Regarding Brynäs, a mix of cronyism/nepotism, the same old people making mistakes(and even if it was less bad at some point, (with hockey evolving so much they get even more behind). Because with Brynäs more than most of the big organisations, they are a mess from top to bottom(or senior team to the youth squads). You can even look at how Brynäs smacks the competition in almost every age group these days pre-u16 locally despite the fact that your team should be based on where in the city/county you are from. Their teams (back to u16-j20 now) seems uncohesive and I really question whatever their development training behind the scenes is, based on their track record.
Ok, that is too bad. And i think the Swedish top organisations are so bad on developing players. They don´t give a shit about what happens until U16. before U16 they want to deliver on RF and the their demands. And the nepotism ... they launched the U18 rooster for the tournament in Plymouth. The roster is overall ok. But ... What the hell is going on with Wille Johansson? Sorry, we all know ... Kostadinski? The nepotism is so strong in this world. No Lucas Sagranden, no Svante Sjödin. But that is not my point. It will go up and down. Players will come and go. But if we really look at it. Your question was " Roughly how many players do you think are standing out significantly in terms of being a valuable prospect at the draft before they start to look kind of the same ( in terms of level)?" And I see a lot of games. A bit to much to be normal, but I hooked up to the 2005:ers. And I agree with you, a bit of a disappointment about the guys this autumn. The only one standing out is Leo Carlsson, and maybe Axel Sandin Pelikka. The others are good hockey players. Liam Dower Nilsson has surprised me. I thought he did not want to compete. But he is. Otto Stenberg .. Ok not more. Zeb Forsfjäll, Isac Hedqvist and what ever who has played in the SHL is marketing. They ara not that good on the level they normal playing. And thats the key for me. When you are dominating the level you normal are playing on, we move you up. One of my favourite players in the 2005 group is Liam Persson (Leksand) . A bit weak but with a strong hockey sense, good skating and i think he will be a better hockey player compared to for an example Unger Sörum. But that is me. In Region väst, they have never had as a strong group as the one born 2005.
Exactly, its really unfortunate that we don't have stricter mandates or "philosophies" on how to treat youth hockey, because not only are we turning away so many young kids at an early age, leading to less hockey, but that also means less at the top automatically in my opinion, and even at these levels we notice how badly we hurt so many kids future prospects. Agreed that the team is overall okay, but a lot of players I'm feeling meh on now, and ye, Johansson is a big yikes. Also, Kalle Carlsson definitely deserves a spot, but I just keep feeling more and more right in being lower than what I expect most to be on him based on his point production. Outside of the actual finishing/assisting I don't think he plays strong overall. What is your opinion on Wahlberg and Zether? I have not seen to much of these guys(maybe like one game this year). Forsfjäll has not looked dominant or even great from what I've seen in j20 this year, so agree on him playing SHL being foul. And what is going on in Frölunda? I feel like my steady "hierachy" of Stenberg-Edstrom-Dower has been completely shattered.
I totally agree. From my point of view i think the Swedish icehockey federation needs to redo their development plan. And retake the position from the private developers. Or it will get fewer and fewer hockeyplayers. They need to pay good instructors from early age. Johansson is a scam and some other kid that should have been there stays home ... Not ok. I feel the same as you about Kalle Carlsson. He slows the game down to much playing full strength. Lacks a bit competing. Zether i´ve seen quite many times through the years. Surprising to me. But he´s taken some nice steps, plays in good environment with Eckholm. Steady game against Örebro. Good positioning, and reads the game quite well. Skates good. Trust and self confidence is the biggest factor for the guys we are looking at and talking about. Wahlberg i haven´t seen that much. Very powerful do. Zeb Forsfjäll reads the game well, skates ok but the hype? I can´t se that. Yes, i always seen Otto as the big name and Dower Nilsson as someone who has al lot of skills but lacks in competing. But i have changed my mind. From what i seen this autumn i would rank Dower Nilsson over Stenberg. It´s early do ... Yes! Sandin Pelikka is looking really good. So yes, that could happen!
All agreed on the first point. And yeah, in such a competitive enviroment where so few players get the chance, there should be more pressure on the coaches and federation to make sure the best possible players get the chance to play. In most team sports, but hockey moreso, performance can be so much about mentality and feeling trusted by the team and having belief in yourself. Needs to be as meritocratic as possible.
Great thoughts. The 05 age group is broad with lots of talent, but does not perhaps have the individual stars that the 02`s and 04’s had. I think this team played much better than the one in Hlinka, which relied too much on the first line. In this tournament more players contributed. Anton Wahlberg and Felix Unger Sörum played well. The third line also played well. The new goalie was also good. If the Swedish team had stayed healthy I believe we could have challenged the U.S. It will be interesting to follow this team going forward.All agreed on the first point. And yeah, in such a competitive enviroment where so few players get the chance, there should be more pressure on the coaches and federation to make sure the best possible players get the chance to play. In most team sports, but hockey moreso, performance can be so much about mentality and feeling trusted by the team and having belief in yourself. Needs to be as meritocratic as possible.
