Saskatchewan Minor Hockey Thread II

[hockeykid87]

Another 2001-born defenceman is playing Midget this year. Luke Reid is playing for the Battlefords Stars.

 

[nah68]

Another 2001-born defenceman is playing Midget this year. Luke Reid is playing for the Battlefords Stars.

Holy that'll be even worse!!!! He couldn't handle the offensive core from yorkton bantams last year and now he'll be a contributor in nb? Not likely

 

[nah68]

To me a kid like Reid proved that he could be a "possible" force in the bantam league as senior bantam. Now we will never know. One things for sure he is no wher near the skill set of Ty smith who didn't choose to play midget aaa instead attended delta and dominates. Yes you can get injured playing bantam also, but unlikely the severity would be as great playing midget.

 

[Tigerblood]

Proven wrong

 

[Superbowlfishca]

Development - Every Kid Is Different

Tough call - really there are two recent examples of SK kids who played up in midget AAA as bantams. Alex Fosberg played for Beardys, lit it up, was drafted first overall - he now plays for Victoria in the WHL as a 20 year old. He will dominate this year much like he may have in Bantam. Lets see if it leads to a look by an NHL team.

Braden Oleskyn also played for Beardys and had a great year. As I recall this move did little to help his draft stock though as he was drafted in 3rd round 60th overall. Since then he has been unable to crack a WHL roster and currently will play with the Estevan Bruins in the SJHL. He has a real chance to finish top 10 in scoring this year.

When I talk to hockey people ie coaches and scouts the thing they always say is it is important that a kid show he can dominate in a level of hockey before moving to the next level. It sounds like Korzac did that in Yorkton last year so probably no issue in moving up. Same for the Barlage kid and both have good size so that will help if they jump to midget. As a previous poster said both will be drafted high regardless because they have proven to be good hockey players. There is no one that can predict which of these two will become the best WHLer or Pro. Its a crap shoot.

Midget AAA and WHL hockey has a way of separating skilled players. In my opinion these levels of hockey separate players because hockey becomes a game of smarts and skating. These two playing midget AAA would give me as a scout more insight into how these players will be able to handle the speed of the game which is super important if a player is going to play at the WHL level. So if they prove they can do this it will help their overall draft stock. Hence the reason most argue that moving the draft up an age level to midget is the way to go.

Below are some of the higher end kids picked AFTER Alex who all played bantam. Did triple aaa stunt Alex Forsberg development. There are way too many variables involved?? But interesting too look back and the best way to analyze is to say the bantam draft is a crap shoot. Drafts will always be a crap shoot but moving up the draft age I think will make it less of a crap shoot for the Dub teams.

Prince George Cougars Prince George Cougars Alex Forsberg C Waldheim Sask. 5.10 170 Beardy's 2015-09-07
2 Edmonton Oil Kings Edmonton Oil Kings Curtis Lazar C Vernon, B.C. 5.10 156 POE T1 - T1 2015-09-07
3 Lethbridge Hurricanes Lethbridge Hurricanes Johnathon Merkley C Calgary, Alta. 5.11 162 Bisons 2015-09-07
5 Regina Pats Regina Pats Morgan Klimchuk C Calgary, Alta. 5.10 155 Bisons 2015-09-07
6 Prince Albert Raiders Prince Albert Raiders Joshua Morrissey LD Calgary, Alta. 5.11 165 Royal Gold 2015-09-07
11 Swift Current Broncos Swift Current Broncos Dillon Heatherington LD Calgary, Alta. 5.11 150 Bronks 2015-09-07
13 Tri-City Americans Vancouver Giants Eric Comrie G Edmonton, Alta. 5.10 165 Selects Bantam 2015-09-07
15 Kootenay Ice Kootenay Ice Sam Reinhart C Hollyburn, B.C. 5.09 140 Hollyburn A1-T1 2015-09-07
16 Portland Winterhawks Portland Winterhawks Nicolas Petan C Delta, B.C. 5.06 133 NSWC A1-T1 2015-09-07
17 Spokane Chiefs Spokane Chiefs Tyler King-Cunningham LD Pilot Butte, Sask. 6.00 180 NDBantam 2015-09-07
20 Saskatoon Blades Saskatoon Blades Tim McGauley Wilcox, Sask. 5.10.5 150 Lum/Beth 2015-09-07

 

[Superbowlfishca]

