Akim leaves team Again

[BlueJays]

I've watched and admired and salivated and questioned and spoken to Akim Akiu for the past several years now at many tournaments....there's much talent hidden within....but that brain is truly not meant for hockey...look at Akim's brother's history to see what I mean....his brother has spent a lot of time in jail....can Akim be far behind?....draft Akim at your own risk.....much ike Espo...a head-case but in a vastly different way....risk a first round pick???.....very risky......if ONLY you could straighten him out you would or possibly could strike GOLD!!! but if you don't......OUCH!!

 

[johnny_rudeboy]

When I search him on Youtube all they have is clips from some fights. But he would not be ranked as a first rounder only because of that. Is there any site that show some goals, assist or big hits from him?

 

[Boomhower]

He's been reinstated by Sudbury for the playoffs.

 

[speedway]

I've watched and admired and salivated and questioned and spoken to Akim Akiu for the past several years now at many tournaments....there's much talent hidden within....but that brain is truly not meant for hockey...look at Akim's brother's history to see what I mean....his brother has spent a lot of time in jail....can Akim be far behind?....draft Akim at your own risk.....much ike Espo...a head-case but in a vastly different way....risk a first round pick???.....very risky......if ONLY you could straighten him out you would or possibly could strike GOLD!!! but if you don't......OUCH!!

Would you call Espo a head-case? In Montreal anyway, he has always been spoken of as a mature,modest young man with a good work ethic-not at all troubled or a trouble maker.Has another side emerged ?

 

[johnny canuckistan]

I've watched and admired and salivated and questioned and spoken to Akim Akiu for the past several years now at many tournaments....there's much talent hidden within....but that brain is truly not meant for hockey...look at Akim's brother's history to see what I mean....his brother has spent a lot of time in jail....can Akim be far behind?....draft Akim at your own risk.....much ike Espo...a head-case but in a vastly different way....risk a first round pick???.....very risky......if ONLY you could straighten him out you would or possibly could strike GOLD!!! but if you don't......OUCH!!

This is pure bullcrap. What does having a brother in jail have to do with anything? Glen Metropolit's brother is in jail, but no one ever accused Metro of being a criminal.

 

[Sammy*]

This is pure bullcrap. What does having a brother in jail have to do with anything? Glen Metropolit's brother is in jail, but no one ever accused Metro of being a criminal.

Probably nothing, but their certainly is a waaaay higher liklihood of him having behavioural issues & this been the case than if his brother wasnt in the clink. Statistical analysis proves this out every day.

 

[hullsy47]

Probably nothing, but their certainly is a waaaay higher liklihood of him having behavioural issues & this been the case than if his brother wasnt in the clink. Statistical analysis proves this out every day.

some players just dont like hockey as much as everyone around them does ..akim likes what goes along with it ..your taking a risk ..

 

[EatSleepJeep]

This is pure bullcrap. What does having a brother in jail have to do with anything? Glen Metropolit's brother is in jail, but no one ever accused Metro of being a criminal.

About the same as Jordin Tootoo's Brother blowing his head off or Jose Theodore's entire family being mobsters.

Nothing.

 

[Ola]

Well it seems to me to be pretty clear than Aliu is similiar to your perception of Umberger in the fact he has a big attitude and is disliked by teammates.

So would I be correct in interpreting that your philosophy with prospects with attitudes is that you are fine with taking a chance on them and have them get a chance with the NHL team and it's ways but that if the prospect shows attitude problems while in the organization he is not wanted?

First of all, I don't think anyone would consider drafting Aliu if he didn't have more potential then RJ Umberger, who pretty much contributes nothing in the NHL like it is today, on a good team he would be a below avg 4th line center.

On the Rangers and their drafting strategy, this all origns from Renney gooing on record that NYR needed to build a strong group with players who got perfect attitude, before they could start taking shots at players with questionable attitude. Renney says that he belives that teams with a strong core will pretty much always straighten out a kid who doesn't think straight.

