Romano will not be back next year

calgARI '07 · June 13, 2007, 05:08:10 PM

[quote cufan4ever]

How could you make a statement like that. Milo is a good player but D-1 is the highest level he can play. Romano on the other hand has won at every level he has competed at. He is invited to the U20 USA team tryouts which he will probaby make, drafted by NJ played on 3 US National teams. What else does he have to prove,especailly to a fan who wishes he or she could do what he does. I know him and I have Coached against him since he was 10 years old. I also know his Coach Alexi Nikiforv very well. The kid always is knocked by people who do not know him or understand his game or are simply jealous for some stupid reason. I did not see him play this year at Lynah, but via our poor internet feed he shows his game. One thing that Romano needs is someone who can compliment his style. When you play that European offensive stlye you need players who thrive and understand that flow game. Cornell is not that type of team, I still can not figure out why he ended up there but...for him its more of give and take and hope that things work out on the ice. The other problem is, that too many players stand and watch, they all have to flow to the open lanes etc. Romano will make it if he gets stronger, that is his only issue, but it seems that he has from what I have heard. Plus, The Devils are very happy with his development at both ends of the ice. Lets be real, we lost a great Hockey player but we will move on and someone else will pickup the slack. At least Trotsky seems to have a better understanding of the game. Be Real, if Milo was so good or better then Romano why was he released from the team? Please Get Real...[/quote]

Winning in the Atlantic Junior Hockey League is a big challenge. I don't wish I could be him and I am certainly not jealous of him. As much as I want to play for London, I'm happy with my degree.

You didn't watch him play this year and are an expert on Romano whereas I watched him play every single game this year and know nothing. You're also an expert on Milo saying that he will never play past college after not seeing him play at all this year.

I never said he was a bad player and in fact I acknowledged almost everything you claimed about Romano. That still doesn't really change the fact that he struggles in many areas of the game.

Doug '08 · June 14, 2007, 07:26:32 PM

It has been interesting to follow the progression of this thread, figured I'd throw my two cents in. While Romano's flair and offensive potential are undeniable, I don't think that his departure will have a significant impact on the team. He will be missed the most on the PP.

Tony spent way too much time skating BACKWORDS, in large sweeping circle cutbacks often seen in Junior-level hockey. That just won't work at the next level, and shouldn't be used at this one... Not to mention on the defensive end he lacked the basic instincts to be serviceable.

He was certainly an exciting player to watch and don't get me wrong I'm not trying to knock the kid and would have loved to see him come back and finish top 3 in scoring, but we can, and definitely will be competitive without him.

dre1614 · June 16, 2007, 09:36:29 AM

What i find odd about people saying he is horrible defensively, and is a liability on the ice.

Well why did he have the second best +/- on the team with a +9 behind only Jared Seminoff?

billhoward · June 16, 2007, 09:39:19 AM

Some parts of the Milo / Romano threads recast the parable of the fox and grapes.

Trotsky · June 16, 2007, 10:12:09 AM

How did Don Cherry get into this thread?

evilnaturedrobot · June 16, 2007, 10:53:03 AM

[quote dre1614]What i find odd about people saying he is horrible defensively, and is a liability on the ice.

Well why did he have the second best +/- on the team with a +9 behind only Jared Seminoff?[/quote]

Because +/- is the most misleading stat in all off sports. +/- is a unit stat, not an induvidual stat. Marek Malik has lead the Rangers (and at times the NHL) in +/-...has anyone here seen Marek Malik play defense?

Unless you're looking at a unit as a whole, +/- should be completely disregarded.

dre1614 · June 16, 2007, 11:46:19 AM

i think your missing the point.

Since he had the second highest plus/minus on the team he couldn't have been hurting his team that much with his "horrible" defensively play could he?

evilnaturedrobot · June 16, 2007, 12:00:50 PM

Not necessarily, how many times did Tony circle around with the puck for thirty seconds only to give it up at the redline? Even if your teammates cover up for you, it doesn't mean that you haven't hurt the team by wasting a possession.

