It is not all about the system, it is about the fact that college
hockey is a step up from juniors.  Not all good junior players make
great college players, even in the most obvious offensive systems.

--- james acheson <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> I am with you about Yandle.
>    
>   and I do think that there is a place for guys who are more than 50%
> offense.  I seem to remember a Black kid who played this past week
> for the Badgers... Dives alot, skinny... fast as hell, and... won MVP
> of the Frozen 4.... not much D out of him.
>    
>   also... Maine had a GREAT player who NEVER worked well with team
> mates EVER and seemed to want to do it all on his own (or did not
> know how to pass or recieve a pass, but he worked well in "the
> system")
>    
>   last... I never said that I wanted a kid who did not work within
> the system, I said that Maine seems to turn scoring machines into
> kids who score 6 goals a season (Bellamy was the go to  guy on the
> Coyotes a couple years ago.  Soares, Laise, even Duffy were great
> scorers.)
> 
> Wayne T Smith <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>   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 /* 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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