Kevin Poulin

Jack DiBiase

Team Iceland Coach
Nov 15, 2008
2,455
106
playing in the nhl at a young age doesn't automatically assume success, check kari ramo and where he is.
The hell are you talking about? Rämö is the starting goalie in one of KHL's best teams with 1.97 GAA and 92,7 save-%. Sounds pretty damn successful to me.
 

Brunomics

Registered User
Sep 2, 2006
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As Poulin showed last night he needs a little bit more seasoning in the AHL I feel. I think everything about him physically is ready for at least a 1A/1B type scenario but I think he needs to work on the mental aspect of the game more, seems to be a bit of a slow starter mentally and that has to be fixed.
 

Chapin Landvogt

Registered User
Jul 4, 2002
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When Patrick Roy said that he was the best goalie in the CHL, I was absolutely shocked..then, I saw those last two games. Wow, is all I kind say. He reminds me so much of Carey Price (style-wise and look), it's insane.

I wondered about that Roy quote...

He's gotta know something, right?

Poulin looks legitimate. Whether he can win at this level will first be seen over the course of 2-4 seasons.

Ideally, he should be in the AHL now, even if he's looked OK on the NHL platform to date.
 

s04

Registered User
Oct 24, 2009
101
0
I wondered about that Roy quote...

He's gotta know something, right?

Poulin looks legitimate. Whether he can win at this level will first be seen over the course of 2-4 seasons.

Ideally, he should be in the AHL now, even if he's looked OK on the NHL platform to date.


Roy always loved Poulin, like pretty much everybody in the Q league.

Poulin always had the potential to be the best goalie prospect in the CHL IMO (or close to). But he played his first two seasons (16-17 years old) with a pretty bad team and his stats we're not really good. But he was still really good, enough to be drafted. He also got all kinds of knee injuries that probably cost him to be drafted higher and also to be at the top of the league (missed about two half-seasons).

He was able to recover from injuries in his last season and had a great year for Victoriaville. He was just amazing to watch play. Very athletic like I mentioned before, really quick. He can win a game by himself. And think if he would have had better stats with a better team in his draft year, he would have been drafted higher, and would have got a chance to play at the WJC and stuff like that. Unfortunately his development was slowed down by injuries and two disappointing seasons to start his career.
 

islandersfan1677

Registered User
Jan 7, 2011
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jungleland
As Poulin showed last night he needs a little bit more seasoning in the AHL I feel. I think everything about him physically is ready for at least a 1A/1B type scenario but I think he needs to work on the mental aspect of the game more, seems to be a bit of a slow starter mentally and that has to be fixed.
the isles have also been off to a slow start as of late too. Poulin to me looks like the real deal but I wanna see him get more time in the ahl. Its ashame he won't ever be a true #1 for the isles.
 

scott99

Registered User
May 13, 2005
10,997
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Even getting pulled after a bad goal, and returning in the third period, Poulin has amazing stats playing in front of the Isles Swiss cheese defense. 2.26 GAA and a .937 SP. Amazing considering how bad the Isles defense is. Poulin is averaging 36 shots against per game. I see guys getting 24 save shutouts, Poulin faced 20 shots in the first period against Vancouver the other night. Poulin reminds me of a mixture of Luongo and Hasek. Plays a textbook butterfly, but has the Hasek flop down pat. My wish is he stays the whole season even if DP comes back. He should split time with DP. Poulin was the best goalie at Bridgeport, way better than Lawson, and he has been way better than Lawson in the NHL too.
 

enigmatic

Fire me please
Jul 7, 2009
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nyc
Really? First off I don't see what is wrong with using stats too compare two goalies.

Second, Poulin's lateral movement has looked lightning quick in the games I have seen of him.

His only problem right now is his rebound control.

im an isles fan DH and happen to really respect you as a poster (i dont post much, but i read pretty much every day) but to suggest 2 or 3 games worth of stats suggest anything is ridiculous----has he looked promising?--most definitely--is he one of the top goaltender prospects?--probably but i dont really follow other teams "poulins or de haans"

he does look very good, but let him develop properly and not overhype another islanders prospect. i do expect him to be very good if developed properly though---AKA stay in the AHL through this year and probably most of next year

PS-I hope Ricky makes a comeback--i really respect him
 

bluechipbonzo

Registered User
Feb 12, 2010
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Ottawa
Again for those fans who think Poulin should be in the AHL this year, I direct you back a page to read what I posted about Jason York's take on young goalies on struggling teams at this time of year.

Seems as though someone who played in the NHL has a different opinion, and one you may want to consider.

The traditional HF line of letting players get more seasoning in the AHL may apply for defensemen and enigmatic forward types- but for blue chip goalies, losing seasons are an excellent time for them to come in and face little scrutiny and pressure, while gaining excellent experience and perspective on what they will need to do to succeed in the show.
 

GotKush*

Guest
Disagree completely about lateral movement. Don't worry, he can improve, but so far it's at the low AHL/high ECHL level.

Rebound control is a problem for all young goalers, so he will improve on that too.

Trust me, if there is something I know about hockey it is goaler talent.

