[sirensong87]

SchroederDaShredder, on Oct 6 2009, 11:06 AM, said:

Don't you think is kinda too soon to say something like that? He wasn't even drafted 1 year ago, and your saying trade him? Unbelievable. From what I heard about him, hes not even bad defensively. It's just the minus 6 that is scaring people like yourself.

He's a -8 thru 8 games.

And he is that bad defensively, hes a 19yr old who played with men last year and is now playing lesser competition and looks as bad defensively as he did in college last year. If his defensive game wasnt as lacking as it was he wouldn't have been slated to be a 5th rd pick because the offense is there and thats what made Gillis take him early was his upside offensively. They believe he has room to grow and that he's smart enough to learn defensive hockey but as of right now his defensive game is amongst if not the worst among 19yr old prospects in the CHL.

[DeNiro]

sirensong87, on Oct 6 2009, 08:07 PM, said:

He's a -8 thru 8 games.

And he is that bad defensively, hes a 19yr old who played with men last year and is now playing lesser competition and looks as bad defensively as he did in college last year. If his defensive game wasnt as lacking as it was he wouldn't have been slated to be a 5th rd pick because the offense is there and thats what made Gillis take him early was his upside offensively. They believe he has room to grow and that he's smart enough to learn defensive hockey but as of right now his defensive game is amongst if not the worst among 19yr old prospects in the CHL.

Willie Mitchell is also our leading scorer...You gotta realize that stats don't always tell the whole story. And offensive defenceman are usually minus players. There's plenty of time for him to round out his defensive game, he's probably got at least three years till he is even considered for this team anyways.

[SchroederDaShredder]

sirensong87, on Oct 6 2009, 08:07 PM, said:

He's a -8 thru 8 games.

And he is that bad defensively, hes a 19yr old who played with men last year and is now playing lesser competition and looks as bad defensively as he did in college last year. If his defensive game wasnt as lacking as it was he wouldn't have been slated to be a 5th rd pick because the offense is there and thats what made Gillis take him early was his upside offensively. They believe he has room to grow and that he's smart enough to learn defensive hockey but as of right now his defensive game is amongst if not the worst among 19yr old prospects in the CHL.

Wow, I am personally not impressed with someone that is -8 through 8 games, but cmon, slow down a bit. As the guy above me said, we are not really expecting him to jump into the lineup anytime soon anyways, on top of that, if it turns out a bad pick, it was a bad 3rd round pick. It's not like it was a 1st rounder.

But the point is to right now, slow down, calm down, he is a 3rd rounder, that is minus 8, but is almost a PPG guy.

[canucklehead44]

One more year in the dub and 3 years on the Moose should fix his defensive play.

[Gnickers87]

sirensong87, on Oct 6 2009, 08:07 PM, said:

He's a -8 thru 8 games.

And he is that bad defensively, hes a 19yr old who played with men last year and is now playing lesser competition and looks as bad defensively as he did in college last year. If his defensive game wasnt as lacking as it was he wouldn't have been slated to be a 5th rd pick because the offense is there and thats what made Gillis take him early was his upside offensively. They believe he has room to grow and that he's smart enough to learn defensive hockey but as of right now his defensive game is amongst if not the worst among 19yr old prospects in the CHL.

If Mason Raymond can go from one-dimensional speedster to a very good PKer
If Kyle Wellwood can become a good 2-way Center
if Michael Grabner can learn to play decent defense

then I'm pretty sure Kevin Connauton can improve his defensive game.

This post has been edited by Gnickers87: 08 October 2009 - 01:45 PM

[Hafizzle]

canucklehead44, on Oct 7 2009, 02:08 AM, said:

One more year in the dub and 3 years on the Moose should fix his defensive play.

Yep, he's a long term prospect for sure but I feel like he'll turn out to be a solid player down the road.

As Gnickers said, if Wellwood and Raymond can learn to play 2 way games and be responsible defensively then Connauton can do it as well.

[Get real canuck fans]

Scored the winning goal with less than a minute left in a 5-4 Giants win.

[bieksa3-]

Awesome!

[avelanch]

http://www.vancouver.../0910/1010b.htm

Quote

CONNAUTON THE HERO AS GIANTS GET LAST MINUTE WIN!

