Excellent point.  One caveat, though is that some kids who are "just out of
high school" are "old" high school kids, who have either been held back (for
academic or athletic reasons) or who have done a postgraduate year.  I don't
know if that's true of any of the players you've specifically identified,
though.
 
I think a more important than the age advantage is that watching the kids in
juniors enables the college scouts to better evaluate who will be a solid
college player.  Just like not every great squirt makes a great peewee and
not every great youth hockey player makes a great high school player, not
every great high school player makes a great college player.  Success in
juniors is more indicative of probable success in college than success in
high school.
 
Clay
 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: greenie [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Friday, March 26, 1999 12:55 PM
> To:   [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      Re: kids outta high school (was: tournament selection)
>
> At 09:15 PM 3/25/99 -0500, Ambrose wrote:
>
> >You might be right about the coaching but I think the key phrase is "high
> >school".  The way D1 hockey is set up right now, you cannot win on a
> >consistent basis with kids just out of high school playing against guys
> who
> >are 23, 24 and 25.  It's a physical and emotional mismatch
>
> Boston University has usually had a team with kids just out of high
> school,
> especially during the 90's. Guys like Drury, McEachern, Amonte, Tkachuk,
> Lachance, O'Sullivan, Grier, Poti... they all seemed to do just fine
> playing against anyone. In fact, Grier, Poti and Tkachuk all seemed to do
> just fine in the NHL when not even 21 years old -- against a considerably
> tougher physical and emotional opponents.
>
> Likewise, Boston College is for the most part, just out of high school.
>
>
>
> greenie
>
> HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey;  send information to
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HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey;  send information to
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