LD Owen Power - Univ. of Michigan, NCAA (2021 Draft)

[Nabrules]

Looks good today, very good. But most on Michigan did today. Didn’t think he Deserved first start tho. Beniers, Johnson, York and Bordeleau were better today!

 

[FireBird71]

One game.

With anther tomorrow

 

[FireBird71]

I actually like the direction the team is heading in and some of Holland’s picks. He had a good offseason signing some pretty solid depth players.

Anyways, this is a Power thread not a McDavid thread. Good start to his NCAA career, he’s a massive kid I think he’s one and done. He’ll be in the NHL next year after he goes 1st overall.

You’re an NCAA guy, I watched the Wisconsin v Notre Dame game last night. Holloway looked really good last night, it’s too bad Holloway will be gone for the Team Canada camp as Wisconsin plays Michigan next weekend. Would of been a fun game to tune into to.

Season ticket holder in Flint since day one and might as well have been one in Plymouth/Detroit so I’m an OHL guy too

 

[Breakers]

With anther tomorrow

and 8 more after that.

 

[FireBird71]

and 8 more after that.

And a 2nd half schedule after that

 

[TeddyBare]

One game.

That he wouldn't have had had he been in bubble quarantine

 

[TheBeastCoast]

That he wouldn't have had had he been in bubble quarantine

Okay?

 

[Brodeur]

Nope beating ASU 6-0 doesn’t make me feel anything to be honest. Do they even have ice in Arizona?

ASU has put together a decent program in a short amount of time (to my surprise). They made the NCAA tournament in 2019 and were ranked #14 when play halted earlier this year.

Brinson Pasichnuk graduated and signed with San Jose. With the uncertainty of the season, Josh Maniscalco ended up leaving and signed with Pittsburgh. Might be a transition year as they look to replace their top two D.

I dragged my buddy to an ASU game a few years back and they do currently play in a meager arena (with an occasional game at the Coyotes arena when a bigger name school is visiting) but they've broken ground on a new facility. I get that it's easy to poke fun at them, but they're done a decent job in their short history building it up (ditto Penn State).

I'm holding out hope that some other Pac-12 schools start up D1 hockey programs. Just to give some options to west coast families. Of the handful of guys from my area who turned pro, their families had to uproot themselves / jump through some hoops to get college scholarships.

Edit: Didn't mean to derail the Owen Power thread into something else. Coincidentally my new Michigan jersey arrived in the mail today. I've been a Walmart Wolverine since Brendan Morrison was there in the mid-90s. I'm looking forward to watching Power while he's at Ann Arbor. [/coolstorybro]

 

[93LEAFS]

ASU has put together a decent program in a short amount of time (to my surprise). They made the NCAA tournament in 2019 and were ranked #14 when play halted earlier this year.

Brinson Pasichnuk graduated and signed with San Jose. With the uncertainty of the season, Josh Maniscalco ended up leaving and signed with Pittsburgh. Might be a transition year as they look to replace their top two D.

I dragged my buddy to an ASU game a few years back and they do currently play in a meager arena (with an occasional game at the Coyotes arena when a bigger name school is visiting) but they've broken ground on a new facility. I get that it's easy to poke fun at them, but
they're done a decent job in their short history building it up.

I'm holding out hope that some other Pac-12 schools start up D1 hockey programs. Just to give some options to west coast families. Of the handful of guys from my area who turned pro, their families had to uproot themselves / jump through some hoops to get college scholarships.

Yeah, a ton of California kids moved to more competitive leagues at like 14/15. Just look at the Robertson family for example (they moved to Michigan, and then to the GHTL for their OHL draft year). Although, this isn't even exclusive to non-Hockey hot beds. No one would call rural Ontario a non-Hockey region, yet ROR moved to play with the Junior Canadians at 15 for his OHL draft year, same is the case with Patrick Kane in Western New York moving to Detroit at 14. Hell, even Sid and MacKinnon both went to American prep school due to the competition level in the Maritimes or Noah Dobson who went to the Red Bull Academy. There is very much a keeping up with the Jones's attitude that is dominant in high-level youth sports. Just look at the family in California of a top QB recruit who got a "divorce" so that one parent could be the legal guardian so there kid could play High School Football in Georgia this year (if one parent just relocated while still married this wouldn't be allowed). Interesting to see Matthews who stuck it out with junior Coyotes until USNTDP being the flag bearer for non-Hockey regions. Compared to say someone like Chychrun who was a Hockey vegabound from like 12 on, at one point flying in on weekends to play for Little Ceasar's in Detroit from Florida.

