Yes, but I believe there was an age difference. Okposo went to college immediately after he was drafted, at age 18. Lee is a year older, and still in the USHL. The better comparison would be Jason Gregoire. He led the league in scoring as a 19 year old. Lee has a long ways to go, but very promising start. I'd rather the Isles just sign him and put him in the AHL next year. He'll be 20 to start next season, I believe.
I don't think you can look purely at age in these cases. Lee was in HS last year, and he split his attention between football and hockey until very recently. So he might be a year older, but his "hockey age" is probably a bit younger. The bottom line is it's pretty impressive to move up to a higher level and be a top player in the league while you're making the adjustment. Next year will tell us more, but in the meanwhile this is good output for a bottom round pick.
Yes, but I believe there was an age difference. Okposo went to college immediately after he was drafted, at age 18. Lee is a year older, and still in the USHL. The better comparison would be Jason Gregoire. He led the league in scoring as a 19 year old. Lee has a long ways to go, but very promising start. I'd rather the Isles just sign him and put him in the AHL next year. He'll be 20 to start next season, I believe.
Maybe so, but Gregoire, Okposo, and Lee are all completely different players as far as style. What's similar about them all, though, is that they can affect the game when they don't score. So Kyle being Playoff MVP and Gregoire being Offensive MVP and Lee with the lead in scoring and +/- are all bonuses in addition to what they do to contribute to the team's effort. Lee is a center while Gregoire and Okposo are wingers, but all of them are the grit-and-hustle type who like to get physical and are willing to take out the trash to help the team win. All three are very defensively responsible. It just so happens that they all have pretty good hands as well. The differences lie in approach, which is hard to explain if you haven't seen all three of them play.
I don't think you can look purely at age in these cases. Lee was in HS last year, and he split his attention between football and hockey until very recently. So he might be a year older, but his "hockey age" is probably a bit younger. The bottom line is it's pretty impressive to move up to a higher level and be a top player in the league while you're making the adjustment. Next year will tell us more, but in the meanwhile this is good output for a bottom round pick.
I agree part of the development stride here is due to the fact he is now playing hockey full time without the football and baseball thrown in. For comparison of kids drafted and ranked in 2009 who are in or have played their rookie year in the USHL.
More interesting it is quite clear CCS has no handle on the Minnesota kids coming out of HS.
Louis Leblanc 1st round -08 (Omaha) 28g 31a +7
Danny Kristo 2nd round -08 (Omaha) 20g 35a +2
Alex Chiasson 2nd round -09 (Des Moines) 17g 33a -9
Josh Birkholz 3rd round - 09 (Fargo) 21g 15a -3
Craig Smith 4th round - 09 (Chicago Steel) 8g 10a +6
Nick Oliver 4th round -09 (HS-Rosseau) Fargo 3g 10a -3
Anders Lee 6th round - 09 (HS-Edina) Green Bay 28g 24a +31
Eric Haula 7th round - 09 (Shattuck) Omaha 24g 38a +30
Can anyone tell me the Knock on Blake Kessel? I ofcourse have not seen him play however he seems to have good size and scoring ability and responsible in his own zone. Has all the intanibles to be a top prospect but never seems to get mentioned.
Can anyone tell me the Knock on Blake Kessel? I ofcourse have not seen him play however he seems to have good size and scoring ability and responsible in his own zone. Has all the intanibles to be a top prospect but never seems to get mentioned.
Does anyone know what is wrong with his game?
He was taken with a very late round pick but seems to be progressing faster then anyone could have ever imagined. I would have to say lets see what he does next year as a junior before even thinking about graduating him to a toppish tier prospect.
I have seen him a bunch and he has some wheels and does everything right at this point. When it comes to Dmen like him, being drafted so late it will take a lot more to get respect.
I feel he should be getting more respect but also feel like he could be a major sleeper 3 years from now.
I want the Isles to try and sign undrafted FA Bobby Butler after U of NH finishes the season.
He was taken with a very late round pick but seems to be progressing faster then anyone could have ever imagined. I would have to say lets see what he does next year as a junior before even thinking about graduating him to a toppish tier prospect.
I have seen him a bunch and he has some wheels and does everything right at this point. When it comes to Dmen like him, being drafted so late it will take a lot more to get respect.
I feel he should be getting more respect but also feel like he could be a major sleeper 3 years from now.
I want the Isles to try and sign undrafted FA Bobby Butler after U of NH finishes the season.
Sneekypete,
Does he have similar speed to his brother ? That would be insane, he'd be one of the fastest D-men in hockey if he did.
Does he have similar speed to his brother ? That would be insane, he'd be one of the fastest D-men in hockey if he did.
At this point he is a couple of steps behind Hillen. If he had the speed of his brother he would be a top 5 prospect for the Isles and well inside the top 100 for the NHL.
Also he needs to get TOUGHER he does play soft like his brother but not as soft.
The University of Denver with Rhett Rakhshani and Matt Donovan won the WCHA Championship tonight with a 4-3 OT win against Minnesota State. Fittingly Rhett scored the winning goal with 13 seconds left in OT. Denver has 2 regular season games left against Colorado College next weekend. They will then be the #1 seed in the WCHA Playoffs. They are currently the #1 team in the country in all of the polls and are the #1 team in the Pairwise standings which are used to seed the NCAA tournament.
The University of Denver with Rhett Rakhshani and Matt Donovan won the WCHA Championship tonight with a 4-3 OT win against Minnesota State. Fittingly Rhett scored the winning goal with 13 seconds left in OT. Denver has 2 regular season games left against Colorado College next weekend. They will then be the #1 seed in the WCHA Playoffs. They are currently the #1 team in the country in all of the polls and are the #1 team in the Pairwise standings which are used to seed the NCAA tournament.
has there been a lot a talk of Rhett being a Hobey finalist?
hamonic -2 and 0 pts in his return from injury and debut for the wheat kings. hopefully he is able to shake the rust off pretty quickly.
Anything more recent on Hamonic?
He is playing with new teammates, new pairings, and has been recuperating since WJC so it is not a huge surprise if he gets off to a slow start.
Anything more recent on Hamonic?
He is playing with new teammates, new pairings, and has been recuperating since WJC so it is not a huge surprise if he gets off to a slow start.
