Cornell vs. St. Lawrence 1/31

[Scersk '97]

I think it's fair to be disappointed by Castagna's production.

It's a little much to say the Utah Soon-to-be-Mammoth-Singular-not-Mammoths-Plural-for-no-reason-whatsoever need to be any more than slightly concerned. Down years happen.

Sophomore slumps are very much a thing, and Robertson and Castagna (more mildly) are in 'em.

[Trotsky]

I single out Castagna because of the promise he showed last year and the high draft bias.   If you think that two goals plus one empty net shows he's been good ok.  Results business. He's relied upon to score.   For example, Walsh with similarly high expectations has met them.  JC while good at the dots and reasonably responsible hasn't.  I see puck possession but not much else.  Please educate me. If this is the craziest thing you've seen on this board I'm rather surprised and you're buying next time in Ithaca.

"Accomplishing anything" is well beyond goal count.  

Castagna is our most feared player on the ice for the opposition.  He attracts the strongest defender.  They tweak their positional play to account for him.  He typically has guys playing inside his sweater.  You watch hockey. You know all the things guys do without showing up on the scorecard.

If you are saying Castagna has the largest gap between talent and goals, then that is a reasonable statement (although DeSantis and this year Robertson might make an argument).  But to say "without accomplishing anything" is the type of 2024 overdramatization which... well... somebody already make the Stephen A. Smith joke.

[Trotsky]

Still haven't heard any reason why I'm wrong, only that it's a "crazy opinion"

You asked me to explain myself at 2:15. I responded as soon as I read your reply.  You stamped your foot at 3:48.  Come on, son.  

Time was, I was the most obnoxious and immature poster on this forum.  

Now I'm not even top 5.

[ugarte]

I single out Castagna because of the promise he showed last year and the high draft bias.   If you think that two goals plus one empty net shows he's been good ok.  Results business. He's relied upon to score.   For example, Walsh with similarly high expectations has met them.  JC while good at the dots and reasonably responsible hasn't.  I see puck possession but not much else.  Please educate me. If this is the craziest thing you've seen on this board I'm rather surprised and you're buying next time in Ithaca.

"Accomplishing anything" is well beyond goal count.  

Castagna is our most feared player on the ice for the opposition.  He attracts the strongest defender.  They tweak their positional play to account for him.  He typically has guys playing inside his sweater.  You watch hockey. You know all the things guys do without showing up on the scorecard....

I agree with this. I think JC doesn't have a lot of faith on his teammates and it leads to too much hero ball. He's fun to watch and i think he'd look a lot better if he either adjusted to the teams' style or had teammates that could keep up. I don't think Utah had to worry even if he has to worry about fighting through the players ahead of him on the depth chart.

[arugula]

I single out Castagna because of the promise he showed last year and the high draft bias.   If you think that two goals plus one empty net shows he's been good ok.  Results business. He's relied upon to score.   For example, Walsh with similarly high expectations has met them.  JC while good at the dots and reasonably responsible hasn't.  I see puck possession but not much else.  Please educate me. If this is the craziest thing you've seen on this board I'm rather surprised and you're buying next time in Ithaca.

"Accomplishing anything" is well beyond goal count.  

Castagna is our most feared player on the ice for the opposition.  He attracts the strongest defender.  They tweak their positional play to account for him.  He typically has guys playing inside his sweater.  You watch hockey. You know all the things guys do without showing up on the scorecard....

I agree with this. I think JC doesn't have a lot of faith on his teammates and it leads to too much hero ball. He's fun to watch and i think he'd look a lot better if he either adjusted to the teams' style or had teammates that could keep up. I don't think Utah had to worry even if he has to worry about fighting through the players ahead of him on the depth chart.

I agree with this.  The hero ball thing drives me nuts. I'm well aware of the little things that go on in a game which make a player effective.  If by taking all that pressure from opposing defenders, his play set up others that would be accomplishing something.  Maybe accomplishing nothing is an exaggeration but accomplishing a lot less than you would hope I think is accurate because for all the work he does, the main objective, someone scoring, isn't happening.

[George64]

Really nice backhand assist on Mack's goal, though.

