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Post by SteveUL on Aug 28, 2007 8:41:38 GMT -4
Brenton has easily been one of the 5 best players in camp ... and he has been finishing far better than Watson has been ... what has Watson done better ? Brenton is also an excellent PK guy and an excellent forechecker and has a full year of Q experience ... and is a tireless worker in the mold of Chris Morehouse. Watson and Brenton are also the same age ... so the choice was easy. Watson showed a lot more finish in the intersquads, he may have been the best forward there, he did not really stand out in the 3 exhibitions though. Watson stood out in the rookie camp against players that have already been cut. When he jumped to the regular camp he did not stand out at all ... while Brenton did stand out ... and Brenton scored more than once (had 2 in one game). I don't recall Watson doing any finishing in any games ... although he might have scored a couple in the rookie games ... I don't count his SO goal as finishing ... he needs to be able to that under pressure. |
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Post by Optimus Reim on Aug 28, 2007 8:43:42 GMT -4
I really am not sure on releasing Watson. I know he was a FA from last season but I thought he looked better then Brenton. Brenton has the wheels but still can't seem to finish. I bet those were tough calls to make though, Cutting Lepage and Watson. Brenton has easily been one of the 5 best players in camp ... and he has been finishing far better than Watson has been ... what has Watson done better ? Brenton is also an excellent PK guy and an excellent forechecker and has a full year of Q experience ... and is a tireless worker in the mold of Chris Morehouse. Watson and Brenton are also the same age ... so the choice was easy. He also did the exact same thing last season. And then half way thorugh completely disappeared. I do like Breton but Watson has similar skills and size to boot. Just not the nearly the same speed. I thought Watson looked good in the exhibition games. But that is why I am a fan and not the coach.  |
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Post by SteveUL on Aug 28, 2007 8:47:57 GMT -4
Brenton has easily been one of the 5 best players in camp ... and he has been finishing far better than Watson has been ... what has Watson done better ? Brenton is also an excellent PK guy and an excellent forechecker and has a full year of Q experience ... and is a tireless worker in the mold of Chris Morehouse. Watson and Brenton are also the same age ... so the choice was easy. He also did the exact same thing last season. And then half way thorugh completely disappeared. I do like Breton but Watson has similar skills and size to boot. Just not the nearly the same speed. I thought Watson looked good in the exhibition games. But that is why I am a fan and not the coach. How many times have you seen a kid struggle in his first year and then come back in his second year and show the things we hoped to see last year ? Brad Marchand comes to mind. Brenton has had an excellent camp and has actually been scoring consistently in inter-squad games. He brings more to the table right now than Watson does at the same age. Brenton's spectacular speed will create opportunities for him (especially on PK) that others will not get ... and you'll see him start to convert more and more of those opportunities ... I wouldn't be surprised to see him score 20 this year. |
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Post by mbastarache on Aug 28, 2007 10:17:32 GMT -4
There was never a question on Watsons ability to score.
But the kid couldn't play defense and he was unable to take the body. Every time he threw a check he would bounce off the guy.
I loved his offensive flair but he doesn't have enough of a flair to compensate for all the other areas he lacks in. He had to go.
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Post by SteveUL on Aug 28, 2007 11:12:45 GMT -4
There was never a question on Watsons ability to score. But the kid couldn't play defense and he was unable to take the body. Every time he threw a check he would bounce off the guy. I loved his offensive flair but he doesn't have enough of a flair to compensate for all the other areas he lacks in. He had to go. You should say ... Watson's ability to score in an inferior Midget league ... he never showed any scoring flair here so there certainly was question. All of these kids were very good players at lower levels ... thats how they got noticed. |
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