I find Colaiacovo overrated b/c alot of Leaf fans group him in there with the really elite defensive prospects just so they can say teh leafs have a guy up there as well. Now this doesn't mean Colaiacovo isn't an excelletn prospect by anymeans but when some leaf fan talks of him wiht guys like Boowmeaster, Pitkanen, Phaneuf, Suter and Coburn you tend to get alittle agitated with leaf fans sometimes. Yes you shouldn't label all fans teh same just b/c a few who cheer for the same team are alittle homerish but there are alot of Leaf fans out there so you hear alot more Leaf homers out there as well especially if you live in Leaf land.
I didn't like the comment about Shaon Morrisonn as the Bruins defensive corps were jsut as deep as teh Leafs if not deeper since 2001. 2001 roster had Gill,Boynton,O'Donel,Sweeney, McLaren and then the dregs Brown and Girard whos actually not that bad. In 2002 it was even deeper with I beleive McGillis, Boynton, Sweeny, O'Donnel, Gil, Girard, Moran and Brown. Thats not all that bad. i think the 2003 Bruins defense corps wasn't as strong so I dont know what happened with him there. Either way the point is that the Bruins werent as bad on teh blueline as thy were made out to be. Though it wasn't like it was completley a stacked group wiht no room for any youngsters on it.
Oh yeah back to Colaiacovo, he did have a pretty good season last year in the AHL putting up some pretty decent numbers in his rookie year. While he put up good numbers for a rookie reports said he did improve his defensive and his physical game some as well. Now that the AHL has really upgraded its talent pool this year i wonder if Colaiacovo will be able to keep up the pace he was at from last year. If not I woudln't hold it against him to much but it will be a good indicator he may be a couple more years away and may not be as great as some extreme fans think he is. He could still end up as a Toni Lydman or along those lines, good two way defenseman who moves teh puck well and helps the transition and can play 2nd PP time and play 1st PP time incase of injury. I dont think thats that bad at all IMO as I like Lydman.
The pre season thing just to butt my nose in everywhere. You cant put to much stock in the pre season but its a fairly good indicator to see how your prospects match up against other teams better prospects and fringe NHLers trying to make clubs. yes superstar players are playing in teh pre season as well but not alot and wiht the same passion as when the real season starts. The competition is intense but it also veries in its quality from shift to shift as 1 shift you will be playing against top NHLers and the next it will be against undrafted enforcers trying to win a minor league job. But still I dont think its meaningless but nothing that huge or great either. Its always a good sign though when your better prospects really do well though cause it shows they are getting to a level were tehy are much better than minor leaguers and may be ready to test themselves against the real deal.
