Portland Winter Hawk fans are scratching their heads, wondering why Kurtis Mucha wasn't drafted by an NHL team.
It was even suggested that Mucha should have been selected before Rockets netminder Torrie Jung.
I look at it this way. First impressions are pivotal.
Obviously NHL scouts didn't get a good read on Mucha when they saw him playing this past season on a struggling team in Portland. Those same scouts may have caught Torrie Jung against the Giants in Vancouver in early February, where Jung was named the first star making 42 saves in an overtime loss? It just goes to show you that NHL scouts can see a junior player at any given time of the season, and you have to bring your 'A' game every night. You simply can't let down your guard!
If you leave a positive impression, or a negative one on an NHL scout on a one time viewing, you can either make a teams list of potential draftees, or be deleted from it.
Taking even one night off can cost you. Maybe Mucha was the victim of a bad viewing while Jung was the beneficiary of a good one?
___________________________________
Technically, three members of the Kelowna Rockets were drafted in the NHL this weekend in Columbus.
Cody Almond and Torrie Jung are the obvious, but the third is a fella by the name of Justin Courtnall.
Courtnall, the Rockets last pick (11th round) in the 2004 WHL bantam draft was selected by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 7th round.
Courtnall played with Burnaby in the BCHL, before he was dealt to Victoria earlier this month.
__________________________________
It was a lazy Sunday spent with my twin boys, and a quick stop on Kelowna's Westside where a roller hockey game was taking place.We (the boys and I) were admiring the skill level of these 20 somethings going end to end, when a large forward for one of the teams looked vaguely familiar.
It was Barry Brust!
Brust was spending a relaxing Sunday, playing roller hockey with some buddies of his, in a forward capacity I might add.
Brust, the goaltender, is coming off a season where he spent time with the LA Kings. Brust made his NHL debut November 30,2006 in a relief appearance against Phoenix.
Brust has played 11 NHL games in his young career, which started after signing as a free agent with the Kings in June of 2004.
Rockets overage goaltender Kristofer Westbom should have a chat with Barry.
Brust was drafted by the Minnesota Wild, the same team Westy was. Interesting that both failed to earn a contract with the same team.
Brust is a good example of a goaltender who didn't fit into the plans of the Wild, but ended up playing in the National Hockey League none the less.
__________________________________
Here is an interesting fact about Rockets forward Colin Long.
Long was selected in the 11th round of the 2004 WHL draft, the second to last pick ahead of Justin Courtnall.
Long was selected 210th overall that year, taking over the distinction of being selected that late in the draft, yet has earned himself playing time for the Kelowna Rockets.
Pretty impressive.
Long edges out goaltender Kyle Stanton, who played 15 games with the Rockets in 1998-99 and again in 99-2000 before being dealt to Prince George. Stanton was drafted 167th overall by the Rockets in the 10th round in 1997.
Unfortunately for Long, he failed to hear his name at the draft, but my gut says he'll return this season a little more determined, in just his second full season in the WHL. His rookie season (20 games played) was pretty much a write off because of mono.
__________________________________
5 comments:
This is a bit off Topic Regan but I'm curious. When you do your interviews, do you approach the opposition players differently than you do with the Rocket Players when requesting an interview?
I would say, yes I do. My questions would be more direct to the opposition player than to a Rockets player. I find that the shorter the question the better the answer. If the interviewer has a long drawn out question, often it leads the subject with very little to say. Does that help you out? Why the question?
I dunno, I was just at work today, and when your insulting, you have ALOT of time to think. I was just thinking, "Hmmm...I guess one would have to be more inclined to be more professional with opposition since the relationship is simply Player - Media where as with the Rockets (or the home team) it's more of a personal setting, May as well ask Regan since he's a seasoned Vet" Just got thinking...I think lots of things about radio and sports broadcasting since i wanna try to get into it...
Jared if you want to get into radio broadcasting, the Hurricanes are looking for a new p-b-p guy.
don't you think they would have noticed Mucha when he was a 16year old??: http://whl.ca/stats/gamebygame.php?seasonId=225&id=24238 look at those stats as a 16yr old, and how many games he played. He also had multiple 40+ save games in the playoffs vs the Giants, including a 1-0 41 save win, and also a 1-0 win against the Giants in the 06-07 season while he was on the 2nd worst team in the CHL...so I still remain "stunned" that nobody selected him, especially over Jung!
Post a Comment