If you were Tallon

and you are on the clock, who would you pick at #3?

note: there is no trades you have the pick and only the pick to make

Rostislav Olesz

If I am Tallon, I pick Olesz.

Tallon, however, will take Cam Barker.

imo i still think the best person in the draft at this spot will be Olesz.

I don't disagree the Olesz is the third best player in the draft, but with the turnover in scouting staff this team saw this past year, IMHO they are going to be focusing on North American players.

you think so, it would be ashamed if that happens. you know the wild card at this spot may be the rudlov(sp) kid brother.

here is a scouting report on


Rostislav Olesz (2004), C, HC Vitkovice
Very underrated at this point .. impressive overall package; no glaring weaknesses; a character player who gives it his all .. always shows a nasty edge .. very well-balanced on his skates and a good, accurate hitter .. solid on both the pk and the pp .. a big, mobile body who drives to the net and creates space .. agile with excellent lower body strength .. great hockey sense and elite vision .. strong at the faceoff circle .. a slick passer and a good finisher .. releases the puck crisply and effortlessly, but must do it more often .. aware defensively .. limits the opponent’s options effectively due to his reach and shrewd use of his frame .. mature and doesn’t take the odd shift off

Olesz.

olesz is now ranked 7, and going down down down in the ranking, he is a kovalev type of player, showing 1 game over 4, a lot of talent but not a each games.
the hawks have to go with radulov or big cam barker who is now 3 in the ranking. but dont be surprised if pitsburgh take barker at no.2 and leave malkin available to the hawks, on the pitsburgh website, I saw last week that they are looking for a big and offense defense ....like barker.....

olesz is now ranked 7, and going down down down in the ranking, he is a kovalev type of player, showing 1 game over 4, a lot of talent but not a each games.
the hawks have to go with radulov or big cam barker who is now 3 in the ranking. but dont be surprised if pitsburgh take barker at no.2 and leave malkin available to the hawks, on the pitsburgh website, I saw last week that they are looking for a big and offense defense ....like barker.....

where did you read where olesz is ranked at #7 and is falling?

from what i read, in russian-elite.com, red-line and mckeen, the radulov may have somewhat of an attitude problem, here is a little snippet of what is said about him.
"Gifted problem child has a sniper's touch, but is lazy and plays uninspired hockey"

if malkin falls to #3, i would snatch him him instantly.

1. Alexandre Ovechkin LW 6-1/195 R 9-17-85 Dynamo Moscow
2. Evgeni Malkin C 6-3/186 L 7-31-86 Magnitogorsk
3. Cam Barker D 6-3/206 L 4-4-86 Medicine Hat
4. Alexander Radulov RW 6-1/178 L 7-5-86 Dynamo Moscow
5. Lauri Tukonen C 6-2/196 R 9-1-86 Espoo
6. Rostislav Olesz C 6-2/191 L 10-10-85 Vitkovice
7. Drew Stafford RW 6-2/200 R 10-19-85 Univ. of North Dakota
8. Andrew Ladd LW 6-2/199 L 12-12-85 Calgary
9. Marek Schwarz G 5-11/165 R 4-1-86 Sparta Praha
10. Enver Lisin RW 6-1/189 L 4-22-86 Dynamo Moscow


this is the last ranking of red line report in date of april 22 2004, the link was on the hawks website last week......

if you want more news on prospects you can try russsianprospects.com a very good site on russian future nhl !!!!!!

also earlier this year on nhl.com you had a very good article on radulov and they also think ( nhl.com) that kyle chipchure is the no.1 north american player ???? I must say I'm not agree with that barker and ladd and superior to him....


great to talk with other hawks fan about our team !!!!!

1 CHIPCHURA, KYLE WHL PRINCE ALBERT 19-Feb-86 6' 2" 197 C L
2 LADD, ANDREW WHL CALGARY 12-Dec-85 6' 2" 200 LW L
3 WOLSKI, WOJTEK OHL BRAMPTON 24-Feb-86 6' 3" 200 LW L
4 PICARD, ALEXANDRE QMJHL LEWISTON 9-Oct-85 6' 2" 190 LW L
5 BARKER, CAMERON WHL MEDICINE HAT 4-Apr-86 6' 2.5" 207 D L
6 BOLLAND, DAVE OHL LONDON 6-May-86 5' 11.5" 171 C/RW R
7 SCHREMP, ROBBIE OHL LONDON 1-Jul-86 5' 11" 197 C L
8 GREEN, MIKE WHL SASKATOON 12-Oct-85 6' 1" 195 D R
9 STAFFORD, DREW WCHA UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA 30-Oct-85 6' 1.5" 202 RW R
10 MEIDL, VACLAV OHL PLYMOUTH 27-May-86 6' 4.5" 198 C

north american ranking by central service scouting on january 2004 !!!!!

