(no subject)

[olivermoss]

* There is talk of letting 19 years olds from Canadian juniors play in the AHL. They should be allowed to go AHL as soon as they are drafted. Otherwise, franchises have to put baby rookies on NHL ice or not be able to develop them. This isn't the biggest issue in hockey, but how this intra-league weirdness is currently feeds into / causes / etc a lot of problems so I really want to see this changed.

* Also, randomly since I am hockey posting... There are identical mirror twins in the upcoming draft and it's not impossible they wind up on the same team. I think it's Vancouver who has the right combo of picks to get them? Imagine the drama if a team goes for a matched set of very practiced line mates and someone snipes the other brother.

Comments

[dine]

Vancouver's had twins before - the Sedins played together there for years, though I don't know if they were drafted together, or one joined later on

[rekishi]

As I said below, yes Vancouver has a weird thing for twins, I knew you'd remember :D <3

They were drafted together 2nd and 3rd overall by Vancouver. Brian Burke made a whole series of trades just to ensure he'd be able to get them both.

[olivermoss]

I'd heard that, which is one reason why people are excited about them maybe getting twins again. They've been line mates a lot time and that synergy would be exciting, and the Canucks fans could use something fun going on in their franchise.

[rekishi]

AGAIN VANCOUVER WITH THE TWINS?!

Sorry. Arrrrrgh. No, please not again. Vancouver has a track record with identical twins (look up the Sedins) and I know it was seriously weird for players and audience both. I mean, Vancouver fans and players totally embraced it, but...well, how could they not. But the Sedins also had a stare to them, it was a bit unsettling.

Honestly, I would not be too concerned about the brothers ending up on different teams. It'll be weird for a tad for them, but not overly so. Eventually, this might develop into a whole Staal situation (getting traded to where your brother is already playing), but overall it's probably a good thing for them to play on separate teams especially if they're not totally matched in skill.

I'm not too concerned about letting kids stay in juniors for another year. Yes, for very exceptional players that can be an issue, because they put up 120+ point seasons and don't have anyone to really play against who's at their level. But the junior teams (at least in the OHL and in the Q, I can't speak for what's going on further out west) usually have the infrastructure in place for players at that age. The AHL is a way different mix of ages and experiences and that's going to be very hit or miss whether that will work out and maybe your first and second round picks are not the ones you want to experiment with that much.

Of course, the other side of that coin is that it's easier to get your super young players in the room with your experienced players if they are in the AHL. I know we have a few kids in juniors and also in the AHL that we would love to get in the room with Sid while he's still playing, but they're just not there yet. The Caps just had their college prospect go pro on D and that's going to be interesting with Carlson gone but Ovi still in the room for a few weeks at least and no word on next season.

[olivermoss]

I was aware Van had twins previously, but didn't know people were weird about it. Apparently, the Ruck brothers are extremely good line mates and that would be fun to see. They are pretty close in skill, and Van gets two picks close together due to pick trading. Van's had it struggles, so seeing them get the twins might be exciting.

Some major juniors out here are great. The Portland Winterhawks are a big deal, but some of the other teams really aren't and don't have much support. But there is also the NCAA path that more are choosing each year for a variety of reasons. It's possible the first and second overall this year will be Canadians who opted for NCAA.