Blake Wheeler: 1 year later

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chaachie12

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expofan said:
As far as I know, that is not true. I know that the league wants to be considered Tier 1 , but only if the NCAA dropped the rule that bans Tier 1 players from being eligible.

As far as skill level, I know the league has come a long way. Our local team used to be very dominant in the USHL but as the league improved, their status dropped. At the same time, they weren't as successful at the national level for Tier 2 teams so they also weren't as talented.

The USHL became Tier I a few years back...and if you haven't seen the USHL in a while, you would be surprised. This isn't your fathers USHL. I used to go to Rochester Mustang games all the time growing up, and those teams aren't in the same stratosphere as the teams now...it is very good hockey.
 

no Gino

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chaachie12 said:
The USHL became Tier I a few years back...and if you haven't seen the USHL in a while, you would be surprised. This isn't your fathers USHL. I used to go to Rochester Mustang games all the time growing up, and those teams aren't in the same stratosphere as the teams now...it is very good hockey.

Like I said, the league was getting much better when the local team moved. The one thing I didn't like about it the last few years it was in town was that the game was getting too much like the NHL game in that the clutching and behind the play interference was slowing play down too much.
 

Rabid Ranger

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expofan said:
So basically it is comparing apples and oranges. Tier 1 in the US means entirely something different that tier 1 in Canada.


I wouldn't say that. The USHL is for all intents and purposes a competitor to the CHL soley based in the U.S. Granted, the CHL is the superior league top to bottom, but there are a few USHL teams that would do well in the CHL.
 

no Gino

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chaachie12 said:
you mean they don't pay the players? What other differences are there?

People under pro contracts can still play in the Canadian leagues. Players in the Canadian leagues lose all NCAA eligibility automatically.

The rules for USHL Tier 1 and Canadian tier 2 are no different. One just refers to itself as tier 1, the other tier 2.

edit: and I'll clarify before I get ripped. I'm not saying Canadian tier 2 and the USHL are the same from a skill level, just that their eligibilty rules are the same.
 

chaachie12

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expofan said:
People under pro contracts can still play in the Canadian leagues. Players in the Canadian leagues lose all NCAA eligibility automatically.

The rules for USHL Tier 1 and Canadian tier 2 are no different. One just refers to itself as tier 1, the other tier 2.

edit: and I'll clarify before I get ripped. I'm not saying Canadian tier 2 and the USHL are the same from a skill level, just that their eligibilty rules are the same.

so, it's purely money? Well, then it's not really comparing apples to organes...more apples to apple sauce.
 

no Gino

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You're not trying to say that the skill level in the USHL is comparable to the WHL or OHL are you? I think that would be a stretch. The USHL's top end players would play in the CHL, but the depth of talent is not the same.
 

chaachie12

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expofan said:
You're not trying to say that the skill level in the USHL is comparable to the WHL or OHL are you? I think that would be a stretch. The USHL's top end players would play in the CHL, but the depth of talent is not the same.

No, I agree...depth is the difference maker.
 

Gwyddbwyll

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Dec 24, 2002
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That isn't a great league, and pretty much every guy who's been successful later on has torched it. Vanek had 46 goals in 53 games at age 17. Arnason had 37 goals in 52 games at 18. Sejna had 40 goals in 52 games at 18. Erik Cole had 30 in 48 games at age 18. Jeff Taffe had 12 goals in 17 games at age 17. Brandon Bochensky had 47 goals in 55 games at 18. And so on.

I don't know if his poor team is an excuse or not. It will be very interesting to see how he produces next year.

I'm not sure those ages are quite right. Sejna turned 19 a month or two into that year and was 20 the next. A lot of those guys actually turned a year older very shortly into those seasons. At such a young age, it's more important what stage of development you're at. Vanek had 50 games in the USHL before his 46 goal year.. obviously he had more exposure to develop his game. Wheeler came from high school.

Also have a look at their teammates. Vanek had a fellow 40 goal scorer on his team. Sejna, Bochenski were actually outscored. Their teams had four or five players scoring 25+ goals. Wheeler had four or five guys scoring 10-17 goals, more than half which were set up by him.

One disappointing aspect for me was his powerplay. He scored hardly anything on the PP.. almost all his points came even strength (I think he's actually one of the top scorers in the league at ES).. but that's partially due to an undeveloped understanding of the game and Green Bay's lousy PP - 10% and 26 goals. All the other teams ranged from 15-24% and 40 to 64 goals.. the next worst team scored almost twice as many PP goals as Green Bay!

As for the Vanek comparisions... dont go overboard with criticism... I believe the scout simply meant he plays like Vanek.. a skill game with sniper ability.. even though they're both very big players, they dont play like power forwards. He's not Vanek plus speed.. he's just a similar player who has a bit more speed.
 
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Rabid Ranger

2 is better than one
Feb 27, 2002
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Gwyddbwyll said:
I'm not sure those ages are quite right. Sejna turned 19 a month or two into that year and was 20 the next. A lot of those guys actually turned a year older very shortly into those seasons. At such a young age, it's more important what stage of development you're at. Vanek had 50 games in the USHL before his 46 goal year.. obviously he had more exposure to develop his game. Wheeler came from high school.

Also have a look at their teammates. Vanek had a fellow 40 goal scorer on his team. Sejna, Bochenski were actually outscored. Their teams had four or five players scoring 25+ goals. Wheeler had four or five guys scoring 10-17 goals, more than half which were set up by him.

One disappointing aspect for me was his powerplay. He scored hardly anything on the PP.. almost all his points came even strength (I think he's actually one of the top scorers in the league at ES).. but that's partially due to an undeveloped understanding of the game and Green Bay's lousy PP - 10% and 26 goals. All the other teams ranged from 15-24% and 40 to 64 goals.. the next worst team scored almost twice as many PP goals as Green Bay!

As for the Vanek comparisions... dont go overboard with criticism... I believe the scout simply meant he plays like Vanek.. a skill game with sniper ability.. even though they're both very big players, they dont play like power forwards. He's not Vanek plus speed.. he's just a similar player who has a bit more speed.


Good observations, but IMO, if a young player is getting the majority of his goals at even strength...well, that's a good thing.
 
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