scpa0305

The BCHL is a solid league....best in the Canadian circuit when speaking about junior A hockey. But it doesn't really come all that close to the depth of the USHL. If you avg a pt/gm in the USHL, more likely than not, you'll be a good college hockey player. If you tear apart the BCHL, more likely than not, you'll be a solid college hockey player. While very good players play in the BCHL there simply isn't the depth of talent. So scoring is much easier in the BC. You also have to factor in a players age. Sometimes the guys that are dominating the BC are 20-21 years old.....you have to take that into consideration as well. I don't think there's a right or wrong answer. However I lean towards players having better success in the USHL.

True, but they'll be young. Agree, here's to hoping.

Agreed, that is always the case. But they are freshman and most won't make the impact we all think they will in year one. We critically need continued development from this year's frosh, Soph, and Junior classes. So important, can't put too much on the incoming class. If you're looking for the incoming class to save the day you're in for a long year (i.e. this year )

Good post. Well I can honestly say there is probably no one on this board that can provide great constructive criticism them (as far as answers go). However Bubs does need to let the boys play with a tad more creativity in the ozone (5x5 and PP). But this is a public forum, so stating a fact (i.e. we used to recruit better (not that it's bad right now), we used to play with more consistency, we used to win more often, etc.) shouldn't allow others to think of them as irrational. I do like your post though.

Good points, and most of it is accurate. I would ask, when are you allowed to constructively criticize then? There has obviously been a short (2.5 year), but sharp, downward trend in the level of play (specifically around the offensive side of the puck). Also, while we have some nice recruits coming in next year and some the year after, I wouldn't necessarily say we are lighting the world on fire as it relates to recruits like we used too. I guess I am comparing us to the traditional college hockey powers. I am interested in Pinto, Halliday sure seems like he may be a blue chip, Sanderson/Kleven sure seem like they could be developing into something in the blue chip area. Don't get me wrong, I am intrigued with the collection of players we have coming in the next few years and recruiting seems to be getting better than the past two years but I am not absolutely blown away either. And that's fine. Time will tell how these kids continue to develop. I do think we'll need to turn the level of play around here to continue to win those recruiting battles. I still think we don't have an '03 commit, which again, is fine as they're young but there are a ton of 03's off the board already. In summary, I do think it's fair to start wondering where everything is going. Hopefully things turn around a bit here.

Ok that probably makes some sense

Haha...ya I get what the word means. Maybe I should have stated the timing wasn’t appropriate, because fans questioning what’s going on isn’t all that crazy right now. Again, criticism is warranted right now...this isn’t an “over reaction”

Because it was a terrible comparison.

Bingo

On the other hand I just read TH's tweet saying "Fire Saban"....there is absolutely an entire universe between the two situations. Not that I think Bubs should get let go, but that analogy make's him sound very unintelligent even though he's joking.

Nah we didn't. I was there. Definitely lost. It probably is a little bit of an overreaction to last weekend. That's fair to an extent. This entire topic has me exhausted...I'm going to let the year play out

We lost to BU in the first game that year. I don't really lump myself in the fire Bubs crowd but I am pretty concerned with the direction everything is going. We haven't had a great team in 2.5 years and I think many of are accustomed to being above average. Even the 16-17 you speak of was super rocky throughout the season and we were bounced game one. If I remember correctly we were close to missing for a while? One thing I have noticed is a complete lack of urgency and overall consistency the past 2.5 years. That is what has me concerned. I know all of the players' backgrounds, they are much better than this. We have underachieved for 2.5 years now. That may be what has folks slightly concerned (rationale folks, not the burn the house down folks ).

There are scorers on the current team. I'm done whining about the coach/team. You have to let the season play out...probably have to let the next couple of years play out honestly. But just wanted to point out that fact. Another thing (unrelated to the OP), we need to forget about the pairwise. The focus should be on consistently winning. I'm already throwing the PW out the window. This team will need some luck at the end of the year.

It’s almost always true...except for us. Every Friday and Saturday night.

I was teasing (partially ). I’m sick of hearing what the other team did to defeat us. That team was terrible, numbers don’t lie. They should have never been able to rope a dope us. It seems as though many teams are able to rope a dope is this year.

Oh puuuhhhhlease.

Agreed.

We have multiple current players and several commits that need a wake up call.

It’s really bad right now.

No he isn't, corsi is actually a great statistic. It shows who (typically) has the best players....as they are able to possess the puck throughout the game. The worst situation to be in during a game is puck chasing. Once a team starts chasing for long stretches of the game they typically lose. Our issue is that our special teams (PK & PP) are terrible and our ozone strategy is about as bland as it gets. So while we have the horses to play keep away, other metrics currently weigh us down. So while we can talking about top 3 corsi, which is great and all, we should probably be focusing on the poor metrics.

Those three are playing great hockey....really helping their prospect stock. Hopefully both Pinto and Blaisdell stay in the second round range. Halliday looks to be special....hopefully we hang on to him.

It's shot selection. There is zero creativity. They are firing a ton of rubber on net but it's all from the perimeter with no screens. The fact we have great possession metrics shows that we are (on most nights) much better than the team's we play. Now it's offensive creativity. I'm fully convinced it has something to do with the system they are running. Using a Dman as an outlet is great...one of my favorite strategies and I think many teams can do it more. The problem is that we only use the dmen when in the ozone. They use their "outlets" as option A, B, and C. It's like running a play action every play in football. As soon as our forwards are allowed to play hockey in the ozone, using the dmen as "outlets" will be astronomically more effective (especially on the PP).

No... I know the game. I get how it works. But after an embarrassing weekend like that (coupled with the 2-3 previous years)….thats way too early.

It was in response to a ton of other folks...not you at all. Thought-spewing

...bud