Early line matchups for Cdn junior camp

[Bryzga lol*]

I hope Latendresse has improved mightily from last year then because him and bertram didnt look that good for Canada IMO

From what they've been saying at the habs dev. camp, Latendresse dominated, and is apperantly in the best shape of his career. So as a habs fan, I hope he does well this week. If he could end up playing with Brassard, it'll do him some good.

 

[Letang fan 58]

I thought Bertram played excellent. His role was as an energy guy and played that role perfectly. Unless he gets injured he will be on team Canada again. On the other hand, Latendresse might have a hard time making the team even though he was on last year's team. He was by far Canada's worst forward.

well benoit pouliot had to be right up there in regards to worst players on the team..........bertram did get much better in his last 2 games i agree.

what are the thoughts on this years team? are they more talented then last year........last years team was about the least talented ive seen in years but they worked their a$$es off and it paid off.

 

[Letang fan 58]

From what they've been saying at the habs dev. camp, Latendresse dominated, and is apperantly in the best shape of his career. So as a habs fan, I hope he does well this week. If he could end up playing with Brassard, it'll do him some good.

That is also what they said about latendresse last year, they said he almost made teh habs out of camp when clearly he blew for the junior team.

 

[Leafs 67 and Waiting]

James Neal will surprise everyone at camp.

He was awsome in the OHL playoffs last year and he its everything that moves and has great hands in close.

I am interested to see if anyone else has the same opinion!

 

[417]

That is also what they said about latendresse last year, they said he almost made teh habs out of camp when clearly he blew for the junior team.

Kind of hard to 'blow' when you're not really given a chance. He was an 18yr old, it's not the first time an 18yr old is the 13th forward, usually whent that happens people chalk it up to inexperience or a deep lineup, but because it's Latendresse, he blows?

 

[BobbyClarkeFan16]

Kind of hard to 'blow' when you're not really given a chance. He was an 18yr old, it's not the first time an 18yr old is the 13th forward, usually whent that happens people chalk it up to inexperience or a deep lineup, but because it's Latendresse, he blows?

I wouldn't say he blows because he saw limited time. The problem with Latendresse at last year's WJC was that he took a lot of lazy and undisciplined penalties. I remember several hooking calls he got nailed for and some late hits. I know that the WJC tournament is light on hitting and heavy on skill, but he didn't pick his spots well at all. I'd say that last year was a learning year for him and now he knows what it takes to play.

I was surprised to read how Giroux has struggled so far. I know he's a right winger, so I'm wondering if him playing out of position is the cause of his difficulties right now. I'd imagine that Team Canada would try to find a way to get his skill on the team. He's a sick passer and is a great penalty killer. I also noticed that Downie was playing out of position as well. He's also a right winger that is playing on the left side.

The one player who I'm really interested in seeing how they do is Derrick Brassard. I think he's going to fly on that big ice surface and he should be a real offensive catalyst. I think he could be the whole damn show at this year's WJC if he's given the green light to just get out there and fly. The only area I'm iffy about with World Junior team is the goaltending this year. I'm just not sold on any of the five that are there this year. I've got a gut feeling that the team is going to end up playing a really gritty defensive game. Too bad really because we've got some really good players there who should be able to steamroll the competition.

 

[Letang fan 58]

Kind of hard to 'blow' when you're not really given a chance. He was an 18yr old, it's not the first time an 18yr old is the 13th forward, usually whent that happens people chalk it up to inexperience or a deep lineup, but because it's Latendresse, he blows?

As if he was not given a chance, or 3...........Sutter benched him because he was playing so bad..........then the next game gave him another chance and again he blew it.............and then he did the same thing again.

It was absolutely not a deep lineup either.........that was one of Canada's weaker teams that has been sent to the juniors in the last probably 10 years.........they were just all about competing hard........its not like he was burried behind 3 superstars at his position and didnt get a chance, he just didnt do anything with the chance.

 

[417]

As if he was not given a chance, or 3...........Sutter benched him because he was playing so bad..........then the next game gave him another chance and again he blew it.............and then he did the same thing again.

It was absolutely not a deep lineup either.........that was one of Canada's weaker teams that has been sent to the juniors in the last probably 10 years.........they were just all about competing hard........its not like he was burried behind 3 superstars at his position and didnt get a chance, he just didnt do anything with the chance.

Sorry, you don't know what you're talking about. I think Sutter benched him because he was out of shape and it had more to do with that, than anything Latendresse did on the ice.