Though, "bad attitude" can mean allot of things, I am not talking about players who are lazy or don't got any drive, more about players who got mental problems so to speak -- like Steve Downie for example.

I personally think Renney makes a great point, lets say Steve Downie would have been drafted by NJD half a decade ago, anyone think he would have had any problems getting his head straight if he sat in that lockerrrom with Stevens and Co.? I don't.

 

[Ola]

I can't exactly imagine a scenario where it's a good idea to second guess a coach. Just my two cents...

Agree, the kid is what 17??? Hell, when I was at that age I could not keep my mouth for a minute. Would love to see Leafs or Rangers draft this kid.

I agree Johnny. I think there is a huge diffrence in culture here between Canada and Sweden for example.

Take Leaf prospect Anton Strålman, he is described by everyone here as someone with a perfect attitude, a really young and intelligent person.

Torgny Bendelin, the Swedish national junior team coach, were asked about Strålman during a EHT game, and told a story about a huge fight he and Anton got into, said that in all his years of coaching he had never had a player so pissed on him. It had started with Bendelin calling out Strålman for something infront of the team after a game, and Strålman had almost jumped him.

Here, individual thinking is often seen as something good, I guess its probably the other way around in the CHL.

Whats best is another story, when a player like Nylander refuses to shoot the puck from time to time at the age of 35, I am sure it wouldn't have hurt him to have a coach scream at him some in his young teens, but on the other hand I wonder if a player like Nik Lidström would pass the puck so well if his coach in his young teens told him to never think by himself...

 

[Roger's Pancreas*]

First of all, I don't think anyone would consider drafting Aliu if he didn't have more potential then RJ Umberger, who pretty much contributes nothing in the NHL like it is today, on a good team he would be a below avg 4th line center.

On the Rangers and their drafting strategy, this all origns from Renney gooing on record that NYR needed to build a strong group with players who got perfect attitude, before they could start taking shots at players with questionable attitude. Renney says that he belives that teams with a strong core will pretty much always straighten out a kid who doesn't think straight.

Though, "bad attitude" can mean allot of things, I am not talking about players who are lazy or don't got any drive, more about players who got mental problems so to speak -- like Steve Downie for example.

I personally think Renney makes a great point, lets say Steve Downie would have been drafted by NJD half a decade ago, anyone think he would have had any problems getting his head straight if he sat in that lockerrrom with Stevens and Co.? I don't.

Let me sumarize this post.
1) Umberger is a minor league quality player.
2) Downie doesn't have a competative drive. In fact, he's a headcase.
3) Rangers == good; Flyers == bad.

 

[johnny_rudeboy]

Let me sumarize this post.
1) Umberger is a minor league quality player.
2) Downie doesn't have a competative drive. In fact, he's a headcase.
3) Rangers == good; Flyers == bad.

And you know it is true

 

[Ola]

Let me sumarize this post.
1) Umberger is a minor league quality player.
2) Downie doesn't have a competative drive. In fact, he's a headcase.
3) Rangers == good; Flyers == bad.

Nah;

1. Umberger sucks. You think otherwise? I mean what do he bring to center ice that any coach would look for in the game today?

2. Downie don't got a competative drive? Ehh what? Have you ever seen him play?

Downie got somewhat of a discipline/angermanagement problem so to speak. Something I wouldn't see beeing a problem at all, if he ends up in the right enviorment. Its hard to speculate on how Philly will look when he goes there, but I don't see how that would be a problem if he for example would have ended up in a perfect enviorment like NJD got, as opposed to for example NYR in the late 90's early 00's.

This thread is about Akim, and in that sense I used Downie as a example, I can't really comment on Akim since haven't seen him play. But only because you got a problem at a young age, it doesn't mean that it will follow you forever.

3. I like Renney's thoughts on kids with attitude problems, if you got a strong core on the team already, no problem, if you don't, focus on that first.

