Saskatchewan Minor Hockey Thread II

nah68

Registered User
Sep 13, 2012
332
0
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.

Didn't give the puck away cause of some fear in d zone?
 

ontheside

Registered User
May 15, 2009
6
0
Hockey Regina Doesn't Stack Up at U16's

Calgary performance was a prime example of sometimes the perceived "best kids" cannot compete when they have never had the experience of winning.

Talent alone does not win hockey games, especially when bred in an environment of losing.

The coach of the current Pat C's team should make it a point of taking the old Pat C's coach out for numerous lunches as he saw to it that the Pat C players were favored in every aspect at the U16's. I am not sure the reason for the show casing but it obviously didn't quite work out the way it was supposed to, or did it?

Being the best of the worst is that promoting kids or hurting them?

I am assuming the U16 head coach and his assistants never had much to do with short tourney preparation as their choices for line combinations and ice time disparity showed a couple things.

1) Their coaching should leave those that watched the tournament second guessing their ability to coach.
2) Relying on kids that have never been involved with winning doesn't usually equate to increasing your odds of winning.

You will hear all the kids say it was a great experience to be involved with and I am sure it was from the apparel side of the equation but why take 4 lines and play 2?

If 3 players consistently get 30 mins of ice a game that doesn't leave a lot of ice time to split amongst the others.

You limit the ice of probably the best D on Sask (Bulych) and play 2 D ahead of him that don't equal his ability combined.

2 HRI kids as C and A, really, they have collectively lead their past teams to a combined 0 league championships and 0 provincial titles. Excellent choice.

SHA again has fumbled this program for the umpteenth time.

Complete definition of insanity.
 

Superbowlfishca

Registered User
Aug 20, 2012
205
0
U16 Disappointment 2000s

That is tough to hear. I watched a couple of the games and to be truthful I was disappointed myself. I did not see the BC blowout in the bronze medal game.
To be fair this problem is less about a coaching problem and more about a talent development problem in SK. MB has jumped us in the last few years in terms of player development.
In the games I watched it was easy to determine two things. First we were slower than any of the other teams. Second the goaltending did not measure up. Alm had a tough tournament and Davidson was average at best. Shots on goal and game play in games i watched where decently even but i expected a bit more offense from the high end offensive talent on this team. In even shots on goal I would have thought we could win those games with some high end scoring.

One coaching move I did find puzzleing was using Cole Fonstad on the point through power plays. Argueably the best offensive player to come out of Sk in a long time and he they hang him out to dry high on the pp in position he has never played before. The kid is a center man and needed to be the go to guy on the bottom end because his creativity down there is off the charts. Just sayin but people put too much blaim in coaching on a regular basis. At the end of the day talent wins championships.
 

ontheside

Registered User
May 15, 2009
6
0
Well not to beleaguer the coaching but I think you confirmed my argument.

Playing Fonstad on the point on PP, not playing him with other Top 6 Forwards in the tournament, and not hardly using him at all would indicate that the coaching staff did not know their players OR their mandate was to play certain kids.

Talent and skill can be debated as well. Also coachability, being a team player etc..

I know it was a short term tournament but again the coaching staff was comprised of guys that do not know the kids. Then they proceed to go off of recommendations of others. And hence another poor performance. So maybe it is not the coaches fault just the SHA HP system, which is a bit of an oxymoron, ran by a couple:)
 

Tigerblood

Registered User
Mar 16, 2015
13
0
I always come to defend the netminders. Superbowlfish, #1 the boys were a touch slower but should have been coached to play a little tougher, Slow the other teams down. The more physical they played the better they were, it just wasn't consistent enough. Alm unfortunately had a couple rough starts and Davidson didn't "steal" any games. That said, after the round robin, Davidson had the most minutes played and sat second in stats only behind Alberta's horse. Sask also had the number one scorer in Focht so it may appear more of a depth issue and possibly some missed opportunities with very good players cut from the team that left many with questions. So maybe you "watching" isn't bad but the stats don't lie. Sask lost every RR game by 1 goal and gave every team a run, no blow outs and no shutouts. The wheels did fall off on the bronze and that was too bad to see.
 

