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Tyler Benson worthy of exceptional status?

mooseisloose11

mooseisloose11

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Jul 6, 2007
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Rita MacNeil's roll
I dont have kids, coached against Tyler, I played 4 yrs of junior and 2 yrs college hockey:

My 2cents...

He is a great kid from what I hear with boat loads of skill but in my opinion- he isnt ready to make that big of a jump. There have been several 1st overall picks who I think could have made the jump- most recently Barzel (wont sign-wants to get moved). Anyways, yes the numbers are unreal and he works his arse off- but he doesnt have the skating (YET) to excel at the W level. Yes hes fast for a big man but as the gap closes and he starts playing with men, its going to get tough. He needs to play Midget and keep his confidence high, I think what Estephan has done in Midget AAA at 15 ( 21-24=45 in 31 GP) is more impressive. People and the media are focusing too much on the points, watch MacKinnon, McDavid, Drouin,Barzel, Klague, Steel and Seth Jones skate. They have a beutiful effortless stride- that is "pro-like". Once Benson gets his skating to that level- he'll be fine. Also, the 98s are a deep group- two other kids have just as many goals or close to Benson, there are some huge numbers being pu up by a hand full of players. Im not saying the league is weak but he also has a top 5-10 pick on D and a top 3 goalie in net. It will be fun to watch this all play out ove rthe next few years. If im a W team and I want a D 1st overall- its Klague, if its a forward I'd consider Steel.
 

Alberta tough

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Sep 3, 2008
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Still on top!
mooseisloose11 said:
I dont have kids, coached against Tyler, I played 4 yrs of junior and 2 yrs college hockey:

My 2cents...

He is a great kid from what I hear with boat loads of skill but in my opinion- he isnt ready to make that big of a jump. There have been several 1st overall picks who I think could have made the jump- most recently Barzel (wont sign-wants to get moved). Anyways, yes the numbers are unreal and he works his arse off- but he doesnt have the skating (YET) to excel at the W level. Yes hes fast for a big man but as the gap closes and he starts playing with men, its going to get tough. He needs to play Midget and keep his confidence high, I think what Estephan has done in Midget AAA at 15 ( 21-24=45 in 31 GP) is more impressive. People and the media are focusing too much on the points, watch MacKinnon, McDavid, Drouin,Barzel, Klague, Steel and Seth Jones skate. They have a beutiful effortless stride- that ro-like". Once Benson gets his skating to that level- he'll be fine. Also, the 98s are a deep group- two other kids have just as many goals or close to Benson, there are some huge numbers being pu up by a hand full of players. Im not saying the league is weak but he also has a top 5-10 pick on D and a top 3 goalie in net. It will be fun to watch this all play out ove rthe next few years. If im a W team and I want a D 1st overall- its Klague, if its a forward I'd consider Steel.
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I respect you opinion but disagree with some of it. Bensons skating is one of his strongest assets although he does go down from time to time which is normal given his age. His playmaking and IQ are through the roof (Clague is close though). You point out others have similar goal totals, that is fine but Benson's game is so much more then scoring goals. Benson is that very rare talent that is one step ahead of everyone else (although that can sometimes lead to giveaways when teamates are not expecting passes).His track record speaks for itself.
Westerns mvp (as a first year Bantam)
Med Hat mvp
John Reid mvp
I do not know if playing in the Dub next year is the best for his development thou, that is a huge jump and Benson has things to work on.
I heard a rumor Barzal tryed getting ES to playing in the BCHL this year and was denied so it might be hard for Benson as I see the two very close in skills. Like you said it will be fun to see how this plays out over the years.:)
 
