Cowtownguy Posted July 7, 2017 Report Share Posted July 7, 2017 Did anyone else here watch the scrimmage today? I find it difficult to assess players on the basis of one game. Having said that, I though Kylington, Ollas-Mattsson, Andersson, and Parsons looked great out there. I am interested to see these folks in the NHL when the time is right. Dube has some great moves on him. The biggest surprise for me was Valimaki. I thought that he had great energy and drive. He easily keeps up with the others. Hunter Smith has clearly worked on his skating. I am just not convinced that he has the coordination and balance to play at the next stage. I suspect that either you have that raw physical talent/ability, or you do not. You can learn to skate faster and work harder, but you can only improve your balance to an extent. If anyone has information to the contrary, I would be interested in hearing about it. Finally, Foo played well. He has a sizeable fan base already. When he scored, there were a lot of "Foos" to be heard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conundrumed Posted July 7, 2017 Report Share Posted July 7, 2017 I had the best intentions of going yesterday and today, but was foiled. How does Smith compare to Carroll? I have never had much hope Smith could be an NHLer due to the coordination he lacks that you mention. Sounds like Parsons has had a great camp to start out. Now he I believe has solid NHL potential, for those thinking the Knights inflated him, not the case. He has a great base of skills. It's hard to assess at the level they're playing right now, because it's below the quality we hope they get to. Who were Foo's linemates? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowtownguy Posted July 7, 2017 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2017 7 minutes ago, conundrumed said: I had the best intentions of going yesterday and today, but was foiled. How does Smith compare to Carroll? I have never had much hope Smith could be an NHLer due to the coordination he lacks that you mention. Sounds like Parsons has had a great camp to start out. Now he I believe has solid NHL potential, for those thinking the Knights inflated him, not the case. He has a great base of skills. It's hard to assess at the level they're playing right now, because it's below the quality we hope they get to. Who were Foo's linemates? I am kind of down on Smith and high on Carroll. Carroll was not there unfortunately. Although picked in the 6th or 7th round, it sounds as though Carroll has developed well. I think it is pretty obvious that Parsons is a solid goaltender. He faced a few breakaways and handled them with ease. He handles scrambles close to the net well too. I know people like goalies to develop for a long time in the AHL. I would not be surprised if he can handle the NHL sooner than later. You know, they changed lines so frequently, I did not see who played with Foo. He did score a gooder though. He can really jet when he wants to, and has the ability to think quickly. I think that was a solid acquisition. Believe it or not, Kylington's skating was even better this year. His skating is smooth as silk. He moves laterally with ease. He is also making wiser decisions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conundrumed Posted July 7, 2017 Report Share Posted July 7, 2017 Just now, Cowtownguy said: I am kind of down on Smith and high on Carroll. Carroll was not there unfortunately. Although picked in the 6th or 7th round, it sounds as though Carroll has developed well. I think it is pretty obvious that Parsons is a solid goaltender. He faced a few breakaways and handled them with ease. He handles scrambles close to the net well too. I know people like goalies to develop for a long time in the AHL. I would not be surprised if he can handle the NHL sooner than later. You know, they changed lines so frequently, I did not see who played with Foo. He did score a gooder though. He can really jet when he wants to, and has the ability to think quickly. I think that was a solid acquisition. Believe it or not, Kylington's skating was even better this year. His skating is smooth as silk. He moves laterally with ease. He is also making wiser decisions. I am always a big supporter of players that fall hard in their draft year, so I am very happy we have one. I think the knock on Kyl has always been adding mass to be more effective in the D zone. One thing I'm leery about with Foo. He has never put up great numbers until last year at Union. He's never dominated his leagues with big numbers. The NCAA isn't at our jr level yet, so I'm always opined that 99% of guys that get an NHL look are Jooris' and Hathaways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
