Chris Bourque impressing at Caps prospect camp
- Thread starter Mizral
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Jay Thompson said:
Could it also be a case of management saying crap to cover up for a bad drafting? If they all say amazing things maybe people will start to believe them that it was a good pick and not a favour to daddy?? Not saying its the case, just an opinion.
Mizral
Registered User
rnyquist said:
Okay, maybe , but do you really buy into those kind of conspiracy theories?
I doubt George McPhee gives a damn about how the media thinks about the prospects he drafted.
The Mighty Duck Man
R-E-L-A-X
I'm not surprised one bit. Chris was ranked so low because of his size, but his skill more than makes up for it. If he grows even just a bit, he'll be a big part of the Caps' future.
Roughneck
Registered User
I've had about a dozen people come back separately with their impressions from camp... and everyone really raved about Bourque. Extremely fast wheels, solid passing and keen hockey sense. Fantastic work ethic. Charged the boards and challenged players of the 6' 6" variety in physical skirmishes, coming away with the puck more often than not. The kid's got a really nice blend of chutzpah and skill.
The other surprising player from camp, interestingly enough, was RW Jonas Johansson, acquired in the Steve Konowalchuk trade. Decent wheels, but a cracker jack wrist shot that he is able to get off very quickly and accurately. Better passer than expected, too. At an evening scrimmage on Thursday he allegedly racked up something on the order of nine or ten points.
Of course, it's only a prospect camp and based on only four days of practices and scrimmages, but it is revealing. Those two players were not terribly high on everyone's lists, pre-camp.
Most would have considered Johansson to be far behind the organization's key offensive talents in Ovechkin, Semin, Klepis, Aulin, Fehr and even Fleischmann. Johansson certainly shone, though. Bourque will play at Boston University for a little while, and he knows that, but he could get his chance sooner than even his bigger fans thought possible.
I know of a lot of Capitals fans who went in panning the Bourque selection, and who came back with nothing but glowing reports, and a grudging admission that there might be something to this guy. Stay tuned, at any rate.
Other notes...
* Nolan Yonkman injured himself again and is out until November. Guy can't seem to catch a break.
* Jeff Schultz needs a long, long time to develop into his height. To say his skating is sub-par is being generous.
The other surprising player from camp, interestingly enough, was RW Jonas Johansson, acquired in the Steve Konowalchuk trade. Decent wheels, but a cracker jack wrist shot that he is able to get off very quickly and accurately. Better passer than expected, too. At an evening scrimmage on Thursday he allegedly racked up something on the order of nine or ten points.
Of course, it's only a prospect camp and based on only four days of practices and scrimmages, but it is revealing. Those two players were not terribly high on everyone's lists, pre-camp.
Most would have considered Johansson to be far behind the organization's key offensive talents in Ovechkin, Semin, Klepis, Aulin, Fehr and even Fleischmann. Johansson certainly shone, though. Bourque will play at Boston University for a little while, and he knows that, but he could get his chance sooner than even his bigger fans thought possible.
I know of a lot of Capitals fans who went in panning the Bourque selection, and who came back with nothing but glowing reports, and a grudging admission that there might be something to this guy. Stay tuned, at any rate.
Other notes...
* Nolan Yonkman injured himself again and is out until November. Guy can't seem to catch a break.
* Jeff Schultz needs a long, long time to develop into his height. To say his skating is sub-par is being generous.
X-SHARKIE
Registered User
X-SHARKIE said:
Bourque has been favorably compared to Dale Hunter and St.Louis by Washington media. Bold observations. At his age/stature, outplaying the likes of Klepis, Johansson, Fleischmann, Sutherby, and holding his own physically against Yonkman, Eminger, Morrisonn, Green, etc. bodes well for his future.
rnyquist said:
Why I can see why you might think that, I would suggest you look around a bit on the internet before you believe it. On the Caps board here at hf, look at any report from prospect camp and almost all of them start with how amazing Bourque was that day. What I'm getting at: Its not just Caps Management, its pretty much anyone that has gone to camp and most of the fans were upset and expecting very little out of him after the pick was made, now its hard to find someone complain.
Rowsdower
Registered User
txpd
Registered User
rnyquist said:
It sure could be IF it were the Caps management and coaches that were making the praising comments. But, the Caps were pretty tight lipped about who they liked and who they didn't at the camp.
It was media and observers that seemed to be universally impressed by Bourque.
So, unless the Post and the Times are doing PR for George McPhee then it wouldn't be the Caps covering for themselves.
