Plum

Yeah Virtanen doesn't have the height or reach to be a Lucic, Brown type of power forward. He'll probably be more of a grinder/sniper, like Dorsett physically and Evander Kane in the skill department.

I don't want him playing too much, he was going like 80% in junior in about 70 games + playoffs, this time in the NHL he's going 100% in a 82 game season + playoffs and it's alot more physical, plus he's trying his hardest to not make mistakes.

Hradecka (qualifier) upsets Ivanovic (5) early in the Australian Open.

And it happened. Holy &^@#.

They shouldn't even be in this game.. Wow all those FGs look bad now. If I was Bostick, I'd just leave the arena and get on a plane back home.

Anybody see Rodgers smiling before he threw that?

To be fair to Craig, I see him at international tournaments even ones that are pretty small like the World Junior A Challenge which is Canada West (BCHL, AJHL, SJHL, MJHL), USA (USHL), Canada East (CCHL, OJHL, MJHL Maritimes, QJHL, NOJHL), Russia and then usually 2 of Switzerland, Czech Republic, Sweden, Denmark. He's there doing reports, he's at the U17s, U18s, Ivan Hlinka, World Juniors. I don't know how often he actually goes to a Finnish game between TPS and Karpat or something like that to prospects, I don't think he goes often though.

I think everyone can agree that Gaunce has kind of been left behind, he's still a 1st rounder but people like talking about McCann, Shinkaruk, Horvat, Virtanen, Cassels more than Gaunce maybe because they're more "exciting" players or higher draft picks or newer prospects. Gaunce was ranked as 13th for NA skaters in the final CSS rankings for his draft, Horvat was 15th. 2013 was a deeper draft you could say but Gaunce shouldn't have low expectations.

Forsling is our #2 prospect according to him. He bases so much off the World Juniors, Domi #1...

Dammit he's Booth.

He's getting better with every game, he's good at top speed but his first few steps still need some work. Maybe it takes him alot of effort to start get going on his skates because when he's tired he doesn't move his feet at all. He just walks on ice and told Dorsett to dump it in, I hope he can work on that, it'd make a way better skater. He's also really hard to knock off the puck like Crosby or Stamkos. Really like that part of his game, heavy player.

Yeah but I have questions about if he's that type of player who can find open space and learn how to get separation and find the soft spots for one-timers or open shots, in the slot. Maybe above the dots would work for hard one-timers and just keep firing.

Petan was 2nd in scoring for the tournament. I guess that means we should only count points playing against every other team than Denmark and Germany? Duclair started the scoring in the GMG and was obviously one of our most skilled players. Fabbri basically missed 3 games and still finished higher in scoring than Virtanen.

Yeah ahead of more skilled players like Domi, Duclair, Reinhart, McDavid, Petan, Lazar and Fabbri!

Yeah they did but how they play I think is pretty similar. Horvat is probably more heavy though, slower skater not by much and less creative with the puck.

That's not what hockey IQ is, he knows how to pass the puck great. But my concern is his play away from the puck, I don't think Virtanen does a good job of reading a play or having the smarts to be in the right position for a shot or know where the puck will be.

We came one game away from winning the cup, that's as close as you will get and we didn't one it but guess who were the leaders of this team when we came that close? The Swedes. I doubt we'll get that close now since the Sedins are declining but it came very, very close to working, whatever that philosophy was. Zetterberg, Lidstrom, Datsyuk, Rafalski were the leaders for Detroit when they won the cup. What are you trying to say? European hockey won't win you a cup? Because Europeans won the cup for Detroit. I don't have a problem with the pick but what's wrong with Nylander? Because he's Swedish?

That's pretty funny to hear considering the best players our franchise have ever had were drafted from the Swedish Elite League. And what are the Sedins? They aren't some big physical guys, they play with skill and that's the reason why they are the best players we've ever had on our team. I like physical, hard-hitting hockey that is important in the playoffs but you need a mix of players. If you guys think we're going to win with some big, Canadian gritty players well then you're 100% wrong. You need skill and speed in the playoffs aswell (Hossa, Krejci, Gaborik, Malkin). Alot of European players can show off their skill in the playoffs, remember Malkin's big playoff run? He was playing fantastic. So much disrespect to Swedish hockey players. Nylander is just a "soft swede" but let's ignore the fact that our best players of all-time are Swedish?

His biggest problem IMO is that he isn't very good at getting open for shots. Maybe a reason he isn't on the PP which connects to not being smart enough to read the game, I'm not going to say the scouts are wrong and say his hockey IQ isn't lacking because it kind of is. He has a hard shot, good speed and it sounds all good on paper but it's only useful when he has the puck. In the NHL, he won't have the puck on his stick for a long time so he has to get open to get the puck and get a shot off. I don't think it's a big concern but it's a concern, you would expect him to be firing one-timers with his great shot but that hasn't happened. He's a good passer though. The "look he got an assist, his hockey IQ isn't that bad" is dumb, there's more to being a smart hockey player than being able to pass the puck just like what I mentioned in this post.

Christmas break, some teams have played like Harvard (McNally) and Yale (Beattie).

Captain material, Horvat seems like the same type of guy. It'll be cool to see a transition of leaders like the Sedins, Burrows, Bieksa, Kesler (already gone) to guys like Virtanen, Horvat and possibly Cassels, McCann and Gaunce.

What I really want to see is him get open more. McDavid knows how to set up players even Fabbri can make a beautiful pass so I think Virtanen needs to find ways to get open and then fire a one-timer. Maybe they go back to the original lines that they had against Slovakia and in the pre-tournament games.

Reminds me alot like Couture, said it earlier but I like the way they both skate, similar size, they play with the puck in similar ways. Read the play well, hope he turns out just like Couture.

Fabbri is a lefty.