In the System VIII (Ads and Prospects)

[tellermine]

Just saw Niclas Westerholm playing at Liiga in Finland.

2-0 win for his team with 27 saves.
Agressive and athletic.
Glove is also quick. Rebound control is good.
Good movement for a big goalie, though he has minor tendency to move little over sometimes.
Positionally and technically good.

Saved victory to SaiPa as Tappara was on drivers seat whole third.

There is huge potential there. Lets hope he can deliver it.

 

[mirasane]

After 7 games in Finnish Elite League Westerholm's save percentage is 93,25 which is second highest in the league. Not bad for a rookie.

 

[ProfessorAho]

Predators round 5 #140 overall pick from 2013 called Teemu Kivihalme. Been following him now for over a year. Hes playing his second season in finnish league. His skating is world class and hes has proven to be very skilled player. I would say his biggest flaw is in defensive play but he has gotten better in that too. Its very entertaining to watch him because hes not afraid to keep the puck and make plays. He was elected in finnish national team to play Eurohockey tour and rumours say multiple NHL teams are/were after him.

Teemu Kivihalme, Kärpät, Oulu
28 games
5 goals 7 assists +/- +12 average ice time 18.39

Some examples:
<--- pass
<--- goal
<--- goal

Tell me your opinions and if you already know him what do you think about him?

edit: changed game total from 22 -> 28

 

[AdmiralsFan24]

Get back soon Preds. The Ads are basically unwatchable right now.

 

[Flgatorguy87]

How do you explain his brother Elias, who is the same height and weight and also plays center according to Hockeydb?

His brother is elite in most areas but his size. The exact opposite.

Edit: technically that's not the opposite. I guess the only thing to say is the only commonality they have is their name and measurables.

 

[Flgatorguy87]

Predators round 5 #140 overall pick from 2013 called Teemu Kivihalme. Been following him now for over a year. Hes playing his second season in finnish league. His skating is world class and hes has proven to be very skilled player. I would say his biggest flaw is in defensive play but he has gotten better in that too. Its very entertaining to watch him because hes not afraid to keep the puck and make plays. He was elected in finnish national team to play Eurohockey tour and rumours say multiple NHL teams are/were after him.

Teemu Kivihalme, Kärpät, Oulu
28 games
5 goals 7 assists +/- +12 average ice time 18.39

Some examples:
<--- pass
<--- goal
<--- goal

Tell me your opinions and if you already know him what do you think about him?

edit: changed game total from 22 -> 28

I remember watching him in development camp but that's been a while. He was undersized but smooth. Kinda prototypical euro dman prospect, at least in my head. I think he and Lyytinen were similar prospects in camp. Looked their best when they had the puck on their stick.

 

[adsfan]

The Admirals defeated the Grand Rapids Griffins, Detroit's AHL affiliate, 5-2 tonight.

Emil Pettersson scored his first goal since before Halloween. Tom McCollum was in goal for 26 saves to beat his team from last season.

The second period had a fight between Tanner Jeannot, a LW who started the game at center, and Dominik Shine. Jeannot left Shine with a bloody cheek. Both players were given 17 minutes in penalties, including gamers, for removing their helmets and fighting off a face off. GR had gotten away with a lot of cheap shots and the Ads players were angry. They did score 3 goals in period 2.

The second period horn sounded and three Admirals were down on the ice. Yakov Trenin got up and started punching the very large Dylan McIlrath in the face with his gloves. Both were cited for roughing and GR got another penalty for slashing at 20:00 to cap a 54 penalty minute period. Dylan McIlrath had been a giant hemorrhoid throughout periods 1 and 2 and was never called for a penalty until this one.

Referee Ratings: Peter Tarnaris 3, Cameron Voss 2 out of 10.
Linesmen: Mike Anderson and Ian McCambridge both earned a 9.

This was a big win for the Admirals who had earned only 1 point in three games in Texas.
The Texas Stars come to town on Friday night. I think that Milwaukee is ready to play them!

 

[cjerina]

The second period had a fight between Tanner Jeannot, a LW who started the game at center, and Dominik Shine. Jeannot left Shine with a bloody cheek.

*Broken Nose

Caught him directly across the nose with little contact to the rest of his face.

Horrible officiating again, but at least it was an entertaining game.

 

[NoNecksCurse]

 

[Armourboy]

Now that's what I call opening a can on someone.

 

[Pred303]

we basically have no near term help from Milwaukee.

