The problem is he is missing 1 high-end element that brings him from a 2/3 line tweener to a legit top 6 player. (On a very good/contending team)
If one of his speed, hands, shot, or hockey sense were elite we'd have an outstanding player on our hands. That's what I meant by he is good at everything. This is not meant to be a knock on Horak, I have always been impressed by him.
Yea fair enough, I think I am so impressed because I thought 3C was at his peak but if he can keep this play up he could be a Moss type tweener (not in playing style but in the fact that he doesn't look bad on the 2nd line but stands out on the 3rd).
I would say Minnesota's prospect depth didn't have the fanfare outside their fan base that other teams had. Silfverberg overshadowed Larsson. People thought Coyle was overrated and that he dominated a 'weak' league. Brodin was too small and didn't put up a lot of points in the SEL. Granlund too skinny and would be physically dominated. Phillips, Zucker, and Bulmer no one talked about. But man this team is picking up steam. Coyle is awesome. Granlund has his moments but you can see the skill. And Brodin...Brodin is a treat to watch. He might be one of the best defensemen coming out of Sweden in years. He's mature beyond his years.
I know Minnesota fans were giddy when we had Voloshenko, O'Sullivan, Pouliot but this is much different and it's amazing what the front office has assembled.
Bulldogs' best fowards have been Bournival and Holland so far, 2 rookies looking pretty good right now.. On D, Tinordi has a slow start having a tough time to adjust to the AHL speed but his last game was probably his best where he looked much more poised and comfortable.. Beaulieu has been doing everything offensively but the pts arent coming yet, needs to work on his shot but our lack of firepower up front sure doesnt help, he has been surprisingly good defensively as well.. Thats a pretty young blueline with 5 rookies out of 7..
I would say Minnesota's prospect depth didn't have the fanfare outside their fan base that other teams had. Silfverberg overshadowed Larsson. People thought Coyle was overrated and that he dominated a 'weak' league. Brodin was too small and didn't put up a lot of points in the SEL. Granlund too skinny and would be physically dominated. Phillips, Zucker, and Bulmer no one talked about. But man this team is picking up steam. Coyle is awesome. Granlund has his moments but you can see the skill. And Brodin...Brodin is a treat to watch. He might be one of the best defensemen coming out of Sweden in years. He's mature beyond his years.
I know Minnesota fans were giddy when we had Voloshenko, O'Sullivan, Pouliot but this is much different and it's amazing what the front office has assembled.
The Wild have some really nice quality players but you have to remember that the Aeros have played 5 of their 7 games against 3 of the worst teams in the West. November will shed a better light on the prospects in Houston with most of the games coming against middle of the pack or better teams. 4 games against OKC, that will be adding Hall, will not be fun for anyone. Luckily the first few games in December are back against extremely weak competition.
Just got done watching the Norfolk-Binghamton game.
Norfolk
Emerson Etem: Finally came alive. 2 goals tonight and was noticeably involved in the play throughout the game after scoring. Got a little too fancy at times but it was great to see him finally play with some intensity.
Sami Vatanen: Had a weak first period. Turnovers and being outmuscled consistently. Picked it back up through the rest of the game. Had some good steals. Good offensive chances generated. Had two assists that's good for a tie for fourth place in AHL scoring. 3rd among defensemen.
Peter Holland: Had a goal tonight. Watching him, I still get annoyed when he doesn't attack the net more aggressively, but I think of all our propsects with the exception of Smith Pelly and Palmieri who are basically NHLers now, Holland is the most NHL ready prospect of the group. His skillset is pro level now. Mentally he's not playing a dominant enough style of hockey.
Kyle Palmieri: Drew an assist but had another one of those games where I couldn't believe he didn't score. Had a bunch of chances and was deadly all night.
Igor Bobkov: Had a good first period but fell apart after that. Shaky against almost every shot he faced. 3 of the 4 goals he let in could have easily been stopped. Very unhappy with his performance after getting a shutout last week.
