hwkfan wrote:oh, i thought this was a scouting report thread. you seem to make it another ness/gardiner thread and pimp a gopher recruit.
And you have posted mainly to trash Blog, a very insightful poster.
Fine that you disagree with him on the Gardiner debate. Why not just agree to disagree and leave it at that?
FWIW, I know an NHL scout that LOVES Gardiner. He cited all the reasons Blog did. Talent oozes out of him. Still, the comments about him not having the polish of Ness don't seem unfair.
komada77 wrote:Jake Gardiner-Minnetonka: Top NHL prospect in the state. Tall, lanky kid. Grew up playing forward, switched to D as a sophomore. Still learning how to play defense and is already very good at it. Excellent offensive defenseman.
Tyler Zepeda-Hill Murray: Very small (5'9", 155) forward. One of the fastest skaters in the state. If he gets on a breakaway, no one will catch him. Absolutely refuses to hit or be hit, shies away from all contact. Still a very skilled player.
Joe Gleason-Edina: Another very good skater on the blue line. Moves puck well. Racks up lots of assists, partially because of the ridiculous amount of talent surrounding him, so it's difficult to tell just how good he really is.
Aaron Ness-Roseau: Probably the most naturally gifted hockey player in the state. What he lacks in size (5-10, 165) he more than makes up for in pure playmaking ability. Absolutely owns the blue line. Unfortuantely, scouts have said he "couldn't break rice paper with his shot." Nonetheless, he is the only player in the state who, when you watch him play, you know he belongs on the ice.
David Eddy-Woodbury: Not necessarily a top prospect, but seems to be quite underrated. Leads SEC in scoring. Not the biggest kid around (5-10, 175) but loves to throw his body around and lays some vicious hits. Has excellent vision on the ice and is a good playmaker.
You are a hockey idiot to think Zepeda belongs in the same group as the others listed. He is no where near a complete player.
Very fast with upside......I will give you that.
I agree 100% Eddy isn't on taht level either. I had planned on doing quite a few of these on more players just because I know everybody is sick of hearing about how good Ness and Gardiner are. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough time to do more reports on guys like Youso, Cecka, Olson, O'Neill, etc. (Those are guys I think are very interesting players, but by no means the best.) I'll try and get some more out when i can
insightful? guess that's your opinion. i was at the game in which gardiner did indeed dominate. my guess would be the dozens and dozens of nhl scouts there would agree. 2 g's and an assist in a 3-2 win against the 1 or 2 team in the state. if my math is right he personally scored or contributed to more goals than his opponet (the might hornets and probably the best set of forwards in the state) was able to produce. he was on a different level than the rest of the players on the ice and has played his position less than any of them. (there were probably 10 div I players on the ice). gopher blogs 'insightful' info was that he didnt play well and hardly dominated. i wasnt on here to trash him but to point out that maybe his insight was a little biased and that his description of gardiners game have a diff insight had he committed to the U.
ok, we can agree to never agree.
O-townClown wrote:And you have posted mainly to trash Blog, a very insightful poster.
Fine that you disagree with him on the Gardiner debate. Why not just agree to disagree and leave it at that?
FWIW, I know an NHL scout that LOVES Gardiner. He cited all the reasons Blog did. Talent oozes out of him. Still, the comments about him not having the polish of Ness don't seem unfair.
I appreciate the support. I think if you go back and look at this one guy's past posts, you'll see a pattern there in which he continually tries to hype up one player (I am sure you can guess who it is) and isn't immune from taking shots at Roseau. So I guess it is not really a surprise that he would take my remarks as being unfair. Like I said, it is rather ironic that this individual then tries to use the "bias card" on others in the discussion. The proverbial pot calling the kettle black I'd say.
The funny thing is, I have actually said quite a few nice things about the Gardiner as well. Its just that I feel somebody else is a better player right now and a certain poster simply doesn't like it. It isn't a big deal to me if somebody feels otherwise. Everybody is entitled to their opinion and it this particular individual feels different, I am OK with that. I do think he has ties to the player or something because he sure has his panties in a bunch over one person's opinion.
Blog, we all have biases. The question is what do you do with them. You've conceded that Gardiner may be a better player down the line but stated that Ness is better for a HS player today. Hardly seems like a crime.
Jake Gardiner will do well with hockey. He'll probably be a 1st Rounder. He may even play in the NHL someday. I find it funny that someone things your few comments are going to upset the apple cart and derail his progress.
Maybe Minnetonka gets to play Roseau this year and they can be on the ice against each other.
