DON

Well, some thought Vail may have more offensive upside in him. Now up to 7th in OHL scoring, doubt anyone would of predicted he would do this well and be on pace for 85-95 points (and be ahead of AG, who has played a couple fewer games) Kamloops finally lost, bound to happen Nygren and Nystrom both seem to be producing and Nygren is now +5 which is encouraging also.

great for some guys to get some action this year. Not sure why Price and some others havent gone already and some say they wont? Just on principle of not taking someone elses job, is that main reason?

sorry, should of been more specific i guess

I can get TVA here in BC also, couple bucks/month, same as RDS. TVA also show some of the Q games as well.

What is your opinion of Pulock? possibly better than Jones? Or does he just seem much superior because he is in 3rd WHL year and Jones is a rookie? Reinhart is super junior d-man, but still think Isles overrated him. Murphy is a 1 trick poney but would take him over Reinhart for big ice, DiGuiseppe is all right, but for bottom six Lazar/Sissons are likely much better all-round arnt they. and never fan of Wilson, Sutter is having bad start to year. Gaunce-McNeill sort of equal type player eh and i would lean towards Shinkaruk's offense/quickness.

Habs need friggin goal scorers much more than anything else and have for 20 years. But Kristo will be what he will be i suppose and is 1 PPG over his 3 years in NCAA, with more assists than goals, but i am still expecting a big year from him and 50+ points with 25 goals would be about what i had expected (hoped for him).

Good looking team, but; I wouldnt have Wilson (i thought he was useless vs the Russians in summer and on big ice?), nor Sutter (who has done dick-all this year) on team, and would repalce with, big Mantha, Sissons or Gordon on Danault's line. Shinkaruk is one quick shifty player also (who is showing he dosent need Etem to produce offense), who would do super with good linemates and i would slot ahead of McNeill. On the back end Pulock or Theodore over Reinhart (who is just a Sami Salo clone, good but your top 4 already can shut down, dont need a 5th defensive d-man) and Pulock is gonna be a suoer star i think and i like his size and offense also over Dumba (at present). Theodore is a good looking d-man also and as you say the big ice would favour a good skater/rusher, like Theodore. I imagine you considered these guys and rejected for one good reason or other (experiance mostly i am guessing?) I also would consider Curtis Lazar.for 3rd/4th line.

Super to hear Hudon getting closer to return. Kristo had 15 goals as a freshman, 19 last year, so really 20 would be a let down (stagnation, or however you put it) as a senior and leader of a strong team and one who has also stated winning the Frozen Four Championship is why he didnt turn pro. So would be nice to see some progression at least, in the short seasons Gionta managed to rack up much higher than 25 at BC (i know Kristo may not be same catagory, but dont expect 30+goals neither), but still even Pacioretty had 15 goals as a freshman in 37 games, so surely a senior, who some give good odds to be in Hobey Baker running should be expected to crank it up a bit? Bozon had another assist but better to see him +2 in a 2-2 game. And both blade d-men got on scoresheet yesterday and Dietz offense continues to improve and is now 15th in WHL d scoring and he also is a -8, but even Duncan Siemans is a-9.

Nice to see McKinley Bennett has 5 points in 5 games, maybe he will be a leader now that his buddy Pateryn has moved on? Nice to see Kristo is off to hot start with the 4 assists, can he get 25+ goals this year?, i would think is an nice achievable goal for him (barring injury)?

you guys must have been biased by Fans choices! Just kidding, but I didnt expect so similar a ranking. i would still have put Ellis ahead of Beaulieu, but neither that high (but hopefully his defensive game will come around as Subban's has)

Yes burying their chances must be bigger issue as they outshot that team and gave up only 3 goals with 1 or 2 on PP. Gallagher has 12 shots but zip so far and u know that will change, but losing LL for a month or 2 is a killer, i had him as going to have a big year. So giving up only 3 goals with 5 rookie d-men and back up goalie, is almost a good sign as they likely will improve as year goes on (but still will be inconsistant as most young teams are)

I saw a Top 100 prospect ranking (a Corey Pronman created/published ranking), which i just quickly separated by team. You can quibble over rankings a bit, but still seemed to be pretty fair overall, With Minni and Detroit having top 2 strongest/deepest pools of blue-chippers (each having 4 in his top 50 and couple others) and Habs/Jets/Boston/Buffalo basically looked equal (flip a coin) in the 8th to 11th range, which also seems bout right. (Detroit was a surprise to me). And was just too funny/sad that Columbus was still in bottom half of league after all these crappy years and top picks, not sure who is drafting for them or bad trades they have made, but talk about mismanagement.

fair enough and reasonable and i had hoped Engqvist would of had a better look at end of last year, but he was a key player they say for Bulldogs attempt to make playoffs.If he can improve on faceoffs, i think he may still have a good shot?

I hope Bozon is best of bunch and is only 2nd year WHL and younger, which seems to be proven to mean alot down the road (producing at a younger age). Scouts thought so, but i am sure Lipon/Ranford will get an offer or Lipon goes back in draft and gets chosen and Smith wasnt taken till 7th round. Nystrom is at PPG pace how competittive is Swed junior league? Nygren at -2, so maybe still not so good own end or bad team?

