Tony Romano

[xander]

One thing that I would find alittle disturbing if I was a devils fan is that Tony had a clear deficiency (defense) and decided to sign with a team where he would have as few defensive responcibilities as possible. Just seems like he chose the easy way out.

 

[thomasincanada]

One thing that I would find alittle disturbing if I was a devils fan is that Tony had a clear deficiency (defense) and decided to sign with a team where he would have as few defensive responcibilities as possible. Just seems like he chose the easy way out.

The knights have had some excellent two way players come through their system the last while - guys like fritsche, kostitsyn & bolland. Not to mention Girardi & Methot who are defensive defensemen in the NHL now.

Hunter has let defense go a bit the last couple of years but this year I suspect he is really planning on making a serious run for it and as such will require that his guys play defense. He benched Schremp a few years back for not doing so.

 

[ReLyT]

It's ridiculous how everyone just says the Knights play nothing but 110% offence. Last couple seasons he's used what he has and thats a average or just below averag defence. But Hunter doesn't let a player coast 100% of the time. He took Sergei Kostitsyn from a one way never cross the blue line european. To an intense two way hockey player. Also mentioned above is Bolland and Fritche... but also what about Rob Drummond who was voted amongst top pk'ers in the league last two years Trevor Kell was also always in that category. Some people hear one thing on these boards and blow it up... my pet peeve of the last week...

 

[Lou is God]

One thing that I would find alittle disturbing if I was a devils fan is that Tony had a clear deficiency (defense) and decided to sign with a team where he would have as few defensive responcibilities as possible. Just seems like he chose the easy way out.

I'm not that worried about it, chances are when he signs a pro contract with us he'll start off in Lowell - or where ever our AHL team will be by then - and he should learn about his defensive responsibilities there.

 

[Blind Gardien]

It's ridiculous how everyone just says the Knights play nothing but 110% offence. Last couple seasons he's used what he has and thats a average or just below averag defence. But Hunter doesn't let a player coast 100% of the time. He took Sergei Kostitsyn from a one way never cross the blue line european. To an intense two way hockey player. Also mentioned above is Bolland and Fritche... but also what about Rob Drummond who was voted amongst top pk'ers in the league last two years Trevor Kell was also always in that category. Some people hear one thing on these boards and blow it up... my pet peeve of the last week...

Hmmm, a few complaints here:

1. We're not talking about the Knights playing 110% offense. We're talking about the most talented offensive players on the Knights playing 110% offense... and Romano may project into that group.

2. Kostitsyn always had some spunk, it was noted by many in his draft year, before he came to the Knights.

3. Some people who watch the Knights 10 or more times a year (such as myself) also point out some of the special tactics they employ. It's not just people repeating it randomly based on what they hear on boards. I've never quite understood why Knights fans seem to be so sensitive when those tactics are mentioned. They needn't be thought of as criticisms... after all, as mentioned elsewhere in this thread, Hunter will use the tools at his disposal. And who can really argue with the level of success the Knights have had in recent years? Still, in the context of the discussion about Romano, as a pure offensive talent, I think it's eminently worth mentioning those Knights' specialties. But heck, look at Kane and Gagner... coming into this draft who thought they'd be where they are today? Kane stands a good chance of going #1 overall now! He had a tough time cracking the 1st round in some early-season rankings. Clearly the Knights' style didn't hurt him any, did it? If Romano shoots out the lights like that too, I'm pretty sure people will very cheerfully overlook any lack of education he gets on defense (relative to what he undeniably would have gotten on Cornell).

 

[colman]

Hmmm, a few complaints here:

1. We're not talking about the Knights playing 110% offense. We're talking about the most talented offensive players on the Knights playing 110% offense... and Romano may project into that group.