4. you - grow up some...

 

[CharlieGirl]

Nah;

1. Umberger sucks.

2. Downie don't got a competative drive? Ehh what? Have you ever seen him play?

Downie got somewhat of a discipline/angermanagement problem so to speak. Something I wouldn't see beeing a problem at all, if he ends up in the right enviorment. Its hard to speculate on how Philly will look when he goes there, but I don't see how that would be a problem if he for example would have ended up in a perfect enviorment like NJD got, as opposed to for example NYR in the late 90's early 00's.

3. I like Renney's thoughts on kids with attitude problems, if you got a strong core on the team already, no problem, if you don't, focus on that first.

4. you - grow up some...

Sarcasm fairy missed your house, didn't he?

 

[Tadite]

Sarcasm fairy missed your house, didn't he?

Could be a euro to NA thing. Seems humor is different in different areas...


As for Akim... Who knows how good he really is? And who can tell what is his problems? Sometimes it isn't the kid it really is the organization...

 

[CharlieGirl]

Could be a euro to NA thing. Seems humor is different in different areas...

True enough... my apologies if I offended.

I've heard some iffy things about the organization, but this isn't Aliu's first team in the league. And there were issues (completely excluding the Downie thing) with his last team. While I don't have direct proof, I think teams looking at drafting him have to be concerned about a pattern emerging.

Oh... and your signature really hurts!

 

[Ola]

Sarcasm fairy missed your house, didn't he?

Did it? Its late here, I am tired...

But if he were a Flyer fan, you never know...

 

[Frenzy31]

Let me sumarize this post.
1) Umberger is a minor league quality player.
2) Downie doesn't have a competative drive. In fact, he's a headcase.
3) Rangers == good; Flyers == bad.

Umberger was a solid addition to the Flyers until he got knocked the .... out by Cambell on a great open ice hit. It is also his 2nd season so lets hold judgement until next year.

 

[Boomhower]

Aliu to Knights

Aliu has been traded to the London Knights today, could be replacing Sergei Kostitsyn on the big line with Gagner and Kane. this could be the spark that motivates him to live up to his potential. Dale Hunter also gets a lot out of his players and encourages them to be physical and tough.

This makes him an even higher risk/reward type player in this year's draft IMO!

http://www.londonknights.com/press/display_news.asp?news=866

 

[oilers9799]

On TSN they just said he speaks Russian too, pretty cool if you ask me.

 

[CertifiedPublicGuin]

On TSN they just said he speaks Russian too, pretty cool if you ask me.

I saw that. I also heard it from someone on here a month or two ago. Something is making me think that person said he is fluent in a few languages I believe which is also pretty cool. He seemed very stable and intelligent in his small interview they showed. It didn't seem to match up too well with the reputation he has been labeled with, though you can't deny there must be something going on with the leaving his team and everything.

 

[Tricolore#20]

On TSN they just said he speaks Russian too, pretty cool if you ask me.

I think Aliu spent most of his childhood in Ukraine or somewhere in Russia, prior to coming to Canada.

 

[CertifiedPublicGuin]

I think Aliu spent most of his childhood in Ukraine or somewhere in Russia, prior to coming to Canada.

Yes, that was it... he lived in Ukraine, I believe or Belerus, until he was somewhere around 10 or 11?

 

[Kaizer]

On TSN they just said he speaks Russian too, pretty cool if you ask me.

So the secret of his awful behavior finaly came out

 

[Boomhower]

I saw that. I also heard it from someone on here a month or two ago. Something is making me think that person said he is fluent in a few languages I believe which is also pretty cool. He seemed very stable and intelligent in his small interview they showed. It didn't seem to match up too well with the reputation he has been labeled with, though you can't deny there must be something going on with the leaving his team and everything.

He was temporarily kicked off the the Wolves by his coach and has now been traded, but he never voluntarily left. Not sure which is worse, but facts are facts.