mooseisloose11

mooseisloose11

Registered User
Jul 6, 2007
43
0
Rita MacNeil's roll
Alberta tough said:
I respect you opinion but disagree with some of it. Bensons skating is one of his strongest assets although he does go down from time to time which is normal given his age. His playmaking and IQ are through the roof (Clague is close though). You point out others have similar goal totals, that is fine but Benson's game is so much more then scoring goals. Benson is that very rare talent that is one step ahead of everyone else (although that can sometimes lead to giveaways when teamates are not expecting passes).His track record speaks for itself.
Westerns mvp (as a first year Bantam)
Med Hat mvp
John Reid mvp
I do not know if playing in the Dub next year is the best for his development thou, that is a huge jump and Benson has things to work on.
I heard a rumor Barzal tryed getting ES to playing in the BCHL this year and was denied so it might be hard for Benson as I see the two very close in skills. Like you said it will be fun to see how this plays out over the years.:)
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Thats a fair comment and his track record is impressive- I just dont see the skating like you do. I'm more concerned about how far the media is taking this (Stauffer)- but I guess there always has to be the next one and in Western Canada and Benson is it. I played with and against guys who at 14 skipped BOTH years of Bantam and went to Midget AAA from pee-wee and another who played for the National Team as a 15year old. They were both very good dub players, but neither of them played one game in the NHL. Thats my issue- people take such a small sample size and blow it up. I hope Bensons character can handle the pressure. Benson is one or two steps ahead for sure- but I'd say Steels hockey IQ might be the highest of the AB 98s, that Hannoun kid from NSWC is prob up there as well- just based on the John Reid tourn. games i watched. FWIW I seen a undrafted kid play in the dub at 16, get drafted 2nd round and hammer out a 10 yr NHL career. The WHL draft is a crap shoot outside of the first 3 rounds in my opinion. Hockey gets real when you sign a pro contract, then you have to earn a spot- which is prob the hardest and biggest jump there is in the game. Looking back on Bantams will seem like nothing- but it is fun to see young/special talents.
 
krazy kanuck

krazy kanuck

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Dec 24, 2008
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Alberta
Royal Canuck said:
WHL isn't like the OHL or the Q, you have to be REALLY good to get exceptional status from the Dub.
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Here's the thing, you have to be really good to get exceptional status regardless. I used to watch a lot of minor midget AAA in Ontario (just moved to Alberta this past summer) and have watched some Bantam AAA here. Benson really protects the puck well, is strong on his skates, has a quick release and has great vision. It's hard to compare against Ekblad, McDavid and Tavares. First, those guys were all playing a year up, and were still the best players in their leagues. Secondly, it seems as though the GTHL and the ETA have a higher average skill level than the leagues out here. I think that is just a function of much larger populations in the East. Don't get me wrong, he has incredible skills, but I'm not sure he's there with those three.
 

AlbertaHockey20

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Feb 25, 2012
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krazy kanuck said:
Here's the thing, you have to be really good to get exceptional status regardless. I used to watch a lot of minor midget AAA in Ontario (just moved to Alberta this past summer) and have watched some Bantam AAA here. Benson really protects the puck well, is strong on his skates, has a quick release and has great vision. It's hard to compare against Ekblad, McDavid and Tavares. First, those guys were all playing a year up, and were still the best players in their leagues. Secondly, it seems as though the GTHL and the ETA have a higher average skill level than the leagues out here. I think that is just a function of much larger populations in the East. Don't get me wrong, he has incredible skills, but I'm not sure he's there with those three.
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I agree that Benson is not as good as Ekblad, McDavid or Tavares. I believe that the GTHL some more skill for several reasons.

1) Our Minor Midget AAA leagues are diluted by having the top end 15 year olds playing Major Midget AAA and some of the other quality 15 year olds in Major Midget AA. If the WHL were to switch to a 15 year old draft, which I believe they should you would probably see the quality rise. However, this could possibly be the death of Alberta's very strong Midget AAA league as players leave after Minor Midget like they do in Ontario where the Midget AAA is not comparable to the Western leagues.
2) You are seeing a lower percentage of the players in the GTHL. It is much harder to make those teams for a combination of the above point and the population base per team. Ultimately when East plays West in the prospects game like last year it will be very close every year.
 
timekeep

timekeep

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Apr 28, 2010
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AlbertaHockey20 said:
I agree that Benson is not as good as Ekblad, McDavid or Tavares. I believe that the GTHL some more skill for several reasons.

