http://www.tsn.ca/world_jrs/news_story.asp?id=146672
A little blurb about Pokulok at the bottom. I was trying to look for him in the video, but no shot of him.
Hopefully Sutter can light a fire under Pokuluk who has looked unmotivated at best this season.
[Q]calgARI '07 Wrote:
Hopefully Sutter can light a fire under Pokuluk who has looked unmotivated at best this season.[/q]
This marks the 50th time you've told us this in the past week. :-D
Team Red beat Pokulok's Team White 4-0 in the first intrasquad game
http://tsn.ca/world_jrs/news_story.asp?ID=146896&hubName=world_jrs
My friend was at the intersquad game and I told him to look out for Pokulok.
-Game was only 45 minutes long, so each defenseman really only played 7-8 minutes (coaching staff was good at giving equal time to everyone)
-But 2 things he pointed out was that Pokulok was on ice for Pouliot's first goal in which his defense partner Kris Russell gave up the puck. Pokulok challenged Pouliot but that guy just has such a quick release.
-Second, Pokulok had a cross ice feed on a powerplay from the left side, just inside the blue line, to Ryan O'Marra who rung one of the post.
-Other than that, Pokulok was decent, not impressive, but decent.
-We'll see what happens after tomorrow's intersquad games when Sutter will most likely make some cuts because I'm sure he doesn't want 34 players dressed for the UBC game on Thursday (I'm certain he'll cut 2-3 defenseman and 2-3 forwards).
-Also, Jonathan Toews of North Dakota and Andrew Cogliano of Michigan were all over the ice, won't be surprised if they get picked, especially considering they both have international experience.
[Q]RW Action Wrote:
My friend was at the intersquad game and I told him to look out for Pokulok.
-Game was only 45 minutes long, so each defenseman really only played 7-8 minutes (coaching staff was good at giving equal time to everyone)
-Also, Jonathan Toews of North Dakota and Andrew Cogliano of Michigan were all over the ice, won't be surprised if they get picked, especially considering they both have international experience.[/q]
1) assuming about 12 defensemen in camp of the 34 total players, that would be 15 minutes average for an intersquad game.
2) I saw some of the NDak-Minn. game on TV on Friday and Toews looked quite impressive.
[Q]RW Action Wrote:
-Other than that, Pokulok was decent, not impressive, but decent.[/q]
A fair summary of his first third of the RS, and for that matter, much of his freshman season.
Pokulok is definitely suffering from Label Expectation Syndrome, in which something about a player suddenly changes and then we all expect his play to immediately reflect the new label. C.f. Beltran, Carlos.
That's a little harsh. It's a fair assessment of this season, but until he got hurt last year, he was one of the best defensemen, not to mention freshmen, I've seen dress for the Red. If he didn't look great at the end of the season, it's probably because he was rushed back into the lineup. This year's a different story.
I was also at the intrasquad game last night and at the team practices in the morning. I wore my Lynah faithful shirt which pokulok noticed at the end of practice. At the game, I also had a "go pokulok, go canada" sign.
One of the local TV sports networks here did a short feature about college hockey players at camp and interviewed Pokulok for it. One of the things they mentioned is that in his selection, Sutter was going to consider the fact that college hockey players don't play as many games in a season as the junior league players. I'm not sure exactly what this means for Pokulok's chances, but we'll see.
I am not sure about Pokulok being on the ice for Pouliot's first goal, though I could be wrong. One reason I suspect he was not is that I don't think he was paired with Russell, who made a terrible turnover late in the game resulting in another red goal. I'm going to dig up the sheet they gave us with the line combinations to check it out.
The other thing I noticed was several other defensemen (especially on the white team, but also on red) making questionable plays that led to opportunities for the other team. Hopefully this works in Pokulok's favour, even though he didn't seem to be playing with enough intensity.
Little bit on Pokulok in a Canadian Newspaper:
http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/story.html?id=eba3d3d1-3c5b-4681-baf8-2aad3bd42673&k=70784
After hearing comments about Pokulok's play in the intersquad game he better find some intensity fast if he wants to make the team. Sutter loves players with intensity. Hopefully Pokulok brings the same type of game he had against Yale - get in some players faces, maybe a few scuffles.
[Q]CowbellGuy Wrote:
That's a little harsh. It's a fair assessment of this season, but until he got hurt last year, he was one of the best defensemen, not to mention freshmen, I've seen dress for the Red. If he didn't look great at the end of the season, it's probably because he was rushed back into the lineup. This year's a different story.[/q]
I'll definitely defer to somebody who saw 5x the number of games I saw last year; Pokulok just didn't seem anything more than a solid B (IMHO) last year; to me, he wasn't even the most valuable frosh D on the team.