It was a goal that the Vancouver Giants never thought they would need. With a 4-1 lead after two periods a win look pretty safe over the Medicine Hat Tigers, but a furious 3rd period come back by the Tigers tied the score, and set the stage for some heroics from defenseman Kevin Connauton. Connauton’s 3rd goal of the season was the game winner, with 43 seconds to go in the 3rd to break a 4-4 tie and give the Giants a 5-4 victory over the Tigers.

The two teams traded goals in the first period, and the Giants took over the Game with 3 in the 2nd, only to watch the Tigers score 3 in the 3rd to tie it, before Connauton’s shot from the blue line eluded a crowd in front and goalie Tyler Bunz to give the Giants the win, their 6th of the season.

Brendan Gallagher scored 2, Cass Mappin with his first as a Giant and Neil Manning also scored for the Giants, who were outshot for only the 2nd time in 10 games this season, 34-32. Jamie Tucker made a couple of huge saves in the final seconds as the Tigers came close to evening the game. Medicine Hat was led by Tristan King who scored two goals.

After giving up 2 power play goals and not scoring any the night before in a loss to Kelowna, the Giants special teams were good, with a power play goal on 4 chances, and a perfect 3 for 3 night on the penalty kill.

Vancouver will play next on Monday afternoon in Chilliwack against the Bruins.
Audio

Brook Ward with Kevin Connauton

Morley Scott and Bill Wilms with Head Coach Don Hay

Select article number below to stop scrolling,
then click Play to listen!

9 points in 10 games now, thats 4th best on the team and 2nd best for Dmen on the team. Also, now he's only -7.

[SchroederDaShredder]

1 goal 1 assist for him tonight. +3.

[Mr. Wiggles]

Wow, another Jonathan Blum?






pllleeeeaaasssseee

[TRIPP3D]

This Brendan Gallagher guy is pretty good.

[whysoserious]

11 points in 12 games now and only a -4.

[Sanford]

^

Not bad at all, Fifth in defencemen scoring in the whl.

[avelanch]

full stats:
12 GP, 4G (2 PPG) 7A 11Pts -4 15PIM

he's looking better defensively (thank goodness) in addition to great offense.

The kid is looking good!

[playboi19]

Can he play for Team Canada WJC or is he ineligible?

This post has been edited by playboi19: 17 October 2009 - 03:40 PM

[avelanch]

playboi19, on Oct 17 2009, 04:39 PM, said:

Can he play for Team Canada WJC or is he ineligible?

he was born feb 23, 1990, so he will not be 20 until feb 23, 2010. He is indeed eligible for the WJC.

[old_time_hockey]

sirensong87, on Oct 6 2009, 08:07 PM, said:

He's a -8 thru 8 games.

And he is that bad defensively, hes a 19yr old who played with men last year and is now playing lesser competition and looks as bad defensively as he did in college last year. If his defensive game wasnt as lacking as it was he wouldn't have been slated to be a 5th rd pick because the offense is there and thats what made Gillis take him early was his upside offensively. They believe he has room to grow and that he's smart enough to learn defensive hockey but as of right now his defensive game is amongst if not the worst among 19yr old prospects in the CHL.

Actually if you listen to Kevin describe the 2 leagues (WHL to NCAA) he said skill wise are on par but the WHL is FAR more physical and he wasn't quite ready for that adjustment when he first came to the Giants.

He was asked to go play for the Giants to learn under Don Hay what it takes to be a complete hockey player. You can see he is progressing...that is if you ever decided to go out to a Giants game and watch him in person rather than just look at stat pages then make a half cocked post.

He is really learning when to pinch and when not to. And 3pts in 2 games this past weekend...yeah that isn't going to get it done.

[Thomas Gradin]

old_time_hockey, on Oct 20 2009, 02:17 PM, said:

Actually if you listen to Kevin describe the 2 leagues (WHL to NCAA) he said skill wise are on par but the WHL is FAR more physical and he wasn't quite ready for that adjustment when he first came to the Giants.

He was asked to go play for the Giants to learn under Don Hay what it takes to be a complete hockey player. You can see he is progressing...that is if you ever decided to go out to a Giants game and watch him in person rather than just look at stat pages then make a half cocked post.

He is really learning when to pinch and when not to. And 3pts in 2 games this past weekend...yeah that isn't going to get it done.

I agree 100 percent with this post.

[Sanford]

We have something special. In the prospect tourneys i felt that Connataun was better then Oberg. However Oberg did impress me in the pre-season games .