GDT: Edmonton Softs vs Calgary Hards
- Thread starter CycloneSweep
- Start date
ChaoticOrange
Registered User
Benson and Jones look great. Marody/Lagesson/McLeod/Bouchard/Polei look good. Vesel snakebit But has good instincts.
Goalies look rough. Yamamoto/Bear/Maksimov very quiet - maybe saving it for main camp. Samorukov straight up bad. Biggest red flag player for me at this mini tourney outside of the goalies.
Out of everyone Benson and Jones look the most NHL ready. A lot will have changed in the next couple weeks, but if there are NHL jobs to be stolen neither guy hurt their chances one bit.
CantHaveTkachev
Legends
what conclusions did you draw from the previous Penticton tournaments where the Oilers went undefeated in the past 3 years? Oilers have the best prospect pool?
on the flip side, when the Oilers go undefeated in Penticton...people say "the games mean nothing" but now they lose these games, they're "important"
ohheyhemsky
Regehr DooDoo
Skolman
Registered User
- Feb 16, 2018
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No one's looking at the final scores, people are looking at individual play, the outcome of the games mean squat, doesn't mean how the players play mean nothing. If so then why risk injury and even play? Why don't the players just pass the puck slowly for 60 minutes for shots and giggles? Because it matters to the individual players.
Players who look good in rookie games can greatly increase their stock. Hell there are guys in the AHL squad who have earned deals based on them.
You want to see effort, hints of their abilities and players making smart plays. It's worrisome to see guys like Bear have 3 glaring giveaways in one sequence.
It's worrisome to see how awful Samorukov and the goalies are.
Is it the end of the world? No. It's just a good first look at what needs to be addressed at main camp for some of these players. It's why rookies get an early start.
harpoon
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- Dec 23, 2005
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wtf are you talking about? Pre season games are played to help management make decisions on the relative NHL readiness of various prospects. As such, they are definitely not meaningless. Conclusions are drawn. Players get assigned. Its a shame that you can't understand this.
Again, wtf? I have never made posts suggesting in any way that the 'Oilers have the best prospect pool' - that's more your territory.
You flip flop like that. Not me. I'm consistent on this point. All the games are meaningful. I don't get high as a kite when somebody scores a few goals against NAIT and then pipe up with 'meaningless' when the team gets throttled by same tier competition. If you want to suggest that I do that, dig up the quotes. Otherwise pipe down.
I thought Samorukov has had patches of good play. He's got the raw tools.
It's probably not beneficial that his junior partner for the most part was Ryan Merkley though.
Burnt Biscuits
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- May 2, 2010
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Never good to draw any conclusions from a goalies play this early in the season, tons of goalies take time to get into the rhythm of things. I've seen so many hot takes about one goalie looking great in camp and some other goalie looking terrible (often a proven starting goalie) only for things to completely reverse two weeks later. Also while slanging the ECHL level schtick against a forward or a defenseman does seriously draw into question their ability to be an NHL player in the future, that isn't at all true for goalies, many good goalies have plied their trade in the ECHL and were all the better for it.
ConnorMcMullet
#12 Colby Cave
- Jun 10, 2017
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Standouts
Benson: Great, incredible vision and playmaking ability. I think we've got a player here. Wouldn't be surprised if he sees some NHL action this year. Was amazing QBing the PP.
Jones: Very impressed. He was a monster both offensively and defensively. Great skater, good offensive instincts, great stick work in the D-zone.
Bouchard: Loved his game. Very steady and poised, with a wicked shot and great vision. Probably already a better passer than all of the Oilers d-men. Surprisingly solid defensively, albeit against weaker competition.
McLoed: Very, very fast. Great skater, good frame, and a consistent threat. Scored some goals, but does lack a bit of finish. Not as soft as some of the posters make him out to be.
Marody was good, Samurakov was awful, and the rest were pretty "meh". I expected more from Yamamoto and Bear. Maksimov wasn't as great as I had hoped, but he was also centered by either Larkin or Esposito.
Skolman
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Jesus Take the Wheel
Registered User
Overall not a great game, I'll saw this though after watching the Nait game and this game, I like what a see in Hebig. He's similar to yama in a lot of ways and definitely has the skill, just need to dig for a little more tenacity out of him like yama has
Bryanbryoil
Pray For Ukraine
- Sep 13, 2004
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Oilers in NS
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- Oct 11, 2017
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Exactly same thing I say about Benson and Jones. Great vision for Benson and Jones has stepped it up this pre-season. He is close.