However, the injury definitely did hurt him, as he seemed to be stepping it up right when he dropped out of the lineup. Also, what I was saying was supposed to be *defending* Sasha, because I think the 1st round pick got everybody's glasses steamed up about him. I'm hoping he gets to develop naturally, rather than being dragged by the Caps and hooted at by a few of the less impatient Faithful.
Sorry for the double post...
I found the sheet and as I suspected, it was #6, Luc Bourdon who was playing with Russell and not Pokulok (#16), who was playing with Marc Staal. It was easy to confuse them since they're both 6'5 with a number ending in 6. So I'm now positive that Pokulok was not on the ice for any of the goals the red team scored.
Speaking of intensity, one of the red forwards was put through the old-style glass near the corner (but not by Pokulok). It was quite a sight and got the loudest applause of anything during the game.
Pokulok had 2 assists in the Canadian inter-squad scrimmage tonight. His team (white) walloped the red team 8-1.
http://www.tsn.ca/world_jrs/news_story.asp?ID=147019&hubName=world_jrs
First cuts are likely to come tomorrow. Pretty much all analysts have Pokuluk getting cut. Those Sutters can be surprising though.
A buddy of mine who was at both scrimmages spoke highly of Pokuluk:
"Pokuluk didn't look out of place at all to me. Big defenseman with good skating and seemed to be decent with the puck. Beauty pass for a goal tonight and didn't embarass himself rushing it. You can see why he was a 1st rounder."
Pretty reliable source. This guy has seen a lot of hockey and particularly focuses on 18-20 year olds.
No cuts till Friday:
http://www.tsn.ca/world_jrs/news_story.asp?id=147019
[Q]calgARI '07 Wrote:
A buddy of mine who was at both scrimmages spoke highly of Pokuluk:
"Pokuluk didn't look out of place at all to me. Big defenseman with good skating and seemed to be decent with the puck. Beauty pass for a goal tonight and didn't embarass himself rushing it. You can see why he was a 1st rounder."
Pretty reliable source. This guy has seen a lot of hockey and particularly focuses on 18-20 year olds. [/q]
The Vancouver Sun called it "the goal of the game" and described it like this:
GOAL OF THE GAME: Shortly after Team Red cut the lead to 3-1 in the second period, a pair of NCAA products teamed up for White's fourth goal. Sasha Pokulok, the big defenceman from Cornell University, stepped around pressure at the blueline, faked a shot and fed a perfect pass through traffic to a unchecked Toews at the far sid of the crease. The North Dakota centremen easily directed a one-timer into the open net.
[Q]pfibiger Wrote:
The Vancouver Sun called it "the goal of the game" and described it like this:
GOAL OF THE GAME: Shortly after Team Red cut the lead to 3-1 in the second period, a pair of NCAA products teamed up for White's fourth goal. Sasha Pokulok, the big defenceman from Cornell University, stepped around pressure at the blueline, faked a shot and fed a perfect pass through traffic to a unchecked Toews at the far sid of the crease. The North Dakota centremen easily directed a one-timer into the open net.[/q]
Sounds like "the move" he dazzled us with a couple of times last year...and that has been strangely absent this year.
[Q]Al DeFlorio Wrote:
[Q2]pfibiger Wrote:
The Vancouver Sun called it "the goal of the game" and described it like this:
GOAL OF THE GAME: Shortly after Team Red cut the lead to 3-1 in the second period, a pair of NCAA products teamed up for White's fourth goal. Sasha Pokulok, the big defenceman from Cornell University, stepped around pressure at the blueline, faked a shot and fed a perfect pass through traffic to a unchecked Toews at the far sid of the crease. The North Dakota centremen easily directed a one-timer into the open net.[/Q]
Sounds like "the move" he dazzled us with a couple of times last year...and that has been strangely absent this year.[/q]
Because of Pokuluk? Or because other players are out of place? I keep on wishing that there were people in front of the net this year - an experience I certainly didn't have last year.
[Q]Liz '05 Wrote:
[Q2]Al DeFlorio Wrote:
[Q2]pfibiger Wrote:
The Vancouver Sun called it "the goal of the game" and described it like this:
GOAL OF THE GAME: Shortly after Team Red cut the lead to 3-1 in the second period, a pair of NCAA products teamed up for White's fourth goal. Sasha Pokulok, the big defenceman from Cornell University, stepped around pressure at the blueline, faked a shot and fed a perfect pass through traffic to a unchecked Toews at the far sid of the crease. The North Dakota centremen easily directed a one-timer into the open net.[/Q]
Sounds like "the move" he dazzled us with a couple of times last year...and that has been strangely absent this year.[/Q]
Because of Pokuluk? Or because other players are out of place? I keep on wishing that there were people in front of the net this year - an experience I certainly didn't have last year.[/q]
Well, last year he shot after moving around one or two opposing players leaving them looking stupid. In the case described above he passed off the move. What's been missing this year is the move.
