Flames Draft Watcher said:
For consistency purposes? They put the prospects they think are the best outside of the NHL. I'm not sure what your point is, are you suggesting they'll give at least one spot to each NHL team?
Ward vs. Harding. Just a question but maybe the quality of their linemates might have played into their stats and accomplishments? As for being drafted lower, we all know that doesn't mean anything in the end. Krahn was drafted higher than either of them but you don't see any Calgary fans complaining about that. "Almost" winning a spot is also quite irrelevant.
I don't really see any insanity in this case. Have you watched a lot of both Harding and Ward and take exception because you really think Ward is the better goaltender or are you just defending your prospect because he's your prospect?
I've seen both a fair bit, but obvioulsy i've seen Ward more due to the fact that he's a prospect of the Hurricanes and i've been able to watch him compete against the other goaltenders in our system like Rob Zepp, Patrick DesRochers, Danny Boisclaire, and Kevin Weekes. There were stretches in that time that Cam played better than all of them, even as an 18 year old in camp. He's a calm, relaxed, positional goaltender with a fantastic glovehand and i've seen a lot more out of him that would lead me to believe that he's a legitimate NHL goaltender than i've seen out of Josh Harding. While Josh is a great prospect, there was a reason that Cam Ward was taken in the first round and Harding wasn't.
Red Deer is a much stronger team, yes. They boasted prospects like Jeff Woywitika and Dion Phaneuf in the past few years, but that doesn't tell the whole story. Cam, at times, carried that Red Deer team on his back for stretches with outstanding saves and consistant play. He even led them to the Championship and was named WHL goaltender of the year. He's more accomplished, more decorated, and considerably more ready for NHL action, as I alluded to with my comment about him almost making the team out of camp. I hardly see how that comment is irrelevant due to the fact that a 20 year old goaltender making the team would have been quite the accomplishment considering the depth we have at that position in the minors.
As for my comment about "consistancy purposes", lists like these usually like to include a prospect from every team just to show that they are in fact recognizing the teams exist. Cam would have given TSN and "easy out" if you will. It's just pretty obvious that the TSN crew didn't care to have any Hurricanes prospects because either they have a vendetta against the Hurricanes for knocking out Toronto and Montreal a few years back, or they simply don't cover the Hurricanes enough to know who is doing what. Maybe that is just my bitterness about having all our prospects exempt from the list, though. Homerism tends to get us all at some point. :p
I'd think that Cam Ward would make anybody's short list of prospect goaltenders. In 8 out of 10 occassions, most would prefer Ward. It's just too bad that the two of ten were the ones that made the list.
that's got to be a joke. Anthony Stewart > Mike Komisarek? nope. Looks very heavily influenced by WJC's.
