Oh this was finally a good thread bump.
Every time I see it pop up I assume I’m going to be reading about a murder.
Every time I see it pop up I assume I’m going to be reading about a murder.
Prospect Info: At 27th Overall The Predators Select Zachary L'Heureux
- Thread starter LastWordArmy
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AintLifeGrand
Burnin Jet-A
Scoresberg
Perpetual Mediocrity
He had 6 goals and 3 assists in 5 games in that series. Series MVP by far.
Also, what ZLH brings to the table isn't only points. He's never going to give you PPG in the NHL. But if we can unlock a Yanni Gourde type of player in him, I'd consider it a huge win as you need those guys as well to win.
Kat Predator
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Definitely. The big question is whether Zachary can figure out how to dial it back a few notches so he's playing up to the line rather than over it. We want him to be a pest to the other team, but also have some hockey IQ and situational awareness. We'd rather he make plays and not just try to high score the PIMs. He sounds like he could become a tough, reliable energizer bunny sort of two-way, bottom 6 center.
Yanni Gourde is a pest to play against because of his speed, skating, toughness and tenacity. He's always showing up at the wrong moment if you're playing against him. He's got a great understanding of the game and his opponents. He's also clearly a natural leader, who leads by example and sets the bar high for the rest of the team. He makes other players better.
Contrastingly, a guy who's just a cheap shot taker and fighter isn't really worth a 1st round pick. You can find goons like that at the bus station.
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You'd like to think the scouts saw enough talent to justify trading up to the 1st round for him. You can get pure pest much lower (aka 4th round Tootoo)
Bringer of Jollity
Registered User
Unfortunately, his antics seem to trend more Matt Cooke/Raffi Torres than Yanni Gourde so far. I'm not sure I'm familiar with a player that's been so troubled in juniors that has gone on to have a "normal" NHL career?
Kat Predator
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Yeah, it's just not possible to be an effective leader if your true personality is being a prick.
Armourboy
Hey! You suck!
I mean considering some of the allegations the CHL has been hammered with would you know it even if there was?
He's a kid so sometimes it takes learning the hard way for guys to figure it out. If not you cut him loose.
Bringer of Jollity
Registered User
This is true enough, and I'm not writing him off or anything. And I'm sure there are players, especially in the more distant past (especially), that had much more "colorful" juniors careers, I'm just not sure I remember a player that had this many issues and suspensions that went on to have a problem-free career as a top 6/top 9 type. Like, I don't know that I remember Marchand having this many disciplinary issues in juniors, or even a Cooke (though I think he did have like 150 PIM one junior season). I'm just skeptical he can adequately grow out of whatever demons he's got to keep his head on straight consistently.
A run in or two with a tanner jeannot type in the AHL may be what the Dr. Ordered for his antics. The Q is age restricted. He tries to pull some of those antics on fully matured NHL/AHL player and he will either learn real quick on his own or be forced fed some learnings
Bringer of Jollity
Registered User
Maybe. I don't know that any of the egregious examples were ever really dissuaded this way. Cooke got dropped by Evander Kane but it had no effect on his game--both him and Marchand (Steve Downie, Perry, etc...) were notorious for turtling after their bullshit. Torres and Wilson were tough enough to give back as well they got. Some of these guys, if they can't score like a Marchand or Perry, their existence in the NHL depends on playing at (or frequently crossing) the line and a few beatings are a fairly small price to pay for that.
Porter Stoutheart
Seen Stamkos?
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Yeah, these guys are past learning that way. He played in the Q at 16 against 21-year old players. It didn't help. The AHL (and the NHL) won't be any different in that respect.
It's not like somebody is going to beat him into being a nice guy, right? That's not how those things work.
He got 9 suspensions in 4 years of junior hockey (and some of it was Covid-shortened too). That's definitely up there. Marchand (8) just passed Pronger (7) for the most all-time NHL suspensions. Although they took a lot more years and games to do it. So it's quite the accomplishment, really. It stands out.
I think he'll be ok as a pro in that respect. He might cross the line once in a while, but the main thing is that his extra strength and his motor aren't going to be enough to separate him scoring-wise in the NHL like they do in juniors. He'll probably be like Hartman was for us, or if he gets strong enough like a Tootoo (without the fighting). Best case maybe a Scott Walker. It's a useful player. Just not one I would have traded up for the way the modern NHL is trending.
Armourboy
Hey! You suck!
I don't know enough about juniors so this is more thinking out loud, but could some of it be that junior hockey has gotten so soft and protected that it wouldn't be real hard for a guy these days to rack up suspensions? You take some of the more notorious players and stick them in today's juniors and he may be mild in comparison.
Attempting to spear a fan on the way off the ice really doesn’t have anything to do with how “soft” junior hockey has gotten.
Armourboy
Hey! You suck!
Yeah but most of his suspensions haven't exactly been in that form. I'd also argue there is probably a lot more to that story than he just randomly deciding to spear a fan out of the blue.
Didn't the fan spit on him? I don't know how I would have reacted to someone spiting on me, but I'm betting it wouldn't be good.
No. The fan was in a group of kids taunting the players verbally as the players were leaving the ice.
One of his suspensions was for spitting on a player from the opposing team during a game.
Porter Stoutheart
Seen Stamkos?
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As we said at the time once we saw the video, it would have to be quite the spitting trajectory for that fan to get him from 10 feet away, clearing the glass from a rinkside seat. I don't think that has been any part of the story, it's just something people were initially speculating as to what could possibly have caused a player to snap like that. But doesn't seem to have been the case.
Instead, it sounds like there was just a longer history of that fan heckling him, and he lashed out in frustration at the end of the game. I mean the player is only 19 himself, but still, spearing a 16-year old fan sitting with his mom is pretty hard to defend, regardless of what they might have said. It's not like it could have been a racist taunt or anything that bad in this case.
The events of that incident were well documented. The entire incident from before it happened until after the conclusion. There’s no need for speculation.
Okay so clue me in, what happened. I tried to find something other than Reddit on the spitting stuff. It also said the kid was a hockey player on another team and had a history with ZL'H
Porter Stoutheart
Seen Stamkos?
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It's just a history of heckling. The fan was Holden Coulter who doesn't play high level hockey, and if he did would play in Ontario, since the news story lists him as living in an eastern part of Ottawa (across the river - and provincial border - from Gatineau, Quebec where the incident occurred).
BigFatCat999
First Fubu and now Pred303. !@#$! you cancer
Great knowledge of Canadian geography. *thumbs up*. You would think Gatinaeu and Ottawa are rivals even though they are in different leagues. But why would a kid in Gatineau have a beef with a kid in Halifax?
Porter Stoutheart
Seen Stamkos?
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It's probably not any personal beef on the kid's side. Sounds like his family are just hardcore Gatineau fans, and it says they've had seasons tickets by that visitors exit for a decade. So he probably just mouths off at all the players on all the visiting teams as they leave the ice. The other Halifax players were able to walk past it. L'Heureux wasn't.
BigFatCat999
First Fubu and now Pred303. !@#$! you cancer
It's probably not any personal beef on the kid's side. Sounds like his family are just hardcore Gatineau fans, and it says they've had seasons tickets by that visitors exit for a decade. So he probably just mouths off at all the players on all the visiting teams as they leave the ice. The other Halifax players were able to walk past it. L'Heureux wasn't.
No comment.
