The Marlies played the Grand Rapids Griffins over the weekend and wow was I impressed - with the Griffins.
The farm team for Detroit looks a lot like their NHL counterparts this season. Their style of play and dominance are prevelant at the AHL level.
The most impressive thing about this team is the bulk of young prospects they have leading the way. You have two very good goaltending prospects in Daniel Larsson and Jimmy Howard. Both will play in the NHL when Detroit (or more likely someone else) has room for them.
Their defense is very promising with the likes of Jonathan Ericcson, Jakub Kindl and Logan Pyett. Ericcson should see time in the NHL this year as he is quite ready.
Their forwards then have AHL superstar Darren Haydar, (who is not going up but makes the team quite strong) Finish immigrant Ville Leino who lead the Finish league in points last year and Darren Helm who is occasionally on the roster when not in the Motor city. Jan Mursak will also impress for the Griffins as he was a standout with the Belleville Bulls last year at the Memorial Cup. These players are surrounded by a host of other young guns who are extremely effective with the puck at both ends of the ice.
If this team wasn't going to lose a lot of its talent when Detroit opens the playoffs they would look like a top contender to me. Their 7-3 domination of the Marlies solidified this fact.
Its hard to believe how good this Detroit system really is, it almost seems they are like Ben Johnson of Seoul(without the "I cheetah all the time" part).
The marlies take on Hamilton bulldogs, the affiliate of the Montreal canadiens, on Wednesday night so look for a decent baby Habs report on Thursday.
The farm team for Detroit looks a lot like their NHL counterparts this season. Their style of play and dominance are prevelant at the AHL level.
The most impressive thing about this team is the bulk of young prospects they have leading the way. You have two very good goaltending prospects in Daniel Larsson and Jimmy Howard. Both will play in the NHL when Detroit (or more likely someone else) has room for them.
Their defense is very promising with the likes of Jonathan Ericcson, Jakub Kindl and Logan Pyett. Ericcson should see time in the NHL this year as he is quite ready.
Their forwards then have AHL superstar Darren Haydar, (who is not going up but makes the team quite strong) Finish immigrant Ville Leino who lead the Finish league in points last year and Darren Helm who is occasionally on the roster when not in the Motor city. Jan Mursak will also impress for the Griffins as he was a standout with the Belleville Bulls last year at the Memorial Cup. These players are surrounded by a host of other young guns who are extremely effective with the puck at both ends of the ice.
If this team wasn't going to lose a lot of its talent when Detroit opens the playoffs they would look like a top contender to me. Their 7-3 domination of the Marlies solidified this fact.
Its hard to believe how good this Detroit system really is, it almost seems they are like Ben Johnson of Seoul(without the "I cheetah all the time" part).
The marlies take on Hamilton bulldogs, the affiliate of the Montreal canadiens, on Wednesday night so look for a decent baby Habs report on Thursday.
1 comment:
why don't you tell us what's wrong with turco instead?
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