Not true at all. RIT outplayed the majority of their non-conference opponents during the season (the exception being the 2 game set in Minnesota State over the new year) but DeMichael really struggled during that portion of the schedule and hurt the team with mistimed softies.
And then of course RIT defeated Denver and UNH in the regionals of the NCAA. Tanev scored the first goal of the Denver game by picking off a clearing attempt and snapping a puck home.
Tanev isn't all that physical, but he's an extremely smart player in both the offensive and defensive zones. He was at the least very close to the top of the NCAA in +/- as a freshman. Weak division or not, that's impressive.
EDIT: Also worth noting is that RIT played against Hockey East's player of the year in the game against UNH, and another Hobey finalist against Denver in Rakshani (sp?) and both were very quiet against the RIT pairing of Ringwald-Tanev.
That's what I like to hear about a defenceman! This signing seems very promising to me. I'll take a free late bloomer who's still in his early 20's any day of the week. Hopefully he can make the big club in a couple years.
As he was that much shorter than his peers, it's pretty impressive that he was playing at all at D. That's probably testament to his hockey IQ. The fact that he's grown to be a decent height for an NHL defenceman makes this a pretty intriguing signing.
As he was that much shorter than his peers, it's pretty impressive that he was playing at all at D. That's probably testament to his hockey IQ. The fact that he's grown to be a decent height for an NHL defenceman makes this a pretty intriguing signing.
Agreed. The fact that he was good enough to be playing D in junior hockey at under 5'8" is promising, at that size you have to learn to use solid positioning and smart plays to compensate for your lack of size. Shooting up 6 inches after that is just a bonus.
...or at the rate Gillis is signing defencemen, out the door after camp.
I don't think it would be a bad thing for Ellington to be punted. I've seen most of his home games, and while he played better after being returned from the Moose, late in the season, he still was pretty scary in his own zone. And 'better' is a subjective term because he really couldn't have played much worse at the beginning of the season.
The one constant in his game all season though has been that he constantly is beaten wide and he makes terrible decisions under presure.
The thing that drives me most nuts is that he isn't a physical d-man at all, and to me it looks like there are two reasons for that: one he is too slow to get there, and two he thinks he is a skill player. It didn't help the second reason that he was being force fed power-play time near the end of the S-King season...
Agreed. The fact that he was good enough to be playing D in junior hockey at under 5'8" is promising, at that size you have to learn to use solid positioning and smart plays to compensate for your lack of size. Shooting up 6 inches after that is just a bonus.
I can think of something else that just shot up after hearing all those positives about Tanev! Anyway, that definitely is good to hear. It seems like Gillis is really following through on his objective of getting smart players for this organization. And that growth spurt really is just gravy.
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Originally Posted by unikron
I don't think it would be a bad thing for Ellington to be punted. I've seen most of his home games, and while he played better after being returned from the Moose, late in the season, he still was pretty scary in his own zone. And 'better' is a subjective term because he really couldn't have played much worse at the beginning of the season.
The one constant in his game all season though has been that he constantly is beaten wide and he makes terrible decisions under presure.
The thing that drives me most nuts is that he isn't a physical d-man at all, and to me it looks like there are two reasons for that: one he is too slow to get there, and two he thinks he is a skill player. It didn't help the second reason that he was being force fed power-play time near the end of the S-King season...
Did you watch him many times over the course of the season? I had heard about his decision-making under pressure, along the lines of it being not so great at all. Is he really that slow? I've heard conflicting reports about his skating, so I have no idea what to believe .
Also, did it seem like the S-Kings' coach tried to help him improve his mental game? Did he show any signs of improvement throughout the season in that regard at all? I definitely remember him pinching a few times in one of his call-ups to the Moose this year, and that struck me as quite odd, as that wasn't really supposed to be what sort of player he was.
It seems to me like he is being pressured into changing his game to that of a more offensively-inclined playing style, what with Gillis' organizational mandate for a more up-tempo, aggressive system. Therefore he might not hit as much, and focus more on creating offense by taking more chances in the attacking zone. Maybe that's why he's looked bad?
Good numbers but he did in a pretty weak division. RIT mostly got destroyed whenever they played a decent team.
Not much risk here though and he's young enough that there's probably some upside.
Not necessarily slaughtered, They lost a bunch of players at the end of last year, and had most of their NC games in the beginning of the season (Colgate/St Lawrence/Clarkson). They had a tough time finding themselves as evident by losing their first 5 games, but still kept the games close. Mankato, thats another story. they must have been hungover or something from the holidays.
DU may have been Luck (or the solid play of the Demicheal/Ringwald/Tanev and the rest of the team), but UNH was no fluke, they outplayed them.
He likely won't be in Vancouver, so your right that there isn't much risk.
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Originally Posted by xtr3m
So is Tanev a fellow web developer (Rochester Institute of Technology)? They make good defensemen.
Didn't you guys hear Melrose during the FF? "You have to be a genius to go to RIT!"
Quote:
Originally Posted by jflory81
Not true at all. RIT outplayed the majority of their non-conference opponents during the season (the exception being the 2 game set in Minnesota State over the new year) but DeMichael really struggled during that portion of the schedule and hurt the team with mistimed softies.
And then of course RIT defeated Denver and UNH in the regionals of the NCAA. Tanev scored the first goal of the Denver game by picking off a clearing attempt and snapping a puck home.
Tanev isn't all that physical, but he's an extremely smart player in both the offensive and defensive zones. He was at the least very close to the top of the NCAA in +/- as a freshman. Weak division or not, that's impressive.
EDIT: Also worth noting is that RIT played against Hockey East's player of the year in the game against UNH, and another Hobey finalist against Denver in Rakshani (sp?) and both were very quiet against the RIT pairing of Ringwald-Tanev.
That was actually a sick play and sweet shot.
RIT did have a great PP, and most of it was because of Ringwald and Tanev (for those of you looking at D man points from RIT). I stated in the prospect signing on Trade rumors, that he may have rode Ringwalds coat tail early on, but he progressed immensely being able to learn from Dan, and made a name for himself. I think Wilson saw the kid had some serious potential and wanted him to become the next Ringwald for the team, hence the pairing of the two.
I will Echo Jflory here, as a RIT Alum I am sad to see him go, would have been nice to have him for a few more years. Ugh, the back end of the Tigers will be very different next year. He is a good puck mover, and will only get better. Must have been some other teams after him with the amount of money they threw at him....Can't blame him for leaving.
So Tanev and Connauton got the same contract, interesting. Oberg's is certainly incentive laden, wow. Poor Sauve seemed to get the short end of the stick. :p
Oberg was probably offered a bigger contract because other teams were in the running. I think a lower cap hit also gives those players a higher chance of getting called up. 1.5m (Oberg) vs .65m (Sweatt) is a big difference.
George Parros, majored in economics and wrote his senior thesis on the West Coast longshoremen's labor dispute.
Case and point.
Parros was still smart enough to be able to make it in the NHL despite not knowing how to skate OR play hockey! That's pretty impressive when you think of it!
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