Bluelines
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- Nov 17, 2013
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You can go off the record with rival scouts in tiki bars on Fort Lauderdale Beach. You can go on the record with general managers on the draft floor. Either way, the stories about Mark Hunter are the same.
He is the hardest working scout in the business — the first to the rink during a tournament, and the last to leave. And no one knows hockey talent better.
Hunter, who is sharing the Toronto general manager’s job with Kyle Dubas on an interim basis, put his stamp on the team this weekend in Sunrise, Fla. He did not draft braun — the Leafs’ beat-’em-in-the-alley days are over — opting for the skill of London sharpshooter Mitch Marner, Erie defenceman Travis Dermott and USA-Under 18 playmaker Jeremy Bracco.
Some of his picks have flaws. Sweden’s Jesper Lindgren is small for a defenceman. Lethbridge’s Andrew Nielson was playing Double-B hockey a few years ago. Sarnia’s Nikita Korostelev caved under the pressure of a draft year. But each of the Leafs’ nine picks have big, big upside.
Sherry Bassin, a legendary figure in hockey as owner, general manager and scout in his many days, recalls a conversation with Hunter — who co-owned the London Knights — when Bassin bought the Erie Otters.
“He said the game has changed,” Bassin said. “It’s a skill-oriented game now. And he was right.”
Continued : http://www.thestar.com/sports/leafs...d-to-find-players-that-make-it-look-easy.html
He is the hardest working scout in the business — the first to the rink during a tournament, and the last to leave. And no one knows hockey talent better.
Hunter, who is sharing the Toronto general manager’s job with Kyle Dubas on an interim basis, put his stamp on the team this weekend in Sunrise, Fla. He did not draft braun — the Leafs’ beat-’em-in-the-alley days are over — opting for the skill of London sharpshooter Mitch Marner, Erie defenceman Travis Dermott and USA-Under 18 playmaker Jeremy Bracco.
Some of his picks have flaws. Sweden’s Jesper Lindgren is small for a defenceman. Lethbridge’s Andrew Nielson was playing Double-B hockey a few years ago. Sarnia’s Nikita Korostelev caved under the pressure of a draft year. But each of the Leafs’ nine picks have big, big upside.
Sherry Bassin, a legendary figure in hockey as owner, general manager and scout in his many days, recalls a conversation with Hunter — who co-owned the London Knights — when Bassin bought the Erie Otters.
“He said the game has changed,” Bassin said. “It’s a skill-oriented game now. And he was right.”
Continued : http://www.thestar.com/sports/leafs...d-to-find-players-that-make-it-look-easy.html
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