travel_dude Posted July 7, 2017 Report Share Posted July 7, 2017 8 minutes ago, conundrumed said: I am always a big supporter of players that fall hard in their draft year, so I am very happy we have one. I think the knock on Kyl has always been adding mass to be more effective in the D zone. One thing I'm leery about with Foo. He has never put up great numbers until last year at Union. He's never dominated his leagues with big numbers. The NCAA isn't at our jr level yet, so I'm always opined that 99% of guys that get an NHL look are Jooris' and Hathaways. I think you have to expand the view a bit for recent grads. Jimmy Vesey. Forget the draft ranking. Played at Harvard in his junior (same as Foo) and senior years. Junior year - 37g, 32g, 26a for 56 points Senior year - 33g, 24g, 22a for 46 points NHL rookie year - 80g, 16g, 11a for 27 points Foo Junior year - 38g, 26g, 36a for 62 points Big difference between Foo and Vesey is the added year in college. As well as the 6'3" part of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conundrumed Posted July 7, 2017 Report Share Posted July 7, 2017 38 minutes ago, travel_dude said: I think you have to expand the view a bit for recent grads. Jimmy Vesey. Forget the draft ranking. Played at Harvard in his junior (same as Foo) and senior years. Junior year - 37g, 32g, 26a for 56 points Senior year - 33g, 24g, 22a for 46 points NHL rookie year - 80g, 16g, 11a for 27 points Foo Junior year - 38g, 26g, 36a for 62 points Big difference between Foo and Vesey is the added year in college. As well as the 6'3" part of course. I don't think so... I don't view Vesey in the same light as you do...I think he's extremely average. Do you have a better example? Vesey was hyped a ton. He's an okay NHLer, unless you're expecting him to explode anytime soon. I'm not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_People1 Posted July 7, 2017 Report Share Posted July 7, 2017 Are these games broadcasted anywhere? Or any videos online? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowtownguy Posted July 7, 2017 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2017 19 minutes ago, The_People1 said: Are these games broadcasted anywhere? Or any videos online? I believe that they were last year. I think they were put on this site? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAC331 Posted July 7, 2017 Report Share Posted July 7, 2017 1 hour ago, conundrumed said: I don't think so... I don't view Vesey in the same light as you do...I think he's extremely average. Do you have a better example? Vesey was hyped a ton. He's an okay NHLer, unless you're expecting him to explode anytime soon. I'm not. The college players have to have the extra drive and determination once they arrive because they don't have the reps due to the number of games played. The things I like about Foo is that he is 23 years old so there should be some maturity, 6' 185LBS with speed and a goal scoring touch. Let's see what he brings for our RW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_People1 Posted July 7, 2017 Report Share Posted July 7, 2017 51 minutes ago, Cowtownguy said: I believe that they were last year. I think they were put on this site? I remember watching something filmed from Winsport but I believe a random fan recorded it and put it on YouTube? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
travel_dude Posted July 7, 2017 Report Share Posted July 7, 2017 2 hours ago, conundrumed said: I don't think so... I don't view Vesey in the same light as you do...I think he's extremely average. Do you have a better example? Vesey was hyped a ton. He's an okay NHLer, unless you're expecting him to explode anytime soon. I'm not. That's not bad for a rookie; not Matthews results, but not bad. I'm not trying to hype Vesey either. It's simply a reasonable comparison of two NCAA players that had similar results in college. Not apples to apples but Dvorak had this in his rookie season - 78g, 15g, 18a for 33 points. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conundrumed Posted July 7, 2017 Report Share Posted July 7, 2017 12 minutes ago, travel_dude said: That's not bad for a rookie; not Matthews results, but not bad. I'm not trying to hype Vesey either. It's simply a reasonable comparison of two NCAA players that had similar results in college. Not apples to apples but Dvorak had this in his rookie season - 78g, 15g, 18a for 33 points. That is epic. You know I love Dvorak the ninja! But I'm pretty sure Vesey isn't Dvorak, trust me on this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowtownguy Posted July 8, 2017 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2017 1 hour ago, The_People1 said: I remember watching something filmed from Winsport but I believe a random fan recorded it and put it on YouTube? I noticed an older feller had a pretty fancy smancy camera and was recording it again this year. I suspect that it will be made available again. I will keep an eye out for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
