Good luck getting anything going here discussing anything other than over 15 yr old.
Seems to be a mom and pop spin them up site. I don’t know what happens to their kids when they get past bantam, they all just seem to disappear.
Prospects are interesting; I think it would be good for everyone to get a little more familiar with the league they all seem to think they have made by getting picked in the bantam draft.
I watched a lot of bantam draft picks in training camps and pre-season and they certainly didn’t display the same effort to get noticed that you used to see in the days prior to the bantam draft.
I think the season will open with 6 94 age forwards in the Dub. Most teams are very happy with their 94s. I hope we can hear a little about them on here.
Good luck RS. Keep trying, maybe we can get some whl discussion going or even some AAA midget might be nice.
Good luck getting anything going here discussing anything other than over 15 yr old.
Seems to be a mom and pop spin them up site. I don’t know what happens to their kids when they get past bantam, they all just seem to disappear.
Prospects are interesting; I think it would be good for everyone to get a little more familiar with the league they all seem to think they have made by getting picked in the bantam draft.
I watched a lot of bantam draft picks in training camps and pre-season and they certainly didn’t display the same effort to get noticed that you used to see in the days prior to the bantam draft.
I think the season will open with 6 94 age forwards in the Dub. Most teams are very happy with their 94s. I hope we can hear a little about them on here.
Good luck RS. Keep trying, maybe we can get some whl discussion going or even some AAA midget might be nice.
Bitter, much?
I think the focus on the bantam age group stems from two things: 1) people have more of a personal connection with bantam hockey, because a vastly larger group of people actually come into contact with that level of hockey; and 2) bantam is the springboard for players entering the WHL. So it's not as though discussion about bantam hockey is entirely irrelevant in a WHL forum.
There also isn't really anywhere else to chat about bantam hockey.
I enjoy bantam hockey as much as any. I'm going to a game tomorrow. Great to watch these kids develop so quickly. I’ve surely have nothing to be bitter about, as it couldn’t be much better.
What irritates me is the endless blowing about what place these 14 year olds rate on some kind of talent scale.
The bantam draft was set up try to create parity. It wasn’t to rate players from 1 to 100.
The rating comes when they go to camp. It comes as quite a shock when most find they don't rate at all.
God, take this crap elsewhere. This thread is about the WHL, not bantam hockey. There are sixteen million threads about bantam already.
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Last night was the first night of hockey in the dub with 8 games:
Brandon beat Regina 5-4
Saskatoon beat Prince Albert 3-2
Calgary fell 5-3 to Lethbridge
Swift Current beat Moose Jaw 4-1
Kamloops got by Prince George 5-2
Edmonton fell 4-1 to Red Deer
Everett got a late goal to beat Seattle 4-3
Brendan Gallagher had five points as Vancouver beat Chilliwack 9-4
Disappointed that the Hitmen lost to the Hurricanes in the season opener, especially after taking a 2-0 lead. Brandon Anderson really stood on his head for the Hurricanes.
Hoping for a bounce back effort tonight in Kootenay.
But, wow my Hitmen are not off to a very good start this year. 0 and 2. Ouch.
The game vs Lethbridge was theirs for the taking - had them down 2 to 0 and dominated the shots and play. Then some bad penalties and some weak goaltending cost them the game.
Then vs Kootenay. I don't know what to say about that one. 4 to 0 loss. They just didn't show up for the game and once again - poor goaltending. Calgary hasn't been shut out in more that 2 years.
I know Calgary will be better than this. Matt Mackenzie and Cody Beach are now back from NHL camps. However, goaltending could be the achilles heal of the team. Calgary has been spoiled with likes of Pogge, Spence and Jones. Snider and Holly just don't cut i - maybe it's just nerves???? . Kisio may have to make a move to fill that position.
Ugghh, it's going to be a long season for my Vancouver Giants. The 9-4 win vs. Chilliwack was a bit deceiving. We were matching them shot for shot and then when we finally got the lead, it looked like Chilliwack just gave up.
I drove down to the game in Everett, hoping to see them pick up where they left off from the previous night, but instead I saw probably one of the worst defensive displays that I can remember with this club. Some looked like defensive miscues, others were thanks to a total lack of effort.
Portland was much of the same from what I heard. No defense, and even worse effort.
We have 11 completely new players to the team this season, and then the rest only had a handful of games with the team last season. Cunningham, Gallagher, Henry and Manning are the only vets that have spent more than 1 season with the club. Might take a while to teach all these new kids what Don Hay hockey is all about.
No doubt that us Giants fans have been spoiled the last 5 seasons, and it's finally caught up to us. It's junior hockey, and that's expected. But I remember in those first few years where we weren't always the best team on the ice, but the effort was there. I"ll have no problems if this team barely gets in the playoffs so long as they give it their all, and play a "team first" attitude. It was noticeably lacking the past two games.
Is it too early to hope the Red Deer Rebels might actually be good this year? They play Kootney tonight, hopefully they can keep it going!
btw is anyone else having trouble reading who in the league is going to be good this year? I figure Portland, especially if they get Nino back, and Saskatoon i think will have a good season, but who else? Calgary? Vancouver?
Everett is looking pretty strong right now. They can challenge Portland and Tri-City for the division. Definitely my darkhorse team if they make the playoffs.
Everett is looking pretty strong right now. They can challenge Portland and Tri-City for the division. Definitely my darkhorse team if they make the playoffs.
I second this. I still have to see what Kelowna can offer, but right now I'm picking two US Division teams to meet in the Western Conference final. I think Portland will be there, the other is a toss up between Tri-City and Everett. (God, please not Everett).
Tri City with back to back one goal wins against Kelowna. 4-3 and 1-0. 4-0 start to the year. At Spoke tonight, should be a good one, it always is entertaining when they play each other.
Spokane jumps to a 3-1 lead and then early in the second the score is 4-2. After that late in the 2nd and early in the 3rd Tri-City scores 3 straight goals to take the lead, 5-4. With 1 minute left Gal for Spokane ties the game and then wins it in overtime 6-5.
Kelowna season ticket holder - Really thought we would have a better team, the 2 home games I went to they dont look good. Mind you Barrie really didnt play in the first game and didnt dress for the second, and McColgan has not played yet, St.Denis is gone till xmas (probably gone for ever with concussion problems), but even so I expected more. I havent been a fan of coach Huska since he started here and this team looks disorganized and messy and I blame that on coach.
The team could really improve though if those 2 come back and Hamilton is quite hopeful that Pulkuninn(sp) will end up here after the WJC much like Backlund did. Our best player in the couple games here so far has been Damon Severson - no points but has looked great and is a 1994 D. He looks like another in the Rockets list of great D. Brown is a solid goalie, not the next Patrick Roy or anything but solid - typical Hamilton team.
I look forward to seeing the full healthy team. With their 2 best players out it is hard to judge where they are at.