After the first game where Sutter benched him and decided to give him another 'chance' in the 2nd game, Latendresse saw 1 or maybe 2 shifts before he was benched again, so I don't know what you're talking about.

Anyways, who cares, that was last year and i'm hoping and expecting this year will be different, a WJC, doesn't make or break a career.

 

[Letang fan 58]

Sorry, you don't know what you're talking about. I think Sutter benched him because he was out of shape and it had more to do with that, than anything Latendresse did on the ice.

After the first game where Sutter benched him and decided to give him another 'chance' in the 2nd game, Latendresse saw 1 or maybe 2 shifts before he was benched again, so I don't know what you're talking about.

Anyways, who cares, that was last year and i'm hoping and expecting this year will be different, a WJC, doesn't make or break a career.

Clearly you did not watch all the games, Latendresse got benched because he was not working hard, he was turning the puck over, and he was taking stupid penalties.......if it were to do with him not being in shape he never would have made the team LOL

When he got his 2nd chance in the next game he got another few shifts and in those shifts he again took a stupid penalty and gave away the puck which directly led to a goal

Look I get that your a Habs fan and you love Latendresse but he was garbage for team Canada last year, and unless he improves his play greatly he wont even make the team.........sure Sutter may not be there, but Sutters' assistant is the head coach now and he coaches much like Sutter did, and he saw exactly what went on.

 

[Jeffrey]

Clearly you did not watch all the games, Latendresse got benched because he was not working hard, he was turning the puck over, and he was taking stupid penalties.......if it were to do with him not being in shape he never would have made the team LOL

When he got his 2nd chance in the next game he got another few shifts and in those shifts he again took a stupid penalty and gave away the puck which directly led to a goal

Look I get that your a Habs fan and you love Latendresse but he was garbage for team Canada last year, and unless he improves his play greatly he wont even make the team.........sure Sutter may not be there, but Sutters' assistant is the head coach now and he coaches much like Sutter did, and he saw exactly what went on.

As for latendresse last year .. he was at his complete worst and I know he can do way better,
if you scratch him out fine but I know I won't scratch him out because i've seen him at his best and he's a beast.
And for the record, I don't care if he sucks for team canada and dominate for the habs .. I bet people would still say that he sucks because he couldnt make the u-20 canadian team at 18years old even tough if he play an important role for the habs down the road.
That's Hfboard for you!

 

[417]

Clearly you did not watch all the games, Latendresse got benched because he was not working hard, he was turning the puck over, and he was taking stupid penalties.......if it were to do with him not being in shape he never would have made the team LOL

When he got his 2nd chance in the next game he got another few shifts and in those shifts he again took a stupid penalty and gave away the puck which directly led to a goal

Look I get that your a Habs fan and you love Latendresse but he was garbage for team Canada last year, and unless he improves his play greatly he wont even make the team.........sure Sutter may not be there, but Sutters' assistant is the head coach now and he coaches much like Sutter did, and he saw exactly what went on.

Me being a Habs fan, has nothing to do with it...i'm not saying he got screwed over by the coaching staff, if they benched him i'm sure it's cause he deserved it, but I don't buy into the whole theory that he was horrible becaus he barely got icetime to do anything.

I'm almost certain he'll make the team, he's too good not to...time will tell I guess but I fully expect him to be a go to guy on this years team.

 

[Dr.Sens(e)]

Look I get that your a Habs fan and you love Latendresse but he was garbage for team Canada last year, and unless he improves his play greatly he wont even make the team.........sure Sutter may not be there, but Sutters' assistant is the head coach now and he coaches much like Sutter did, and he saw exactly what went on.

As a quick comment, the terms like 'garbage' and 'he blows' make it hard to take your comments too seriously.

But keep in mind, Lattendresse was probably the most dominant forward at the camp last summer - and Sutter definitely took notice of that (which is why he made the team). Will he give Lattendresse another chance? I'm sure he's torn - on one hand, he knows he could someone with some experience who has the talent to contribute in a big way, but on the other hand, Latendresse was a little slow and 'hesitant' during the tourney. I don't think he was that bad - he just wasn't bring the energy Sutter expected (let's face it, Sutter is all about energy).

But I'd still say he has a spot to lose. But unlike Downie and a few of the other returnees, Latendresse's spot is defintely not set in stone.

