U.S. Program

[jcpenny]

Ive been watching the U.S. program for the last couple of years and ive noticed a new trend of forwards coming up for the future. Before it use to be big forwards ala Modano, Guerin, Tkachuk, Leclair leading the way but now there seems to be a new trend with smaller and smarter players (6' feet and under) that U.S. are developping in bunches now; Higgins, Eaves, Parise, Kessel, Oshie, Brown, Gomez, Gionta...

Personnaly i like it a lot especially the three rookies that we're seeing this year (Higgins, Eaves, Parise). They all play the same style; Hard nose, skilled and smart hockey. Ive never been a fan of U.S. Hockey but i am now and these guys won me over. I personally think that this group of forwards could be a potential gold medal team in the next olympics. Could it be possible?

P.S. Of course i want Canada to win but im a Hockey fan First and foremost.

Click to read more...

 

[Chrisd]

what about guys like o'sullivan, schremp, bobby ryan, ....some other solid players.

 

[jcpenny]

what about guys like o'sullivan, schremp, bobby ryan, ....some other solid players.

They dont really fit the mold of player i was talking about although they are good hockey players...

 

[Chrisd]

Ive been watching the U.S. program for the last couple of years and ive noticed a new trend of forwards coming up for the future. Before it use to be big forwards ala Modano, Guerin, Tkachuk, Leclair leading the way but now there seems to be a new trend with smaller and smarter players (6' feet and under) that U.S. are developping in bunches now; Higgins, Eaves, Parise, Kessel, Oshie, Brown, Gomez, Gionta...

Personnaly i like it a lot especially the three rookies that we're seeing this year (Higgins, Eaves, Parise). They all play the same style; Hard nose, skilled and smart hockey. Ive never been a fan of U.S. Hockey but i am now and these guys won me over. I personally think that this group of forwards could be a potential gold medal team in the next olympics. Could it be possible?

P.S. Of course i want Canada to win but im a Hockey fan First and foremost.

o'sullivan and schremp don't fit smaller and smarter? Interesting....

Elaborate

 

[Rabid Ranger]

o'sullivan and schremp don't fit smaller and smarter? Interesting....

Elaborate

What he's saying is the U.S. seems to be producing a ton of Mike York/Chris Drury clones, and it's true. With a bit of height and weight variance the U.S. has seemed to produce several very good, but not great forward prospects players who bear a close resemblance to one another: good skaters, good, but not great skill level, gritty, and good defensively.

 

[jcpenny]

o'sullivan and schremp don't fit smaller and smarter? Interesting....

Elaborate

They are not hard nose kinda players.

 

[Chrisd]

uhhhh

they are as hard nosed as say parise or kessel who i've seen a million times each...

do you want a team full of hard nosed players or skill...

need a mix...

I agree with oshie, higgins, dustin brown....the others you could make a case for the * hard nose * label.

 

[St.Louis sports fan]

Many of the young players with size tend to get directed to other sports in the US. Parents who have dollar signs and college scholarship asparations in their heads point their kids in the direction of Baseball, Basketball, and Football. I can't speak for most of the other states, but Soccer has started to boom again in St. Louis and many of the coaches of select teams are looking for bigger sized players and thus lees kids in the hockey talent pool.

 

[Transported Upstater]

uhhhh

they are as hard nosed as say parise or kessel who i've seen a million times each...

do you want a team full of hard nosed players or skill...

need a mix...

I agree with oshie, higgins, dustin brown....the others you could make a case for the * hard nose * label.

Phil Kessel is the opposite of hard-nosed in every sense of the word. He's not a pansy, and doesn't play afraid, but he's not going to be confused with a guy like Dustin Brown anytime soon.