Video of Pokulok's assist is up on TSN.ca. Just clip on "World Junior Report" in the article:
http://www.tsn.ca/world_jrs/news_story.asp?id=147086
You need to sign up to access it - free subscription.
[Q]2tkCornell Wrote:
You need to sign up to access it - free subscription.
[/q]
Yeah right:
jdough@yahoo.com / puckhog
It looks like Pokulok is fighting for the final spot on defence with 5 others. The article confirms the reports that he is having a good camp.
http://www.tsn.ca/world_jrs/news_story.asp?id=147086
Yeah, but the author follows "good camp" with a "but". My take is that the author thinks that Pokulok is a long shot, but concedes that he has had a good chance. But I may be reading too much into the scant verbiage (and author's opinions don't necessarily match rea,lity either).
It's by tsn staff so it's McKenzie, Maguire, and Murphy meaning that it's a legitimate source. McKenzie is unquestionably the most well-connected media guy in hockey.
Some quotes from people who were at the intersquad games (posted on HF Boards):
"Pokulok-Staal
I had never seen Pokuluk before and didn’t know what to expect. He surprised me, as he was easily the second best defenseman out there last night. My brother actually thought he was more impressive than Bourdon. He made great passes, showed lots of poise and was physical. The patience he showed in setting up Toews on the powerplay and the pass he made was one of the better plays of the game. Staal was the stay at home defenseman on this pairing and though I didn’t notice anything outstanding in his play, I didn’t see him do anything wrong out there. He had a few battles with Downie and seemed to get the worst of it."
"On defense I really haven't been impressed with Russell. He's like a forward playing back there and has made some really tradgic plays. Bourdon has been the best, Pokuluk has been surprisingly good. Don't like Stephenson or Funk, too many bad decisions with the puck. Parent hasn't blown me away.
I'd probably go with Bourdon, Staal, Pokuluk, Rogers, Barker, Letang and Schultz. Maybe sub Parent for one of them."
Hopefully Pokulok has a good game against UBC, that should solidify a spot for him, hopefully.
Canada up on UBC 3-1 at the end of the first:
3 goals by Canada:
1. Pouliot (Toews)
2. Bertram (Pouliot, Funk)
3. Cogliano (Chucko, Pokulok)
Interesting that 6 of the 8 points from the first Canadian goals came from College Hockey Players.
It is 8-1 Canada now, will try to get details.
[Q]2tkCornell Wrote:
Interesting that 6 of the 8 points from the first Canadian goals came from College Hockey Players.
It is 8-1 Canada now, will try to get details.[/q]
Sasha added another assist. It looks like he was on the ice for UBT's lone goal.
8-1 Canada after 2 periods. Here is the Summary:
1. CAN: Pouliot (Toews)
1. UBC: Hay (May, Bruce)
2. CAN: Bertram (Pouliot, Funk)
3. CAN: Cogliano (Chucko, Pokulok)
4. CAN: O'Marra (Vlasic)
5. CAN: Brassard (Downie, Latendresse)
6. CAN: Esposito (Pokulok)
7. CAN: Brassard (Cogliano, Vlasic)
8. CAN: Little (Esposito)
Also, Pokulok has 2 shots on net.
That is 4 assists total for Pokulok. He is one of only two players (the other being Little) that has not been on the ice for a goal against in any of the three games. He is having a strong camp.
From what I have been hearing over on the HFBoards and from my friends up in Vancouver, Pokulok is most likely going to be picked as the 7th defenseman. No other defenseman stood out in the defensive and offensive zone as much as him. It is invaluable to have a big, mobile, hard-hitting, offensive defenseman in a tournament like this. The only other defenseman that could make it ahead of Pokulok is Vlasic, but he just doesn't have the size that Sutter and Blair Mackasey (head scout) like. In addition, Mackasey is very connected in the college hockey world, and I am sure he and Sutter like Schafer's defensive minded hockey system. Pokulok definitely fits that mold. Only thing working against him is that he plays in the NCAA - Sutter think college kids play too little games (which is true compared to WHL, OHL, and QMJHL)
Sorry for the multiple posts but I keep finding new information and quotes:
Here is a quote at the bottom of the page by Pokulok:
http://www.tsn.ca/world_jrs/news_story.asp?id=147130
Sorry, one last thing, Pierre McGuire loves Pokulok, thinks he'll be 7th defenseman picked. Nice to see him get recognition. [Click on World Junior Report Video Link within the article]
http://www.tsn.ca/world_jrs/news_story.asp?id=147130
I'm starting to think that this camp could end up being the turning point in Pokuluk's season and possibly his career as well. He has never played even close to this level before and he seems to be figuring out what it takes to compete at a high level. He is proving that he may very well be worthy of being an NHL first round pick. It will be very interesting to see how he performs when he comes back to Cornell which appears to be more in the future than most of us originally anticipated.
Bob McKenzie, formerly of THN and now of TSN, in a post on USCHO also says that Pokulok has a shot at the team http://board.uscho.com/showpost.php?p=2289342&postcount=34.
