by switchback on Jan 11, 2023 10:36:52 GMT -4
Last year I thought beside me fake 1 Robillard went save for save with Franky in the playoffs if he can bring that play here he will be fine
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Post by islander19 on Jan 11, 2023 10:43:49 GMT -4
Austin has been playing though injuries…maybe Jim knows something, or just can’t afford to take a chance that he’ll stay healthy for the year.
What if Austin pulls a groin? We’re stuck with Grimes and Boudreau for the year….and we all thought the season was going to be long now 😂
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Post by juniorcormier16 on Jan 11, 2023 10:45:36 GMT -4
I agree. At first I just thought it was a couple bad moves, but this year has been a disaster with starting the rebuild. I'm definitely getting nervous for the future of this team, but I'm not at the panic button stage yet. It's not too often that Hulton has had to rebuild and more than one team have looked to stumble somewhat so I think he can be given some leeway. I would gladly change Dwyer here in Bathurst for Hulton. How can you be serious on that front, Look at Hultons track record with since joining the Islanders and what he has accomplished. I think some people are hitting the panic button way to soon, yes the trades may not make sense in some cases what would have happened if we won last year? would people still be asking questions on the Guy trade? look at what other teams are doing hell look at what the return on Zellweger and Hofer. Honestly Austin didn't really impress me all that much at all overall his numbers were solid cause he had a strong team in front of him. Robillard from what I remember he played pretty good vs us last season and we had a very strong team and he made some big saves during the series vs us, I think he will be a great addition. Rutledge defiantly isn't a surprise watching him all season and the games he has played in he didn't do a whole lot and didn't utilize his size at all. Hes been on the bubble for a little while now. Its the first time really since Hulton took over we are in this position I think his goal this season is to just even make the playoffs and with the team that he had it just is not going to cut it, so if he has to bring in other players to try and achieve that then so be it. If in 2-3 years we are still this bad then yes hit the panic button but overall the first half of the season was not overly bad sitting around 500 or a little above. Mind you a lot had to do with Franky in net but they were still scoring goals and competing. |
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Post by countryboy on Jan 11, 2023 10:50:54 GMT -4
Robillard started the semifinal vs. us last year. In game 1 we ripped him a new one, scoring 3 goals on the first five shots. He was pulled less than 5 minutes in and they went with Zhigalov for the rest of the game. The Phoenix came back with Robillard for game 2 and he went shot for shot with Frankie and they ended up winning in OT and left Charlottetown with the split.... and put the heat right on us heading up to Sherbooke looking for two wins.
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