PR - Wheat Kings

Restful Week after Deadline

With eleven games left the atmosphere in Saskatoon has mellowed.  The Kings now
sit relatively solid in seventh and return to action tonight after a three day
break.  An injury to Eric Fehr necessitated the call-up of Byron Bitz, who will
get a shot to finish the season on the pro.  In the five games the 'Big Three'
have been together they have nine goals and sixteen points.  However, although
Hennessy and Kazionov seem to be playing well together, Bernier was been
relatively quiet and many are suggesting that the Kings also call-up Nik Bergfors to
finish the season with Bernier since the two have chemistry.

"Our farm team isn't doing much, I'm tempted to call everyone up," GM Tyler
Young stated, "but I'm not sure what would be best for our guys' development,
finish the year on the farm or get some time on the pro.  As it is the roster is
ok, we don't really have our typical third line, just a mucker line, but we can
finish the year with them - heck Larsen and Fata are doing quite nicely with
some extra playing time.  Overall, unless something drastic occurs, it looks like
we're headed into the playoffs, sixth or seventh seed.  We'll sort things out."

News & Notes:  Dimitri Kazionov is looking strong to finish with the
goal-scoring lead, which surprisingly would be his first.  He needs seven goals in eleven
games to get to fifty though. . . Mattias Ritola has had four points (1g, 3a)
in five games since joining the Kings at the deadline.




Future Watch

Jimmy Howard has been solid in net this year so far, which got me thinking:
there are few talented goalies in the league aged 24-29 and with most of the #1
goalies in the league having passed or around 30, there is only about three to
five years left until there will be a shift to the group of goalies who are
developing right now.  At that point a team's future will be largely based on
whether they have a good, reliable goalie developed within three or so years (teams
drafting this year will be behind the curve).

So with that in mind I though it would be interesting to look at the future of
the league.  Here's the Top-10 Goalie prospects in my view:

10.  Mark-Andre Fleury, 21, Clubbers (3.69, 28-45-4, SO3, .867)
Fleury has had two seasons on the pro and has never looked all that good. 
Nevertheless, he is ahead of the pack as far as development and could still
turn-into a top 10 goalie.

9.  Cory Schneider, 18, Hurricanes  (3.60, 2-3-0, SO0, .870)
Schneider is young and solid.  However, unless he develops at an exponential
pace he will never be a truly elite goalie.

8.  Darren Machesney, 19, Wheat Kings (n/a farm)
Machesney is well-rounded and reliable, but won't necessarily stand-out in and
by himself.

7.  Tuuka Rask, 19, Saints  (3.33, 3-2-2, SO0, .888)
Similar to the above two in being balanced yet unspectacular, but ahead in his
development.  This year Rask looked good for a couple games, bad for a couple -
he's young though, and will be given time to develop.

6.  Alexandre Vincent, 19, Rednex  (3.96, 1-0-1, SO0, .851)
An early draft choice by the Rednex, Vincent is well-rounded and given time to
develop should be a solid keeper.  He is very competitive, but may lack some of
the intangibles to be an elite goalie.

5.  Jimmy Howard, 22, Wheat Kings  (3.01, 13-13-3, SO1, .883)
In this list he is the freak.  He has likely the best rebound control in the
league and that could make him a monster among men.  He is inexaustible, but
needs to improve in his movement and his intensity - if he does he could be an
elite goalie, otherwise he should be a decent tandem man.  As rookie he is
putting-up solid stats.

4.  Pascal Leclaire, 21, Flames (3.08, 5-7-2, SO0, .887)
Although he is no longer looking like an uber-flop, Leclaire still is somewhat
questionable.  He is supremely talented in so many respects that one would
think that he would soon hit it big time, but he is weak in puck control - the
fatal flaw for a goalie - and his skating is none too sharp either.  Leclaire could
one day be a Vezina candidate or end-up just another mediocre goalie. 
Fortunately he has Theodore in front of him for a few more seasons.

3.  Tobias Stephen, 21, Ice  (3.23, 18-19-4, SO2, .876)
To say that the Ice solid the farm to acquire Stephen is an under-statement. 
Stephen is the best of the well-rounded but unspectacular goalies (see Vincent,
Rask, Schneider, Fleury, Machesney below) which seem to be the future of the
TFHL (kind of the TFHL equivalent to the NHL card-board cut-outs like J-S
Giguere, Alex Auld, Cam Ward, etc.).  Certainly the Ice will continue to work with him
in order to get the most out of him and given some time so that he can justify
the cost of acquiring him, but right now he is playing on one of the best
defensive teams in the league and is looking like their biggest weakness.

2.  Maxime Ouellet, 21, Sioux  (3.05, 25-16-4, 1SO, .883)
Enjoying the second best rookie campaign by a goalie in league history, Ouellet
is solid and spunky.  He lacks intensity and elite puck control and speed, but
he is the only proven winner in the pack.

1.  Barry Brust, 21, Aces  (2.93, 24-25-7, SO2, .889)
In five years when Theodore, Biron, and Giguere are packing it in, Brust will
be a god among mortals.  The only one of the under-30 crowd who is both balanced
and has truly elite talent.  His one weakness is puck control and his endurance
will always require a solid back-up, but Brust is a full league ahead of
everyone right now.

Other notables:
Ray Emery, 19, Renegades (n/a farm)
In five years Emery could be the best back-up in the league.  His stats are
peppy and the boy has spunk, but he just tires fast and falls flat.

Devan Dubnyk, 19, Apocalypse (3.50, 1-1-0, SO0, .857)
Dubnyk is the least of a series of solid, well-rounded goalies who will likely
develop into 'ok' net-minders, but - barring freak developement - lack the
skills to be an elite man.

Al Montoya, 20, Patriots  (3.44, 0-2-0, SO0, .866)
A former top ten pick, he is the back-up on a bad team this year.  He is weak
in lateral movement and puck control and only adequate in his other abilities. 
He has some time to develop though.

David Leneveu, 21, Spirit  (3.34, 2-1-0, 0SO, .871)
Controls the puck well and has some speed.  His skating is sub-standard and he
has tendency to lose focus.

Dan Blackburn, 23, Canucks (3.59, 23-41-4, SO3, .876)
What many of the goalies below will look like in a couple seasons.  Blackburn
has some talent and is well-rounded enough not to be a total liability, but he
doesn't have what it takes to be an elite man.

Marek Schwarz, 18, Blades (4.03, 1-3-1, SO0 .832)
A top 4 pick last year, he is young and has a lot of things which are good
about him.  But his ability to control the puck is quite simply atrocious and
unless he figures that out in the next couple years, he will be a constant
liability.

Maxime Daigneault, 21, Achaeans (4.29, 2-1-0, GA0, .836)
He has some solid strengths and some key weaknesses.  Outside chance of
developing into a #1.

Kari Lehtonen, 21, Sioux,  (4.47, 1-3-1, SO0, .844)
Signed as a free agent from the Wheat Kings to an absurd salary and costing the
Sioux a first (Niklas Bergfors) and two thirds (Tuuka Rask and Erka Leppanen),
Lehtonen is looking like a full-fledge flop.  He has speed and endurance, but
nothing else.

Ryan Munce, 21, Bobcats
Acquired from the Blades, Munce will be at best a #1b.