During my morning reading rounds, I came across this blog article on Latendresse. I thought it was quite a good read about his progression this year and includes some interesting thoughts about the decisions management made to help continue to develop.
A lot of power forwards are given the label "late bloomer"... guys like Bertuzzi and Penner come to mind... even former Hab John Leclair required seasoning.
I'd agree with Deblois' assessment at the moment and there's no reason to think Guille won't keep it up, given his attitude.
French scout overvaluing French player
Good to know, wonder if other scouts feel the same way. Doesn't necessarily mean that Lats will turn out like Bert or become better.
I think it's fair to expect that Lats' 19 year old season would have been similar to Bert's, had Lats played with Drummondville instead of making the Habs.
I don't doubt that if Latendresse can improve his skating speed even a little, that he could very well become a good power forward in the league. As of right now mind you, his skating speed is holding him back from being anything more that a questionable top six forward.
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Hey look, it's Duffman; the guy in a costume that creates awareness of Duff!
Why does everyone compare him to Bertuzzi all the time?
He's nothing like Bertuzzi apart from size (Bert is bigger anyways). His attitude is completely different. He'll never be as physically dominant as Bertuzzi was back when he was good. Which leads to my next point. Bertuzzi ****ing blows. He had a few mediocre seasons and 2 really amazing ones back when Markus Naslund was considered an elite player. I'm sure his incident probably ruined his career but he isn't as good as people pretend he is.
Anyways, so what's the deal then? Are we supposed to wait 5 more years before Latendresse becomes any good? I mean, is he just going to stay on the 3rd line for the next half decade before he finally blooms? Cause I dunno...A player who we are supposed to "be patient with"...Someone who is supposed to get better with time...Sounds like DEVELOPMENT to me. Call me crazy but I always thought the AHL was the #1 development league for young NHL players. It has produced some pretty awesome Habs players, like Higgins, Plekanec, Billy and Jimmy Kostitsyn, Komisarek, Price, Halak, O'Byrne, Lapierre, Grabovski and more. But I guess Latendresse is too good for the AHL, since he's so far ahead of these guys since they were in the AHL.
Quote:
Originally Posted by WeThreeKings
He can and will get faster. He'll never be a speed demon, but he'll become adequate for the game he plays.
Why does everyone compare him to Bertuzzi all the time?
He's nothing like Bertuzzi apart from size (Bert is bigger anyways). His attitude is completely different. He'll never be as physically dominant as Bertuzzi was back when he was good. Which leads to my next point. Bertuzzi ****ing blows. He had a few mediocre seasons and 2 really amazing ones back when Markus Naslund was considered an elite player. I'm sure his incident probably ruined his career but he isn't as good as people pretend he is.
Anyways, so what's the deal then? Are we supposed to wait 5 more years before Latendresse becomes any good? I mean, is he just going to stay on the 3rd line for the next half decade before he finally blooms? Cause I dunno...A player who we are supposed to "be patient with"...Someone who is supposed to get better with time...Sounds like DEVELOPMENT to me. Call me crazy but I always thought the AHL was the #1 development league for young NHL players. It has produced some pretty awesome Habs players, like Higgins, Plekanec, Billy and Jimmy Kostitsyn, Komisarek, Price, Halak, O'Byrne, Lapierre, Grabovski and more. But I guess Latendresse is too good for the AHL, since he's so far ahead of these guys since they were in the AHL.
how many of them scored 16 goals in the NHL at the age of 19 and 20 ? None other than Sergei perhaps, so I guess that makes him ahead of those guys
Why does everyone compare him to Bertuzzi all the time?
He's nothing like Bertuzzi apart from size (Bert is bigger anyways). His attitude is completely different. He'll never be as physically dominant as Bertuzzi was back when he was good. Which leads to my next point. Bertuzzi ****ing blows. He had a few mediocre seasons and 2 really amazing ones back when Markus Naslund was considered an elite player. I'm sure his incident probably ruined his career but he isn't as good as people pretend he is.
Anyways, so what's the deal then? Are we supposed to wait 5 more years before Latendresse becomes any good? I mean, is he just going to stay on the 3rd line for the next half decade before he finally blooms? Cause I dunno...A player who we are supposed to "be patient with"...Someone who is supposed to get better with time...Sounds like DEVELOPMENT to me. Call me crazy but I always thought the AHL was the #1 development league for young NHL players. It has produced some pretty awesome Habs players, like Higgins, Plekanec, Billy and Jimmy Kostitsyn, Komisarek, Price, Halak, O'Byrne, Lapierre, Grabovski and more. But I guess Latendresse is too good for the AHL, since he's so far ahead of these guys since they were in the AHL.
He SHOULD have gone to the AHL but things happened differently. When he got his spot with the big club, the Habs were short on physical guys and Guillaume started to hit everything that moved at that camp. That is why Carbo decided to keep him.
He SHOULD have gone to the AHL but things happened differently. When he got his spot with the big club, the Habs were short on physical guys and Guillaume started to hit everything that moved at that camp. That is why Carbo decided to keep him.