SHA Picks

I agree with NAH. They did a good job last year in picking the team. No glaring mistakes on the top end kids. We could bicker about two or three on the bottom end and maybe on Bzdel but Bzdel was left off for reasons other than his hockey ability which have been discussed here. He is a hell of a hockey player and had a good year in midget AAA when I saw him play.
When I look at the SK kids that made top 100 U17 it looks like their picks where based more on WHL draft pick than on winter games performance.
My only comment on the forwards would be that Curtis Lechysen separated himself from all SK forwards both from his play in Midget AAA, and by his performance at SK winter games. No other kid was close and so I believe he will be the only Sk kid to make the three roster teams for the tournament.
I have a much better handle on the DMen. In my opinion all played exceptionally well at the games. This was a strength on the team as was goaltending and it shows in the scores of the games. All low scoring and team was competitive against all teams except for the eventual gold medal game teams of Alberta and Ontario which had exceptional forward speed and power plays which our team could not match up to.
All have very different attributes and strength and weaknesses to their games. Kustra real good skater, real good shot, excellent PP power play QB but not mistake free. Tough, plays with an edge, but was very undisciplined at games and still has not figured out the line. Given the physicality of WHL I think the game is conducive to his style and the line will expand but he still needs to figure this out because coaches will not put up with stupid penalties time and time again.
Pachal started as maybe 5-6 dman at start of games but gravitated to the 1 2 position as games wore on. Very good skater and controls back end extremely well. Very good first passer of puck out of zone and makes smart decisions with the puck. Good puck rusher but not great in the offensive zone on the rush. Struggles stickhandling in space and finding open men on rush and on PP.Not a great shot.
Prefontaine. Great stay at home mistake free dman. Great first passer and stretch passer of the puck. Loses very few one on one puck battles. Uses long reach very well. Probably the least mobile of all the dmen. Plays a smart simple game.
Cass. Very good fluid /mobile skater. Pachal and him had great chemistry during the games. Very smart backend puck moving dman. Very hard worker in the corners.
Markavich. Pleasantly surprised with his skill. Not a great skater but makes up with it with high compete level. Very good shot. Tough as nails in corner. Was very good at spotting openings and then rushing the puck. Very good hockey sense to do this.
Hobson. May possess the best overall skill in all levels of the game of hockey. Best and most accurate shot on the team. High intensity much like Kustra but far better dicipline. Plays with an edge. Very good in corners and puck battles. Must get better at controlling back end and in playing mistake free hockey however.

So all this being said I do not think any of the dmen separated themselves from each other. Kustra was a good pick as he definitely has all the tools necessary to be an elite player. My bet is all these dmen play at the WHL level. It will be fun top watch how they all develop going forward.

As for the forwards there are maybe three or four of the group that play at the dub level. My opinion most are a long way from being ready for dub.

 

[Superbowlfishca]

2000 SHA Team

Just quick note on this team. It will perform much better than 1999 team because there
is way more high end offensive talent in this group. They will be able to score goals.
The d will be solid but maybe not quite as good as last years group.
Goaltending will be as good as last years in my opinion.

 

[ontheside]

Tough call - really there are two recent examples of SK kids who played up in midget AAA as bantams. Jesse Fosberg played for Beardys, lit it up, was drafted first overall - he now plays for Victoria in the WHL as a 20 year old. He will dominate this year much like he may have in Bantam. Lets see if it leads to a look by an NHL team.

Braden Oleskyn also played for Beardys and had a great year. As I recall this move did little to help his draft stock though as he was drafted in 3rd round 60th overall. Since then he has been unable to crack a WHL roster and currently will play with the Estevan Bruins in the SJHL. He has a real chance to finish top 10 in scoring this year.

When I talk to hockey people ie coaches and scouts the thing they always say is it is important that a kid show he can dominate in a level of hockey before moving to the next level. It sounds like Korzac did that in Yorkton last year so probably no issue in moving up. Same for the Barlage kid and both have good size so that will help if they jump to midget. As a previous poster said both will be drafted high regardless because they have proven to be good hockey players. There is no one that can predict which of these two will become the best WHLer or Pro. Its a crap shoot.

Midget AAA and WHL hockey has a way of separating skilled players. In my opinion these levels of hockey separate players because hockey becomes a game of smarts and skating. These two playing midget AAA would give me as a scout more insight into how these players will be able to handle the speed of the game which is super important if a player is going to play at the WHL level. So if they prove they can do this it will help their overall draft stock. Hence the reason most argue that moving the draft up an age level to midget is the way to go.

