Things to look for at camp

[dogbert]

Here's a list of things I'll be watching for this camp:

Defense
Overall they need to improve their offensive contribution, especially on the pp. There's some high ended talent from top to bottom. It's time to show it.
- Yann Sauvé: is he more aggressive, does he carry the puck more, is he more physical?
- David Stich: does he have fire in his belly?
- Alex Grant: is he bringing it every shift?
- McNeil: is he more comfortable? Is he going to take charge and control the PP like he did in the MJAHL?
- Despres : everything! But most of all can he hit?
- Amyot: has he filled out at all? Any signs of meanness? Has his skating improved? or
- Newbs: Are there any bright lights at all?

Forward
We've beefed up our scoring, so I want to see some. I'm tired of dump, crash, shoot, skate back to our zone. I want some puck control, sustained pressure, and lots of quality chances. We also need some defense and some grinding and toughness. Who's going to bring it in the corners?
- Matt Stoddard. Has he actually bulked up? Is he remotely physical? Is he controlling the play? Has his shooting velocity improved?
- Payton Liske: does he have the same intensity he showed before the boink?
- Guerette-Charlands: I want to see some scoring touch.
- Jordan Knox: is he on the ice? Is he dominating or just keeping up? I want to see some d-men struggle.
- Guathier and Sparling: I want to see some 19yr old maturity, intensity, and leadership.
- Kirkpatrick. I know he can score, but can he skate at this level and stand the physical play?
- Thomas: I want to see some maturity and confidence. He seemed to press whenever he was out there. He needs to show he's a regular player.
- Richer: 1st can he skate at this level? What else does he bring?
- Pard: has he added size and strength?
- Langan: Can he skate at this level? Has he grown at all?
- Lewis: not talked about much, but he could claim a spot on this team. Is he bigger, stronger, and faster?
- Invitees: Are there any flashes of brilliance at all? I'd love to find another Dido or two. ANd of course, are there any decent tough guys?
- Steven Anthony: What is this kid all about anyway? Can he step in and be a star now?
- Clifford Mugford. I'm rooting for him. How can you not with a name like that. It just shouts character.


Goal

I'm looking for stiff competition. Is Mayer the real deal or another over-hyped flash-in-the pan? Is Fullerton going to exert himself and claim his #1 spot? Which of the kids is going to step it up? It's do-or-die for Dopud and St. Laurent. If we don't see some fantastic goaltending, I'll be very dissapointed.

[ghost]

I'll be interested to see the growth of our returning 17 yr olds. After being in and out of the line up have Stoddard, Thomas and Amyot done enough over the summer to earn a regular shift with the Seadogs. I would assume they will be regular players this year so can they contribute night in and night out? Sauve will be a regual as per last year. Expect great things from him this year.

Can Dido, with coverage in year two, produce as he did last year. His vision on the ice and confidence should permit him to have great success. He will be a very important factor in the Seadog success.

Can Anthony and Kirkpatrick produce in the Q. Big step from Midget AAA and Jr. A in both speed and physical play. The schedule is demanding with travel, practice, school and independence. Wish them both all of the best and success with the dogs.

I really don't believe there are a lot of spots open on this roster. It will be interesting to see who earns the final few spots.

[dogbert]

ghost said:

Big step from Midget AAA and Jr. A in both speed and physical play. The schedule is demanding with travel, practice, school and independence.

The independence is a force very much overlooked on these threads. You see hints of it in coaches' comments on players: "He showed leadership on and off the ice." It brings to mind Marty Bartos. I saw him a lot at the rinks while he was here. He couldn't resist our junk food, always had candy in his hands. There's nobody telling these kids what they should and shouldn't do, and that drive from within is a characteristic the pro scouts look at.

[killer]

There seems to be a bit of of log jam with players on the top 2 lines for us this year. Players like Dido, Liske, Knox, Sparling, Charland brothers, Anthony, Gauthier, Leduc will all be vying for these 6 positions. This leaves many questions on what to do with our lines and combinations.

Last season Dido and Liske seemed to really click in the short time Liske was in our lineup and produced some goals, also during a stretch Gauthier, Charland and Leduc had some good chemistry which lead to good pressure in the other teams end and always seemed to read each other well and cycled the puck down low.

This season we have Anthony who is almost certain to land on the top 2 lines and the same can be said for Knox.........Sparling is also in the fold and if healthy Francis Charland will be getting lots of ice time so who gets pushed down the depth chart and who gets moved??

I think a checking line with Leduc, Stoddard, and Thomas should be rather effective in this role

4th line should be a rookie like kirkpatick or Langan, Gallant and another gritty guy, perhaps a free agent

We seem to be in need to move acouple bodies up front in a non contending year we should move a veteran making room for another young forward to develop getting ice time............Maybe its time to move Sparling or maybe Gauthier will be cut and placed on waivers

Can Liske come back and put up the numbers he did last season and will be level off?

Can we rely on Charland to make it through a 70 game schedule injury free and if we do come into injury trouble who will step up and fill these holes?

Will Knox and Anthony produce numbers like many believe they can and will Sparling step his game up and lead this team?

Will Dido improve his numbers over last season after teams keep a closer check on him this season?

Some tough decisions what are other people's thoughts??

