HFBoards - View Single Post - Pitlick, Hamilton, and Martindale Relative To Their Peers

thadd · 11-19-2012, 02:08 AM

It would be crazy to write off either of these guys at this point.

Matindale gets lazy at times, but he's still got a lot more upside that most of the other centers in our system. I

'm now at the point where I doubt CVV even makes it as a 4th line center in the NHL.

I wanted Hamilton sent down to the ECHL at the beginning of the season. I think the AHL is too much for him and I think he needs to play some easier hockey to get some confidence under him. He was a big kid in juniors. 6"3 202 pounds is pretty decent size for someone playing in a pro league, but it's not enough for him to do what he was doing in the WHL. Out of the three he's the guy I'm worried about slipping the most.

Pitlick is a victim to having crapy linemates this year. Past Hopkins, the Barons don't have a single offensive wiz kid of a center. If our coach wants to fiddle around with lines and chemistry in order to win, I'd put Hall at center.

Hartikainen-Hopkins-Eberle
Magnus-Hall-Pitlick

And on top of that, stop giving our bottom six players so much ice time. If you take Pitlick out of the equation the rest of those kids have played a fair number of games in the NHL. We should be playing them harder. They'll put up more offense and it'll help their development curve in a positive way.

The argument could easily be made that reduced minutes for the bottoms six kids would be bad for their development curve and that's just more reason to send some bodies down to the ECHL. It wouldn't be devastating to our organization to send both Hamilton and Matindale down to Stockton where they can play more minutes and learn to play better against adults.

I want the Barons to win this year and I don't think it's a big deal if we pulled Hall off of the wing for the season. If it works out really well it gives us another option for a 2nd line center in the NHL. Heck, it worked when he was in juniors.

11-19-2012, 02:08 AM	#40
thadd Oil4Life Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: China Country: Posts: 12,950 vCash: 500	It would be crazy to write off either of these guys at this point. Matindale gets lazy at times, but he's still got a lot more upside that most of the other centers in our system. I 'm now at the point where I doubt CVV even makes it as a 4th line center in the NHL. I wanted Hamilton sent down to the ECHL at the beginning of the season. I think the AHL is too much for him and I think he needs to play some easier hockey to get some confidence under him. He was a big kid in juniors. 6"3 202 pounds is pretty decent size for someone playing in a pro league, but it's not enough for him to do what he was doing in the WHL. Out of the three he's the guy I'm worried about slipping the most. Pitlick is a victim to having crapy linemates this year. Past Hopkins, the Barons don't have a single offensive wiz kid of a center. If our coach wants to fiddle around with lines and chemistry in order to win, I'd put Hall at center. Hartikainen-Hopkins-Eberle Magnus-Hall-Pitlick And on top of that, stop giving our bottom six players so much ice time. If you take Pitlick out of the equation the rest of those kids have played a fair number of games in the NHL. We should be playing them harder. They'll put up more offense and it'll help their development curve in a positive way. The argument could easily be made that reduced minutes for the bottoms six kids would be bad for their development curve and that's just more reason to send some bodies down to the ECHL. It wouldn't be devastating to our organization to send both Hamilton and Matindale down to Stockton where they can play more minutes and learn to play better against adults. I want the Barons to win this year and I don't think it's a big deal if we pulled Hall off of the wing for the season. If it works out really well it gives us another option for a 2nd line center in the NHL. Heck, it worked when he was in juniors.