Besides after dishing out so much flak for that pick its hard for critics to stand up and say the kid looked good. We've seen some of the same poo pooing of last years choice of local kid Stephen Werner in the 3rd round. Werner tied for the team lead in goals for the winning USA WJC team and with that proved that by playing on the first line and delivering production that (at least maybe) there was something to that draft pick.
Here is my theory on Bourque.
1. People dumped on the guy right away because of his size. People have gotten so size conscious now days that a GM would get pounded for drafting Wayne Gretzky because he was small and light.
2. Bourque's motor is always running and he can skate. So, he is all over the ice and he gets noticed. He has enough skill to do something with opportunities that his energy creates.
3. His father is Ray Bourque. My guess is that he has been around this kind of hockey atmosphere all the time as a kid and so, he was able to fully concentrate on his game.
On the other hand he could have gotten rated so low by central scouting because he was listed at 5.7 and read the flak the Caps got over picking him and came to camp with something to prove and an attitude. The reports on him are that he playes with a chip on his shoulder already.
My read here is Chris Bourque is an NHL player. He might be the next Dino Ciccarelli or the next Joe Sacco. But he has enough of the stuff to do what Sacco did all those years. Skate fast, play with energy, get to loose pucks first, leave some blood on the ice and be a great guy in the locker room.
I personally think people underestimated him because he is the son of the legendary Ray Bourque. We have seen a lot of family members not live up to the hype of their brothers or fathers.
Fedor Fedorov
Brett Lindros
etc
I think people thought he was just a novelty and read way too much into his name. Atleast people are now watching him play and judging him as a player as apposed to making judgements based on stats and his name.
Fedor Fedorov
Brett Lindros
etc
I think people thought he was just a novelty and read way too much into his name. Atleast people are now watching him play and judging him as a player as apposed to making judgements based on stats and his name.
GKJ
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- Feb 27, 2002
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Jay Thompson said:
I buy into that here, and I buy into McPhee giving a damn since everyone cared about how he spent money and couldn't get into the playoffs but once. In a situation like the Caps were in at the draft, I would sure as hell make sure everyone knew I thought that such an assanine pick like Chris Bourque in the 2nd round was working out well.
X-SHARKIE said:
The sad thing is that talent doesn't buy you opportunity in hockey....St. Louis took the long and winding road to success and earned it every step of the way and then proved it this year at the age of 27 or 28....Bourque may very well have the talent but without the connection to his NHL father he probably would have had to ride the long train like St. Louis and would not have been given the opportunity at 5'7" no matter how he dominated in any try-out. That is the reality of hockey for all those who have the talent but not the size or the connections. Still, I think it's great that someone without the NHL size profile may get the opportunity to prove he has the right stuff....I'd be happier if it was a level playing field and all prospects had the same opportunity....ifthis will help change the minds of the scouts towards skill and talent and not just size the whole hockey world will benefit.
One word of caution is that small, quick, skilled players always look good early in the training camp grind. Especially the youngest ones. As time goes on and things get more serious, the bigger, older, more physical players start to assert themselves. It happens every year in every camp. That said, I really think that Bourque can be a player. But it will be a ways off. Mike Cammallari is probably a fair comparison.
For all those bringing up Martin St. Louis as a comparison for every small skilled prospect, remember his buddy Eric Perrin who is the same age, about the same size and had very similar success in their days together in Vermont. Perrin is a fringe NHL player at best and he is close to 30 years old now. Don't bring up one without the other.
For all those bringing up Martin St. Louis as a comparison for every small skilled prospect, remember his buddy Eric Perrin who is the same age, about the same size and had very similar success in their days together in Vermont. Perrin is a fringe NHL player at best and he is close to 30 years old now. Don't bring up one without the other.
PSUhockey34
Registered User
Bourque plays like he's 6'6 whereas Shultz plays like he's 5'7, too bad those two cant trade size
But still, it is a development camp where you're getting to know future teammates. I'm sure that Jeff Shultz wouldn't be real popular if he used his size to run Bouque a few times. The big guys have to take a little more crap then they ordinarily would at a time like this.
txpd
Registered User
PSUhockey34
Registered User
db23 said:
Thats completely opposite of what Shultz needs to do, the problem with him is that he doesnt hit at all, I'm sure everyone wants to see if he actually has a physical edge to his game...Shultz has been far from being worth selected with 27th overall pick, Green and Barthel both who were selected after him, have out played him so far
I agree that some of the bigger players need to watch their step here and there but with Shultz, its not that way at all
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