nah68

Registered User
Sep 13, 2012
332
0
Superbowlfish
I wouldn't worry too much on what saskatoon is doing to develop there aaa programs. From that riverking team once again 4 maybe 5 players will help there saskatoon aaa club. If you get outside the borders of saskatoon, once again you'll see that the most successful midget teams aren't the contacts or the blazers. Both clubs have there quirks that include taking players that shouldn't play at that level, and cutting those who are successful with other clubs. Why???? Maybe someone will actually give some logical insight into that question. Like I said before, we will see how these kids perform in the aaa league, even though we're not allowed to gauge them on next years performance.(according to Dickie). So my guess would be we should see the likes of bankowski, Antoniadis, ong, shewchuk, chartier, and bumphrey in the top 20 scoring. Let's wait and see.

Thought I would bring back a earlier quote and see how close my statement was on the performance of the riverkings. Well right now the contacts are 9th and the blazers are 11th, both teams can't score, even though they have the likes of the top scorers from last years allstar team. Wonder why that is? The claim from most was which ever team got the best riverkings would be the most successful. Really have a hard time believing that from where these teams sit in the standings.
 

SaskRinkRat

Registered User
Apr 1, 2010
502
0
Thought I would bring back a earlier quote and see how close my statement was on the performance of the riverkings. Well right now the contacts are 9th and the blazers are 11th, both teams can't score, even though they have the likes of the top scorers from last years allstar team. Wonder why that is? The claim from most was which ever team got the best riverkings would be the most successful. Really have a hard time believing that from where these teams sit in the standings.

I think before drawing any conclusions you have to take a step back and ask what you would expect from a Riverkings player in his 16 year old year at AAA. In the quote you've brought back to life, you suggest that only 4 or 5 of those players would help their AAA club this year. So what determines whether a player is "helping" or not?
 

Superbowlfishca

Registered User
Aug 20, 2012
205
0
Riverkings 15 Year Old team

Question is Sktn running this 15 year old program again??
Im a little surprised that Sktn is struggling as bad this year in Midget AAA. I have always liked the kids they have had in the 99 age group. Maybe these teams are a year away.What happened to goaltender Ty Morin. I saw him in a WHL training camp this year and hew was fantastic. Cant believe he could not fit in to a AAA program in Sktn.
 

nah68

Registered User
Sep 13, 2012
332
0
I think before drawing any conclusions you have to take a step back and ask what you would expect from a Riverkings player in his 16 year old year at AAA. In the quote you've brought back to life, you suggest that only 4 or 5 of those players would help their AAA club this year. So what determines whether a player is "helping" or not?

Ya probably 4 players helping there aaa teams, there's 11 playing between the 2 teams.
 

SaskRinkRat

Registered User
Apr 1, 2010
502
0
Ya probably 4 players helping there aaa teams, there's 11 playing between the 2 teams.

I don't think you answered my question. What constitutes 'helping'? Are not all 11 helping? I think there might be others playing outside Saskatoon now also...
 

nah68

Registered User
Sep 13, 2012
332
0
I don't think you answered my question. What constitutes 'helping'? Are not all 11 helping? I think there might be others playing outside Saskatoon now also...

You may wanna go watch a game and answer that question for yourself. Pretty easy to tell who can basically compete.......that alone would help those teams.
 

SaskRinkRat

Registered User
Apr 1, 2010
502
0
You may wanna go watch a game and answer that question for yourself. Pretty easy to tell who can basically compete.......that alone would help those teams.

I'm just trying to understand YOUR definition of "helping". I'm not trying to start an argument.

You could argue that "helping" a team means playing a regular shift on the team, in which case there are way more than 4 of last year's Riverkings helping their teams.

I'm just trying to understand your standards, and understand what you would reasonably expect to be the outcome of the Riverkings program each year.
 

nah68

Registered User
Sep 13, 2012
332
0
I'm just trying to understand YOUR definition of "helping". I'm not trying to start an argument.