travel_dude Posted July 8, 2017 Report Share Posted July 8, 2017 51 minutes ago, conundrumed said: That is epic. You know I love Dvorak the ninja! But I'm pretty sure Vesey isn't Dvorak, trust me on this one. I thought you might appreciate that one. Points man. Only comparison that applies. If Foo could get 15 goals in his rookie NHL season, I think it would be a pretty good start. Not a lot of data out there for ECAC, but Janko had an NHL equivalent of 34.4 Johnny's last season was an NHLe of 67.24, IIRC. Food for thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowtownguy Posted July 8, 2017 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2017 3 minutes ago, travel_dude said: I thought you might appreciate that one. Points man. Only comparison that applies. If Foo could get 15 goals in his rookie NHL season, I think it would be a pretty good start. Not a lot of data out there for ECAC, but Janko had an NHL equivalent of 34.4 Johnny's last season was an NHLe of 67.24, IIRC. Food for thought. I thought that Foo looked pretty good. It is clear that he has explosive speed and great eye-hand coordination. Even Parsons gave him a clap for an amazing goal scored on him. As well, there was a point in the scrimmage where the puck was poorly passed to him as he was going to the net. He decided to take a swing at it when behind the net still moving forward, and somehow got his stick on it. It was one of those plays you expect nothing to come from and he made something of it. The talent is clearly there. The only question is how he will compare to NHL players at the outset. So, basically, I think it is a matter of time. I have been wrong before, but I feel pretty confident that he is going to be a solid player before long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix66 Posted July 8, 2017 Report Share Posted July 8, 2017 This is just Sick.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjgallow Posted July 8, 2017 Report Share Posted July 8, 2017 How's Adam Fox been? Valimaki? Wish could have seen it. Glad to see Spencer Foo had an impact. Encouraging....and expected, he should crack the lineup. https://flamesnation.ca/2017/07/08/standouts-from-the-flames-2017-development-camp/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
travel_dude Posted July 8, 2017 Report Share Posted July 8, 2017 30 minutes ago, jjgallow said: How's Adam Fox been? Valimaki? Wish could have seen it. Glad to see Spencer Foo had an impact. Encouraging....and expected, he should crack the lineup. https://flamesnation.ca/2017/07/08/standouts-from-the-flames-2017-development-camp/ Here's another read for you from Haynes: http://www.flamesfrom80feet.ca/2017/07/flames-development-camp-2017-eight.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjgallow Posted July 8, 2017 Report Share Posted July 8, 2017 12 minutes ago, travel_dude said: Here's another read for you from Haynes: http://www.flamesfrom80feet.ca/2017/07/flames-development-camp-2017-eight.html Thanks, that's a good writeup. Very encouraging. It is what it is....which isn't much. But I'm glad it went well this way. Especially with Fox and Valimaki Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowtownguy Posted July 8, 2017 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2017 1 hour ago, jjgallow said: How's Adam Fox been? Valimaki? Wish could have seen it. Glad to see Spencer Foo had an impact. Encouraging....and expected, he should crack the lineup. https://flamesnation.ca/2017/07/08/standouts-from-the-flames-2017-development-camp/ Fox was solid, but not really that noticeable in the scrimmage. Of course, it is difficult to take in everything. Often defencemen don't really shine in that environment unless they are overly offensive. I suspect that Valimaki is going to be in the NHL sooner than many of us thought (or me at least). He seems to have an unusual aggressive streak in him. The type of player who is quite congenial until he gets the skates on. Foo has got the speed and talent. I am not sure why I have this reservation, but I just worry about him getting clocked big time in the NHL. Maybe the scrimmage is not representative of his usual play. He just plays so wide open that I could see him being hit in a way that would make Scott Stevens proud. Valimaki seems to monitor other players and watches for them (keeps his head up). Foo seems a lot more focused on offensive opportunities (maybe head not up). Pollack sure has an evil fricken shot when he needs it. The only poor goal let in by Parsons was a wicked snap shot of all types, that just blew by him. Even being behind Parsons I had a hard time tracking the puck. Really liked Parsons. Cannot say enough. Like I said, a scrimmage gives you a sense of tendencies. Likely not all that representative of play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjgallow Posted July 8, 2017 Report Share Posted July 8, 2017 1 hour ago, Cowtownguy said: Really liked Parsons. Cannot say enough. wanna try anyway? