wukwinn
Registered User
- Jul 6, 2006
- 1,257
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Tallackson #2?
Back in Tallacksons draft year he has a 6`4 winger, could skate, strong and had a nice shot. He was Minny's top recruit and surely was thought of as a top line player in the NHL. Tallackson also put up the same amount of points as Wheeler in his freshman year, the only difference is Tallackson was 2 years younger. Don't act as if Tallackson was always pegged to be a filler player. Wheeler should have went much higher in the draft. He is 20 and still isn't dominating the college scene like a top 10 pick should.Ummm...his top-end potential is light years above Tallackson.
What?Wheeler should have went much higher in the draft.
I meant higher as in mid 20'sWhat?
He's better than Ladd, Barker, Malkin or Ovechkin?
It's weird how on HF a player is one highlight reel goal away from having "bust potential" to being a potential superstar in the making. I'm not commenting either way on the player having seen a limited amount of him, but the pervasive opinion of Wheeler prior to this goal was that he was struggling to adapt to life after high school hockey and now he's the apple of everybody's eye.
I wouldn't say Wheeler's "struggled to adapt", but he has been inconsistent. He does have upside though, and this past weekend was a good example of why he was drafted as high as he was.
Struggle to adapt was a poor choice of words. He looks exactly like a decent college hockey player at this point in his career, but people expect more out of Top 5 selections. Thomas Vanek like production shouldn't have been out of the question for Wheeler. considering where he was drafted. I understand that the 2003 draft and the 2004 draft were worlds apart, but the point remains that you expect more production out of such a highly regarded player.
Back in Tallacksons draft year he has a 6`4 winger, could skate, strong and had a nice shot. He was Minny's top recruit and surely was thought of as a top line player in the NHL. Tallackson also put up the same amount of points as Wheeler in his freshman year, the only difference is Tallackson was 2 years younger. Don't act as if Tallackson was always pegged to be a filler player. Wheeler should have went much higher in the draft. He is 20 and still isn't dominating the college scene like a top 10 pick should.
I'm not going to compare Wheeler to Vanek, but I will say that Blake has been progressing as expected. He was drafted as a project player who would need time to grow into his body. In the 3 seasons since being drafted, Wheeler has put on over 40 lbs. of body mass, which takes some adapting. The first half of this season, he looked like an absolute monster, but then he sort of fell off. The last two games, though, were when he came back to life: a hat trick one game, then a goal and an assist the next, including both game winners. Both were important games, too. Wheeler has shown he has what to it takes to be a dominant power forward, but he needs to work on consistently bringing the intensity every single night.
Back in Tallacksons draft year he has a 6`4 winger, could skate, strong and had a nice shot. He was Minny's top recruit and surely was thought of as a top line player in the NHL.
It's weird how on HF a player is one highlight reel goal away from having "bust potential" to being a potential superstar in the making. I'm not commenting either way on the player having seen a limited amount of him, but the pervasive opinion of Wheeler prior to this goal was that he was struggling to adapt to life after high school hockey and now he's the apple of everybody's eye.
So if your thinking people suddenly love the guy because of one goal...your mistaken.
No, that much for sure is certain. Maybe the informed posters who follow his progress know the "real deal" as you see it, but the casual posters that haven't seen a lick of Blake Wheeler this year are using this as a high water mark of his progress when in fact, it's only one goal. Search for a Blake Wheeler thread from a week ago and see what kind of replies were flying around. Heck, even the "Who is going to be the Blake Wheeler of '07" thread has quite a few people making remarks about his lack of progression unless i'm mistaken.
All I can say is there are few players out there with a finer line to cross to being a great prospect than Blake Wheeler...and he looks like he's on the verge of crossing it.