 

[silkyjohnson50]

^ Vincent Trocheck is yet another example. Pittsburgh kid whose family moves to Detroit at age 13 so he can play at the highest level.

 

[Oak]

Yeah, a ton of California kids moved to more competitive leagues at like 14/15. Just look at the Robertson family for example (they moved to Michigan, and then to the GHTL for their OHL draft year). Although, this isn't even exclusive to non-Hockey hot beds. No one would call rural Ontario a non-Hockey region, yet ROR moved to play with the Junior Canadians at 15 for his OHL draft year, same is the case with Patrick Kane in Western New York moving to Detroit at 14. Hell, even Sid and MacKinnon both went to American prep school due to the competition level in the Maritimes or Noah Dobson who went to the Red Bull Academy. There is very much a keeping up with the Jones's attitude that is dominant in high-level youth sports. Just look at the family in California of a top QB recruit who got a "divorce" so that one parent could be the legal guardian so there kid could play High School Football in Georgia this year (if one parent just relocated while still married this wouldn't be allowed). Interesting to see Matthews who stuck it out with junior Coyotes until USNTDP being the flag bearer for non-Hockey regions. Compared to say someone like Chychrun who was a Hockey vegabound from like 12 on, at one point flying in on weekends to play for Little Ceasar's in Detroit from Florida.

Actually Austin Matthews lived and traveled with his Ukranian coach for extended periods of time. He would come back to Arizona but he was gone for months at a time traveling and training. He is definitely not a product of Arizona hockey.

How a young Matthews was discovered playing for a Ukrainian team - Sportsnet.ca

 

[93LEAFS]

Actually Austin Matthews lived and traveled with his Ukranian coach for extended periods of time. He would come back to Arizona but he was gone for months at a time traveling and training. He is definitely not a product of Arizona hockey.

How a young Matthews was discovered playing for a Ukrainian team - Sportsnet.ca

He never relocated until the USNTDP. He lived in Arizona and played for the Arizona Bobcats AAA. He got hooked up as a ringer with certain travel teams for high-level tournaments like the Quebec Pee-wee ones. That's much different than full-on relocation to play for certain AAA teams full time which is quite common. Matthews's family never relocated to a hockey hotbed like Detroit and he never went off to play in a prep-school like Shattuck. Which is quite common.

 

[William H Bonney]

Power looked good today, as did Beniers and Johnson. This Michigan team has a ton of talent. They're young and they'll face better competition, but ASU didn't belong on the same ice as them today.

 

[Oak]

He never relocated until the USNTDP. He lived in Arizona and played for the Arizona Bobcats AAA. He got hooked up as a ringer with certain travel teams for high-level tournaments like the Quebec Pee-wee ones. That's much different than full-on relocation to play for certain AAA teams full time which is quite common. Matthews's family never relocated to a hockey hotbed like Detroit and he never went off to play in a prep-school like Shattuck. Which is quite common.

I dont want to fill up Owen Powers thread with too much talk about Matthews so ill leave it at this post. Although his family never relocated the kid lived alone and traveled with his hockey coach for months at a time since he was very young. This isnt a secret, there are articles about this. He traveled all over Europe, Russia, and Canada with him.

Imagine letting your 10 year old leave the country with just his hockey coach and not seeing him for weeks? Thats worse than relocating as a family in my opinion. In one article Boris admits to leaving Austin alone in an airport in Canada when he was 11 and never even telling Austons parents. Letting your kid do that is borderline crazy, but it seems his parents were all in hockey nuts.