The kid that I think is going to surprise all of you in the draft is Derek Stepan from Hastings. I just read the Mckeens report out of Canada and he makes it sound like Stepan has really seen his draft status rise in the last 3-4 months. I know that he went to Slovakia with the 17's and must of played very well because the report says he won't be around after the top 50 drafts. I quess it's wait and see. It sure is nice to see the Minnesota kids getting drafed so high.
Hwkfn seems like he has to be right all the time, that's why he has to nit pick about the name of a certain tournament and why he can't admit he's not as smart as Blog. I say that even though I agree that Gardiner may be the better of the two.
Some more names to watch just in case these northern players get to the Dance.
Sam Rendle, Grand Rapids - Scored the OT goal against Burnsville in the AA semis last March. Small, shifty with a ton of hockey sense. May be slowed vs. the Tornadoes with a shoulder injury suffered against Forest Lake, though.
Justin Jokinen, Cloquet - Tremendously skilled, big kid.
Any of these East kids - Tardy, Boese, Rob Johnson and the netminder, junior Matt Cooper. All are highly skilled, but the team is just now getting past missing Keegan Flaherty, at Green Bay (USHL) for his senior year.
Aaron Jamnick, Hibbing - Always seems to be in the right spot at the right time. Father was 4-year starting catcher at NDSU, so he's got the athletic goods.
Everyone knows about Falls' Jake Yuoso, but his linemate, Ladd Corrin can bury the puck from anywhere below the blue line.
eastranger19 wrote:Don't get to worked up LZ94, it's probably one of the Fruit of the Loom cheerleader guy's from G.R. that has never played before, but know's everything about the game and players. Hopefully we will see him at the Decc. shaking his pom-pom's.
mnmouth wrote:Some more names to watch just in case these northern players get to the Dance.
Sam Rendle, Grand Rapids - Scored the OT goal against Burnsville in the AA semis last March. Small, shifty with a ton of hockey sense. May be slowed vs. the Tornadoes with a shoulder injury suffered against Forest Lake, though.
Justin Jokinen, Cloquet - Tremendously skilled, big kid.
Any of these East kids - Tardy, Boese, Rob Johnson and the netminder, junior Matt Cooper. All are highly skilled, but the team is just now getting past missing Keegan Flaherty, at Green Bay (USHL) for his senior year.
Aaron Jamnick, Hibbing - Always seems to be in the right spot at the right time. Father was 4-year starting catcher at NDSU, so he's got the athletic goods.
Everyone knows about Falls' Jake Yuoso, but his linemate, Ladd Corrin can bury the puck from anywhere below the blue line.
they have done just fine without him or the other senior who quit how can you say they are just now getting past missing keegan? the team put keegan leaving behind them right after he decided to leave, never looking back one bit. the only issues they had were goalie problems, and that seems to be solved too
O-townClown wrote:Blog, we all have biases. The question is what do you do with them. You've conceded that Gardiner may be a better player down the line but stated that Ness is better for a HS player today. Hardly seems like a crime.
Jake Gardiner will do well with hockey. He'll probably be a 1st Rounder. He may even play in the NHL someday. I find it funny that someone things your few comments are going to upset the apple cart and derail his progress.
Maybe Minnetonka gets to play Roseau this year and they can be on the ice against each other.
They scrimmaged in the very beginning of the year the score was 1-0 Minnetonka. Guess who scored minnetonka's goal? Jake Gardiner.
mnmouth wrote:Some more names to watch just in case these northern players get to the Dance.
Any of these East kids - Tardy, Boese, Rob Johnson and the netminder, junior Matt Cooper. All are highly skilled, but the team is just now getting past missing Keegan Flaherty, at Green Bay (USHL) for his senior
they have done just fine without him or the other senior who quit how can you say they are just now getting past missing keegan? the team put keegan leaving behind them right after he decided to leave, never looking back one bit. the only issues they had were goalie problems, and that seems to be solved too
DE has a very good team...how much better they would (have been) had Keegan stayed?..we'll never know...but they would have been better... he is a high end player...kids who represent the State of MN at National Select Festivals are tough to replace...DE is one of the few programs with enough depth to absorb this type of loss...will it make a difference on Feb 23rd or Feb 28th..we'll just have to wait and see.
Hockeyguy_27 wrote:Anders Lee: Big, strong, skilled and smart power forward for the Hornets. I can't believe no one seems to see in this kid what I see.
Have to agree with you HG27, To mention Budish and Everson without Lee is silly, he has been incredible consistent all year, second in team goal scoring and has not had the luxury of playing with Edina's top talent. With their recent move of putting Lee with Budish and Everson, many will be able to see how complete his game his is....