QuotePokoluk played well, nothing flashy but quite well, and has a good shot at being Canada's seventh defenceman.
(In a later post, he corrects the spelling of Pokulok.)
For those who don't know, Bob is also the father of SLU recruit Mike McKenzie, so I suspect that he'll be posting on USCHO for the next few years.
[Q]calgARI '07 Wrote: It will be very interesting to see how he performs when he comes back to Cornell which appears to be more in the future than most of us originally anticipated.[/q]
::screwy::
Is there a word missing from this sentence? If anything, I would think that this camp (whether he's picked for the team or not) makes it LESS likely that Pokulok will return to Cornell next fall.
I think Ari meant when he returns from camp... most of us thought he would get cut early...
Final roster will be announced at 12 PM.
12 PM Eastern or Pacific?
[Q]2tkCornell Wrote:
12 PM Eastern or Pacific?[/q]
Eastern
Carey Price and Bryan Little were cut first.
Andy Rogers and Devin Setoguchi also cut.
Defencemen Jeff Schultz and Andy Rogers, forwards Devin Setoguchi and Bryan Little, and goaltenders Julien Ellis and Carey Price are the cuts so far
Julien Ellis is cut. for some reason they are doing one by one.
[Q]calgARI '07 Wrote:
Defencemen Jeff Schultz and Andy Rogers, forwards Devin Setoguchi and Bryan Little, and goaltenders Julien Ellis and Carey Price are the cuts so far[/q]
Many of the experts said it was down to Schultz and Pokulok for the last spot...Looking good for Sasha right now.
[Q]bigred06 Wrote:
Julien Ellis is cut. for some reason they are doing one by one.[/q]
I think its because they are catching them leaving...the official release isn't due for another 25 mins. or so.
Setoguchi is kind of surprising.
What is the source of info?
Also, has anyone considered the fact that Sasha is one of 3 defenders listed as being a Right stick player? I think that can really help out.... i've always thought it was an important issue for hockey players for which side they play on to be a certain stick. Maybe I am mistaken...
[Q]sockralex Wrote:
What is the source of info?
Also, has anyone considered the fact that Sasha is one of 3 defenders listed as being a Right stick player? I think that can really help out.... i've always thought it was an important issue for hockey players for which side they play on to be a certain stick. Maybe I am mistaken...[/q]
tsn.ca
I don't think Setugichi is a big surprise. He had an awful camp. Although he scored one goal, it was a total fluke goal. He is supposed to put the puck in the back of the night, and wasn't. Also, he wasn't hitting enough.
According to the Toronto Star, this is the final roster:
Goalies:
Pogge
Ellis
Defenceman:
Bourdon
Barker
Russell
Letang
Staal
Parent
Pokulok
Forwards:
Boyd
Comeau
Blunden
Chipchura
Bolland
Pyatt
Latrendresse
Downie
Pouilot
Toews
Bertram
O'Marra
Cogliano
Take it for what it's worth. So far its bang on except for the goaltenders.
[Q]2tkCornell Wrote:
I don't think Setugichi is a big surprise. He had an awful camp. Although he scored one goal, it was a total fluke goal. He is supposed to put the puck in the back of the night, and wasn't. Also, he wasn't hitting enough.[/q]
Still, the guy was the 8th overall pick. Well I guess Price was the 5th overall pick.
Except for the fact that Ellis was cut, so Dubnyk is the other goalie. Questionable move there. I thought Price should have been the backup to Pogge.
[Q]2tkCornell Wrote:
Except for the fact that Ellis was cut, so Dubnyk is the other goalie. Questionable move there. I thought Price should have been the backup to Pogge.[/q]
Price is elligible next year and could have benefited from the experience.
The suspense!
Pokulok makes it! Who would of thunk it at the beginning of camp? Lets hope this kicks him into gear for the second half of the season.
NICE!!!!
Great for Cornell hockey and Pokuluk.
[Q]Robb Wrote:
[Q2]calgARI '07 Wrote: It will be very interesting to see how he performs when he comes back to Cornell which appears to be more in the future than most of us originally anticipated.[/Q]
Is there a word missing from this sentence? If anything, I would think that this camp (whether he's picked for the team or not) makes it LESS likely that Pokulok will return to Cornell next fall.[/q]
I don't think we really have to worry about loosing Sasha next year. You have to remember that The Capitals had 13 picks in the 2004 draft, including 3 first rounders. Of those 13 picks 3 have already been signed (Ovechkin and Bourque and Green) and 2 are NCAA guys who the caps will hold the rights too untill they graduate. That leaves 8 guys that the capitals will have to sign this summer before they loose they're rights. Remember that the NHL now limits each organization to 50 players under contract. Finding 9 free spots isn't going to be easy. It wouldn't really make sense for the Caps to sign Sasha when they're probably going to have trouble making room for all the guys the have to sign, especially when you consider that, up to now, he's had a disapointing season.