[habh8er]

My thoughts on the are, although I think Liske is a fine kid and a good hockey player I don't see him as a lock to make the team. He did well in the short time we had him on the ice, however in the OHL he had only 6 or 8 goals in something like 145 games.although I do like his attitude and character so if I had to choose between he and Sparling I'd have to say let Sparling go.(better return C.B. )
This is how I see it as of today(5 days before camp opens)
Liske(88) Dido(89) Knox(87)
Charland(87) Anthony(91) Charland(89)
Langan(90) Stoddard(90) Gauthier(88)
Gallant(88) Kirkpatrick(90)Thomas(90)
Leduc(89) Sparling(88) Pard(90)
Although Clifford the Mugger might fit between Gallant & Thomas pretty well Just a thought.

[killer]

I agree with your comment on Liske, it was hard to judge his play over the short time period and most time when a player comes to a new team they overachieve a bit so the jury is still out on this kid but I think he makes the team anyway. It's a shame the kid had a bad injury, after being a first round flop and a OHL cast away, Liske seemed to fit well with our club and was putting the puck in the net


After reading all these stories about fighters from years previous I want a complete lunatic on the 4th line next to Gallant............someone who would not be scared to take a hefty suspension

I can;t see the Eagles being interested in Sparling now that they are rebuilding and will look to unload their assets and play the younger players instead of bringing in a veteran player unless super cheap

[voiceofytown]

i heard Gallant bulked up? any truth to this? like 190lbs range.. only what i heard.

[killer]

voiceofytown said:

i heard Gallant bulked up? any truth to this? like 190lbs range.. only what i heard.

Heard the same thing except for around the 200 pound mark

[voiceofytown]

killer said:

voiceofytown said:

i heard Gallant bulked up? any truth to this? like 190lbs range.. only what i heard.

Heard the same thing except for around the 200 pound mark

wow if hes at 200lbs.. then thats 25lbs in the off season. I cant wait to see him firing knuckles.

[elementz]

The players I am looking forward to at training camp and this season.

Grant - Will he be Captain? (yes) and how will he handle the new responsibility.
Dido - Did he overacheive in his rookie year? Teams will be paying more attention to him, how will he handle it? Will he have a sophmore slump or an equal or better season?
Stich - Are we going to see the 1st half or 2nd half of Stich?
Sauve and Stoddard - Breakout year anyone?
Mayer - Is he the real deal? Can he steal games for us?
Anthony - Heard so much about this kid and I think the biggest pressure is going to be on Beaulieu to light a fire under her butt. I have heard he has a very special skillset but dosen't always have that drive or motivation. Hopefully Beaulieu can bring the best out of him.

In fact, I really can't wait to see all of the returning players last year for the most part.

[LiskeIsMyHero]

killer said:

voiceofytown said:

i heard Gallant bulked up? any truth to this? like 190lbs range.. only what i heard.

Heard the same thing except for around the 200 pound mark

last time i heard he was 190 and he wanted to be 200. maybe he got there

[dogbert]

habh8er said:

My thoughts on the are, although I think Liske is a fine kid and a good hockey player I don't see him as a lock to make the team. He did well in the short time we had him on the ice, however in the OHL he had only 6 or 8 goals in something like 145 games.although I do like his attitude and character so if I had to choose between he and Sparling I'd have to say let Sparling go.(better return C.B. )

The little I was able to find out about Liske when he was traded, from the press and forums, suggested he was not favored by the coach. The coach liked small, fast players wuith no hands -- my impression.

I think what we saw was a big late bloomer responding to a second chance. His concussion was not a typical one; it was a slapshot to the head. I really think he'll have a greeat season and I don't think he's concussion prone; though one often starts a downhill slide.

I've expressed this top heavy concern for some time, Our lack of gritty checkers could really hurt us.

I see Stoddard claiming the second center position. I really think JB likes him, and I do too. If he and Anthony have chemistry, I'd bet they'll line up. Kirkpatrick has played with those two as well, and I don't think Mike is much of a defensive player. We drafted him for scoring.

Leduc seems capable of playing a checking roll as does Thomas. Richer on HPO seems like a crasher too, but I can't telll from one video. Francis can play the role I think. There's not much else.

We're hurting in the checking department for sure.

Can we compete with three scoring lines, two of them iffy, and one checking line? I suppose so, but it sure doesn't match JB's defense first philosophy.

Answer: trades.

[dogbert]

elementz said:

Anthony - Heard so much about this kid and I think the biggest pressure is going to be on Beaulieu to light a fire under her butt. I have heard he has a very special skillset but dosen't always have that drive or motivation. Hopefully Beaulieu can bring the best out of him.

He did a good job with Grant last season. He wasn't afraid to tear a strip off him. Keep in mind some of this lack of fire is due to him being a big kid and growing into his body. I can tell you first hand that the bigger they are, the worse they look during growth spells.

[habh8er]

I agree with you Dogbert "we're hurting in the checking department for sure". If you consider +/- to be an important aspect of a hockey player or club for that matter then if J.B. can't do something about this I agree we are in a world of hurt for sure. The top 3 scorers for the seadogs last year had a combined +/- of a whopping -66. The top 3 foggies had a combined number of - 25.And at the other end of the spectrum the presidents cup champ Maineacs top 3 had a +90 averaged out that is S.D. -22....F.D.-8.33...LEW.+30. I think that scoring is very important, however unless we are going to score ten goals a game defence is the answer.As they say offence wins games but defence wins championships.Not that we are going for a championship but you have to start working on good habits and work ethic now to have these things drilled into young heads when it does matter.

[sharrow]

The big question is will JB last till Christmas, theres an urgency to make vast improvements this season and I don't know if the experience of being a third assistant from the OHL is up to the task.