Prospect Info: Samuel Girard

[AdmiralsFan24]

Its not just those small towns... Many historical teams are having extreme attendance issues and losing a ton of money. Ive been to alot of games in Western Canada and into the US and its painful how many empty seats there are with Vancouver Giants, Kamloops Blazers, Prince George Cougars and teams in USA. Bigger cities with maybe 2000 to 3000 fans only and dropping yearly. I went to a Kamloops game last season and it was less than half full and you could hear a pin drop almost all game and fans heads were burried in the cell phones... And this was against their biggest rival Kelowna Rockets... A team loaded with alot of talent. Also went to a Kelowna game this season and the attendance was really low

And Kamloops/Kelowna are very good franchises that have made many many NHLers

But Prince George and Kamloops aren't big cities. Neither even has 100,000 people and neither are dense cities, both with less than 1,000 people per square mile. Vancouver I couldn't tell you about (maybe with the Canucks and being a major city people don't want to bother with junior hockey?) but maybe what they need to do is make a fourth league so the travel is easier and isn't as expensive. Keep the Western Hockey League for BC and Washington/Oregon (and maybe Alberta?) and create the Prairie Hockey League for Manitoba, Saskatchewan and maybe Alberta. That would help keep travel costs down and potentially create more rivalries by teams playing each other more.

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

But Prince George and Kamloops aren't big cities. Neither even has 100,000 people and neither are dense cities, both with less than 1,000 people per square mile. Vancouver I couldn't tell you about (maybe with the Canucks and being a major city people don't want to bother with junior hockey?) but maybe what they need to do is make a fourth league so the travel is easier and isn't as expensive. Keep the Western Hockey League for BC and Washington/Oregon (and maybe Alberta?) and create the Prairie Hockey League for Manitoba, Saskatchewan and maybe Alberta. That would help keep travel costs down and potentially create more rivalries by teams playing each other more.

Ya i just used those cities as examples cause they used to sell out like crazy and youd have to buy tickets way in advance. Plus there arent too many cities in BC with over 100,000 people living in it. Kelowna is the only one i think(besides the cities in Vancouver but Van obviously has an NHL team)

And also same in alberta... Only cities with over 100,000 are ones with NHL teams in it(also have junior teams too)... Junior teams can pretty much only play in cities with under 100,000 people

People are just not enjoying going to watch games anymore. Tickets are way too expensive and its easier just to watch from home now. Its really sad to see nowadays... There was nothing like going to games as a kid and having the arena sold out and fans going mental

... Ya and they do already have a western conference and eastern conference so there is way less travel. Teams in BC only go to saskatchewan and stuff 1 time a year(and sometimes 0 times a year). They only stick with teams in BC and USA and go into alberta a tiny bit. And same with some of those Alberta/Sask teams... They stick with those teams are come to BC once(sometimes 0 times a year)

I honestly dont know the answer to whats going on.. Like i said its so sad to see.. Hate it!!

 

[Drake744]

With this talk about the WHL I'm taking this opportunity to say that I'm going to the Seattle vs Everett game tomorrow haha

 

[Legionnaire11]

I'll be heading down to Birmingham for the Bulls home opener in the SPHL in a couple of weeks.

 

[Scoresberg]

Yeah, let the kid play somewhere.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

Maybe they shouldn't put teams in towns of 15,000 that isn't a suburb of some larger city. Why exactly are there teams in Swift Current, Owen Sound and Baie-Comeau for example? This may sound harsh but why is it the NHL's responsibility for these tiny, isolated towns to keep their best players an extra year while hurting the player's development just to keep these teams from folding?

Hm, I think there is a "markets" evaluation that trumps pure population for junior hockey, and sometimes teams in the biggest cities have fared worst of all.

But to me, I don't really care about which markets are feasible and which aren't. Whether there are 55 CHL teams or 60 teams, and which cities they are in, that may be a concern to the CHL, but from the NHL perspective I think it is more about pure development. And if you shave the 50 best 18- or 19-year olds out of that league and put them in the AHL, you make the league worse, less challenging for everybody. There is a financial angle from the CHL perspective, but from the NHL side of things, I'd think they just be best off having the top junior-aged players in that junior league, raising the competitive bar for all the other prospects in the league.

 

[token grinder]

I am convinced that this has less to do with the 9 game rule and more to do with the 40 that tolls the contract. He may play 1 out of every 5 games now, then leave fore a few weeks for World Juniors and then ramp up his games played with about 30 to go.

Continuing to play the dumpster fires we do make no sense if we are just going to send him back to junior. I's also be interested to know if we are pressuring his junior club to send him to a better team to play on.

 

[NSH615]

I am convinced that this has less to do with the 9 game rule and more to do with the 40 that tolls the contract. He may play 1 out of every 5 games now, then leave fore a few weeks for World Juniors and then ramp up his games played with about 30 to go.

