Re: Vermont Hockey: Taking No Prisoners In 2012-2013
Not that Sneddon is gone yet, or will be gone in the near future, but I wonder if Ducharme would have any interest in coaching his alma mater. In addition to being a good coach, imagine the recruiting possibilities that could set up with kids from Quebec.
If you look at the link to the article in the Halifax newspaper, Ducharme makes a very interesting statement that if he had to decide today between NCAA and Major Junior, he would pick MJs because they now offer educational funding packages. This is a big reason why there are not as many Quebecois going south of the border and probably wouldn't make Ducharme the best advocate for convincing kids to come to UVM. He definitely sounds like a sharp guy and has great experience, but I think there is very little chance he would uproot his family to come to Burlington. If anything, he's probably looking to go up the pro coaching chain.
Anyone have a historical viewpoint on how to compare these new recruits?
It seems impossible to gauge via the points scored , etc in the different leagues...
BCHL is high scoring in general, but how does it comp to New England Prep scoring, or EJHL or USHL....?
The obvious answer is to just wait and see/every player is different/ yada yada....etc, etc
Just curious if anyone has made statistical comps.
-harry
My take:
- USHL is the best junior league out there & is equivalent to Major Junior without pay. Teams tend to be well balanced and are a lot of good d-men & goalies, so scoring anywhere near a point a game is very good. This would be in the 40-60+ point range for forwards, 20-30+ points for d-men is good.
- BCHL is considered the best Jr. A league in Canada and is known for good forwards. The best forwards usually are close to 1.5 points per game, d-men over 0.7 point per game.
- AJHL tends to be more defensive and is known for good d-men & goalies. Forwards over 1.2 points per game usually are the top ones.
- Ontario and Quebec Jr. A are VERY offensive and the top players are usually close to 2.0 points per game.
- The EJHL is very difficult to judge, because the level of play among the teams is so uneven. Typically are 2-3 teams each season that run roughshod over everyone else and hog the scoring leader board. In general, forwards over 1.0 point per game are the good ones, but some players get inflated stats by playing on the powerhouse teams (yes, Brendan Bradley's team is one of them), while some players with lesser stats on bad/mediocre teams may actually be very good.
- New England Preps: the level of competition has really dropped as more kids that commit as 15-16 year olds are "encouraged" to play in the USHL or BCHL. Again a real disparity in the level of competition on any given night and some schools play much easier schedules than others, but in general forwards at/over 1.5 points a game are usually the good ones.
In the end you have to actually see a kid play to be able to judge their potential at the next level. Some kids get points by being bigger than everyone else, but don't have the speed or hand skills to succeed in college. Others don't have the numbers because they play a non-offensive role on their team and don't get on the PP, but have more skills than you would guess from looking at numbers.
UVM's incoming freshmen are promising IMO. Puskarich and Bradley were the leading scorers in the BCHL and EJHL respectively and look to have high skill levels. Concern with Bradley who had a knee injury in the NAHL 2 seasons ago, but he has put up good numbers at every level he's played at and has a little size. Stenerson's regular season numbers were good/not great, but he was excellent in the post-season which I always think is a good sign - like kids that can raise their game in the big moments. Forgione could also be a good addition as he had over 40 points/20 goals in the USHL and is a small fast skater with skills. Reminds me a bit of Lenes. Darrar may not be ready now but could have potential down the road, and McKinney looks like an energy guy. The d-men look interesting too, particularly Muscoby and Ryan, but really have to see them play to get the real lowdown. Not sure about Santaguida, who is small and in a league not known for goalies, but his numbers are good. Overall I'm cautiously optimistic.
prediction that if UMass finishes above UVM next season he's toast. It's hard not to notice that other HE programs like Mack, UML & Providence have all seen significant improvements with new blood.