I've been a Romano supporter all year, so I'm not about to bash him now that he's gone. But there is no denying his deficiencies: mainly that he hogged the puck and couldn't do much on the ice when it wasn't on his stick. And how many times did we see him pull dangerous stick moves at his own blue line?
He just wasn't a smart player on the ice.

Now, it was my hope that we would get to see Schafer coach these kinks out of Tony's game. For all his fault's, I loved watching Tony play and I was looking forward to watching him as a more complete upperclassman, unfortunately that won't happen now.

And while I understand that Tony wanted to play more games, I don't understand how going to the most run and gun team in all of junior hockey is going to help him with his obvious deficiencies. If he was interested in rounding out his game, Cornell was the place to do it. Frankly, I'm surprised that the Devils, and organization as concerned with defense as you'll ever find, didn't step in and make him stay here for that reason. If he was determined to go CHL I would think that the Debbies would have at least sent him out west to the WHL to work on the weaker points of his game.

dre1614 · June 16, 2007, 12:08:12 PM

He is not the greatest defensive forward on the team, but it's not like he is that defensively inept. His plus/minus was +9, he had 19 points. I'm going to guess he had around 5-7 points on the power play. thats 12-14 points even strength. subtract that and how many goals was he on the ice against all season? 3 to 5. A horrible defensive player does not let in that few goals against, while playing a LOT of ice time.

We all know how skilled he is, and thats why i think going to the OHL is good for him. Maybe not for Cornell but for him it's a good move. Playing with other kids just as, if not more skilled than him will help him out tremendously. His offensive skills are very raw. The OHL will smooth out his skills, then once those are good he can go to the AHL and work on his defense.

evilnaturedrobot · June 16, 2007, 12:28:28 PM

For my money, Romano was far and away the worst defensive foward on the team last year. Not only did he add nothing as a checker, but he probably gave up the puck in his own zone, and in the neutral zone, more than any other foward. Again, ditch the +/-, it's a useless stat! It tells you nothing about the induvidual.

Doug '08 · June 16, 2007, 12:47:33 PM

[quote evilnaturedrobot]For my money, Romano was far and away the worst defensive foward on the team last year. Not only did he add nothing as a checker, but he probably gave up the puck in his own zone, and in the neutral zone, more than any other foward. Again, ditch the +/-, it's a useless stat! It tells you nothing about the induvidual.[/quote]

Couldn't have said it better, agree 100%

Beeeej · June 16, 2007, 02:23:46 PM

[quote evilnaturedrobot]For my money, Romano was far and away the worst defensive foward on the team last year. Not only did he add nothing as a checker, but he probably gave up the puck in his own zone, and in the neutral zone, more than any other foward. Again, ditch the +/-, it's a useless stat! It tells you nothing about the induvidual.[/quote]

Fine, but what about his +/-???

dre1614 · June 16, 2007, 03:52:55 PM

Still avoiding...

If he was such a bad checker, and defender, how in the hell did he have such a good plus/minus?

You know he switched lines a few times too.

Oh but you would rather have a player that scores less, and gives up more goals on the ice.

grizzdan24 · June 16, 2007, 07:39:27 PM

Quote from: BeeeejFine, but what about his +/-???

I think part of it was that he played lots of PP minutes and few if any PK minutes (which was by far our shortcoming last year), part of it was that he was rarely put on in defensive situations (ie faceoffs in our zone) and the other part of it was that he just wasn't that bad and his speed made up for some of his mistakes.

Beeeej · June 16, 2007, 11:02:26 PM

[quote grizzdan24]

Quote from: BeeeejFine, but what about his +/-???

I think part of it was that he played lots of PP minutes and few if any PK minutes (which was by far our shortcoming last year), part of it was that he was rarely put on in defensive situations (ie faceoffs in our zone) and the other part of it was that he just wasn't that bad and his speed made up for some of his mistakes.[/quote]

First of all, I was kidding (though sadly, dre1614 was not). Second, I'm reasonably certain (and someone can correct me if I'm wrong) that PP goals don't count toward the +/- of either team's players.