Edit: Now that I think about it, the new rule stipulating that a team can only hold a European's rights for 2 years might not apply to players drafted before the new CBA. So the Capitals may no have to sign all those picks. Regardless I think the Caps would still rather let Sasha play in Ithaca for free than pay him to take up a contract, considering the rediculous amount of picks that they've had over the last two years.
[Q]evilnaturedrobot Wrote:
[Q2]Robb Wrote:
[Q2]calgARI '07 Wrote: It will be very interesting to see how he performs when he comes back to Cornell which appears to be more in the future than most of us originally anticipated.[/Q]
Is there a word missing from this sentence? If anything, I would think that this camp (whether he's picked for the team or not) makes it LESS likely that Pokulok will return to Cornell next fall.[/Q]
I don't think we really have to worry about loosing Sasha next year. You have to remember that The Capitals had 13 picks in the 2004 draft, including 3 first rounders. Of those 13 picks 3 have already been signed (Ovechkin and Bourque and Green) and 2 are NCAA guys who the caps will hold the rights too untill they graduate. That leaves 8 guys that the capitals will have to sign this summer before they loose they're rights. Remember that the NHL now limits each organization to 50 players under contract. Finding 9 free spots isn't going to be easy. It wouldn't really make sense for the Caps to sign Sasha when they're probably going to have trouble making room for all the guys the have to sign, especially when you consider that, up to now, he's had a disapointing season.
Edit: Now that I think about it, the new rule stipulating that a team can only hold a European's rights for 2 years might not apply to players drafted before the new CBA. So the Capitals may no have to sign all those picks. Regardless I think the Caps would still rather let Sasha play in Ithaca for free than pay him to take up a contract, considering the rediculous amount of picks that they've had over the last two years.
Edited 3 times. Last edit at 12/16/05 01:35PM by evilnaturedrobot.[/q]
The Caps GM said he was going to try to sign Sasha right after the draft. They will probably make at least a moderate effort after this season to get him signed, and his appearance on the Canadian WJC team will only increase their desire.
If they feel he is stagnating at Cornell they may want to light the fire under him and throw him into tougher (professional) competition.
So it's the first since Lenny in '02 and prior to that Ryan Hughes in '92 and Manderville/Ratushny in both '90-'91 (The Big Red What refuses to list Ratushny even though I've emailed them........a travesty!!). Great news for Cornell and Sasha. Have we ever had a player close to making the U.S. world junior team?
[Q]Tub(a) Wrote:
[Q2]evilnaturedrobot Wrote:
[Q2]Robb Wrote:
[Q2]calgARI '07 Wrote: It will be very interesting to see how he performs when he comes back to Cornell which appears to be more in the future than most of us originally anticipated.[/Q]
Is there a word missing from this sentence? If anything, I would think that this camp (whether he's picked for the team or not) makes it LESS likely that Pokulok will return to Cornell next fall.[/Q]
I don't think we really have to worry about loosing Sasha next year. You have to remember that The Capitals had 13 picks in the 2004 draft, including 3 first rounders. Of those 13 picks 3 have already been signed (Ovechkin and Bourque and Green) and 2 are NCAA guys who the caps will hold the rights too untill they graduate. That leaves 8 guys that the capitals will have to sign this summer before they loose they're rights. Remember that the NHL now limits each organization to 50 players under contract. Finding 9 free spots isn't going to be easy. It wouldn't really make sense for the Caps to sign Sasha when they're probably going to have trouble making room for all the guys the have to sign, especially when you consider that, up to now, he's had a disapointing season.
Edit: Now that I think about it, the new rule stipulating that a team can only hold a European's rights for 2 years might not apply to players drafted before the new CBA. So the Capitals may no have to sign all those picks. Regardless I think the Caps would still rather let Sasha play in Ithaca for free than pay him to take up a contract, considering the rediculous amount of picks that they've had over the last two years.
Edited 3 times. Last edit at 12/16/05 01:35PM by evilnaturedrobot.[/Q]
The Caps GM said he was going to try to sign Sasha right after the draft. They will probably make at least a moderate effort after this season to get him signed, and his appearance on the Canadian WJC team will only increase their desire.[/q]
Well, I always thought Mcphee was a bit of an idiot, and that would be another poor move. Up until this camp Sasha has done nothing to show that he could handle the AHL. It's a huge step from the ECAC to the AHL, just look at what's happened to Jessiman.
I think there would be a decent chance of Pokuluk signing and then going to the CHL a la Pelletier.
[Q]evilnaturedrobot Wrote:
It's a huge step from the ECAC to the AHL, just look at what's happened to Jessiman. [/q]
Jessiman, in the AHL? Ha! I saw him play in Pensacola (ECHL) just this past Saturday, moseying around the ice for the most part - certainly nothing spectacular, despite the assist he got.