 

[Doomsday Device]

Clearly you did not watch all the games, Latendresse got benched because he was not working hard, he was turning the puck over, and he was taking stupid penalties.......if it were to do with him not being in shape he never would have made the team LOL

I agree that Latendress was terrible last year and was cleary the worst forward on the team, only a true homer would deny that. He deserved to be the 13th forward. But it wasn't because of the penalties he took, Latendresse didn't have any PIM in the tournament.

 

[gerbilanium]

I just went to watch team Red. Latendresse and O'Marra were the only two that stood out to me. Latendresse was the only one who seemed to be able to corral a pass without a loud slap, hands like butter.

O'Marra looks like a man among boys out there, drew some ooo's and ahhh's with a tip to the top corner. Has a powerful stride, smooth skating and big.

It's really tough to judge talent with drills and just skating around.

Dave Taylor and another king guy was there, they drove a PT Cruiser. Just remembered Taylor got fired. Who is he working for now?

 

[417]

Clearly you did not watch all the games, Latendresse got benched because he was not working hard, he was turning the puck over, and he was taking stupid penalties.......if it were to do with him not being in shape he never would have made the team LOL

When he got his 2nd chance in the next game he got another few shifts and in those shifts he again took a stupid penalty and gave away the puck which directly led to a goal

Look I get that your a Habs fan and you love Latendresse but he was garbage for team Canada last year, and unless he improves his play greatly he wont even make the team.........sure Sutter may not be there, but Sutters' assistant is the head coach now and he coaches much like Sutter did, and he saw exactly what went on.

I didn't watch the games? lol

He didn't even register a single penalty

 

[417]

As a quick comment, the terms like 'garbage' and 'he blows' make it hard to take your comments too seriously.

But keep in mind, Lattendresse was probably the most dominant forward at the camp last summer - and Sutter definitely took notice of that (which is why he made the team). Will he give Lattendresse another chance? I'm sure he's torn - on one hand, he knows he could someone with some experience who has the talent to contribute in a big way, but on the other hand, Latendresse was a little slow and 'hesitant' during the tourney. I don't think he was that bad - he just wasn't bring the energy Sutter expected (let's face it, Sutter is all about energy).

But I'd still say he has a spot to lose. But unlike Downie and a few of the other returnees, Latendresse's spot is defintely not set in stone.

Well from the little that he played, he definately wasn't bad, he just had 12 other forward who were playing better at the time, couple that with his questionable shape during the tourney and it's easy to see why he was the 13th forward.

Truth be told, Latendresse had to beat out one of the top 6 players, given that he's an offensive player, and if I recall, the top 2 lines were playing very well, and Sutter didn't want to disrupt that.

 

[Letang fan 58]

Well from the little that he played, he definately wasn't bad, he just had 12 other forward who were playing better at the time, couple that with his questionable shape during the tourney and it's easy to see why he was the 13th forward.

Truth be told, Latendresse had to beat out one of the top 6 players, given that he's an offensive player, and if I recall, the top 2 lines were playing very well, and Sutter didn't want to disrupt that.

He wasnt bad? seriously did you watch him? Are you saying sutter benched him for no reason? He was the worst player on team canada........possibly pouliot would get some mention but IMO Latendresse was worse. He did not compete, he didnt hit, he didnt score, he wouldnt go in the corners.......thus he was benched on more then one occasion.......Cogliano was there, he was also benched.......and then he bounced back and played his heart out and got out of Sutter's bad books. Latendresse had every chance to contribute and simply didnt.

I'm not saying he wont make it this year, I'm simply saying that he will have to work his *** off to make it and that prelim reports of him being good in habs camps are worthless because they were out there last year as well.

As for his shape not being good, thats a pretty weak excuse. There is absolutely no chance that Sutter would have taken him if he didnt feel that Latendresse was in good enough shape or if he had any questions about it at all.

 

[417]

He wasnt bad? seriously did you watch him? Are you saying sutter benched him for no reason? He was the worst player on team canada........possibly pouliot would get some mention but IMO Latendresse was worse. He did not compete, he didnt hit, he didnt score, he wouldnt go in the corners.......thus he was benched on more then one occasion.......Cogliano was there, he was also benched.......and then he bounced back and played his heart out and got out of Sutter's bad books. Latendresse had every chance to contribute and simply didnt.

I'm not saying he wont make it this year, I'm simply saying that he will have to work his *** off to make it and that prelim reports of him being good in habs camps are worthless because they were out there last year as well.

As for his shape not being good, thats a pretty weak excuse. There is absolutely no chance that Sutter would have taken him if he didnt feel that Latendresse was in good enough shape or if he had any questions about it at all.

