Best of both worlds for Hamilton??
- Thread starter ODAAT
- Start date
Flannelman
Quiet, Gnashgab.
- Dec 3, 2006
- 13,880
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hey Andrew - I think I'm on board with your line of thinking.
While playing with better competitions makes us better, he's still competing against solid players and playing a more mature/leadership role. WJHC will be good international exposure and if the NHL does open back up in January, he'll be well conditioned and perhaps ready for the next step in the evolution.
However, with a shortened scheduled, I'm unsure if he'll have a super-long leash as there won't be the luxury of learning on the job. He's a rookie and a teenager, he'll make mistakes - that's to be expected.
But I do believe that, with Z + Dennis as mentors, he'll be a solid addition to the blueline. But I still expected him to ride in the press box from time to time.
While playing with better competitions makes us better, he's still competing against solid players and playing a more mature/leadership role. WJHC will be good international exposure and if the NHL does open back up in January, he'll be well conditioned and perhaps ready for the next step in the evolution.
However, with a shortened scheduled, I'm unsure if he'll have a super-long leash as there won't be the luxury of learning on the job. He's a rookie and a teenager, he'll make mistakes - that's to be expected.
But I do believe that, with Z + Dennis as mentors, he'll be a solid addition to the blueline. But I still expected him to ride in the press box from time to time.
ODAAT
Registered User
I agree with you, I think CJ would have always insulated him regardless, with the D-men in Boston, it isn`t an absolute necessity for him to step in and play huge minutes initially anyways.
Although I see your point, I could also see it being the opposite. Games will mean more which could lead to them not keeping him up because they can't "afford" to have him mess up and potential lose games for the Bruins. That being said, I'd be very disappointed if there was a season and he wasn't playing for the Bruins. Kid's ready to take that next step.
Chara-Boychuk
Seidenberg-McQuaid
Ference-*
I think Chiarelli fully intended on giving Hamilton a spot by not signing Mottau or Zanon. That last spot is between him and Krug. I think Hamilton takes the 6th spot, but we'll probably see a lot of switching between the two of them.
He's probably going to be borderline bad period, even ignoring the fact of how little chances he's going to be given. He's a rookie. But hey, Seguin was kept on a short leash and a muzzle his first season, and look where he is now. The worst thing we could possibly do to the kid is rush him.
He's definitely at the point where he's too good for the OHL, but ready enough for the NHL, much like Seguin in 2009-10. It's likely we see the same thing happen to Dougie as Seguin, which isn't a bad thing by any means. Let him soak up the experience without much pressure. After that he just needs to play hockey, and I'm sure he'll live up to his potential, even if it takes a while. We got a gem here.
Seidenberg-McQuaid
Ference-*
I think Chiarelli fully intended on giving Hamilton a spot by not signing Mottau or Zanon. That last spot is between him and Krug. I think Hamilton takes the 6th spot, but we'll probably see a lot of switching between the two of them.
He's probably going to be borderline bad period, even ignoring the fact of how little chances he's going to be given. He's a rookie. But hey, Seguin was kept on a short leash and a muzzle his first season, and look where he is now. The worst thing we could possibly do to the kid is rush him.
He's definitely at the point where he's too good for the OHL, but ready enough for the NHL, much like Seguin in 2009-10. It's likely we see the same thing happen to Dougie as Seguin, which isn't a bad thing by any means. Let him soak up the experience without much pressure. After that he just needs to play hockey, and I'm sure he'll live up to his potential, even if it takes a while. We got a gem here.
Seems hard to say as he is so dominant. He is still the best defenseman in Juniors. His scoring may be off slightly this year, but it seems the Bruins asked him to focus more on the defensive end, and he is still scoring a ton of points
You can't discount Johnson for that sixth roster spot. He's got the experience a contending team needs. I don't think the GM acquired him to sit on a press box fold-up.
Ideally,you'd like to see the numbers improve each year but there are so many factors I don't know about.
Well his numbers aren't down much over his numbers from last year, but I do think he was scoring at a higher clip the first half last year.
2011/2012 50 games 17 Goals 55 assists 72 points +37
This year 32 games 8 goals 33 assists 41 points. +24
(15th in league in scoring)
PPG pace in juniors=.25-.86-1.44-1.28. Wouldn't like it if he was a forward but probably means nothing here.
BigGoalBrad
Registered User
- Jun 3, 2012
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Yeah, I think since he will have gotten so many games under his belt you can bring him up to Boston and its no biggie if he gets press box duty.
QUESTION- shouldn't he be able to play in the AHL playoff time? I know he was ineligable this year but lots of guys who can't play in the A in the fall out of training camp end up there after juniors end? Would love to know the details of that.
I sort of think that since our PP blows so hard there will be significant expectations on him to chip in points if he had played this year. He's automatically going to be on the power play so hopefully the extra time helps there.
He was very skinny at D camp. So the extra time will help on that.
The other thing is his size/reach and the fact that he might play next to Z makes it somewhat likely that he could show up and look like he is better than he actually is. So when us fans are blowing smoke up his butt for looking awesome the reality is he isn't ready to play on the third with McQ and he's just looking good next to the best defensive player in NHL history. IF that is the situation it might be a problem in the playoffs since he'll be unscratchable. But we did scratch Seguin game 3 of the Cup finals. (Sorry if that sounds contradictory and is confusing.)
QUESTION- shouldn't he be able to play in the AHL playoff time? I know he was ineligable this year but lots of guys who can't play in the A in the fall out of training camp end up there after juniors end? Would love to know the details of that.
I sort of think that since our PP blows so hard there will be significant expectations on him to chip in points if he had played this year. He's automatically going to be on the power play so hopefully the extra time helps there.
He was very skinny at D camp. So the extra time will help on that.
The other thing is his size/reach and the fact that he might play next to Z makes it somewhat likely that he could show up and look like he is better than he actually is. So when us fans are blowing smoke up his butt for looking awesome the reality is he isn't ready to play on the third with McQ and he's just looking good next to the best defensive player in NHL history. IF that is the situation it might be a problem in the playoffs since he'll be unscratchable. But we did scratch Seguin game 3 of the Cup finals. (Sorry if that sounds contradictory and is confusing.)
Completely forgot we signed Johnson.
I'd say Hamilton gets the 6th spot and Johnson gets the 7th, we have some pretty fragile defensemen so he'll see some time.
Krug playing in Providence wouldn't hurt at all... He played good in the games he played last year but I definitely agree experience counts for a lot. Good pickup, can't believe I forgot.
Don't forget he's working more on his defensive game, too. Much more beneficial for us. Good offensive defensemen who play "meh" or ****** defense don't exactly have a great history here... Kaberle, Corblow, etc.
The production is still real good, Niagara doesn't have the team they had last year + he's still number one in the entire CHL for pts per game as a defensemen. What I want to know is, does he improve his defensive positionning and is he better defending one on one? I only saw him at last year WJC and this summer series against the russian, but to me he never look good in those aspect and it needs to improve for him to play in the NHL. So does anyone who saw him can comment if he improve those aspect of his game?
ODAAT
Registered User
I recently watched the Knights/Dogs game on Sportsnet and the commentators (RJ Broadhead if I`m correct) spoke directly about the insistence of Bruins management that Dougie really works hard at improving his defensive zone play, they know he`s uber skilled offensively and they don`t want him to curtail his game in that respect, but they wanted him to continue working hard at becoming more consistent defensively.
I heard his coach say he still needs work defensively and physically he has to get stronger. This was prior to the season.