(edited to quote only pertinent stuff.)
[Q]Liz '05 Wrote:
[Q2]evilnaturedrobot Wrote:
It's a huge step from the ECAC to the AHL, just look at what's happened to Jessiman. [/Q]
Jessiman, in the AHL? Ha! I saw him play in Pensacola (ECHL) just this past Saturday, moseying around the ice for the most part - certainly nothing spectacular, despite the assist he got.
(edited to quote only pertinent stuff.)
Edited 1 times. Last edit at 12/16/05 04:00PM by Liz '05.[/q]
That was exactly my point. He played about 8 games with the wolfpack and then got sent down.
[Q]evilnaturedrobot Wrote:
[Q2]Liz '05 Wrote:
[Q2]evilnaturedrobot Wrote:
It's a huge step from the ECAC to the AHL, just look at what's happened to Jessiman. [/Q]
Jessiman, in the AHL? Ha! I saw him play in Pensacola (ECHL) just this past Saturday, moseying around the ice for the most part - certainly nothing spectacular, despite the assist he got.
(edited to quote only pertinent stuff.)
Edited 1 times. Last edit at 12/16/05 04:00PM by Liz '05.[/Q]
That was exactly my point. He played about 8 games with the wolfpack and then got sent down.[/q]
Understood. I meant to agree - just didn't do it very clearly. Ooops. I got distracted my the arrival of my jersey :)
[Q]RatushnyFan Wrote:
(The Big Red What refuses to list Ratushny even though I've emailed them........a travesty!!). [/q]
"Them." Ha. :-D
[Q]KenP Wrote:
If they feel he is stagnating at Cornell they may want to light the fire under him and throw him into tougher (professional) competition.[/q]
Well, not only that, but I'm sure there's a desire to get highly valued draft picks under their own coaching and development umbrella. Of course Coach Schafer doesn't want to see his players injured, but he certainly has a different agenda and different goals than Captials' management. Wasington may want to work with Sasha to turn him into a player that will fit their puzzle rather than Cornell's, considering they've already invested a first-round pick and intend to invest money in him. The risk of injury at the hands of someone outside the organization is another big concern.
[Q]RichH Wrote:
[Q2]KenP Wrote:
If they feel he is stagnating at Cornell they may want to light the fire under him and throw him into tougher (professional) competition.[/Q]
Well, not only that, but I'm sure there's a desire to get highly valued draft picks under their own coaching and development umbrella. Of course Coach Schafer doesn't want to see his players injured, but he certainly has a different agenda and different goals than Captials' management. [/q] The Caps have goals and an agenda? You could have fooled me? :-P
Interesting News from Pre-Competition Camp:
-Bolland and Boyd (Forwards) went down with minor injuries and Bourdon (Defenseman) has the flu.
-Sutter called-up defenseman Logan Stephenson, who was one of the last players to be cut.
-Also, Sutter stated that if Stephenson plays well and someone's play drops off he has no hesitation to cut them.
I'm thrilled for Sasha and Cornell, this is obviously tremendous. However like the rest of you, Sasha continues to baffle me. Apparently he really impressed at the tryouts, something he hasn't done much of in NCAA play so far. For me, he is perhaps the biggest individual disappointment thus far! He has had sloppy puck handling, poor passing, and a timid, "scared" style of play all year if you ask me.
Again, lets hope this is the turning point for this kid! Although I sure wish we had him in Florida... too bad he can't be in two places at once!
So Logan Stephenson came into the pre-competition camp after the final cuts were made to replace a d-man that got the flu. His purpose was supposedly only mainly to be a filler in practice. However, I am watching the Czech Republic vs. Canada exhibition and there is a big controversy because Stephenson is still on the team and is playing in the game. Brent Sutter said that the team is not set yet and Stephenson is still battling for a spot. TSN announcers have said that it is between Pokulok and Stephenson for the last spot. Bob McKenzie and James Duthie were just talking about it and they believe Sutter is going about this the wrong way. Sutter is ruthless, and will win at any costs - he wants to create TENSION among the players to bring out their best. However, McKenzie believes that Sutter should not have made final cuts and then bring Stephenson back. Instead, he should not have made final cuts and left Stephenson in camp to create that tension. Duthie stated that if he was Pokulok and was cut, he would be really bitter, and deservedly so. Personally, I would be irrate. This is not the way to conduct a camp - make a team and then bring someone in. Hopefully, Pokulok makes it, but my respect for Sutter just went down a few notches.
Anyways, here are some things of note about Pokulok during the game:
(1) Jumped in on the rush, lost the puck and fell down, causing a 3-on-2 rush for the Czech's - but nothing materialized.
(2) Stephenson and Pokulok are paired together and both got beat on an offside two line pass by the Czechs.
(3) Pokulok had a big hit behind the Canadian net, took the puck off him, and quickly got it up the ice.