1 OVECHKIN, ALEXANDER DYNAMO RUS LEAGUE 17 SEP 85 6'2 200 LW R
2 MALKIN, YEVGENY MAGNITOGORSK RUS LEAGUE 31 JUL 86 6'3 186 C/W L
3 OLESZ, ROSTISLAV VITKOVICE CZE LEAGUE 10 OCT 85 6'1 194 C L
4 LEPISTÖ, SAMI JOKERIT FIN LEAGUE 17 OCT 84 6.0 176 D L
5 SMID, LADISLAV LIBEREC CZE SR/JR LEAGUE 01 FEB 86 6'3 209 D L
6 KASPAR, LUKAS LITVINOV CZE SR/JR LEAGUE 23 SEP 85 6'2 202 W L
7 RADULOV, ALEXANDER DYNAMO RUS LEAGUE 05 JUL 86 6'1 172 RW L
8 FRANSSON, JOHAN LULEÅ SWE LEAGUE 18 FEB 85 6'1 180 D L
9 MESZAROS, ANDREJ TRENCIN SVK LEAGUE 13 OCT 85 6'2 189 D L
10 SALMONSSON, JOHANNES DJURGÅRDEN SWE LEAGUE 07 FEB 86 6'2 183 W


europeen ranking on january by central service scouting !!!!!

1 Alexander Ovechkin RW Dynamo Moscow (Rus) 6-2/200 Russia
2 Evgeni Malkin C Magnitogorsk (Rus) 6-3/205 Russia
3 Rostislav Olesz C Vitkovice (Cze) 6-1/200 Czech
4 Cam Barker D Medicine Hat (WHL) 6-3/210 Canada
5 Andrew Ladd LW Calgary (WHL) 6-2/210 Canada
6 Marek Schwarz G Sparta Praha (Cze) 6-0/175 Czech
7 Lauri Tukonen RW Espoo Blues (Fin) 6-2/200 Finland
8 A.J. Thelen D Michigan State (CCHA) 6-3/210 USA
9 Alexander Radulov RW Tver (Rus 2) 6-1/175 Russia
10 Alvaro Montoya G Michigan (CCHA) 6-2/190 USA
11 Rob Schremp C London (OHL) 5-11/200 USA
12 Wojtek Wolski LW Brampton (OHL) 6-3/200 Canada
13 Alexandre Picard LW Lewiston (QMJHL) 6-2/190 Canada
14 Drew Stafford C North Dakota (WCHA) 6-2/200 USA
15 Wes O'Neill D Notre Dame (CCHA) 6-4/215 Canada
16 Kyle Chipchura C Prince Albert (WHL) 6-2/200 Canada


this is mckeen's prospect list as of april 22.

both are good !!!!!!!! I just want to see Tallon list !!!!!!!!!

funny :)

that my friend is the one that counts.

where did you read where olesz is ranked at #7 and is falling?

from what i read, in russian-elite.com, red-line and mckeen, the radulov may have somewhat of an attitude problem, here is a little snippet of what is said about him.
"Gifted problem child has a sniper's touch, but is lazy and plays uninspired hockey"

if malkin falls to #3, i would snatch him him instantly.

Radulov is not lazy---read the glowing report on him in The Hockey News--one scout saw him working so hard in a game that he gave him the ultimate compliment:
he thought he was watching a Finn ....Radulov is not a typical lazy skilled Russian---he is in fact a dynamic catalyst who his coach on the Russian U-18 squad credited with being the main reason his line with Voloshenko and Yunkov put up so many points and dominated the ice...

As for his so-called "attitude problems"--he has had run-ins with coaches and refs--but many see this as immaturity due to the PASSION he has playing the game --I for one would rather have a passioniate player with also dazzling 1 on1 skill than some pathetic robot of a 2-way guy who bores you to death ....Also--he had no "attitude" problems in gaining the praises of his coaches at the 2 U-18's he played in in Feb and April where he played SO WELL that Redline moved him up to 3rd best forward in the draft-----(rank #4 overall--Barker is #3 for trhem)......

I never have seen him play--BUT even before Redline moved him up --I had him on my radar as early as January after noticing how well he was putting up points in the Upper League for Tver...yes its not the Superleague--BUT he did better than Zherdev did at the same age and level of play --and he has been a consistent scorer in every level of play he has been in--he is a better player than older brother Igor and certainly a much harder worker .......Meanwhile the inconsistent Olesz has not sold me that he really will be a good scorer--a safe bet as a 2-way 3rd or 2nd line centre,I'll buy into--but its iffy if he has the goods to be a "go to " centre at the NHL level........but Radulov does have the stuff to be a top line go to guy point getter.....The only caveat I have is that some Russian kids (not all --eg. Kovalchuk,Datsyuk,Frolov) have trouble adapting to North American culture--Finns seem to adapt quicker --so taking Lauri Tukonen might be the safer bet......IMO
Redline has it exactly right---Radulkov ,then Tukonen,then Olesz =in that order...

The only thing Olesz may have on the other two is that he is a centre--but as for being great in the face-off circle--well,he did NOT distinguish himslf there when he played in a World U-18 (he of course was too old for the 2004 W-U18)--I don't have face-off stats for his WJHC U-20 back in January......anyone got his face-off stats from the Czech Extraliga this season?

Id try to trade the #3 for a #6 or 7 and draft Olesz there and maybe get another team's prospect in addition.

I would take Barker. He's the consensus best prospect at number 3.

I think Tallon might take Barker or trade down and try for Ladd

I would like to see them take Lauri Tukonen though, I like his work ethic and size.