Below are some of the higher end kids picked ahead of Jesse who all played bantam. Did triple aaa stunt Jessse Forsberg development. There are way too many variables involved?? But interesting too look back and the best way to analyze is to say the bantam draft is a crap shoot. Drafts will always be a crap shoot but moving up the draft age I think will make it less of a crap shoot for the Dub teams.

Prince George Cougars Prince George Cougars Alex Forsberg C Waldheim Sask. 5.10 170 Beardy's 2015-09-07
2 Edmonton Oil Kings Edmonton Oil Kings Curtis Lazar C Vernon, B.C. 5.10 156 POE T1 - T1 2015-09-07
3 Lethbridge Hurricanes Lethbridge Hurricanes Johnathon Merkley C Calgary, Alta. 5.11 162 Bisons 2015-09-07
5 Regina Pats Regina Pats Morgan Klimchuk C Calgary, Alta. 5.10 155 Bisons 2015-09-07
6 Prince Albert Raiders Prince Albert Raiders Joshua Morrissey LD Calgary, Alta. 5.11 165 Royal Gold 2015-09-07
11 Swift Current Broncos Swift Current Broncos Dillon Heatherington LD Calgary, Alta. 5.11 150 Bronks 2015-09-07
13 Tri-City Americans Vancouver Giants Eric Comrie G Edmonton, Alta. 5.10 165 Selects Bantam 2015-09-07
15 Kootenay Ice Kootenay Ice Sam Reinhart C Hollyburn, B.C. 5.09 140 Hollyburn A1-T1 2015-09-07
16 Portland Winterhawks Portland Winterhawks Nicolas Petan C Delta, B.C. 5.06 133 NSWC A1-T1 2015-09-07
17 Spokane Chiefs Spokane Chiefs Tyler King-Cunningham LD Pilot Butte, Sask. 6.00 180 NDBantam 2015-09-07
20 Saskatoon Blades Saskatoon Blades Tim McGauley Wilcox, Sask. 5.10.5 150 Lum/Beth 2015-09-07

I am having a little trouble following your post.

Jesse Forsberg is Alex's older brother.

Alex was drafted 1st overall after playing Midget AAA as a Bantam. Alex wasn't the best Forward available in the WHL draft but his older brother Jesse was already in PG, and they knew he would report.

Best forward in the draft available was Curtis Lazar but would not report to PG.

In the WHL draft many picks are based on whether a kid will or won't report to a team. Take Nolan Patrick in Brandon, was told he would not report to Regina, hence reason Regina passed on him to take Steele.

The kids you listed were taken "after" Alex.

 

[Superbowlfishca]

Jesse MEant Alex

Sorry meant ALex Forsberg Mixed them up- Knew they were brothers. And I agree there are many factors that enter into the position kids get drafted.

 

[lefthook]

so who is the team to beat this year ?

 

[northernwanderer]

so who is the team to beat this year ?

Could see a provincial final rematch in my opinion. Both teams lost their top defenceman, and while Korczak is ranked higher and much more ready for AAA the loss of luke reid may hurt SV more. Fair drop off from Reid to the rest who were in camp. Saskatoon with 4 teams will be much tougher and PA should contend as well. Humboldt will be fun to watch with Barlage and Zimmerman and will pose the biggest threat in the north offensively making them very tough. The south, I imagine Balgonie will do well and I could Weyburn having success as well. Just both teams lost players to Notre Dame which makes it tough

 

[nah68]

Could see a provincial final rematch in my opinion. Both teams lost their top defenceman, and while Korczak is ranked higher and much more ready for AAA the loss of luke reid may hurt SV more. Fair drop off from Reid to the rest who were in camp. Saskatoon with 4 teams will be much tougher and PA should contend as well. Humboldt will be fun to watch with Barlage and Zimmerman and will pose the biggest threat in the north offensively making them very tough. The south, I imagine Balgonie will do well and I could Weyburn having success as well. Just both teams lost players to Notre Dame which makes it tough

Yes I think you are right, humboldt in my opinion will be the team to beat other than sv who probably will end up being first, but will need to prove they can handle the big guys

 

[nah68]