I'll keep you updated.
2tkCornell Wrote:
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> This is not the way to conduct a camp -
> make a team and then bring someone in.
Didn't Herb Brooks do the same thing with the 1980 Olympic team? Or was that just in the movie?
Ya, but that was different though, because it was a really long camp (6 months). It wasn't 6 days before the tournament starts.
Also, not sure if that actually happened or just in the movie - can someone confirm that?
Pokulok is serving the 5 min major for Pouliot's hit to the head.
Interesting he chose Pokulok to sit instead of a forward, since you would think he wants to see how Pokulok plays. Go figure.
I just finished reading "Boys of Winter" by Wayne Coffey, it did make a brief mention of what happened in the movie.
-Devin
appears sid-the-kid won't be playing for any iterations of Team Canada this year. i wonder if Sutter would consider bringing him in a la Logan Stephenson. pretty interesting to see the county's greatest young talent not on either bench.
Penguins management will not part with Sid. Sutter would love to have him on the team.
Second Exhibition game for Canada (8-1 win over Russia).
Pokulok was outplayed by his defense partner Stephenson. I do not think with his performance on the ice tonight he will make the team. Pokulok and Stephenson played 4 shifts before the last six minutes of the game, and then started to play ever other shift.
First gaffe by Pokulok - he was bringing the puck across the red line, got hit by a Russian player, lost his stick, coughed the puck up, and Stephenson was able to come back and distract the Russian player so he couldn't score on Pogge.
Second gaffe by Pokulok - playing the point on the powerplay, with the Russian player pretty much covering Pokulok. Chipchura (Canadian captain) elected to pass to Pokulok (bad decision and bad pass by him). Instead of backing off from the pass, Pokulok went for the puck, missed it, the Russian player walked in on the breakaway but was stopped by Pogge (again, Stephenson was able to get back faster than Pokulok).
Right after the second gaffee though, Pokulok had a nice cross ice feed to Chipchura who scored.
Also, after his first gaffee, Pokulok had a shot from the point with a rebound right out to Taeves who scored.
But, no assists credited to Pokulok, as they were both rebound goals.
Based solely on this game, Stephenson was faster and more physical, and did not have huge letdowns like the two described above.
Anyone else have thoughts who watched the game.
http://www.tsn.ca/world_jrs/news_story/?ID=148071&hubname=world_jrs
Stephenson cut this morning, although, he played better than Pokulok last night.
Must be a huge sigh of relief for Pokulok.
http://theithacajournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051227/SPORTS/512270322/1006
Not true, Pokulok dressed, didn't play a shift.
2tkCornell is correct, Pokulok did not have a shift. A writer in the Toronto Star said that it was surprising that he didn't see any ice even though Sutter has been very unimpressed with his play. Pokulok is on this team because Blair Mackasey likes him, not because Sutter wanted him on the team. As a result he isn't exactly being treated nicely by Sutter.
well, so much for getting his confidence up...
Found this about Sasha under the Tuesday notebook. http://www.tsn.ca/world_jrs/news_story/?ID=148388&hubname=world_jrs
The U.S. is looking good. I am rooting for Sasha individually and Canada in their games, but overall I am definitely rooting for our team. Saturday's game against the Canadians should be good. Incidentally, the article about the U.S. vs. Norway game states that the U.S. team was booed during introductions and the crowd was silent for the U.S. goals (they must have been silent a lot).
http://www.tsn.ca/world_jrs/news_story/?ID=148347&hubname=world_jrs
The thread at the bottom of the page consists almost entirely of posts criticizing the booing. For example: Booing the Americans? GROW UP FELLOW CANADIANS! Where is the class we want to be known for? We cheapen ourselves and our team by behaving boorishly. We denigrate our game in front of the whole world by acting like a bunch of backward, backwoods yahoos! GROW UP and show some class, like the Americans did in North Dakota last time around!
I'm a huge Big Red fan and will always root for our players but...
I'm not the least bit surprised that Pokulok didn't get any ice time, and that Sutter may not use him often during the tournament. Any objective viewer has to admit that Pokulok has not been one of the Red's better defensemen during the last two seasons. I'd be surprised if any of us on this board were not blown away when the Caps chose him 14th in the draft. I was also surprised when he made the Canadian WJC team.
We've all seen and heard of many cases of over-blown reputations combined with the lack of actual homework creating legends out of good, not great, players. I will admit that I've been unlucky enough to see only 8 or 9 Cornell games during the last two years, and that includes TV games which is obviously not a good way to evaluate talent, but I've yet to see Pokulok impress me in the way that matches his reputation.
I'm not trying to come down hard on him, but I'm looking for someone with a better understanding of the game who has watched him more often than I have, to tell me what is truly special, besides size, about this player. How did he make this WJC team?