Hope LL is not hurt too badly!!!! Several defensive lapses cost a few goals Tinordi with 2 d-men behind the net, Beaulieu left man open in front of net and got caught pinching on another goal, but to be expected and only gave up 24 shots, which was 1 good stat and the PP looked good Gallagher normally buries an easy chance like he had (he seems very tentative), but Beaulieu and Holland really stood out i thought. Beaulieu seems to have quite a similar game to Subban eh (maybe even is a faster forward skater, but still "seems" to avoid skating backwards (or maybe just my imagination))? Tinordi and Beaulieu were running around way too much in own end and Pateryn got caught flat footed a couple times but i am sure Lefebvre will point stuff like that out. As far as announcers bias, to be expected (same as CBC) and would be quite similar the other way if were Quebec announcers. I wouldnt blame Mayer on goals, most not his fault at all. But for sure looked like a young team at start of a year. Good on Dumont for trying to get team going, he has balls for a smaller guy, Hagel took a beating though.

How bout Darren Dietz, he got both of Saskatoon's 2 goals and now up to 6 so far, but in another loss (and he somehow managed to be a -3 in a 3-2 loss). I almost think Bozon is sort of in a similar situation as Holland last year and Kamloops has several super offensive guys who are helping him put up good #s; which sounds like the opposite of Sarnia. But of course Bozon is much more a scorer than Holland is.

Good stuff sir and nice to hear Timmins comments and also that he would give them. I was sort of under the impression Galchenyuk was, not struggling, but off to only a so-so start for being one so highly "praised/touted" or however you put it and still maybe a bit affected by gametime missed last year. yes, Hope Hudon is not hurt too badly, he was off to a great start.

Seems odd, in the interviews around combine/draft, Collberg seemed pretty damn set on returning to Sweden and had zero interest in considering a CHL option? He must of thought he could work way up to top 9 forward? (or his contract wouldnt allow CHL opt out?) Pribyl is another who likely should of come over as well and play much bigger role on a team?

I think Engqvist could most likely be a solid 4th line centre and 3rd line would be his "ceiling", but still not a glaring omission for top 10 and maybe be 15-20th prospect? (just my estimation/ranking)

Thanks for comments on game, Corbin is likey the d-man you cant remember name? And nice he didnt look out of place. Have been a fan of Pateryn and thought his extra age and couple more years in weight room would make his transition to AHL a bit easier (like Nash and OByrne) than the CHL guys who only played vs teenagers for past few years. Also watched Holland play a bunch of games last year and he just seemed a very smart player, good with puck, great defensively and could skate well (just a bit slight). Super start for Leblanc, i thought he would have a break out year with the Habs and he and Palushaj should both do very well offensively with Bulldogs. I wouldnt worry about Tinordi, AHL is a bit faster and bigger,stronger players than he is used to and it will likely take some time before he is up to speed and more confident (similar to Gallagher most likely)? Am really looking forward to see game today. Is Mayer better than all have pegged him (or just likely hot for one game)?

Good NCAA start, Didier now listed at 6'2" and 215lbs and likely to get more icetime this year in Denver. Bennett had 2 assists and was a +3 yesterday. MacMillan had 2 goals yesterday to start season (only had 15 skaters, due to suspensions/injuries, MacMillan maybe another super late pick for Timmins?) They friggin show Collberg as not getting 1 shift yet into the 2nd period today? Doubt he will develop much only in practice? Sens had same issue last year with Zibenijad lack of icetime. yes Bozon up to 18 points in 12 games with Hudon on similar pace (till injury) and Vail/Galchenyuk/Archambault only slightly less pace, but still early in season.

On London, i see McKenzie and Button are quite high on this huge kid d-man Zadorov? I assume he must have OK mobility as well and is not just a big pylon eh? Am curious to see how he plays tonight vs McDavid (McDavid vs Goliath!) And classless Domi's kid is doing better than i thought he would and almost 2 PPG so far.

thanks. Bergevin/Lefebvre must not be too concerned at all, as i am sure there has to a bunch of vets they could of offered a top AHL salary, to come and be that mentor/leader (a la Mike Keane for his last 5 years with the Moose). Again, i like the seemingly "sink or swim" attitude Lefebvre put forth.

Had always hoped Dumonts offense would translate to AHL, but would much prefer to see Nattinen in lineup, as i think he has more likelyhood of NHL future? But i really like Lefebvre's comments on rookies (and quite impressed that he used 3 of them in first shootout), as to basically tossing them into deep end and seeing what happens. I would expect there to be a struggle for rookies to adapt at first (as i think Subban did early on), but should pay off in long run.

I know Henry's leadership/experiance cant be replaced by any player in current lineup. However, dont you think; Ellis who was a Captain at 17 (i think it was) in Cape Breton, Pateryn was assistant in Michigan, Tinordi, Gallagher, Bournival were all Captains in junior, and Beaulieu supposedly dosent lack confidence, that leadership may not be that big an issue as one might thnk with so many young players?