(Until I saw Pasta this summer. 
)
My two favorite prospects.
The way I see it...
I never thought KOKO would be on the team this year. He's in just his second pro season, and I think the typical development model sees a kid play his first full year in the minors, getting used to the pro life and schedule, the second year they start to dominate and get called up for a cup of coffee to get a taste of what it's going to take to make it at the next level. Over the summer they get bigger and stronger and in their 3rd year they come in ready to knock the door down in camp. At least that's the model for high-end forwards. D take longer, and sometimes the grinder-types take longer too.
So for me, I don't get all the hullabaloo over Koko this year. He's still small and weak. He's not exactly a speed demon. He's got skill, but he doesn't have first line skill (like a Pastrnak). IMO, he's still got lots to learn about playing the pro game and that's what I saw from him when he got called up. 90% of confusion mixed in with 1 or 2 quick, heady plays that left me excited about his future.
I think Spooner, on the other hand, has been mismanaged by Chiarelli/Sweeney. Or maybe Spooner just has a bad attitude, I don't know. But for years, I kept asking why they don't teach him a little wing, develop some versatility in his game so that he won't be road blocked by Krejci, Bergeron and Seguin (now Soderberg). They seem to love Vermette/Soderberg/Peverley types who can do both so it seemed like a natural progression to me, but they never tried it. That always struck me as odd. I know folks for years were telling me "He doesn't like the wing, they're not going to force him to do it," but I always thought that was silly. I thought he'd much rather play the wing in the NHL than center in the minors. But this year, they've (FINALLY) been trying to teach him the wing and it hasn't gone well. Before he got injured, he didn't have a point in 5 games and a -3. He's either sulking or he's uncomfortable or he's frustrated.
It's a tough spot. He's not better than the guys that are here now. He's not a 4th line center, I can understand that. I know some folks want to see him play there but you can't complain about this team's lack of identity out of one side of their mouth, and then clamor for a soft playmaker to center the 4th line out of the other. So where does he play if he can't learn the wing?
My two favorite prospects.
The way I see it...
I never thought KOKO would be on the team this year. He's in just his second pro season, and I think the typical development model sees a kid play his first full year in the minors, getting used to the pro life and schedule, the second year they start to dominate and get called up for a cup of coffee to get a taste of what it's going to take to make it at the next level. Over the summer they get bigger and stronger and in their 3rd year they come in ready to knock the door down in camp. At least that's the model for high-end forwards. D take longer, and sometimes the grinder-types take longer too.
So for me, I don't get all the hullabaloo over Koko this year. He's still small and weak. He's not exactly a speed demon. He's got skill, but he doesn't have first line skill (like a Pastrnak). IMO, he's still got lots to learn about playing the pro game and that's what I saw from him when he got called up. 90% of confusion mixed in with 1 or 2 quick, heady plays that left me excited about his future.
I think Spooner, on the other hand, has been mismanaged by Chiarelli/Sweeney. Or maybe Spooner just has a bad attitude, I don't know. But for years, I kept asking why they don't teach him a little wing, develop some versatility in his game so that he won't be road blocked by Krejci, Bergeron and Seguin (now Soderberg). They seem to love Vermette/Soderberg/Peverley types who can do both so it seemed like a natural progression to me, but they never tried it. That always struck me as odd. I know folks for years were telling me "He doesn't like the wing, they're not going to force him to do it," but I always thought that was silly. I thought he'd much rather play the wing in the NHL than center in the minors. But this year, they've (FINALLY) been trying to teach him the wing and it hasn't gone well. Before he got injured, he didn't have a point in 5 games and a -3. He's either sulking or he's uncomfortable or he's frustrated.
It's a tough spot. He's not better than the guys that are here now. He's not a 4th line center, I can understand that. I know some folks want to see him play there but you can't complain about this team's lack of identity out of one side of their mouth, and then clamor for a soft playmaker to center the 4th line out of the other. So where does he play if he can't learn the wing?
[/B]
We have a winner!!!
And if a player can't or won't do these things Claude won't play him for long or at all. Nor should he.
It isn't that Claude "doesn't like" young players or skill players. He doesn't like young players or skill players who won't do these things. In his system everyone has to be on the same page in terms of execution or it won't work. There is no room for free lancers.
I don't always agree with him either especially with his line choices
And I always get back to this- if a young/skill player is given an opportunity it is then up to him to make the most of it to the point where the coach can't keep him out of the line up. Spooner sure as hell didn't do that during his stint in Boston.
People like to talk about Claude's "binkies"- Kelly, Campbell, etc. I think there are a few people here for whom Spooner & Koko are their "binkies".