I guess we should all bow down to your incredible, unmatchable "goaler" talent evaluation :laugh:
 

cdnhky1

Registered User
May 16, 2002
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This has nothing to do with stats. Why are you guys' basing it off of stats. This has to do with talent and I really don't see him becoming a all-star goaler. Poulin lacks lateral movement and speed which are important parts to goaltending. He does have very good positioning which is the reason why he was drafted and has pretty good reflexes. As for Reimer he might not have that good of positioning, but he doesn't have those crucial weaknesses that Poulin has. He's still going to be pretty good, maybe Nabokov; 1B/1C good, but nothing more.

For a guy who claims to know so much about the goaltending position, you don't seem to understand the link between lateral movement skills and positional play. In the 25 plus years I have played and coached the goaltending position I have yet to come across a strong postional goaltender who didn't have very good to outstanding lateral movement skills.

Positional play is comprised of three components - angle, squareness and depth selection, in order of importance. Being centered or "on angle" is the most essential component of positional play, and it is lateral movement, either on one's feet, or in a down position that dictates whether the goaltender is on angle. Forward and backward movement allows the goaltender to alter their depth selection. Since the bulk of a goaltender's coverage comes from being on angle, and the vast majority of a strong positional goaltender's movements are lateral in nature, it is not hard to understand the link between lateral movement skills and positional play.

Yet, you state that Poulin is a strong positional goaltender even though he has low level lateral movement skills. That's simply not possible.

I've watched Poulin numerous times over his career, before he played in the Q, during his Q days, and as a professional. He has tremendous physical abilities. He's an outstanding athlete which top notch technical skills, including very good goalie-specific skating and recovery skills.

The downfall of his performance, much like MA Fleury, has always been the cognitive and mental components of the position. It's taken him a while for him to learn how to read plays properly, to make quick and accurate decisions, and to develop the patience required to be successful in the modern game.

Similarly, the mental part of his performance - confidence, concentration, the ability to handle pressure, the ability to prepare consistently, and resiliency, has taken a while to develop (as it does in most young goaltenders) but he's made tremendous strides in that area. That, in my opinion, is why Poulin has been able to take his game to another level at the pro level.

But, make no mistake, he is a very strong positional goaltender, and that positional game is driven by his explosive lateral movement skills.
 

Doug Height

Okposwag
Feb 17, 2008
6,425
0
LI
im an isles fan DH and happen to really respect you as a poster (i dont post much, but i read pretty much every day) but to suggest 2 or 3 games worth of stats suggest anything is ridiculous----has he looked promising?--most definitely--is he one of the top goaltender prospects?--probably but i dont really follow other teams "poulins or de haans"

he does look very good, but let him develop properly and not overhype another islanders prospect. i do expect him to be very good if developed properly though---AKA stay in the AHL through this year and probably most of next year

PS-I hope Ricky makes a comeback--i really respect him

I think you misinterpreted my post a bit.

I was just disagreeing that Reimer is a 'much better' prospect. Both of them have played a similar amount of NHL games, obviously 3 games is far from enough to evaluate him though, but they have posted similar numbers. I was more comparing their AHL stats, which are pretty similar. Not trying to hype him up.

But I agree, I hope he spends the rest of the year in Bridgeport.
 

Tavaresmagicalplay*

Guest
To continue the derail of the thread. Ramo should have stayed in the nhl. He had an opportunity to start for the Lightning and from what I saw his future was very bright.
 

bluechipbonzo

Registered User
Feb 12, 2010
3,057
0
Ottawa
For a guy who claims to know so much about the goaltending position, you don't seem to understand the link between lateral movement skills and positional play. In the 25 plus years I have played and coached the goaltending position I have yet to come across a strong postional goaltender who didn't have very good to outstanding lateral movement skills.

Positional play is comprised of three components - angle, squareness and depth selection, in order of importance. Being centered or "on angle" is the most essential component of positional play, and it is lateral movement, either on one's feet, or in a down position that dictates whether the goaltender is on angle. Forward and backward movement allows the goaltender to alter their depth selection. Since the bulk of a goaltender's coverage comes from being on angle, and the vast majority of a strong positional goaltender's movements are lateral in nature, it is not hard to understand the link between lateral movement skills and positional play.

Yet, you state that Poulin is a strong positional goaltender even though he has low level lateral movement skills. That's simply not possible.

I've watched Poulin numerous times over his career, before he played in the Q, during his Q days, and as a professional. He has tremendous physical abilities. He's an outstanding athlete which top notch technical skills, including very good goalie-specific skating and recovery skills.

The downfall of his performance, much like MA Fleury, has always been the cognitive and mental components of the position. It's taken him a while for him to learn how to read plays properly, to make quick and accurate decisions, and to develop the patience required to be successful in the modern game.

Similarly, the mental part of his performance - confidence, concentration, the ability to handle pressure, the ability to prepare consistently, and resiliency, has taken a while to develop (as it does in most young goaltenders) but he's made tremendous strides in that area. That, in my opinion, is why Poulin has been able to take his game to another level at the pro level.

But, make no mistake, he is a very strong positional goaltender, and that positional game is driven by his explosive lateral movement skills.

Thank you for the technical information here- quite insightful to say the least.

Speaking of Poulin's ability level, do you think he has the goods to be a number one goaltender in the NHL- and how does he compare to a MA Fleury at the same stage of their careers?

Thanks in advance.
 

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