Scouting is subjective, it lends itself to interpretation. Scouts project, that’s the essence of the job, but that’s still up for interpretation. Every team, every scout may have a different list or evaluation of a player. Every scout, every team has a different approach when formulating their list. There’s so many moving parts to the equation. Where’s the team drafting? What are the organizations needs? Who’s the coach? What cycle is the team in? What opportunity does the player have going forward? There’s always going to be questions, and many of those go unanswered until the player in question steps on to the ice.
From my experience it’s all about learning and growing, but more importantly learning from your mistakes, gaining experience and channeling that into the next scouting experience. Every scout may have their top five “lookfors” or evaluation techniques when assessing and projecting players, but for me the mistakes continue to shape my future decisions, evaluations and projections.
As one NHL Pro Scout once told me, ‘Craig, you carry your mistakes with you, so you can learn from them.’
The learning process continues, and in the meantime I’m going to continue to pour my heart and soul into my projections and evaluations, but I’m sure there’s some players that will continue to prove me wrong! Perhaps one QMJHL scouting colleague may have said it best.
“Scouting is all about giving a kid a chance, whether your drafted or signed as a free agent, it’s about giving them an opportunity.”
You see everyone sees the players name, height, weight, their team and ranking listed by the QMJHL’s CSR, but very few look at the date of birth.
As of right now, there are 34 “2007” born players ranked on the CSR’s Final List, only one of those 34 are ranked within the Top 90 which is New Brunswick’s own Charlie Morrison. Other than Morrison, the other Atlantic Canadian “2007” born players are Noah Boland, Patrick Lambe, Aiden McCullough, William Stonehouse and Jacob Pineau.
Charlie Morrison LSD Champions Hockey Academy strong skating D-man will have to get quicker from lateral mobility perspective to ensure he reaches his full potential at the Q level, but here’s a kid that played games at the Jr A level to gain invaluable experience, he has a good stick and processes well, eager to jump in and support the rush, good puck skills and quality first pass,
William Stonehouse LCG Shawinigan Lake School Still can’t believe he fell through the draft a season ago, great technically moves well, plays big and square, he’s a battler in there, needs to challenge a touch more and trust his technique.
Noah Boland LSF Pinnacle Growlers Good skater, needs to work harder at times away from the puck, good in the dot, good puck skills and overall skill set, processes the game and position well,
Patrick Lambe LSD Bishop College Solid skater, strong powerful stride, processes the game and position well, will have to work on his quickness/1st step and his agility to ensure he reaches full potential at the next level, needs to work on his stick positioning and angling below the dots in his own zone, can play in any situation, and is solid with the puck in the offensive zone, projects to be a solid two zone 5/6 depth defender at the next level
Jacob Pineau LSF Moncton Flyers Here’s a great story, played high school last year and dominated as a Gr 9 kid, forced to switch positions this season at the U18 level and did fantastic on the wing, needs to get stronger upper body wise, fairly strong on his edges, just needs to continue to refine his skating stride, great instincts for the game, engages and gets to the middle, just needs to do that more consistently, great release, heavy and accurate, drives offensive opportunities when put with the right players, can play in any situation, great vision and knack for hitting the open man, sees the ice very well,
Aiden McCullough RSD Fredericton Caps This kid is great story, has really come a long way on and off the ice, great transitional d-man projects to be a solid two and a half zone D man, just needs to continue to gain confidence and belief in his ability, tons of potential here, defends well, just needs to continue to progress and work on his agility, stick positioning and angling below the dots, but has definitely done that throughout the year, had a fantastic year for the Caps and showed tremendous leadership before and after Will Reynolds got traded and sent to the Titan, This kid logged Zdeno Chara like minutes for the Caps and had a fantastic season!
Now this is where things also get very interesting, 51 of the eligible US born players listed by the CSR are 2007 birth years. Interesting in the fact that there were a few “2007” born players from this region that were no doubt deserving of making the list, but were omitted, but again scouting is subjective and everyone sees things differently.
How many players on the CSR’s List were from Midget Espoir? How many players on the CSR’s List were from the U16 AAA League or High School here in Atlantic Canada? What’s the difference between those two leagues?
Well, some questions are more difficult to answer than others and we are just going to leave it at that. Now isn’t the time to start naming “2007” born players that are deserving of being on the list, but I’m sure there are some Q teams that will add them to their list heading into the weeks ahead leading up to the draft. Getting back to the “2007” born players, in some cases it might be the best thing to ever happen to those players not being added to the list because it potentially deviates their direction and path in the game.
Players that fall through the draft in their first year of eligibility are understandably devastated but become galvanized and arguably better for it in the long run. It’s difficult to suggest that not getting drafted is a blessing in disguise, but for some players it drastically impacts their mindset, direction and trajectory in the game for the better.
Age is just a number, unfortunately for some hockey players it’s a count down, it’s never too late, keep working hard, never give up, have faith, it’s not the end, be ready to take advantage of your next opportunity. Let’s hope QMJHL teams will overlook the age factor and draft the best player available for their organization no matter if they’re in the first or second year of eligibility and just give them an opportunity to showcase what they can do!
FDS Podcast Network 