Confirmed with Link: Canucks 2011 4th Round Pick, 101st Overall - F Joseph LaBate

[Mr. Canucklehead]

From the USHS system.

C Joseph LaBate
6'4, 190lbs

Holy Angels, USHS
2010/2011 -
25GP, 27G, 22A, 49Pts (Regular Season)
1GP, 2G, 1A, 3Pts (Playoffs)

- Will be attending the University of Wisconsin next season (@benkuzma)
- Interview with McKeen's: http://mckeenshockey.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1191713

Click to read more...

 

[Stanley as in Cup]

http://www.nhl.com/ice/draftprospectdetail.htm?csid=7LTPXU

Another big boy

 

[Placebo Effect]

Another guy with size.

http://eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=75066
http://mckeenshockey.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1191713

 

[Tiranis]

Excellent pick, had him going in the 2nd. Posted about him several times in the draft thread, but here's some info:

Interview: http://mckeenshockey.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1191713
Combine Interview: http://bruins2011draftwatch.blogspot.com/2011/06/nhl-combine-video-joe-labate-has-upside.html

4. Joseph LaBate, C Holy Angels Academy (Minnesota)- At 6-4, 180 pounds this Mr. Hockey finalist is a total stringbean, but has some of the nicest projectable physical upside of any of his peers. He's got a nose for the net and does some great work in close when the puck is on his stick. Pretty good skater, but needs to improve his initial burst and overall east-west mobility. Scouts think a lot of that will come when he adds strength and mass to his legs to generate more force behind his stride. He's going straight to the Wisconsin Badgers next season, and some scouts wonder if he's physically ready for that kind of challenge, but we'll find out.

"He's very talented and his nice offensive ability," Giese said of LaBate. "He's lanky and reminds me a lot of Nick Bjugstad in terms of his style and the fact that he needs to physically mature." On the downside, LaBate doesn't always play with the kind of hustle and intensity folks want to see from him. "He picks his spots, but when he's on his game, he's dangerous," said Giese.

 

[Tim Calhoun]

Looks like a good pick. Put up very good stats and has a huge frame.

 

[Tiranis]

All you need to know about LaBate: http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?t=911435

 

[thefeebster]

Looks like I'm too slow! Haha anyways, here is his Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/JosephLaBate

Always thought of him as a poor-mans Nick Bjugstad. Could elevate his game, but really needs to train some more. I wasn't following him on twitter but checked it throughout the year. He seems really chill and works out a bunch. But afraid to say he cheered for the Sharks or Hawks this playoff run, can't remember hahaha

 

[Tiranis]

And here is his Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/JosephLaBate

Already posted that quote. Thanks for the twitter tho, didn't know.

 

[MS]

Like all HS picks, this will be a total mystery until we see him at a higher level. No-one here will have seen him play, the level he was playing at was crap, and drafting guys from HS is a total crapshoot.

Hopefully he shows well at Wisconsin next season.

 

[Wetcoaster]

Toss him back - his favourite team is San Jose Sharks and his favourite player is Joe Thornton.

NHL team: San Jose Sharks
NHL player: Joe Thornton
Shootout move: “Fake shot, five holeâ€
Goal celebration: “Always spur of the momentâ€
Video game: NHL and Halo
Movie: Troy
TV show: How I Met Your Mother
Music artist: Wiz Khalifa
Website: facebook.com
Book: Lord of the Rings series
Home-cooked meal: Chicken, broccoli and potatoes
Activity away from the rink: Golf and tennis
http://www.nhl.com/ice/draftprospectdetail.htm?csid=7LTPXU

 

[mossey3535]

I like the trend we are going in with size, speed, shot. But yeah who knows? Fun to speculate though

 

[Wetcoaster]

Like all HS picks, this will be a total mystery until we see him at a higher level. No-one here will have seen him play, the level he was playing at was crap, and drafting guys from HS is a total crapshoot.

Hopefully he shows well at Wisconsin next season.

The Minnesota high school hockey system is more like a Canadian Junior A league such as the BCJHL.

 

[Canucks5551]

The Minnesota high school hockey system is more like a Canadian Junior A league such as the BCJHL.

You mean BCHL? I don't think there's a junior A league called that.

 

[Wetcoaster]

You mean BCHL? I don't think there's a junior A league called that.

When I played it was the BCJHL.

http://www.bchl.bc.ca/leagues/bchl_history_bchl.cfm?leagueid=2393&clientid=1413&link=BCHL

 

[Brain Sergeant]

You mean BCHL? I don't think there's a junior A league called that.

It used to be called the BCJHL

 

[Canucks5551]

Ah, they changed the name 20 years ago. Got it.

 

[Burke's Evil Spirit]

Well he has better offensive numbers than Patrick White did in high school. That's encouraging, right?

 

[absolute garbage]

Well he has better offensive numbers than Patrick White did in high school. That's encouraging, right?

The most encouraging thing about this is that Gillis didn't pick him in the first round.

 

[alternate]

Love seeing Gillis add all this size to the organization!

 

[Barney Gumble]

Like all HS picks, this will be a total mystery until we see him at a higher level. No-one here will have seen him play, the level he was playing at was crap, and drafting guys from HS is a total crapshoot.

Hopefully he shows well at Wisconsin next season.

Too bad we didn't draft Patrick White in the 4th round back then (course we likely've would've have gotten Ehrhoff later).

 

[MS]

The Minnesota high school hockey system is more like a Canadian Junior A league such as the BCJHL.

The level of play is absolutely nowhere near that of the BCHL, which is more comparable with the USHL. The USHL is a massive step up from HS hockey and a lot of players use it as an intermediate step before playing NCAA.

HS hockey is awful. Which makes it the hardest level of the sport to scout and get a read on players, since anyone of any ability looks absolutely dominant (as Patrick White did). So there is a chance you can get a steal ... but there are a lot of guys who look good because of the competition and then get badly exposed when they move up levels.

 

[Tiranis]

The level of play is absolutely nowhere near that of the BCHL, which is more comparable with the USHL. The USHL is a massive step up from HS hockey and a lot of players use it as an intermediate step before playing NCAA.

HS hockey is awful. Which makes it the hardest level of the sport to scout and get a read on players, since anyone of any ability looks absolutely dominant (as Patrick White did). So there is a chance you can get a steal ... but there are a lot of guys who look good because of the competition and then get badly exposed when they move up levels.

Patrick White had issues beyond his skill or talent level. Just look at his U18 play. A lot of the problems were between his ears.

 

[orcatown]

The level of play is absolutely nowhere near that of the BCHL, which is more comparable with the USHL. The USHL is a massive step up from HS hockey and a lot of players use it as an intermediate step before playing NCAA.

HS hockey is awful. Which makes it the hardest level of the sport to scout and get a read on players, since anyone of any ability looks absolutely dominant (as Patrick White did). So there is a chance you can get a steal ... but there are a lot of guys who look good because of the competition and then get badly exposed when they move up levels.

For the sake of clarity, White did play in the USHL and did look pretty good there.

Problem with White is that he developed very little beyond what he showed in the USHL

 

[adamzilla]

I don't get all the hate for White.... he got us Ehrhoff.

 

[Lard_Lad]

I don't get all the hate for White.... he got us Ehrhoff.

White's compensatory draft pick got us Ehrhoff. We could've taken Stephen Hawking with that pick and got the same result.