I saw some of the Finland and swiss games, but haven't deepdived to much yet to to time deficinency, but will probably check back on the Czech and US games. Have you seen them, what's your overall opinion of their preformance? Some +s and -s from the players this tournament? Liked Felix Nilsson overall and at least his whole line played pretty intense and skated hard from the shifts I saw them. First line was strong when I saw them, at least Nordh and Stenberg plays strong offensive hockey. . Not saying Forsfjäll was super bad, but just not very noticeable the shifts I saw him, which I guess is fine to some degree if you are letting the wingers get more puck time, but in my opinion does not give him a whole lot of push in terms of stock. But I need to check back on the goals against, because I didn't see that they apparently were in on a bunch of them before I just skimmed through the rosters stats. I think Tom Willander had some good moments carrying the puck as well.
I know there's at least some guys lurking here who must have checked a game or two from the five nations. Come on lads, step up, give me some names you thought impressed
Oh yes! I watched the games and the team had a strong tournament. A bit of struggling with injuries and sickness maybe not gave them a fair chance in the game against USA.All agreed on the first point. And yeah, in such a competitive enviroment where so few players get the chance, there should be more pressure on the coaches and federation to make sure the best possible players get the chance to play. In most team sports, but hockey moreso, performance can be so much about mentality and feeling trusted by the team and having belief in yourself. Needs to be as meritocratic as possible.
I saw some of the Finland and swiss games, but haven't deepdived to much yet to to time deficinency, but will probably check back on the Czech and US games. Have you seen them, what's your overall opinion of their preformance? Some +s and -s from the players this tournament? Liked Felix Nilsson overall and at least his whole line played pretty intense and skated hard from the shifts I saw them. First line was strong when I saw them, at least Nordh and Stenberg plays strong offensive hockey. . Not saying Forsfjäll was super bad, but just not very noticeable the shifts I saw him, which I guess is fine to some degree if you are letting the wingers get more puck time, but in my opinion does not give him a whole lot of push in terms of stock. But I need to check back on the goals against, because I didn't see that they apparently were in on a bunch of them before I just skimmed through the rosters stats. I think Tom Willander had some good moments carrying the puck as well.
I know there's at least some guys lurking here who must have checked a game or two from the five nations. Come on lads, step up, give me some names you thought impressed
Ok, these are the changes for the next tournament for the Swedish U18 national team. Goalies Munther (Djurgårdens IF) and Thelin (Björklöven/Teg) out. Erliden (HV71) and Gidlöf (Leksand) in. Erliden is the best goalie born 2005 so that´s good. Gidlöf i´ve seen a lot, and he was very good a couple of years ago. Been fighting with a bad back but he´s not been on top level since. Burger (D Örebro) out and Wikman (D Färjestad) in. That´s ok with me. Wikman got injured before the last tournament and Hurtig (D Rögle) came in. And Hurtig stays on the team. Both Wikman and Hurtig are more powerful defenders compared to Burger. Guess that is the reason ,now competing with 2003 born guys. Lindstein (D Brynäs) on the team but he´s healthy now so of course. Burger had a quite strong tournament last time and has a decent stint at the moment in Örebro. He´s a far better skater than Hurtig and Wikman. Hugo Pettersson (F HV71) out and Elliot Ståhlberg (F Färjestad) in. Ståhlberg is one of my favorite among forwards in Sweden born 2005. So that´s good. David Edström (F Frölunda) out and Jacob Sagadin (F Växjö) In. That i don´t understand. David is in my eyes a far better hockey player, with great hockeysense and hard work. He can also score and set up his line mates. Jacob Sagadin is only hard work for me. At the same time Wille Johansson is still on the team and that is impossible to understand. I´ve seen him both in U20 and U18 this season and no positive impact on the games i´ve seen what so ever.
Edstrom (no ”ö”) is injured. Would have been on the team otherwise.
I agree. Färjestad will definetely be a candidate for the U18 championship in Sweden this year. Think several teams from Region Väst will do good in the playoff. To bad VIK missed the top 5 spot with minimum margin (same TP and GD..) but also intersting to see Mora in the south league.
I feel really sorry for Västerås. They beat Grums with 6-1 in the last game and needed just one more goal. That´s a tough one! Yes, the Region Väst and Region Syd are clearly the strongest in my eyes. From Region Norr i can only see Skellefteå as a contender. From Region Öst Djurgården. I don´t think AIK is that good in total. But i might be wrong there ... From Region Syd Frölunda, Rögle, HV71 and Växjö are all strong teams. Don´t think Malmö can contend. From Region Väst all the teams that qualified for Allsvenskan are good. Also Västerås as you mention is a good team. Örebro, Brynäs, Leksand and Mora are all strong teams. Mora and Västerås needs their top players playing all the time do. They don't have the same width in the lineup. And off course Färjestad.
I think the biggest snub is Denver Barkey - let’s you know how NHL teams feel about him…
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