I'm a little surprised that you think there is much of a place (in a
Frozen Four team) for players that can't or won't play the systems,
including defense.
Aren't the super talented teams that play defense secondarily, or with
fewer than all skaters, a thing of the past (our 1993 team comes to mind)?
I'm less impressed with a player that shoots 90% of the time he touches
the puck, than the one that "sees" the ice and can play "2-ways".
Yandle hasn't score a goal since the middle of January and his team
underachieved this year, IMHO. How valuable is that?
Just agitating ... ;-)
cheers, wayne
james acheson wrote, in part, on 4/14/2006 11:24 AM:
> Maine seems always to be "looking for a scorer" but when they come
> along, they are forced to play more D than they would like, or they
> are forced not to play the game that made them "scorers" when they
> played elsewhere. (I understand the need to play 2 way hockey, but one
> of the "problems" with 2 way hockey is that guys like Luc Aquino are
> not allowed to score.)
> I hate to think of what would have become of all
> american/all-offensive Brian Yandle had he played for Maine.
>
> */David Torrey <[log in to unmask]>/* wrote:
>
> I thought some of the list members may not have seen this. The
> following appeared in the Bangor Daily News. Tim is "right on".
> How long has it been since Maine had a pure scorer? They appear to
> be in short supply.
> David
> The University of Maine men's hockey staff is still looking for a
> defenseman and a scorer as it continues its recruiting for next
> season.
>
> "We need one more defenseman, an elite defenseman who can play in
> all situations. And we could use a goal scorer," said Maine coach
> Tim Whitehead.
>
> Maine will graduate players who collected 62 of its 143 goals
> (43.4 percent) and 75 of its 241 assists (31.1 percent). Those
> numbers will increase if second team All-American center and
> assistant captain Michel Leveille (16 goals, 24 assists) decides
> to pass up his final year to sign a pro contract.
>
> Leveille has enough credits to graduate but has said he intends to
> come back if he doesn't receive a good contract offer.
>
> Whitehead said having a go-to guy, scorer, and team leader like
> Leveille back "would be very exciting for us," but he is also
> sympathetic to Leveille's desire to play pro hockey.
>
> Whitehead said he and his staff are going to be careful in their
> pursuit of recruits at this stage.
>
> "Obviously, there aren't a lot of guys out there at this point.
> We've got to make sure we don't take someone just to take someone.
> You don't win championships with afterthoughts," said the
> fifth-year Bear coach. "He has to be an elite player who can make
> a difference for our team next season and beyond.
>
> "If not, we'll put the scholarship money toward the following year."
>
> He is expecting immediate production from his list of incoming
> recruits headlined by Ted Purcell, who led the prestigious United
> States (Junior) Hockey League in assists this season with 52.
> Purcell also had 19 goals for the Cedar Rapids (Iowa) RoughRiders
> and was tied for third in the league in points with 71 in 55
> regular-season games.
>
> "He's a special player. He brings something we don't have: a
> righthand-shot playmaker. We haven't had that since Niko
> Dimitrakos," said Whitehead. "We've had plenty of lefthand-shot
> playmakers."
>
> The 6-foot-2, 175-pound Purcell, who hails from St. John's,
> Newfoundland, will turn 21 in September.
>
> He could also give the Bears' power play a new look, according to
> Whitehead.
>
> The other forward recruits are rugged Zach Sill, who had 12 & 8 in
> 48 games for the Truro (Nova Scotia) Bobcats in the Maritime
> Junior A League; 6-4, 205-pound David deKastrozza, who had 15 & 13
> in 43 games at Culver Military Academy (Indiana), including seven
> power-play goals; and Tony Morrone from the South Kent School
> (Conn.), one of his team's leading scorers after leading the New
> England Division I Prep School League in scoring two years ago
> with 28 & 33 in 31 games.
>
> Maine also has one defenseman who has verbally committed in Brett
> Carriere of Ottawa, who led the Atlantic Junior Hockey League's
> defensemen in scoring with 9 & 49 for the Northern Massachusetts
> Cyclones.
>
> Whitehead knows he will be losing some top-notch players but said
> that's the case every year, "and we always seem to find a way to
> elevate [our performance] once again."
>
> "That's part of the excitement here at Maine. We strive to be the
> very best every year. We want to be in that group that plays in
> the TD Banknorth Garden [for the Hockey East semifinals and
> finals] and in the Frozen Four," he said. "We'll be striving for
> our third national championship. That's a legitimate goal here
> [every year]," said Whitehead.
>
> Maine finished 28-12-2 and will be vying for a ninth straight NCAA
> Tournament appearance and fourth Frozen Four in six years next season.
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