The florida teams' coaching or management sucks or something.
Tampa - Lecavlier, St louis, Stamkos, Hedman... still at the bottom of the league?
Florida - 10 years without post season appearance? Always drafting top 10 each year.
management in Tampa is a joke and a complete distraction. Add to it that their coaching is in WAY over their heads and they're ****ed. Daniels would be a better coach Tocchet at this point.
Florida... management maybe? Their player development is pretty sucktacular too much like Atlanta's. Of course, Florida actually drafts better then Atlanta until recently which is why they've had some non-elite prospects pan out. Losing Booth for so long is why they're so low this year.
As for why we're so low? where to begin... injuries to Staal, injuries to Ward, injuries to Pitkanen, injuries to Ruutu, injuries to Gleason, overreliance on older players, country club atmosphere, lack of any kind of real training camp, no open roster spots for young players to fight it out for. We've had a LOT go wrong... and a lot of it is of JR's making.
If the Hurricanes go 0-3 (no loser points) the worst pick they can wind up with is #5(if someone below them wins the lottery and leapfrogs them). If they go 0-3 the #3 pick is very very likely. This needs to happen to salvage this mockery of a season.
How pathetic... out of 4 bottom teams in the conference three are from SE, and 3 out of 5 league wide.
Yet we keep saying that the Southeast is going to blow up some year with all the top-5 picks that continue to get added to the division. Somehow, it just doesn't happen. This is also something to keep in mind when it comes to Washington. They've fattened up on the rest of the Southleast. I'm with Umberger. I don't think they're playoff-ready.
Sticking with the actual thread topic, I must admit something. I'm starting to get extremely intrigued by the idea of Vlad Tarasenko. It's easy for us to dismiss Russian prospects because of our team's history with them, but this kid looks like the real deal.
For one, his dad is the coach of his KHL team. We've had very good luck with "coach's kids." For another, he's more than holding his own as an 18 year old in the KHL. He's 5-11, 200, so he's got an NHL-ready body, and doesn't necessarily have to put on 15 pounds of muscle or anything. Then there's the stats (13-11-24 in 42 games). He probably would have been second on the team in scoring if he hadn't missed time for the WJC. He also *led the team* with a plus-9 rating on a team that missed the KHL playoffs. There were *10* players at minus-8 or worse on the team, and this kid was plus-9. Oh, one more thing, he did all this averaging *12:27* of ice time.
He speaks about wanting to win a Stanley Cup, calling it a dream. His dad seems to be saying things that would lead NHL teams to believe Vlad will be here and will stay here. Also, I love this answer. How many Russian kids will start off describing themselves as a "team player?"
Quote:
HF: How would you describe yourself as a player?
VT: I’m very good team player. Like everyone I have strong and weak sides as a player. I play Alexander Ovechkin-style. I like very much to score goals and like the physical aspect of the game too.
Question for anybody who's seen all the top guys play, if he weren't Russian, how would his draft rating compare to Hall/Seguin?
Yep, I've been on the Tarasenko bandwagon for a while now Kev. I honestly think this kid is the real deal. I don't know much about his character of course but watching him play alone was something else. He was a man amongst boys at the WJCs this year. As an 18 year old. He just imposed his will out there. Great two-way player too so it's not like he was a one-dimensional floater when he didn't have the puck ala Filatov.
Yet we keep saying that the Southeast is going to blow up some year with all the top-5 picks that continue to get added to the division. Somehow, it just doesn't happen.
Top-10 picks since 2000 (overall position listed)
Atlanta
2nd Heatley (traded)
1st Kovalchuk (traded)
2nd Lehtonen (traded)
8th Coburn (traded)
10th Valabik
8th *traded to SJ* Setoguchi
3rd Bogosian
4th Kane
Tampa
5th *traded to NYI* Torres
8th Alexeev
3rd Svitov
1st Stamkos
2nd Hedman
Carolina
2nd Staal
4th Ladd (traded)
3rd Johnson (traded)
Epic, epic fail on the part of this division to draft and develop quality players. Out of 23 top-10 picks, only three (Stamkos, Staal, Horton) are currently considered "franchise" players on their original team. And Horton's really pushing the definition of "franchise".
Last edited by tarheelhockey: 04-05-2010 at 02:41 PM.
This finding is HUGE. In the eyes of JR, this MUST mean this team should be kept intact. Who knows what they could do if they were given another opportunity.
This finding is HUGE. In the eyes of JR, this MUST mean this team should be kept intact. Who knows what they could do if they were given another opportunity.
He needs to offer up contract extensions for Brind'Amour, Cole, LaRose and Samsonov this summer, before their value skyrockets! Oh, and resign Whitney, of course...
- 30GP: 7 Wins : 18 Losses : 5 OT - 19 PTS
- 30GP: 10 Wins : 13 Losses : 7 OT - 27 PTS
- 30GP : 11 Wins : 13 Losses : 6 OT - 28 PTS
- 30GP: 11 Wins : 13 Losses : 6 OT - 28 PTS
- 30GP: 11 Wins : 12 Losses : 7 OT - 29 PTS