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conundrumed Posted July 8, 2017 Report Share Posted July 8, 2017 1 hour ago, Cowtownguy said: Fox was solid, but not really that noticeable in the scrimmage. Of course, it is difficult to take in everything. Often defencemen don't really shine in that environment unless they are overly offensive. I suspect that Valimaki is going to be in the NHL sooner than many of us thought (or me at least). He seems to have an unusual aggressive streak in him. The type of player who is quite congenial until he gets the skates on. Foo has got the speed and talent. I am not sure why I have this reservation, but I just worry about him getting clocked big time in the NHL. Maybe the scrimmage is not representative of his usual play. He just plays so wide open that I could see him being hit in a way that would make Scott Stevens proud. Valimaki seems to monitor other players and watches for them (keeps his head up). Foo seems a lot more focused on offensive opportunities (maybe head not up). Pollack sure has an evil fricken shot when he needs it. The only poor goal let in by Parsons was a wicked snap shot of all types, that just blew by him. Even being behind Parsons I had a hard time tracking the puck. Really liked Parsons. Cannot say enough. Like I said, a scrimmage gives you a sense of tendencies. Likely not all that representative of play. In London, even in their MC in his draft year, they had some really poor D play. This past year, it was Parsons that got them past Windsor and pressed Erie into game 7 OT. Those were the 2 best Canadian jr teams this year according to the Memorial Cup. There is no reason we shouldn't all be excited with him in our system. One word I'd use to describe his jr play is intimidating. It was intimidating for other teams knowing he's back there. He garnered a ton of hatred, and when you're a goalie, that's exactly what you feed on. He has a real edge to his game ala Quick and Price, hopefully it keeps translating as he moves ahead. He is eligible for the A this year as he turns 20 in Sept, or am I mistaken? If so, Gillies has really big competition for starter. Imho, I think Gillies will be surpassed and Parsons will be Mrazek-like in the A. His fight to keep pucks out is impressive enough, let alone the basics for goalies, absorbing pucks, angles, reflex, reads etc. He's a good 'er, and I really don't think he has many holes to work on...time will tell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conundrumed Posted July 8, 2017 Report Share Posted July 8, 2017 18 minutes ago, jjgallow said: wanna try anyway? I had a good long talk with a friend about this over a 4 hour flight. It came down to, take him off of the Knights and how good are they. We agreed on, "not very". Trade Parsons to the Sting for our #1 Goalie, whoever that is month-to-month. What do you think would happen? He's been an impact player, as a goalie, with a lot of trophies to prove it. He's ours, and he's really good. lol. He isn't used to losing, let's put it that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAC331 Posted July 8, 2017 Report Share Posted July 8, 2017 Just now, conundrumed said: I had a good long talk with a friend about this over a 4 hour flight. It came down to, take him off of the Knights and how good are they. We agreed on, "not very". Trade Parsons to the Sting for our #1 Goalie, whoever that is month-to-month. What do you think would happen? He's been an impact player, as a goalie, with a lot of trophies to prove it. He's ours, and he's really good. lol. He isn't used to losing, let's put it that way. Side question because I don't watch either league, what are the main differences between ECHL and the AHL from a competition stand point ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAC331 Posted July 8, 2017 Report Share Posted July 8, 2017 3 hours ago, travel_dude said: Here's another read for you from Haynes: http://www.flamesfrom80feet.ca/2017/07/flames-development-camp-2017-eight.html THX TD that was a very good summary. People say this was a weak draft but I think we ended up with 3 really good players. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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