PCM Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 US College Hockey Online has posted my article about Drew Stafford on its Web site. I interviewed him regarding his experience at the World Junior Championships. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Air Force One Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 Nice job PCM! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagies Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 Great article, Pat. Drew sounds like a good interview. I like that he feels he learned some things that might help him as a player down the stretch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superman0099 Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 Good job PCM. I really liked the last paragraph. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CVCL Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 Thanks Mr. Miller. Good sit down with Stafford. Drew interviews very well and has a lot of poise for his age. He gave a little insight, had the necessary reserve when criticizing and poignantly critiqued the levels of play. What I infer from his interview on the whole is that the coaching staff was the let down of the US team. I was very surprised during the tournament with how the team was handled. While Drew defends this coach from ESPN, he also inadvertly draws a sharp comparison between this years and last year coaching. Personally, I had agreed with ESPN's take on the USA Hockey organization and some of the decisions made. While I am very proud of our local Brian Lee; other choices available probably could've produced a stronger defensive core than Lee and three of the other defencemen, LIKENS, HAGEMO, & GOLIGOSKI. Drews comment on Sandelin's choice to, "...put a lot of responsibility on the players to get ready themselves and know what they have to do themselves instead of having a coach always telling them exactly what to do." I think this was a mistake. Our team talent depth wasn't great enough for this approach. Sande is a good coach. Was he ready for something of this magnitude? Obviously USA Hockey wasn't. Having this tournament in the states (defenders of the gold) and seeing the importance Canada brought to this event, this was almost an embarassment. I'm not saying the US's talent level could have been better? Just better managed. Could the US have done better? Maybe. Probably. BUT, the Canadians were by far the best team. All I know is going to 16 fantastic hockey games over the holidays, including all of the US games, and shaking the great one's hand was one of the best experiences for me to date. Thanks to all of the US players for the effort you did put in. Thank you Drew for being such a great person face to face and for being part of the Fighting Sioux. We're very proud! Go USA!!! Go Sioux!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffj Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 Interesting article. Nice job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fetch Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 Good article You have to have chemistry I'm hoping some Mad Scientist can make this happen for the SIOUX Soon too You just know it's there & keep waiting for it to burst out & what a FUN Team they would be to watch I have no Formulas to offer ...except maybe after this weekend (if the explosion does not happen) then mix the chemicals up & try to find what reacts with what ? ? ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCM Posted January 14, 2005 Author Share Posted January 14, 2005 (edited) It's always a pleasure to interview a hockey player who doesn't instantly lapse into "hockey speak" or sports cliches. I want to say that Drew comes across as intelligent and articulate for his age, but that doesn't give him the credit he deserves. I've interviewed people much older than him who are less intelligent and far less articulate. Virg Foss told me that after the US losses at the World Juniors Championships, Drew was the one player for the team who always came out to speak to the media. That's a tough job for any player to do, especially in a tournament of that magnitude. He represented Team USA and UND well. After speaking to Drew and thinking about the coaching aspect, I wondered if the primary difference between Sandelin and Eaves was that Eaves' more regimented and systematic approach might work better with a group of younger players. Putting more responsibility on players might be fine in college where the level of maturity is somewhat higher, there are older players who can help the younger players adjust to the coach's expectations and there's more time to adapt. But in a situation where you need immediate performance from a group of young players, I can see why Eaves' approach might provide better results more quickly if everyone buys into it. I don't think anyone was going to beat the Canadians this year. They weren't just a level above everyone else. It was more like two or three levels above. The Czech Republic was the one team that kept the score respectable against Canada, and that was only because Marek Schwarz is an amazing goaltender. Schwarz was the difference in the games between the US and the Czech Repubulic. Yes, the US defense was bad at times, but Montoya simply didn't play as well as he did last year. There's no disguising that. Russia? Team USA proved it could beat the Russians. The second US-Russia game was much closer than the score indicated. It was a one-goal game until more than half way through the third period. Two empty-net goals and a power play goal in the last second made the game seem more lopsided than it really was. As Drew told me, the US team killed its chances in that game with all the penalties it took. In retrospect, maybe Sandelin wasn't the best coach for the job. Maybe there should have been a few different players on the roster. Maybe USA Hockey isn't organized as well as it should be. If everything has gone right and Montoya had played as well as he did in Finland, maybe the US would have won the silver or the bronze. From my perspective, there wasn't that much difference between the Russians, the Czechs and the Americans. The Canadians towered above everyone else. Does this mean that major changes are needed in USA Hockey? Others will disagree, but I don't see it that way. Edited January 14, 2005 by PCM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schmidtdoggydog Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 This seems like a good spot to post the following: During the WJ tournament in Grand Forks, Buffalo Sabres Western Amateur Scout Darryl Plandowski talked with Hockey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCM Posted January 14, 2005 Author Share Posted January 14, 2005 DP: He is a 18-year-old kid. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Actually, Stafford is 19. But if the Sabres want to believe that he's 18, it's fine with me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poncho & Lefty Posted January 15, 2005 Share Posted January 15, 2005 I only have one problem with Drew Stafford, granted I haven't seen him play many college games this year I did see the guys in green play Anchorage the Saturday night in GF. He didn't move his feet and I let him know it. I was sitting way up in the upper bowl and I couldn't refrain from yelling. He didn't move unless a puck was close. However watching him in the World Jrs. I noticed he played much harder. I only watched 4 of the patriots games but he played with a passion and i liked it. I just wish he didnt turn the switch off and on he should just keep it on full blast all year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poncho & Lefty Posted January 15, 2005 Share Posted January 15, 2005 to avoid further confusion that was the only UND game i've attended this year, bad night to go i guess haha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCM Posted January 15, 2005 Author Share Posted January 15, 2005 Somehow, with your posting abilities, I doubt it. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Why don't you let it rest? Poncho made a valid comment about Stafford, who didn't exactly set the world on fire the first half of the season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwing77 Posted January 15, 2005 Share Posted January 15, 2005 Alright. Sorry, Poncho and all. Deleted the two posts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schmidtdoggydog Posted January 25, 2005 Share Posted January 25, 2005 Some recent comments from the Buffalo Sabres organization compiled by hockeysfuture.com regarding Stafford: A quick reading of Drew Stafford Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagies Posted February 18, 2005 Share Posted February 18, 2005 A little note from Hockey's Future: 5. # Drew Stafford, Right Wing Height: 6'2, Weight: 200, Current Team: University of North Dakota (WCHA) One "Drew" is leaving town, but another might one day patrol the right side at HSBC Arena if recent events are any indication. The first non-Amerk on this list, Drew Stafford is turning in another solid season for UND. He is currently second in scoring for the Fighting Sioux with 26 points (9 goals, 17 assists), and his +9 rating leads his club in that category. Perhaps a greater reason for optimism is Stafford Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwing77 Posted February 18, 2005 Share Posted February 18, 2005 A little note from Hockey's Future: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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