canucksfan
Registered User
Could someone please give me some names of some defencemen that are rated high for the 2005 draft.
canucksfan said:Could someone please give me some names of some defencemen that are rated high for the 2005 draft.
Sticky said:Staal is just going to keep moving up in the rankings in the next two years. All the natural talent in the world, playing great on a terrible Sudbury hockey club. And, as a 16 yr old he is not looking out of place in the Wolves top 4. Pretty impressive for a 16 yr old. Great offensive insticts. The points will come, he is learning the ropes.
monster_bertuzzi said:Mike Gauthier from Prince Albert is the WHL's best 16 year old defenceman IMO. Not only is he HUGE, he's a smooth, solid skater that loves to hit people.
VernonForrest said:The Sarnia Sting also have a couple of solid 2005 defensemen in Trevor Soloman and Matt Pelech. Also Matt Lashoff of Kitchener should be a 1st rounder next yr
moosefan said:This whole Staal familey is like the next Sutter familey. Eric Staal is a super prospect for the NHL...Marc Staal has the potential to go 1st round in the 2005 NHL draft...Jordan Staal is playing Midget AAA right now but he is ranked to possibly go in the top 5 in this years OHL draft and is suppose to be the best Staal of them all...plus they have one more brother playing like Peewee or something who knows about him????
Roughneck said:How's Heshmatspour doing (if anybody knows). He's already filled in pretty good for a 16 year old. And what country is he going to play for? He has the option to play for 3 I believe (Canada, US, Russia).
Juan said:If you check out the various OHL message boards, Kitchener fans seem to be split. Half of them love his upside and say he has shown flashes of brilliance, a couple of old-timers even comparing him to a young Larry Robinson (who played junior in Kitchener). They seem more than willing to give him time to develop. The other half say he has been a disappointment for not living up to expectations to step in right away and dominate.
Personally, I only saw him last year in Junior A. While is he rough around the edges in his own end, his tools and immense upside are undeniable.
Right now, he can only play for the U.S., the country of his birth.
He is not a Canadian citizen (only a resident), so he can not at this time play for them.
His family has no connection to Russia. His father was born in Azerbaijan, a former Soviet republic, which to my knowledge has no international hockey program.
EDIT: I was just told that Heshmatpour absolutely destroyed fellow 1987 prospect Bobby Ryan in a line brawl in the Kitchener/Owen Sound game last week. Apparently he was suspended for getting the instigator.
Don't cry for Ryan, though. He was suspended for the same thing two weeks ago.
balddog66 said:Owen SOunds Cunningham has started slowly offensively but has played well defensively so far for a rookie.
As he gains experience he should gain more playing time, he'll be counted on big time next year when Giordano is gone.
My take on Ryan as an unbiased Owen Sound fan is, he's huge for his age, something like 6.5, 220bls, 16 years old...he either needs to trim down to pick up speed or work on his skating, think that's the only real knock against him, I think scouts would overlook his skating once they see his shot and nice touch around the net.
He's been surprizingly tough for a rookie and could become a bit of a hot head too...
Keep an eye on Kevin Harvey in Owen Sound too..he lead the Toronto area in scoring last year and is just starting to rack up some points in the OHL.