Continuing to play the dumpster fires we do make no sense if we are just going to send him back to junior. I's also be interested to know if we are pressuring his junior club to send him to a better team to play on.

The bad part of that is we won't need him as bad then as much at that point. We need him BEFORE World Juniors while Ellis is still out. After that, he can go back to juniors for playing time.

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

IMO when in doubt at all, send him back to junior. Get him to work on anything at all they feel he needs to work on and get him playing some damn games. This was a very similar situation last year with NYI prospect Mathew Barzal. Islanders were keeping him around for a long time and he only got into 2 games while being a healthy scratch almost the whole time. Finally he was sent back on Nov. 9th to Seattle. NYI wanted him to improve on his defensive game and faceoffs and keep getting stronger while obviously still play well offensively.... his defensive game and faceoffs improved ALOT and it was a perfect decision sending him back cause he was a main reason for their WHL Championship.

 

[Gh24]

I totally agree with this:

A lot of times a player does just that and isn't sent back until into December. But the teams like to have these guys practice with the NHL roster, and go through training, video, gameday routine etc. In some cases that is more valuable than going back to a poorly run CHL program and continuing bad habits with little direction.

Look at the European model, they play a lot fewer games than NA juniors and many top prospects only play a handful of games but spend a lot of time training. Obviously there's not a one size fits all method, and there are pros and cons to any developmental approach.

Even if he's not playing a lot now, he's learning how to practice and train properly to develop whatever the coaches thinks most urgently needs development. And he's actually practicing! He's watching pros, he's living with pros, he's practicing with pros. He's doing a lot of stuff right now that he can then go and insert into his play if/when he's sent down to juniors. If they send him down, they want to make sure he knows what they want him to do to become a long time NHLer.

I know only what the poster above just told us about Barzal's situation, but to me it sounds like they kept him practicing first before letting him go and develop his skillset in actual games.

 

[Legionnaire11]

I was going to comment on that Barzal post as well. Sounds exactly like they kept him around for a while to learn with the big club and it paid off that he was able to make those improvements when he went back down.

I'm quite okay with the situation.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

I was going to comment on that Barzal post as well. Sounds exactly like they kept him around for a while to learn with the big club and it paid off that he was able to make those improvements when he went back down.

I'm quite okay with the situation.

The part of the situation I'm most disappointed in is actually that... well... he might be our 4th best player on D at the moment. I can see all the other sides of the argument, and if he was 6th or 7th or 8th best, that'd be one thing. I don't know if he can ultimately maintain the status of 4th best (or 5th when Ellis gets back), but I would like to see him get more opportunity to prove it, one way or the other. Which might then open up the debate on whether to send him back or not a little more naturally.

 

[Flgatorguy87]

Don't look now but Girard and Josi practiced as a pair this morning. I'd like to see this before he moves back down.

 

[Armourboy]

I tend to agree that him being around is a good thing whether he plays or not, but with the current situation we could use him playing. If he was basically just good enough to be a 7th man I would agree, you just let him get used to the game and get an understanding of what he needs to work on. Problem is I'm pretty sure he is already better than the mess that has become known as WIBE.

 

[Gajou]

Loan Girard to an European league to play against men? SHL/Liiga/NLA would be better at this point. There are multiple teams that could put him in top2/3 roles.

 

[Armourboy]

Can't. Our only choice is for him to play here or go back to juniors.

 

[Gajou]

Can't. Our only choice is for him to play here or go back to juniors.

So VAN loaning Juolevi to TPS is because he's from Finland or? CBA is confusing when you don't have the time/knowlegde of language.

Though dealing with prospects in general my knowledge is close to 0%

 

[Armourboy]

Yes that's probably why. The NHL has an agreement with the CHL which states any player under 20 I think it is, has to play in the NHL and if not they go back to their junior team. It's a rule to keep teams from taking the top talent and just shoving it in the AHL, thus reducing the quality of the CHL.

 

[Gajou]

Juolevi is 19 and was drafted from the CHL though?

 

[Armourboy]

Did they loan him or did he just go sign a contract with a team over there? There is a difference

 

[Gajou]

Eliteprospects says it's a loan. Also he's already on an ELC.

 

[Armourboy]

He on his first or second year?

 

[Gajou]

He on his first or second year?

Both drafted & signed ELC same year.

 

[Armourboy]

Unless there is something there for overseas players, I'm almost positive our only option with Girard is the CHL.

He did play in the CHL right? Not one of the American developmental league's? That would allow him to go overseas if that is the case.

 

[Roman Yoshi]

We have to keep this kid up. There is no logical reason not to at this point. 3 points in 4 GP. We are 3-1 with him in the lineup.