Benson was a superstar in minor hockey. Hopefully injuries are behind him. Could be steal in 2nd Rd that year. Jones played 1st line pairing mins with Charlie MacAvoy on Team USA. Also, his DNA suggests he might be good . If Bouchard and Jones turn into top 4 Dman down the road , this Oiler fan is very happy
CantHaveTkachev
Legends
oh I understand, you conveniently chose to avoid my question though
Chad Butcher scored 3 goals and 7 points in 3 games last year in Pentiction...what did that do for his career? what conclusion do we draw from this?
the "meaning" of these games are overblown and overrated
link?
cause as you said, "dig up the quotes"
CantHaveTkachev
Legends
worrisome? holy man, it's 2 games lol
it's disappointing the goalies were bad, but I'm not worried based on two rookie games
as mentioned before, Chad Butcher had 7 points in 3 games last year and it did nothing for his upcoming season
the meaning of these games are overblown IMO
Drivesaitl
Finding Hyman
In the hockey world, and this is commonplace, the meaning of some games is often "overblown and overrated' my own thinking being this is due to the relative laziness of NHL scouting compared to other pro sports. So that scouts descend in hordes to world tournaments and the like where copious opinions are drawn out on players being quality or not quality on the basis of extremely limited sample and uncharacteristic games. i.e. games that take place with national sides rather than club teams. So that one doesn't even get the chance to view the players adherence to known system or with their actual team mates. Its a very haphazard method of evaluation but the world tournaments seem to so heavily influence the relative ranking of many players taking part. As if that spells the player.
Of course these games are extremely important for almost all prospects. For the majority it means everything. Getting a further look, or obscurity until the next potential camp. That is the reality of the situation for most prospects and of course they know it.
Management doesn't draw any conclusions from these games outside of fringe prospects who are playing for contracts.
These games mean nothing, absolutely nothing, when it comes to evaluation of the top prospects like Bouchard, Yamamoto, Bear, Benson etc.
The real evaluation will begin starting today with main camp starting. These games were just a matter of getting these kids back into game shape after a long summer, nothing more. Do you think that management has now soured on Yamamoto because he didn't stand out in a rookie camp? Do you think that Jones has elevated himself to a much higher level because he did stand out in a rookie camp? Of course not.
However, it's always nice when prospect do well in any game and it's natural to have a bit of concern when they don't but that's just fans being fanatics. I doubt that management shares these same concerns.
Beerfish
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- Apr 14, 2007
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Of course these games are relevant, hey everyone can have a bad game here and there but this is a LOW level of competition. If you are supposed to be a grade a prospect you should be dominating some of these games.
The goalies i am les s worried about just because they probably have a new coach drumming some dumb concept into their heads.
The goalies i am les s worried about just because they probably have a new coach drumming some dumb concept into their heads.
FlameChampion
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- Jul 13, 2011
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Little dissapointed that they decided to not play Bouchard, Benson, Jones or Marody in this game. Seems like a bizarre decision. Oh well, onto main camp.
Not even dominate in my mind. Just not play like crap. The goalies did but it still don't like our goalie coaching, seems that goalies always get worse under him.
When a guy like Bear plays like crap last night. Management hates that.
Aceboogie
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- Aug 25, 2012
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These are the first games for alot of players and they are finding their stride. If a meh prospect dominates, a GM is not going to thru a contract at them (unless its Braden Chistoffer), nor is a coach going to cut a good prospect due to a rookie showcase game. Players who should be going back to junior will and players like Benson, Jones, Yamamoto and Bear will all be given shots at main camp where they actually have more than a few skates under their belt. You crap the bed there, and your out.
On a side note, I would not be surprised to see Jones challenge for an NHL spot this year and for Bear to take a step back and play the entire year in the AHL (and this is not based off this game). Jones was really turning it around in the AHL last half of the year and a player with his complete skill set will be a coaches favourite
On a side note, I would not be surprised to see Jones challenge for an NHL spot this year and for Bear to take a step back and play the entire year in the AHL (and this is not based off this game). Jones was really turning it around in the AHL last half of the year and a player with his complete skill set will be a coaches favourite