[arugula]

Really nice backhand assist on Mack's goal, though.

Never said he wasn't highly skilled.  That's sort of the point.  Two goals and 8 assists for a guy with that skill is disappointing.

[fastforward]

Really nice backhand assist on Mack's goal, though.

Never said he wasn't highly skilled.  That's sort of the point.  Two goals and 8 assists for a guy with that skill is disappointing.

He's listed as 5th on the stat line behind

Walsh  9g 8a +/- 0
Bancroft 8g 4a  -1
Kraft 6g 5a +8
Pseniska 5g 6a  +1
Castagna 3g 8a  -3

[ugarte]

Really nice backhand assist on Mack's goal, though.

Never said he wasn't highly skilled.  That's sort of the point.  Two goals and 8 assists for a guy with that skill is disappointing.

this is tricky,  because people keep responding to you, but you don't have to restate the premise of your opinion every time someone points out that they think he's good. the value in letting it go is that eventually everyone forgets about it and someone brings up ned harkness coaching lacrosse and the circle of life goes on.

[upprdeck]

Imagine Gretzkys numbers if made the same great passes to guys who couldnt score.

But then again. If you take away half is assists he still almost leads the NHl in all time pts.

[scoop85]

Today Scott Wheeler of the Athletic came out with his Utah prospect rankings and listed Castagna #13 on a very deep Utah prospect pool (he has Utah as having the 7th best prospect pool in the NHL). In earlier team rankings he included Walsh, Veillieux, and Stanley in the top 15 of their respective NHL team's rankings.

[stereax]

Today Scott Wheeler of the Athletic came out with his Utah prospect rankings and listed Castagna #13 on a very deep Utah prospect pool (he has Utah as having the 7th best prospect pool in the NHL). In earlier team rankings he included Walsh, Veillieux, and Stanley in the top 15 of their respective NHL team's rankings.

To be fair, though, the Bruins (30) and Sens (27) have a shit prospect pool (outside of Yakemchuk) and the Isles (25) have a few high end talent picks (Eiserman, George) but not much else.

On Walsh (5): "This is where the Bruins' pool really starts to tail off (which isn't a commentary on Walsh, who is a nice story)." "His challenge will be that he's not a grinder type and I'm not sure his game offensively is going to be quite dynamic enough to get him to the NHL."

On Veilleux (11): "It'll be years before the Islanders know what they have in Veilleux in terms of NHL potential but he should become a heady NCAA defenseman who can contribute at both ends."

On Stanley (13): "doesn't have a high ceiling but he could become a third-pairing option in time."

On Castagna (13): "Last year, he posted 25 points in 35 games at Cornell, good for fourth on the team in scoring. This year, though his production has plateaued on a weaker Cornell team, Castagna has continued to be a regular contributor at five-on-five and on both special teams as a teenager." "By all accounts, he was a special kid at SAC, where he excelled in the classroom, on the lacrosse field and also in theater, too. He's worth monitoring for his athleticism and speed."

[billhoward]

On Castagna (13): "Last year, he posted 25 points in 35 games at Cornell, good for fourth on the team in scoring. This year, though his production has plateaued on a weaker Cornell team, Castagna has continued to be a regular contributor at five-on-five and on both special teams as a teenager." "By all accounts, he was a special kid at SAC, where he excelled in the classroom, on the lacrosse field and also in theater, too. He's worth monitoring for his athleticism and speed."

Jesus, in one person the best of Ken Dryden, Rob Pannell and Christopher Reeve. After his pro days are ended, bring Castagna back as a Master in Hans Bethe House.

[VIEWfromK]

Bancroft has to shoot when he's right in the slot with no defender on him.

He's got a great shot.  We've seen it before.  One thing in addition to shooting more that I would like to see him improve on is skating with the puck or skating hard to a spot in the offensive zone.  I've seen a few times this season where he gets the puck and just cruises.  There was a chance he had against Harvard on a two on one where he got the puck in a great spot but because he was coasting it allowed the goalie to get over in time to make the save.  He's got what it takes to play at the next level.  Hopefully we get to see him continue to refine his game by the time he departs.