Your the one saying he took countless penalties (when he didn't register one) and you're asking ME if I watched any games? yeah sure

I never said he got benched for no reason, look at my post, if he was benched by Sutter i'm sure it's for good reason, I just don't buy your whole argument that he was horrible because he really didn't get beyond a few shifts to show what he could do.

BTW- it was widely reported that he showed up to camp out of shape, something like 238lbs when he's usually around 225lbs. I even think Sutter was quoted on that.

I'm not making excuses for Latendresse, he didn't play well enough to get playing time, you won't get an argument from me there. However, all this talk of him being horrible is way off base, because like I said, he didn't get the same opportunities to get back on track (despite what you say) like others did. (like Cogliano as you mentionned)

 

[thisyearsgirl]

I was surprised to read how Giroux has struggled so far. I know he's a right winger, so I'm wondering if him playing out of position is the cause of his difficulties right now. I'd imagine that Team Canada would try to find a way to get his skill on the team. He's a sick passer and is a great penalty killer. I also noticed that Downie was playing out of position as well. He's also a right winger that is playing on the left side.

I think the lines on the hockey canada are backwards cause on the sheet that they handed out at the practices Downie is on the Right Wing on his line with Latendresse and Brassard and Giroux is on the right side on his line with Pyatt and Russell. In fact is says Right Wing right above Downie's name.

I just compared the hockey canada listing and the sheet from practice and if you read the lines for team red they are backward so the lines are:
LW C RW
Latendresse Brassard Downie
Russell Pyatt Giroux
McArdle O'Marra Burki
Helm Staal Bass

For team white the only line that is backwards is:
LW C RW
Sheppard Cogliano Bertram

 

[crosby_87]

Anyone notice how Toews is doing so far? He is a lock to make the team right?

 

[BobbyClarkeFan16]

well benoit pouliot had to be right up there in regards to worst players on the team..........bertram did get much better in his last 2 games i agree.

what are the thoughts on this years team? are they more talented then last year........last years team was about the least talented ive seen in years but they worked their a$$es off and it paid off.

Oh Pouliot was terrible last year. I expected big things from him and he disappointed. He should have benched last year as well.

 

[417]

Oh Pouliot was terrible last year. I expected big things from him and he disappointed. He should have benched last year as well.

Which lends credence to my argument that while Latendresse wasn't great the limited time he was given. He wasn't also given the same chance to try and find his game like Pouliot was. I don't think anyone can disagree with that.

 

[BobbyClarkeFan16]

Which lends credence to my argument that while Latendresse wasn't great the limited time he was given. He wasn't also given the same chance to try and find his game like Pouliot was. I don't think anyone can disagree with that.

I'll give you that. Personally, I don't think either player should have been there. If Latendresse was out of shape, he did no favours to the team. Pouliot forgot how to play hockey all of a sudden. I remember how Pierre Maguire, Bob MacKenzie and everyone else at TSN said that Pouliot was supposed to be a big scorer for Team Canada and he just sucked. Hard to believe that the best forward for Team Canada last year was Steve Downie....and he took Sidney Crosby's spot none the less......

 

[Jumbo*]

Anyone going to the game tonight? If you could provide a small review how it went that would be great.

 

[espo*]

Which lends credence to my argument that while Latendresse wasn't great the limited time he was given. He wasn't also given the same chance to try and find his game like Pouliot was. I don't think anyone can disagree with that.

There is a certain truth to that but i think Sutter thought he just could'nt afford to give lats the time he may need to get his game going in such a short tournament.With Pouliot he did'nt play that well but had his moments in the early stages of the games and could at least get to where he wanted to go with his nice skating.Latendresse just looked so slow and out of place early in the tournament.It was kind of scary as a fan actually,he could'nt get to any of the places he wanted to go or needed to be to,his feet were so darn slow.

Speed wise he looked totally out of place while Pouliot did not.Latendresse was actually hurting us out there,Pouliot was too with penalties but even with that he was better then Lats.Lats turned out to be the Pokulok of the forwards.He was given shifts early on but when it was crystal clear he was having big problems competing at that level and the good teams were coming up........Sutter felt he could'nt afford to give those guys any quality time to adjust.They looked that out of place.I don't blame Sutter and his viewpoint seems to have been justified,Canada won Gold.

If Lats wants to make this team this year and contribute he better show up well in camp and hit the ground running early in the tournament.It's too competitive and short a tourney to gamble on quality ice time with guys who appear to be dead weight.