I for one was not shocked when Pokulok was picked in the first round. He was projected to go very high, so an early pick was expected. The kid has size and offensive skill and given his age should be a pro prospect. When he was healthy last year he made a very good impression.
[quote Redscore]Any objective viewer has to admit that Pokulok has not been one of the Red's better defensemen during the last two seasons.[/quote]
I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Until his injury last year, Sasha was the best 2-way defenseman on the ice. He showed more composure with the puck than any other skater, and at 18 years of age to boot. He moved remarkably for his size and showed great hockey sense. The problem is not one of objectivity but rather short memory. If he can play with the form he showed the first half of his freshman year, he's completely deserving of his draft pick. All we can hope is that he returns to that form.
[quote CowbellGuy][quote Redscore]Any objective viewer has to admit that Pokulok has not been one of the Red's better defensemen during the last two seasons.[/quote]
I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Until his injury last year, Sasha was the best 2-way defenseman on the ice. He showed more composure with the puck than any other skater, and at 18 years of age to boot. He moved remarkably for his size and showed great hockey sense. The problem is not one of objectivity but rather short memory. If he can play with the form he showed the first half of his freshman year, he's completely deserving of his draft pick. All we can hope is that he returns to that form.[/quote]
Wasn't it his first game where he pirouetted through half of the opposing D in the O zone and placed it perfectly in the top corner?
He was indeed amazing until hurt. Sometimes it takes players a long time to recover from an injury like that, and sometimes they never do.
I'm definitely in the same camp as Keith, Age, and Grant. From the first month of watching him last season, Pokulok had my attention. Over the years, Cornell has had some players who would constantly cough up the puck with seemingly every touch (jeffoates *cough*). The freshman Sasha was the exact opposite. When he got the puck in traffic, he always seemed to find a way to weave, spin, dodge, and weasel his way through opponent challenges and always maintained puck control. Positionally, he was just outstanding. A few weeks ago, I re-watched part of the the NCAA regional vs. tOSU. Even after the injury, he still did things that impressed me in that game.
This season, I don't know what's been up. Maybe he's been trying to change his game...I know some criticized his lack of physical play. Maybe the off-season conditioning threw him off-kilter. But something certainly has changed for the worse.
I saw Pokulok at Yale and he was by far our best defenseman that game. I left feeling that he was 100% and would be a major contributer this season. Since then, though, it sounds like he hasn't been that impressive. I think I'm with the majority in that I believe Pokulok has a lot of talent; hopefully this stint will get him motivated and back on track.
[quote Tub(a)]
He was indeed amazing until hurt. Sometimes it takes players a long time to recover from an injury like that, and sometimes they never do.[/quote]
I've been through this one. You can't set a collarbone. You have to immobilize the arm while the broken halves grow some tissue across the gap that eventually calcifies. Usually this means at least 4 months without the kind of physical jolting that's typical in hockey. I was amazed to see him back at all last season. The bone will not reheal in exactly the same shape/length, which affects how the muscles and bones in your upper body work together. Requires some PT over time. I broke mine in a car accident in 2001 and still feel some aching at the site of the break, and there's some impact on the flexibility in my upper back. If Sasha's experience is at all close to mine, it's not surprising that his acrobatics have been affected. Not to say that with good PT over time he won't be back in form, but it takes awhile.
Does anybody know if any wjc games will be on TV in Ithaca?
I don't know about TV, but I am close enough to Canada to get the TEAM 990 AM radio station from Montreal which plays the games. I don't know if they have a web stream, but I am sure that there may be a couple other Canadian stations that carry the games as well. If you look you may find a web broadcast.
[quote bigred06]Does anybody know if any wjc games will be on TV in Ithaca?[/quote]
Center Ice is showing the USA games if you can find someone with that.
More info here: www.usahockey.com
[quote Tub(a)][quote bigred06]Does anybody know if any wjc games will be on TV in Ithaca?[/quote]
Center Ice is showing the USA games if you can find someone with that.[/quote]
If you have the sports package on satellite and get FSN North, they will be showing the US-Canada game on Saturday (7PM EST). I would guess that they would also broadcast the other US games, especially those in the medal round.
Other than repeating it on a couple other FSNs on Monday, there's no sign of any more games being shown.
According to the Dec. 21 USA Hockey press release, Fox Sports Net North will show, on tape delay, the USA-Canada game and Team USA's games in the semifinals and gold-medal game, if Team USA advances to those games.
http://www.usahockey.com/usa_hockey/news/main/home/news_wjccov_122205//
The US world junior team is leading Switzerland by 2 in the middle of the second period. The live FREE audio link is available NOW (LIVE) on the first page of www.usahockey.com.
Switzerland just scored on the PP. 12 minutes left in the third.
USA 2 - Switzerland 1
Switzerland ties the game at 2 on a 5 × 3.
Game ends in a tie at 2.
Did Brent Sutter give Sasha Pokulok any shifts toward the end of last night's game?