You could argue that "helping" a team means playing a regular shift on the team, in which case there are way more than 4 of last year's Riverkings helping their teams.

I'm just trying to understand your standards, and understand what you would reasonably expect to be the outcome of the Riverkings program each year.

I didn't cast the mould for those kids success in the midget aaa league. That was done by those who thought that they were going to walk into the league and turn it over because of there dominance of the aa league.
 

SaskRinkRat

Registered User
Apr 1, 2010
502
0
I didn't cast the mould for those kids success in the midget aaa league. That was done by those who thought that they were going to walk into the league and turn it over because of there dominance of the aa league.

You're starting to talk nonsense again, nah. You're implying that most have not been 'successful' or 'helpful' at the AAA level, but you won't even explain what you mean by those concepts.

What is 'success' at AAA?

What is 'being helpful' to their team(s)?
 

nah68

Registered User
Sep 13, 2012
332
0


You're starting to talk nonsense again, nah. You're implying that most have not been 'successful' or 'helpful' at the AAA level, but you won't even explain what you mean by those concepts.

What is 'success' at AAA?

What is 'being helpful' to their team(s)?


Do you really want my honest opinion? I really don't think you'd be able to accept what I have to say.
 

SaskRinkRat

Registered User
Apr 1, 2010
502
0
Do you really want my honest opinion? I really don't think you'd be able to accept what I have to say.
How offensive can your opinion possibly be? I'm not asking you to disparage any individuals. All I'm wondering is what you expect a Riverkings player to accomplish the following year in AAA? Like, if the program works how it's supposed to, what would an individual player accomplish the next year, in your eyes?

Would he need to score 30 goals? 50 points? Play every game? Play a regular shift? What? How are you deciding that all but four players are not helping their team?
 

nah68

Registered User
Sep 13, 2012
332
0
Success at aaa is being able to help your team be successful. If you can't compete you sure as heck will not be able to help or be successful.
 

SaskRinkRat

Registered User
Apr 1, 2010
502
0
What's that have to do with what were talking about?

It's hard to form an opinion on your analysis if it's not even clear how you're drawing your conclusions. You're saying guys don't "compete" and that they don't "help" their team, but you're not saying how you decide that.

I'm not even saying you're wrong.

I would just question your claim that they don't "help" their teams if they've played something like 160 combined midget AAA games this year. They must be helping their team in some way?
 

nah68

Registered User
Sep 13, 2012
332
0
It's hard to form an opinion on your analysis if it's not even clear how you're drawing your conclusions. You're saying guys don't "compete" and that they don't "help" their team, but you're not saying how you decide that.

I'm not even saying you're wrong.

I would just question your claim that they don't "help" their teams if they've played something like 160 combined midget AAA games this year. They must be helping their team in some way?

I don't know how you don't understand? I go to games, grab a program, watch, and make a assessment on the players and the team there playing for.

If you can't compete at the level your playing you are not.....I repeat not helping your team. That's my opinion, and that's why the contacts and blazer are where they are in the standings.
 

SaskRinkRat

Registered User
Apr 1, 2010
502
0
I don't know how you don't understand? I go to games, grab a program, watch, and make a assessment on the players and the team there playing for.

If you can't compete at the level your playing you are not.....I repeat not helping your team. That's my opinion, and that's why the contacts and blazer are where they are in the standings.

What do you see them do on the ice that tells you they "can't compete" and that they "don't help their team"?
 

nah68

Registered User
Sep 13, 2012
332
0
What do you see them do on the ice that tells you they "can't compete" and that they "don't help their team"?

How about not keeping up with pace, or physically not strong enough, let alone playing fearful, not fearless. I can see that your opinion is stationary, and so is mine. You have your saskatoon glasses on pretty tight and won't bother to look beyond. A reminder to you, look at the players from your city that are doing well with other teams, some of which were told to leave because they weren't good enough. That alone should raise some questions!
 
Last edited:

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Ad

-->