Another topic for me is how many 2001 kids played exhibition games with aaa midget teams? Every time I looked there was a 01 kid or kids in the line up. Was wondering if parents thought this was helping there kids get into the organizations lineups? Or was it the teams way if putting there claws into that kid. Either way this was the worst I ever saw for underage kids playing xgames with aaa clubs. Furthermore there was hardly any that did anything so spectacular to solidify themselves for next year. Barlage was the only 01 that did anything and he's going back to bantam I think....so why put him into a midget game? Go to your bantam teams, make a difference there instead of chasing around the aaa midget thing. There's no doubt that most of these kids were not ready at all. In one instance with a kid from sv who played with contacts.....he may have to spend all season proving he isn't scared, cause he proved he was petrified at that level.

 

[lefthook]

Another topic for me is how many 2001 kids played exhibition games with aaa midget teams? Every time I looked there was a 01 kid or kids in the line up. Was wondering if parents thought this was helping there kids get into the organizations lineups? Or was it the teams way if putting there claws into that kid. Either way this was the worst I ever saw for underage kids playing xgames with aaa clubs. Furthermore there was hardly any that did anything so spectacular to solidify themselves for next year. Barlage was the only 01 that did anything and he's going back to bantam I think....so why put him into a midget game? Go to your bantam teams, make a difference there instead of chasing around the aaa midget thing. There's no doubt that most of these kids were not ready at all. In one instance with a kid from sv who played with contacts.....he may have to spend all season proving he isn't scared, cause he proved he was petrified at that level.

Same old thing of parents thinking the kids look better and will be talked about if they play at an older level , cant just blame parents as the coaches need to give there heads a shake !

 

[hockeykid87]

Barlage with 20 points in three games now. He really should be in Midget.

 

[lefthook]

Barlage with 20 points in three games now. He really should be in Midget.

Its called padding stats , played melville and ran up the score 23-1. Obvious what they are doing playing a game like that and still playing him every second shift. Great coaching

 

[nah68]

Its called padding stats , played melville and ran up the score 23-1. Obvious what they are doing playing a game like that and still playing him every second shift. Great coaching

Just making sure he get picked top 3 in draft. Pretty sad how weak this league is. Will need to reduce teams to get back to top end talent playing against each other.

 

[northernwanderer]

There is no question he is a great talent, but yes, Melville is incredibly weak from what I hear. If they were double shifting Barlage and Zimmerman to run up the score, shame on Humboldt and their coaching staff. That is unacceptable at any level, especially this age. I am extremely excited for this weekend as SV visits Humboldt. should be a great game, and a good start to what could be plenty of meetings this year.

 

[habsrule4eva3089]

Don't know where to put this, but saw that there's a 2003 born player playing in the ambhl, who's amongst the top 10 in scoring.

Zachary Stringer, anyone know anything of him?

He supposedly finished 2nd in peewee scoring as a first year also last year.

 

[nah68]

Don't know where to put this, but saw that there's a 2003 born player playing in the ambhl, who's amongst the top 10 in scoring.

Zachary Stringer, anyone know anything of him?

He supposedly finished 2nd in peewee scoring as a first year also last year.

So second year pewee playing bantam? Not that big of a deal it could happen, playing 1st year midget when your a bantam way bigger step.

 

[nah68]

Just maybe rumour but is sv being split into 2 teams?

 

[Northwestcott]

Just maybe rumour but is sv being split into 2 teams?

SHA put together a committee to study all the AA programs in the province and that is one of the recommendations that they are taking to the fall zone meetings.

 

[Fonzerelli]

To me a kid like Reid proved that he could be a "possible" force in the bantam league as senior bantam. Now we will never know. One things for sure he is no wher near the skill set of Ty smith who didn't choose to play midget aaa instead attended delta and dominates. Yes you can get injured playing bantam also, but unlikely the severity would be as great playing midget.

Well, Beardy's got us in the rematch but Luke Reid doesn't look out of place at all. He is small for sure, but he is smart, skates well, and has the skill to compete well with the older kids.

 

[lefthook]

Well, Beardy's got us in the rematch but Luke Reid doesn't look out of place at all. He is small for sure, but he is smart, skates well, and has the skill to compete well with the older kids.

Yes he is a good skater and has good skill but no he does not fit in , give him a chance to mature and he will be strong but pushing him up like this could backfire ? wait and see i guess

 

[Fonzerelli]

Reid looks like Joe Hicketts out there