Goaltending and the draft

It is intersesting to compare the USHL's draft of goaltenders and the results. Most of the top-drafted goaltenders never played a game for the team that drafted them. Chicago's first two picks were goaltenders, including the number one overall pick, and both are struggling. Why is there so much trouble in scouting and drafting goaltenders?

Bachman was drafted last year by TC and was going to be on the team, but decided he didn't want the backup role. He is a solid goalie, but Chicago is just in a funk. At the pre-season tournament, Chicago was dominant, but now they have issues with coaching I believe. Chicago drafted 2 goalies right away because goaltending was their true downfall last year.

It does seem that more often that the better goalies come from mid to late rounds in the draft.

Chicago was NOT dominant at the preseason tournament. They simply scored a lot of power play goals, that's all. 5-on-5 they were below average. Simply put, at this moment, or at the Buc Bowl, they are/were not a good hockey team. They have a lot more than goaltending problems to worry about.

yeah, pretty sure Chicago was good at the Buc Bowl. They have about 17 vets on the team and they will get better. There was talk about them replacing their coach because he wasn't cutting it and the players didn't really care for him. If you have coaching issues, you're not going to go out and play well when you want the coach to be gone. They are very solid up front and their D seems ok for right now, but the goaltending just hasn't performed.

Ryan,
Sorry, but you can't tell that just by looking at Pointstreak. I was there and saw it with my own eyes. Your own statement, "Yeah, I'm pretty sure" indicates you aren't completely sure at best, or are making it up, at worst. On the power play, they were pretty decent. 5-on-5, they just weren't that good. Will they get better as the season progresses? Quite possibly. But, that's about the same as saying the sun will come up tomorrow. Of course, if you wree there, then you had to be watching a different Chicago team than I was. They beat Lincoln 6-1. So what? 5 goals came on the power play, the other shorthanded. 5-on-5, the Stars won 1-0. Chicago has trouble building consistant pressure in the other team's zone and holding onto the puck once they get it there. At least that's what I saw at the Buc Bowl. I haven't seen them in the regular season yet.

I think though, you can hold off on presenting them the Clark Cup at this point in time.

there are no stats on PS for the Buc Bowl, so I was there to view Chicago. They stay out of the box and force the other team to take the penalties. So what if they weren't the best 5 on 5? When your opponent is in the box more than you and your PP is clicking, why should you be made out to be a bad team? They special teams were good enough to net them 3 wins at the Buc Bowl. Chicago is a vastly improved team this year and once they get the team all on the same page and the coaching situation sorted out, they should take off. Bachman and Madore are solid goalies and Chicago has so much veteran leadership. They will surprise a lot of people in the end.

Well, PS did have Buc Bowl stats up during the tournament, no idea why they aren't there now.

So, let's move on then. 3 wins in the Buc Bowl? WOW! Let's cancel the regular season, forget the playoffs and just hand them the Anderson and Clark Cups right now then. Save everyone a lot of time and effort.

Okay, so we still have to play all them games. Okay then, here's the numbers so far. Chicago is TWO wins and FIVE losses. 5-on-5, they've scored 10 goals and given up 18. On the power play, they have scored just 4 times in 47 chances and have given up THREE shorthanded goals. Their power play is ranked 10th in the league. The Steel's penalty kill is ranked #12, They've killed just 28 of 49 power play attempts by the opposition, for a really pathetic 68.29%. They have not scored a shorthanded goal. How can they be so dominant when it doesn't count, then so poor when it does count? You can't blame all that on coaching, or players not all on the same page, which almost goes hand-in-hand with coaching. Yes, it's up to the coach to motivate his players, but he can only do so much. When all is said and done, it's up to the kids to get it done. I once watched a team just a few years ago win their league's playoff championship IN SPITE of their coach. So, what's going on with Chicago? Heck if I know. Oh wait, let me guess...they just aren't a very good team. Not now anyway. Will they be in the future? Maybe. But I just don't think so.

Oh, the biggest surprise Chicago would spring on anyone after this season, would be the franchise still being in Chicago for the 2007-2008 season.

yes, please hand them the Cups now!

Chicago will be around for however long the league wants them to be.

Ryan

I totally understand that you have time to lurk on all the boards and feel it necessary to post on virtually every thread. What I don't understand is why your opinion is the only one that really matters.

Chicago was good at the Buc Bowl. Waterloo won it last year and watched the playoffs on B2. What does the Buc Bowl have to do with anything?

Why will Chicago get better this year? Give us a reason. You mentioned they have a lot of veterans. It seems that veterans should be playing well at the beginning of the season, while the new players get used to the league. If it is the coach, I believe he would have been removed as ownership there is not afraid to make switches at that position ever.

Chicago will not get better. Quote me on that. Look at their webpage. They have no staff. They generate no money. They lie about attendance so families feel better about sending their kids there. Players will start defecting to teams that will put them in a better position for colleges.

Those are my thoughts and opinions only! I welcome any thoughts or opinions counter to mine. I like a good dialogue.

Interesting replies, but I was focusing on the failure to add top goaltenders in the USHL, not on Chicago being good or bad. The fact that their two first picks were both goaltenders and neither one is fairing well was just an illustration. On the ither hand, last year the NAHL Laska franchise cut a goaltender mid-way through the season, he was picked up the next day by the USHL, and was one of the USHL's top performers. LAst year's NAHL top goaltender is now the USHL's top goaltender.