So although he never relocated to play for a winter AAA team or school, he spent enough time in Europe just practicing for it to almost be considered a relocation. To even think that Auston was "developed" by an Arizona program is ridiculous. The kid got more hockey training than any youth player I have ever heard of. Even the Toronto superstars like Stamkos or Tavares didnt get that much training. Yes he played for the Bobcats for 2 years when he was 14 before he went NTDP but the other 6 months of those 2 years he lived in Ukraine with his coach training.

 

[Mathieukferland]

I don’t know if he will be going first overall but one of the first results on YouTube when searching his name definitely proves he knows how to tape his stick

 

[wetcoast]

Yeah, a ton of California kids moved to more competitive leagues at like 14/15. Just look at the Robertson family for example (they moved to Michigan, and then to the GHTL for their OHL draft year). Although, this isn't even exclusive to non-Hockey hot beds. No one would call rural Ontario a non-Hockey region, yet ROR moved to play with the Junior Canadians at 15 for his OHL draft year, same is the case with Patrick Kane in Western New York moving to Detroit at 14. Hell, even Sid and MacKinnon both went to American prep school due to the competition level in the Maritimes or Noah Dobson who went to the Red Bull Academy. There is very much a keeping up with the Jones's attitude that is dominant in high-level youth sports. Just look at the family in California of a top QB recruit who got a "divorce" so that one parent could be the legal guardian so there kid could play High School Football in Georgia this year (if one parent just relocated while still married this wouldn't be allowed). Interesting to see Matthews who stuck it out with junior Coyotes until USNTDP being the flag bearer for non-Hockey regions. Compared to say someone like Chychrun who was a Hockey vegabound from like 12 on, at one point flying in on weekends to play for Little Ceasar's in Detroit from Florida.

This is just really sad but I don't doubt it.

 

[snipes]

How’d he look today?

 

[docbenton]

How’d he look today?

Playing right now, looks very good. Very smooth skater with good edgework, not explosive but pretty fast. Very efficient and mistake-free, seems to have great hockey sense. Has the puck a lot and controls the game. I'd say he's already better than Cam York who's on the the top pairing. Looks a lot like a young Pronger out there minus any physicality.

 

[Stony Curtis]

How’d he look today?

The game is currently on the Big Ten Network...almost 2 periods in. No points, but I'm really impressed with his skating and mobility. He looks like one of those defensemen who's able to tilt the ice.

 

[m0pe]

He has looked like only the 3rd best 2021 draft eligible on the ice imo. Bust.

(Beniers and Johnson are insane).

But seriously, this team is crazy fun. No points but Power is just a rock out there.

 

[themelkman]

He has looked like only the 3rd best 2021 draft eligible on the ice imo. Bust.

(Beniers and Johnson are insane).

But seriously, this team is crazy fun. No points but Power is just a rock out there.

I love his physical game out there.

 

[docbenton]

He has looked like only the 3rd best 2021 draft eligible on the ice imo. Bust.

(Beniers and Johnson are insane).

But seriously, this team is crazy fun. No points but Power is just a rock out there.

The forwards are good in their own way but I'd take Power easily over both of them right now.

 

[PuckProspects]

Owen Power will go number 1 in the draft. Write it down.

 

[snipes]

Owen Power will go number 1 in the draft. Write it down.

Well, yeah. Not really a hot take at all. He’s emerged as the clear favourite at this point.

He’s ahead of Brandt Clarke and a couple other forwards, two of whom are his teammates as well.

Michigan likely has three top 10 picks, pretty damn impressive.

 

[Breakers]

It's the controlled exits that get me, he had like 2 uncontrolled exits, and 1 yesterday.
Just so solid possession wise. He just draws the opposition in and never gets rushed.

The announcers were talking about A 2 man forecheck coming in on either side of the net, and he uses the net to rub off the 1st, and most d-man would slam it around the boards as the safe play and hope your winger can control it. He stops, uses the body to shield the 1st and draws the 2nd forechecker and a quick backhand sauce between the forecheckers legs to Beniers and they are attacking again and out of the zone.
He really lets plays develop and makes simple simple passes.