Hampus Lindholm. Had a weaker game tonight. Still showing responsible defensive play and positioning for the most part. But he wasn't all that effective offensively. Tried to go end to end and lost it at the blueline 3 different times. Mishandled the puck on the powerplay. Had a few turnovers. But I still take the 18 year old Lindholm over his 29 year old partner Guenin as far as responsible defense goes.
Devante Smith Pelly: More of the same out of him. Generated chances. Brought the physicality....not much else to say there.
Patrick Wiercioch: I was impressed with him. He did well on the powerplay and he's got a pretty good shot. Missed his goal because the feed cut out, but he's pretty good.
J.G. Pageau: A bit undersized but he was pretty involved in the offense. Norfolk used the third pairing on his line early on and he and his line just gave them total hell at times.
Robin Lehner: Kept his team in it in the last few minutes but he struck me as rattled for much of the game. Lost his balance more times than I would be comfortable with as a Bingo fan.
Mika Zibanejad: Didn't notice him much in the first period but he came alive later on. I still say that as far as immediate value goes Zibanejad isn't good enough to be added to Greening for Bobby Ryan straight up. I don't think Z-bad is quite ready for NHL. At least he isn't ready to make a big offensive impact.
Jakob Silfverberg: Like Zibanejad, I didn't notice him all that much in the first period but he came alive as the game progressed. Could do with some skating work, but he's got an absolutely terrific wrist shot. Very impressed.
Mark Stone: Did he play?
Shane Prince: Not impressed. From all the whining and tirepumping I heard when he got snubbed for USA's WJC team, I expected much more out of this kid.
Hugh Jessiman: *******'s got a great shot. Bobkov should've stopped it though. There was no screen.
Stephane Da Costa: His skating has improved since I last saw him. Didn't piece together enough scoring chances though.
Also caught the third period of the Aeros-Barons game
Hall: Brutal headshot to Jonas Brodin. Absolutely uncalled for and it looked like he was head-hunting. Brodin needed help off the ice.
RNH: Didn't notice him...was he out?
Schultz: Only makes me angrier when I see how good he is.
Eberle: Terrific goal on the powerplay. He really has a nose for the net
Coyle: I'm pleasantly surprised by Coyle. He's quite a player. Looks like a good top 6 forward for Minnesota
Granlund: Didn't catch much of him because he injured his ankle. Bad luck for the baby Wild.
Not seeing head contact on Brodin. Looked like he got smoked on the back of the shoulder (reaching with one arm because Hall was beating him to the puck) and got sent into the glass.
Granlund must have fallen on his ankle on the way down. Was a pretty routine bump he took into the boards.
Just got done watching the Norfolk-Binghamton game.
Norfolk
Emerson Etem: Finally came alive. 2 goals tonight and was noticeably involved in the play throughout the game after scoring. Got a little too fancy at times but it was great to see him finally play with some intensity.
Sami Vatanen: Had a weak first period. Turnovers and being outmuscled consistently. Picked it back up through the rest of the game. Had some good steals. Good offensive chances generated. Had two assists that's good for a tie for fourth place in AHL scoring. 3rd among defensemen.
Peter Holland: Had a goal tonight. Watching him, I still get annoyed when he doesn't attack the net more aggressively, but I think of all our propsects with the exception of Smith Pelly and Palmieri who are basically NHLers now, Holland is the most NHL ready prospect of the group. His skillset is pro level now. Mentally he's not playing a dominant enough style of hockey.
Kyle Palmieri: Drew an assist but had another one of those games where I couldn't believe he didn't score. Had a bunch of chances and was deadly all night.
Igor Bobkov: Had a good first period but fell apart after that. Shaky against almost every shot he faced. 3 of the 4 goals he let in could have easily been stopped. Very unhappy with his performance after getting a shutout last week.
Hampus Lindholm. Had a weaker game tonight. Still showing responsible defensive play and positioning for the most part. But he wasn't all that effective offensively. Tried to go end to end and lost it at the blueline 3 different times. Mishandled the puck on the powerplay. Had a few turnovers. But I still take the 18 year old Lindholm over his 29 year old partner Guenin as far as responsible defense goes.