2. Kostitsyn always had some spunk, it was noted by many in his draft year, before he came to the Knights.

3. Some people who watch the Knights 10 or more times a year (such as myself) also point out some of the special tactics they employ. It's not just people repeating it randomly based on what they hear on boards. I've never quite understood why Knights fans seem to be so sensitive when those tactics are mentioned. They needn't be thought of as criticisms... after all, as mentioned elsewhere in this thread, Hunter will use the tools at his disposal. And who can really argue with the level of success the Knights have had in recent years? Still, in the context of the discussion about Romano, as a pure offensive talent, I think it's eminently worth mentioning those Knights' specialties. But heck, look at Kane and Gagner... coming into this draft who thought they'd be where they are today? Kane stands a good chance of going #1 overall now! He had a tough time cracking the 1st round in some early-season rankings. Clearly the Knights' style didn't hurt him any, did it? If Romano shoots out the lights like that too, I'm pretty sure people will very cheerfully overlook any lack of education he gets on defense (relative to what he undeniably would have gotten on Cornell).

Lets not forget we are talking about a 6 rnd draft pick so he has alot to prove on his game who knows how this goes

 

[petrklima85]

Looks like the Knights will be very strong again next season. Kane and Ganer will almost assuredly be back and th JLC...now add Romano and Aliu and Steve Smith's kid. They always seem to provide their fans with intriguing if not very talented teams

 

[orangeandblack]

Lets not forget we are talking about a 6 rnd draft pick so he has alot to prove on his game who knows how this goes

he was a 6th rounder because the league he tore up, the ajhl, was a relatively new league. if he wanted to leave home early and play in the ushl or ohl, he would have been more like a 2nd or 3rd rounder. dont be fooled by where he was drafted, he is a very gifted offensive player. im pretty sure he was only the second player ever drafted out of the ajhl at that time, so scouts didnt see too much of the league.....hence the devils drafting him, because the league is in their own backyard.

 

[colman]

he was a 6th rounder because the league he tore up, the ajhl, was a relatively new league. if he wanted to leave home early and play in the ushl or ohl, he would have been more like a 2nd or 3rd rounder. dont be fooled by where he was drafted, he is a very gifted offensive player. im pretty sure he was only the second player ever drafted out of the ajhl at that time, so scouts didnt see too much of the league.....hence the devils drafting him, because the league is in their own backyard.

You make a good point but why wouldnt you leave home and go up 4 rnds in the draft,He is good player but has yet to really put a big # outside the AJHL 9 goals as a freshman is ok but not great so lets see how he does in the ohl. He als maybe be rushing the clock a little at 170 lbs they say he needs to get more involved Phys ically to make it to the AHL let alone NHL

 

[Plato]

any shot this kid ever makes the nhl?

 

[Hunter Gathers]

While all this may be at least partially true and I would never doubt the NCAA is a more defensive game against slightly older players - the OHL does a fine job of preparing players for the NHL year in year out. He'll play 1 year likely in the OHL and then probably one in the AHL. This route is just fine for him.

Let's not let this thread deteriorate into another one of those CHL vs NCAA threads. There are like 50 of them already and it's the same people making the same arguments every time. Both leagues have their advantages.

Oh, trust me. I think all CHL leagues do an adequate job. Just one of the advantages of the NCAA (and one of the reasons I REALLY think he should've stayed there) is that he'd learn his own zone much more. He does some REALLY stupid **** sometimes with the puck and gets burnt a lot. He's a very, very raw kid.

I want him to succeed as much as anyone, though, because he can really be electrifying when he actually gets his offensive game going.

 

[the_game]

I wonder how far behind Pat Maroon is now that Romano has jumped from NCAA to Major Junior. Maroon is committed to Ferris st. but I can see him renegging and ending up in London next year.

I think a lot of top end US kids who were thinking about playing college are going to be leaning more and more to the OHL after they saw what Pat Kane did this year.

 

[xander]

Just thought I'd post the elynah thread on Romano, incase anyone was interested. Most of us that post on this board are Cornell season ticket holders, so we saw Tony play extensively last year. At the same time, alot of us are a bit stung by his depature, so the sentiment is probably a bit more negative than it should be. Still, this is probably the largest collection of opinions on Romano, from people that have actually seen him play extensivly, that you will find on the internet.

http://elf.elynah.com/read.php?1,116490