1) Our Minor Midget AAA leagues are diluted by having the top end 15 year olds playing Major Midget AAA and some of the other quality 15 year olds in Major Midget AA. If the WHL were to switch to a 15 year old draft, which I believe they should you would probably see the quality rise. However, this could possibly be the death of Alberta's very strong Midget AAA league as players leave after Minor Midget like they do in Ontario where the Midget AAA is not comparable to the Western leagues.
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I agree that they should hold back the bantam draft a year and make it 15 too. I don't think that it will affect the level of play of Major Midget though as they are seeing lots of players leave earlier than in the past. With 22 WHL and 16 AJHL teams, plus BC and SK junior, there are allot of options for players to leave Midget early for. The first reason to leave is cost, and the all the other reasons are related to taking the next step in moving up the hockey ladders. But the savings on a family is over $6K, probably more in some cases.
 

AlbertaHockey20

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Feb 25, 2012
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The real problem in Ontario is the multitude of Junior A and Junior B teams. In Alberta Junior B is treated much differently and very few underage players play. BC seems to have a similar problem to Ontario as their Midget AAA gets depleted by Junior B quite frequently. In Alberta Midget AAA is still viewed as important in the developmental path and if you pull some of the highest end players (ie. those that are good enough to play AAA as a 15 year old) you may see the perspective erode.

That said I might just be being alarmist because I am such a minor hockey nut.
 
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timekeep

timekeep

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Apr 28, 2010
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AlbertaHockey20 said:
The real problem in Ontario is the multitude of Junior A and Junior B teams. In Alberta Junior B is treated much differently and very few underage players play. BC seems to have a similar problem to Ontario as their Midget AAA gets depleted by Junior B quite frequently. In Alberta Midget AAA is still viewed as important in the developmental path and if you pull some of the highest end players (ie. those that are good enough to play AAA as a 15 year old) you may see the perspective erode.

That said I might just be being alarmist because I such a minor hockey nut.
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Haven't seen any 15 year olds go to AJHL, but more 16 year olds and definitely more 17 years the last few years. The AJHL is getting younger/weaker every year.
 

AlbertaHockey20

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Feb 25, 2012
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timekeep said:
Haven't seen any 15 year olds go to AJHL, but more 16 year olds and definitely more 17 years the last few years. The AJHL is getting younger/weaker every year.
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Sorry, for the confusion I did not mean that 15 years olds were going to the AJHL. I am trying to say that a 15 year old draft means all 15 years olds would play Minor Midget AAA like in Ontario. After they are drafted they can go where they want and because of the timing it could dilute the Midget AAA league as more players jump into Junior B or Junior A. Its a worst case scenario.
 
timekeep

timekeep

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Apr 28, 2010
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AlbertaHockey20 said:
Sorry, for the confusion I did not mean that 15 years olds were going to the AJHL. I am trying to say that a 15 year old draft means all 15 years olds would play Minor Midget AAA like in Ontario. After they are drafted they can go where they want and because of the timing it could dilute the Midget AAA league as more players jump into Junior B or Junior A. Its a worst case scenario.
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Thanks for clarifying. I don't think that Alberta has the population to support single age groups. It would be interesting, if they did go to every 15 year old having to play minor midget then they would most likely have to change the areas. It still would be a watered down league as is with the 1-3 15 year olds held back that play in the Major Midget per team. I would leave the best 15 year olds playing in Major Midget and the rest where the best fit.

To your point the draft needs to be pushed back.
 
PumpkinBombX

PumpkinBombX

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Jan 29, 2009
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I've heard that he would have been granted exceptional status by hockey canada but did not apply as since he will be playing very far from his family he wanted 1 last year with them, as he'll never live at home (except for off-season) again in his life.

People forget that these kids are just 14.
 

Alberta tough

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Sep 3, 2008
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Still on top!

AlbertaHockey20

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Feb 25, 2012
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I'm glad Tyler is playing Midget AAA next year. I think he will easily win the scoring championship, however, it will still give him a much needed challenge. Special exemption is overrated in my opinion and Midget AAA is much underrated.
 
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