My mistake. The sarcasm wasn't obvious, because there are people who literally feel just like that.
C Auston Matthews - ZSC Lions, NLA (2016 Draft) II
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BagHead
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Oh, man, that's terrible! I love it.
Well played.Apparently it's comedy hour at HFBoards. I like it. Anyway, I don't get why anyone would rip Matthews for going to a pro league. The kid clearly thinks he's ready for it, his agent must think he's ready for it, and his parents must be ok with it. Refreshing, seeing a NA prospect go to a league in which they actually need to overcome and beat their opposition, rather than just running other kids over.
Haha, evidently I'm horrid at sarcasm online. It's a shame some posters already feel the need to detract from prospects play simply because of nationalism.
Haha you're alright man. My fault. I had the feeling you might be sarcastic, but I had to say something anyway. Cheers.
Risingwind
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- Feb 26, 2015
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I was thinking about that too, but Fribourg-Gottéron leads the league even after they lost to ZSC so they're not a tank team by any means. I have no clue who the defenders were on the ice when Matthews scored his 1st goal. What most impressed me was that he had good speed and poise going in from the center and got the goal against two defenders that were in a good position to stop the attempt. No one needed to support his attack with an exceptional pass or anything, he created that chance from nowhere and with the help of his winger got the goal too. That's the sort of play I expect from a leading player.
The defenders did earn some critique there too. The LD made weak contact with Matthews and sort of drifted out to nowhere after the pass. The RD kept his position but in the end was relegated to just watching the opponent score. Against NHL level defenders something like this would only work with a lot more speed and body strength.
The only bit of Matthews' NLA play I've seen is in that clip. It's possible that he plays horribly outside of highlights but I doubt it.
For anyone wondering the 1OA thing was definitely short for 1st overall.
teravaineSAROS
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- Jul 29, 2015
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Finnish teams are doing indisputably better in Champions Hockey League.
Also that's one of the reasons to why it's easier for Matthews to score in NLA, because he plays for one of the top teams meaning he has the privilege of going against easier opponents (the worst NLA teams are worse than the worst Liiga teams)
Even look at the score of that game, ZSC had 6 goals. It's simple mathematics for Matthews to be more likely to have scored one of those 6 goals than it is for Laine to have scored one of those... 1 goals for Tappara against Blues.
Zaddy
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- Feb 8, 2013
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Gotta say that I love that he's taken an unconventional route and is playing in Europe prior to his draft. Adds quite a bit of flavor to the draft. He seems to be doing well so far too. As others already mentioned, his skating definitely looks a step better than when I last saw him. I think he'll have a hell of a year.
Just staaahp. Matthews scored two goals in two games in a professional league. It's impressive. No need to get so ****ing defensive about it.
Lol what a glitch goal.
Matthews looks great and I think he's going 1st OA. That doesn't mean a guys like Laine couldn't challenge him but if Matthews is putting up points at this rate it's not going to be even close.
It is easier to put up points in NLA than in Liiga though so you can't compare Matthews's points against Laine's or Puljujärvi's points straight up but I know for you North Americans it can be hard to understand. For myself it used to be hard to separate the CHL leagues and how they compare. Also I have no idea what would good points for NCAA players in their draft year but I trust the judgement of those who live there and have knowledge of those leagues. So if I say it's easier to put up points in NLA it's a shot against Matthews, it's just my objective opinion on those two leagues. Last night the average amount goal scored in Liiga was just over 3 whereas in NLA it was over 5,5. I know it's a really really small sample size but I just wanted quickly to point out that the Liiga is really low scoring league at the moment. Who knows, maybe if Matthews would have come to Finland it would be higher
I have no dog in this fight since I'm mainly rooting for Puljujärvi and he seems to be dropping from the 1st OA race anyway.
teravaineSAROS
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Of course it's impressive, I never said it's not impressive. What I'm arguing here is Liiga vs NLA
habsrule4eva3089
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- Nov 22, 2008
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Can any Swiss fans who've been watching the games comment on his play outside of the goals we've seen? I think such comments would be far more relevant and interesting than what our Finnish friends are bringing to the discussion so far.
I've seen him playing in his first game against Fribourg. He knows how to use his body, showed some great passes and positioned himself well in "open space". Had a couple of good chances, missed a very good one in the beginning of the second period. He was unsuccessful in the shootout. His face-offs needs to be improved, if I remember correctly he lost quite a few.
PS: highlights can be found here (might need a swiss ip to see video).
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teravaineSAROS
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How is it not relevant to debate wether the NLA is close to Liiga or not if someone claims they're equally good? or wether Matthews is that much better than Laine or Puljujärvi who are contenders for being picked first overall?
perfectly relevant and natural things to debate over.
Only finding comments that'll say what you want to hear and feed a confirmation bias "interesting" won't give you more insight on anything.
I'm sorry, but the posts he was referring to were not insightful. They were overly defensive because they seem upset that Matthews is doing well and getting attention.
What makes the posts seem even more petty is the fact that early on in this thread and in the previous Matthews thread, it was made clear that the NLA is a tough league. A league comparable to the one's that are now suddenly far superior, according to some posters. Before similar posters were saying he wouldn't dominate or score at a PPG because the NLA is no joke. Now he's scored a goal in each of his first two games. That rhetoric seems to have completely flip flopped.
It is way too early. And he has only played two games. It isn't like it is the end of the season and he's at a PPG. I think everyone gets that. However, it is both funny and sad how fast the league went from a solid league he couldn't dominate to a joke league that isn't comparable to where the amazing Finnish prospects are playing.
I don't know why Finnish posters are getting defensive, Matthews was the better prospect last year than Laine and Puljujarvi and he showed that against his own age group, so now this year we are bringing down Matthews accomplishments because his league is weaker. Thats not to say the Finnish duo won't have better careers in the future. But by this logic, I guess then last year Puljujarvi > McDavid because one was playing in a harder pro league.
Konk
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- Mar 11, 2008
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I also find it humorous that the "balancing opinions" are coming from certain Finnish posters who keep bringing up Laine and Puljujarvi. Clearly this is a thread about Matthews, but there's an agenda at hand. Those Finnish posters aren't even watching Matthews and providing an opinion on his play so at this point it's not really contributing any insight whatsoever.
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Jussi
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Look at the thread title.
Is it "Liiga vs NLA"? No.
Is it "Laine vs Matthews"? No.
Is it "Puljujärvi vs Matthews"? No.
This thread is about Matthews and Matthews only.
So what are you babbling about? There is a thread in the International Tournaments forum called "Let's rank all the competitive leagues" I think that's the thread you're looking for. Unless you want to compare those three prospects specifically. But in that case you're free to create a new thread called "Matthews vs Puljujärvi vs Laine" to have this discussion.
Semantics
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If referring to me, i just said that; Sample size is too small, to declare Matthews clear 1OA yet. Dont know, how that's an agenda.
It's kinda hard to REALLY watch him to play, as most of us, cant see full games, and highlight's don't tell real story.
What i am really waiting is to see Matthews @ WJC.
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