In case you missed it, we decided to have a friendly competition in order to see which of us (Sean, Ryan, or myself) could predict the outcome of the OHL Coaches Poll most accurately.
Well here are the results...(drum roll please!)
1st: Sean Keogh
2nd: Myself (Brock Otten)
3rd: Ryan Yessie
The scoring worked as follows...
1 point for nailing a player on the list
1 point for nailing a player in his correct spot
Bonus 2 points for nailing all the correct players in a category
Bonus 3 points for completely nailing a category, placement and players
So here is the breakdown:
Myself - 62 points
Eastern Conference: 23
Western Conference: 39
Link to my full predictions
Sean Keogh - 70 points
Eastern Conference: 35
Western Conference: 35
Link to his full predictions
Ryan Yessie - 49 points
Eastern Conference: 26
Western Conference: 23
Link to his full predictions
Some interesting thoughts about our predictions...
1. How the hell did I end up nailing the Western Conference so much better than the East, considering how little I see the West (unfortunately) compared to the East. I'm almost embarrassed to do so poorly in the East.
2. It's interesting that the three of us all nailed the "Most Dangerous in the Goal Area" category for the West. I suppose it was pretty predictable for Tavares, Terry and DiBenedetto to be selected there.
3. Congrats to Sean for taking home the bragging rights.
Some thoughts on the Poll itself...
1) How the hell did Tony Romano not find himself somewhere in the most improved category for the East? Here's a guy who struggled hard to pot 12 goals with London last season, after coming over from Cornell University with incredibly high expectations. He looked absolutely terrible in my viewings of him in London during the 07-08 season. Hands of stone, speed to burn but no idea how to use it. This year, he leads Peterborough in scoring, pots 36 goals and helps the Petes to the playoffs. Completely different player this season. If he's not most improved, I guess I just don't understand the category then.
2) How does Logan Couture not make it in the best playmaker category for the East? He was 2nd in voting in 2007-08, yet somehow fails to make the list in 2008-09. For my money, he might be the best playmaker in the OHL. Ottawa's offense at times is completely set up around his ability to make plays for his teammates. A tremendous playmaker.
3) Incredibly surprised to not see Alex Pietrangelo's name anywhere on the Eastern Conference's list, not even in either of the best defenseman categories. Hard to believe that a top 5 NHL draft pick and someone who started the year in the NHL, isn't one of the top players in one of these categories.
4) Great to see Chris Chappell in both the most underrated and most improved categories for the West. I haven't seen a more impressive overager this season and I hope he can earn himself an NHL contract. He's having a very solid OHL playoffs thus far as well.
5) Can't believe I didn't think to put Brett Bellemore on the list for best defensive defenseman in the West. Perhaps because he returned to the OHL so late this season, I just didn't think of him. But he's a beast and absolutely deserves to be at the top of that category. Ditto for Dan Kelly, whom I did nail. He's a very underrated defender and is someone I expect to earn an NHL contract at the end of his OHL career.
6) And the Michael Del Zotto fan club continues to shrink. Here's a guy who was a first round pick, highly touted, and highly hyped. Was on the list last year as best offensive defenseman. Yet this year, he fails to crack any category. If this guy isn't one of the best offensive defenseman in his conference, how much value does he hold considering his short comings at the defensive end?
I am happy to let you know that Del Zoto is just doing fine in London now. He has improved immensley in the past month in London. Mark has him playing much better defensively which is what he needs to move to the next level. As the Knights continue to advance through the playoffs you will no doubt witness the improvement
ReplyDeleteAnd I am happy to here that. With Del Zotto you can always see the talent, he just has always seemed so inconsistent. Whether it's that he tries to hard at times, or whether his hockey sense isn't as high as you'd like it to be, or perhaps it's an effort issue. Either way, he can tend to underwhelm you as a viewer.
ReplyDeleteIf you look to a guy like Bob Sanguinetti. Terrible defensive player when he was drafted into the NHL, but over the course of his junior career, he improved. By the end of his time in the OHL, he had become an adequate defender. I haven't seen the progression from Del Zotto yet, so it is refreshing to hear that he is taking some steps forward late in the season and can hopefully carry that into next season with the Knights.