Devante Smith Pelly: More of the same out of him. Generated chances. Brought the physicality....not much else to say there.
Patrick Wiercioch: I was impressed with him. He did well on the powerplay and he's got a pretty good shot. Missed his goal because the feed cut out, but he's pretty good.
J.G. Pageau: A bit undersized but he was pretty involved in the offense. Norfolk used the third pairing on his line early on and he and his line just gave them total hell at times.
Robin Lehner: Kept his team in it in the last few minutes but he struck me as rattled for much of the game. Lost his balance more times than I would be comfortable with as a Bingo fan.
Mika Zibanejad: Didn't notice him much in the first period but he came alive later on. I still say that as far as immediate value goes Zibanejad isn't good enough to be added to Greening for Bobby Ryan straight up. I don't think Z-bad is quite ready for NHL. At least he isn't ready to make a big offensive impact.
Jakob Silfverberg: Like Zibanejad, I didn't notice him all that much in the first period but he came alive as the game progressed. Could do with some skating work, but he's got an absolutely terrific wrist shot. Very impressed.
Mark Stone: Did he play?
Shane Prince: Not impressed. From all the whining and tirepumping I heard when he got snubbed for USA's WJC team, I expected much more out of this kid.
Hugh Jessiman: *******'s got a great shot. Bobkov should've stopped it though. There was no screen.
Stephane Da Costa: His skating has improved since I last saw him. Didn't piece together enough scoring chances though.
Also caught the third period of the Aeros-Barons game
Hall: Brutal headshot to Jonas Brodin. Absolutely uncalled for and it looked like he was head-hunting. Brodin needed help off the ice.
RNH: Didn't notice him...was he out?
Schultz: Only makes me angrier when I see how good he is.
Eberle: Terrific goal on the powerplay. He really has a nose for the net
Coyle: I'm pleasantly surprised by Coyle. He's quite a player. Looks like a good top 6 forward for Minnesota
Granlund: Didn't catch much of him because he injured his ankle. Bad luck for the baby Wild.
Wouldnt go as far as brutal, he came in fast but didnt charge, Brodin left himself very vulnerable. The hit wouldnt have as been as bad if it wasnt for that. Hall didnt take advantage of the vulnerablity, couldnt react fast enough when Brodin tried to poke it
Edit: I refuse to believe it's an accident that the best prospect in Wild gets hit dirty in the same game.
Take off the Wild glasses. That hit was perfectly clean, Hall was going for the puck, Brodin went for the puck at the last moment. Hall never had a chance to react. The damage occurs when Brodin's head hits the dasher.
You'd figure that Wild fans would be experts on dirty, with Cal Clutterbuck on the roster.
Take off the Wild glasses. That hit was perfectly clean, Hall was going for the puck, Brodin went for the puck at the last moment. Hall never had a chance to react. The damage occurs when Brodin's head hits the dasher.
You'd figure that Wild fans would be experts on dirty, with Cal Clutterbuck on the roster.
Nugent gets highsticked and then the next game Granlund and Brodin magically got hammered to hospital. yeah.
Edit: I refuse to believe it's an accident that the best prospect in Wild gets hit dirty in the same game.
In what world was the Teubert hit on Granlund dirty? His skate dug into the ice while he was coming down and he fell awkwardly. I hated to see it but it wasn't dirty.
The Hall hit was a hockey play. Brodin can't skate to the puck with his head down like that in North America.
Brodin reached out when Hall was already at the icing line.. even if he did make head contact (which I still don't see), what is he supposed to do?
Didn't leave his feet, elbow down, coasted into him.. ejected for no reason. Glad to see he can still play after 8 months off though. Tried some stupid toe drags tonight instead of just dumping it in, so hopefully he doesn't think he's back in the OHL.
Yes. Nelson's plan is to only play 2 of Eberle/Hall/RNH each game when we have three in a row I guess. Hall is to sit tomorrow (game suspension or not) and Eberle the third game.