Seems to me that there is little attention given to goaltenders at this level. How many USHL franchises even have a goaltending coach?

Oldhockman, by any chance, do any of these goaltenders have a name?


Ryan,
You probably follow the Steel pretty close, since your posts obviously come from the heart and not from any sense of impartial analysis. That's fine and appreciated.

However, the reports I've heard, all indicate that ownership is not as stable as it could be, they have a hard time attracting quality players(A trade for Matt Moulakalis is they BEST they can do?) and that their attendance numbers(playing in a youth hockey rink, unlike the other USHL teams) are GREATLY(and I do mean GREATLY) inflated.

If those reports are wrong, please tell us why they are and why the Steel will be, in your(and yours alone) estimation, a championship contender this season.

The other report I'm hearing, is that this will be the last season for the Steel in Chicago. Am I wrong on that? It's not how long the league wants them there, it's how long they can demonstrate to the league that they are a viable franchise. The league may well want them there. But if they just can't draw numbers sufficient to stand on their own, then they won't be around long.

Let us hear your thoughts and the reasons behind them.

They are on the Souix City and Des Moines rosters, respectively.

Let's see here. A little research comes up with the following:

Last season's top NAHL goaltender, Matt Dalton(1.63 gaa, .940 save % with Bozeman) is NOT the #1 goaltender in the USHL at this point in time. In fact, he's #6. The current tops(number wise, but remember, it's still pretty early in the season) in the USHL, Matt DiGirolamo, doesn't appear to have played in the NAHL. If he did, he didn't show up on Pointstreak's list of top goaltenders in the NAHL last season.

Laska franchise? I don't recall a team in ANY league named Laska. The only in-season goaltending move listed on Poinstreak by an NAHL ALASKA-based franchise last season, was a trade moving a goaltender from Bozeman to Wasilla(Devan Hartigan). I can find no indication anywhere on Pointstreak from last season, of a goaltender from ANY NAHL team, let alone one from LASKA, who then became a top goaltender in the USHL.

So, looking at USHL teams adding "top" goaltenders, Tri-City I know added two, Bryce Christianson from Fairbanks(NAHL) and Ian Keserich, from Ohio State. Of course, there's also the already-mentioned Matt Dalton, coming to Des Moines from Bozeman, Jon Morrow from Alpena to Lincoln, Matt Lundin from the University of Maine to Sioux Falls and Troy Redmann, from Texas(NAHL) to Ohio.

Not to be degrading or anything, but it seems there was little attention paid to goaltending in your post. (And for the record, YES, I have NO life. That's why I was able to spend the time doing some actual research before making this post.)

OldHockman wrote:

They are on the Souix City and Des Moines rosters, respectively.

They?

They who?

I saw no goaltender on either roster named They.

Matt DiGirolamo was the back up goaltender on Texas (NAHL) last season. This year he is, as you say, number one in the USHL.

Jerry Kuhn was cut from Wasilla, Alaska last season after a few months. He was in the USHL the next day and was the number 9 goaltender in the USHL for the season. This year he is the USHL's number 5 goaltender.

Sorry for the confusion, I was trying to avoid using names or focusing on any particular player; I was focusing on the lack of goaltending scouting and coaching in the USHL is all.

P.S. Did you find any USHL team with a goaltending coach?

regarding the Steel...

No, I don't follow them closely, I know someone with their organization. The ownership has been unstable for years now, so that's nothing new, but the owner did pay off a good chunk of the debt that was owed to the town of Bensonville. The USHL wants to have Chicago in the league so they can basically have the "big" midwestern city in their league.

Please inform me of WHERE I said they'd be championship contenders? I said they would be good and surprise people Oh, and they could be contenders because they are in the playoffs

Oh, and the Matt Moulakelis trade was the future considerations from Omaha to complete an earlier trade.


Kuhn is very good in shootouts. Dalton got lucky, as the USHL is now allowing foreign born goalies again this year, but he has been very good the couple times I was able to see him.

I don't know about the goalie coaches.

In the game last night, Jerry Kuhn posted a shutout while the Chicago second round draft pick goaltender allowed four goals. It seems that the goaltenders from the NAHL, whether cur mid season, last year's back ups, or last year stars continue to outperform the goaltenders drafed straight into the USHL.

And what does that say about the NAHL?

To me it says a kid has proven all he can in the NAHL and wants to play in a BETTER league.

It makes the NAHL, instead of being able to stand on it's own, look more and more like a feeder league to the USHL.

Players switch between both leagues. There are plenty of USHL players now in the NAHL.

OldHockman wrote:

Players switch between both leagues. There are plenty of USHL players now in the NAHL.

Most of the USHL players that are on NAHL teams were cut and not able to land on with another USHL team. The NAHL produces a lot of good players, but it's pretty evident that the USHL is the better place to be. Ask any player that has played both leagues.

Perhaps some of the goalies that were in the NAHL and are now good in the USHL were previously drafted by USHL teams or tried out there and weren't good enough at that point. We had a kid come through camp a few years back by the name of Ted Purcell, and he was cut because he wasn't good enough at that point, but coach knew he would be good. Another example is Trevor Lewis. Cedar Rapids didn't have the spot to let him develop and DM did. I know Kuhn was at our camp a few years back. I've been told that Curtale has been at our camp too, scouting players that get cut from camp.