Re: Hockey East - The Off Season
Re: JVR, I'll never forget his first game at BU when he turned Kevin Shattenkirk inside out and scored to seal a UNH victory. I was thinking, if this is what he's going to be like, UNH will be lucky to have him for one year. But one-on-one offensive moves were clearly the best part of his game, dishing the puck (say thank you Mike Sislo) was second. The rest of the game, the things he needed to do to be a more complete player, were clearly lacking. Did he improve in certain areas? I guess so, but marginally at best. He was never going to be, at least at UNH, a grinding defensive minded forward. He just wasn't that type of player. But he certainly had uber offensive skills, more so than any player at UNH since probably Krog. Ultimately, he did what he needed to do at UNH. Get his body more ready for the NHL, improve his skating and, oh yeah, work towards a degree. After two years it was time to move on, play with better players, get tested more and see if he could reward Philly's faith in him. Last year was a huge learning curve for him. He sat out a whole bunch of games, his ice time was limited in a lot of the games he played, but improved as the season went along. He scored Philly's first goal in their 7th game comeback last year. This year he became the first UNH player since Boguniecki to score 20 goals in an NHL season, was Philly's leading goal scorer in the playoffs and, in that second game vs. the Bruins, was being double shifted in the third period by Laviolette. That all being said, he's still not much of a defensive player but so what. Not everyone is going to be Cam Neely, nor should they be. I think most coaches would take what JVR brings, encourage his work ethic and development of his skills, and appreciate the benefits. Bottom line, he just turned 22 and has shown flashes of what he might become. I think we can all agree that he has tremendous upside.
The larger point about the playoffs is the ability to inform my hockey loving friends who never watch the college game how many of the impact players they see honed their skills in college. They know that Gionta went to BC, maybe Gerbe too. And they certainly know that Thomas played at UVM. But that Rich Peverley played at St. Lawrence or Roloson at Lowell, none of them have a clue. And these are guys who are puckheads. I mentioned in another thread that College Hockey, Inc. has to do a better job of informing Canadian teenagers that there is more than one route to the NHL. In the abstract they are doing this, but clearcut examples like Gionta, St. Louis, Thomas, Boyle, Pavelski, etc., etc. I think would have more of an impact.