 

[adsfan]

we basically have no near term help from Milwaukee.

Milwaukee called up Matthew Lane from from Atlanta Gladiators to play last night. His #21 wasn't on the game sheet that they hand out. He has played a few other games for Milwaukee this season. Apparently, the Admirals are also short on players.

Colin Blackwell scored 4 goals in 11 games and I haven't seen him since. He must be injured, because the AHL shows him on the Milwaukee roster.

 

[adsfan]

Now that's what I call opening a can on someone.

I stated above that the Admirals players were angry about the cheap shots and the lack of calls by Refs Voss and Tarnaris up to that point. The strange thing is that I never saw Shine do or say anything to deserve that butt whipping. If it was Hicketts, Smith, McIlrath or one other guy on GR, I could understand it completely.

That all happened at the far end of the ice from my seat. The two of them obviously planned to fight since the puck went east and they went west at the same time and took off their respective helmets.

 

[PredsV82]

we basically have no near term help from Milwaukee.

Richard didnt look totally out of place in his one game here and was fast. Hed have a learning curve but didnt look like hed be a be a total misfit. Or is he hurt now and I missed it?

 

[adsfan]

Double post

 

[adsfan]

Triple post.

 

[triggrman]

we basically have no near term help from Milwaukee.

It’s really troublesome to me how bad we’ve been at drafting lately or development

 

[Viqsi]

It’s really troublesome to me how bad we’ve been at drafting lately or development

Doesn't help when you trade away lots of picks.

 

[triggrman]

Doesn't help when you trade away lots of picks.

true but most teams still find some.

We seem to top out on the Erat, Arvidsson level no matter where we pick them

 

[PredsV82]

true but most teams still find some.

We seem to top out on the Erat, Arvidsson level no matter where we pick them

Arvy is a 30 goal scorer. I'm not sure what you want/expect from a team that has had one top 5 pick in the last 19 years.

And I think your comment about Milwaukee being bare as a sign we dont draft/develop well is rubbish. We have drafted and developed VERY well, they are just all up here now except for Tolvanen.

Arvy
Smith
Fiala
Sissons
Watson
Salomaki
Gadreau(undrafted but still our prospect)
(And remember we drafted Vesey and he screwed us)

Josi
Ellis
Ekholm
Hamhuis

Rinne
Saros

We are widely regarded as one of the best drafting teams in the league over the last decade.

 

[triggrman]

I said skill players, which really means top line players to me. Arvidsson gets there through exteme hard work and great speed but on our team, only Forsberg is a top line skill player and on more than a few teams, he's not even on the top line.

Lots of teams draft top line players in later rounds or outside the top 5 picks. We're just not one of them.

And while we are a great drafting team, they're not refering to our forwards, they're talking about our defensemen.

 

[PredsV82]

And that list doesnt include the players we drafted who have been traded in order to make us the cup contender we are today who are nonetheless playing in the NHL (almost all for Colorado LOL)

Jones
Girard
Kamanev
Bourque
Wilson

As long as Tolvanen ends up being the real deal, we will have several years for the forward prospect pool to fill back up. And defensively as long as one or two of Fabbro, Carrier and Allard can eventually play at this level we are in fine shape on D as well.

 

[triggrman]

Also, listing a bunch of players below the Erat, Arvidsson level doesn't dispute my point.

 

[PredsV82]

I said skill players, which really means top line players to me. Arvidsson gets there through exteme hard work and great speed but on our team, only Forsberg is a top line skill player and on more than a few teams, he's not even on the top line.

Lots of teams draft top line players in later rounds or outside the top 5 picks. We're just not one of them.

And while we are a great drafting team, they're not refering to our forwards, they're talking about our defensemen.

No they are talking about everything not just defense. We are arguably a top two team in the NHL and we have a very homegrown lineup. The complaint that we dont have a single superstar is overblown.

 

[adsfan]

It’s really troublesome to me how bad we’ve been at drafting lately or development

Girard (2016)? He is a 20 year old playing in the NHL that Nashville traded away. Instead, they kept Irwin, Bitetto and Y. Weber on D.

Kamenev? Kam's (2014) numbers are low, but take a look at some of the Preds forwards. I have heard that when you break an arm, it can take a year or so to recover your previous strength.

Now that Dean Evason is gone, Yakov Trenin (drafted in 2015) is playing much better! Evason held back some player development.

People on here complain too much about Tolvanen (drafted 2017), who is a 19 year old rookie in North America.