yzerman19

Excerpts from an article about RJ Thompson where his quotes are extremely pertinent to this conversation: After two seasons with Little Caesars AAA Hockey Club in Michigan, Thompson returned to Eden Prairie for his freshman year. He said he wanted a normal high school experience: school, family, friends and the chance to play for the town where he grew up. “I had a great two-year experience at Detroit Little Caesars, but having that thought of wanting to come home and have a normal high school experience was something I wanted to do,” Thompson said. “Getting to play with your buddies is special here in high school in Minnesota.” a community atmosphere that made the season feel bigger than the games themselves. “You get to play for your town, your community, your school,” Thompson said. “It was an awesome experience.” “Eden Prairie is always my home,” Thompson said. “Getting to play for your community, your town, your high school, it was special to me.”

I am really curious if Canada will run Schultz and Pue against the best 2010's in the world this year or if they will continue to protect them. Having them play up vs our JV team and no Sweden, no Finland, no Russia was a no-lose scenario.

Because it's a culture

I know we're getting great players, but this west canada pipeline has me a bit uneasy

The world U17 challenge will be interesting. That will be the first time we see the best US 2010's. (Cullen excepted due to Hlinka).

Ahhhh...the great debate. Is undergrad for growth and bettering oneself with education or is it to get a job? I contend that really high paying jobs (working for somebody else) will ultimately still require a professional degree and or licensure. You can always work for yourself or in the trades if you are solely focused on $.

lotta noise outta Michigan, Michigan State, and Minnesota at the start of this cycle.

I have to think this is a precursor to the NDL and that this application coincides with their application for the NDL? The landscape is definitely going to change for elite players, but I think there is enough depth of really good players to maintain MN/ND high school hockey. I mean in today's landscape there are really only a handful of AAA programs that are truly better than top high school teams (SSM, BK, Mount, Mission, Honeybaked, Caesars, Pens). Remember that those teams that are "better" around the country routinely lose players at 16 to the NTDP, USHL, and CHL. Shattuck has operated the "best" elite AAA hockey program an hour south of the cities forever, and they have NOT been historically successful in poaching all the best players from Minnesota. Sure they get some, but look at this year's NTDP. Daley (NY), Morris (AK), Evans (PA) are the Shattuck players that made that team and none are from MN. Meier is very good and a Minnesota kid who went to Shattuck. He will play in Everett this year. Joey Cullen and RJ Thompson are two of the very best players in that birth year and they both played elite AAA (HoneyBaked and Little Caesars) but both came back to play high school hockey in Minnesota.

exactly. The NDL is trying to tie themselves to USHL teams specifically. Regarding kids jumping up to HS hockey the rule of thumb has got to be that you dominated Bantam as a first year and stand to gain nothing playing another year of Bantam AND you are primed to play top 6/4 minutes on the varsity team. I'd even say first line/first pairing. In Minny, RJ THompson and Maverick McKinnon were bantam eligible. They had no business in bantam hockey. These kids and parents need to quit worrying about the next level and focus on where they are. Thompson and McKinnon are not your reference point. They are the 0.001%...for everyone else, deep breath, take your time.

Carter Morris, Mason Schemenauer, Will LoSauro also in that elite tier of player...I don't know how "experts" grade a kid 1 vs 3 vs 9 vs 14. I just know the kids that I see as having the tools and the intangibles to be elite college players and possibly the NHL.

I like Deraney's game

Probably top 20 dman...with projection.

any player leaves early for the NAHL they are dumb and their parents are dumber

Daley you have a great puck moving Dman who can operate anywhere on the ice and change the game. He is kinda a Neidermaier. You notice the offense and transition and don't notice the dzone, reason being he doesn't screw up the dzone. Schultz is probably the best 200 foot forward in the world for 2010s. He's kinda a Bergeron player. Pue is the best pure goal scorer for 2010s. I think he's Pastrnak comparable. Thompson is a pace driven center. He is very smart 200 feet and skates in the top 10 in the world for the birthyear (speed and edgework). Kinda a Dylan Larkin.

I'm sure we are in the mix on all of them. Daley is the long shot being from back east.