If it’s for defence. Why is he picked? If it’s for offence why is he picked over Cristall, Misa, Sennecke, Greentree.
Either way makes 0 sense besides Cameron coaching him in Ottawa.
Guys like Beaudoin/Gauthier for instance were picked because of their defensive abilities. Pinelli is in no man’s land where his defensive abilities aren’t great enough to be on the team and he doesn’t really elevate the players around him either.
Misa/Cristall for example make EVERYONE around them better. Sure Misa didn’t go to the U18’s, oh well. Cristall isn’t a super fast skater, oh well look at Tavares and the career he has carved out.
Point is if you’re taking the best players for offensive or defensive roles Pinelli NEVER made sense and NEVER will make sense. He’s one of the best goal scorers in the OHL. But is he Nick “70 Fkin goals” Lardis?
Even then if they want a goal scorer who can wheel. Lardis would’ve been a much better choice too! One of the best skaters in the whole CHL while doing things that haven’t been done since John Tavares almost 20 years ago.
Could go on all day but no point.
It’s the equivalent of Dale Hunter coaching team Canada and picking half of the team as Knights just because there’s a better sense of familiarity with them.
Then just stop and admit there were far better choices that would’ve done far more with the same responsibilities.
If Mann were the coach Pinelli wouldn’t be on the team! Same with any fronts this year. Mann has half of a brain unlike Cameron
Three goaltenders, eight defencemen and 14 forwards were selected by head scout
Al Murray (Regina, SK) and the management group, which includes
Peter Anholt (Naicam, SK/Lethbridge, WHL) and
Brent Seabrook (Tsawwassen, BC), with support from
Scott Salmond (Creston, BC), senior vice-president of high performance and hockey operations,
Benoit Roy (Sudbury, ON), director of hockey operations, and player development coach
Scott Walker (Cambridge, ON/Guelph, OHL). Head coach
Dave Cameron (Kinkora, PE/Ottawa, OHL) and assistant coaches
Mike Johnston (Dartmouth, NS/Portland, WHL),
Chris Lazary (Toronto, ON/Saginaw, OHL) and
Sylvain Favreau (Orleans, ON/Drummondville, QMJHL), as well as goaltending consultant
Dan De Palma (Kamloops, BC/Kamloops, WHL), also provided input.
This is direct fromt he team Canada website. It clearly states that the team is selected by Al Murray, Peter Anholt, and Brett Seabrook with support from Scott Salmond, Benoit Roy, and Scott Walker. The coaches provide “input.” Ultimately, the team is selected by Al Murray Peter Anholt and Brent Seabrook. They are responsible for the selections. Of course, they listen to others in the group but at the end of the day, no coach has the ultimate decision on any players. CLEARLY, you can understand this, correct?
Additionally, we do not know how they choose to select the team and whether it is based on. A certain strategy with each player playing a very specific role or whether there are groups of players that play a general role.
I have openly admitted that the way they select the roster is massively flawed. IMO, with the fact they can select at least 14 forwards, there is no reason to select more than 4 defence first players. In fact, I would select two! This is because there will be offensive players that clearly are capable defensively as well. I think the team goes way overboard with overthinking the team selections.
All that said, Pinelli is a player that scored 48 goals as an 18 year old last year. He will score around 35 this year with an Ottawa team that doesn’t have a natural centre! He is a very good trigger man. IMO, he is a great 13 forward that can be a first unit PP guy and replace an under-performing top 6 winger when necessary. That is the role I saw him playing. Senneke is unrefined. Same with Misa. I really like them both as prospects. But, they are younger and this tourney really is designed for 19 year olds. Next year is their year. In fact, I could say the same about Beaudoin. Misa plays pond hockey in Saginaw. It is a reason why Parekh didn’t get a nod either. They don’t play hockey in a responsible system.
Taking too many guys that are multi-tooled is a mistake for that team. Jack of all trades guys aren’t what wins those tourney’s. You take the Big Bang and Crash guys to go out and stir up some havoc and then take high skill guys that are speedy and can score goals. Taking 6 two-way forwards is dumb. One thing you can say about Pinelli is he is an offence first player that is fine coming back defensively but he’s not putting anyone on their ass. Not his job.
So, this wasn’t a situation where Pinelli made the team over others. This is a situation where about 6 guys made the team over others. It is disingenuous and unfair to simply point at Pinelli who has had a high level of success as an elite scorer while ignoring the overall strategy of those that selected the full roster. ADDITIONALLY, Cameron doesn’t have the authority to select players in a vacuum. He can make a recommendation, yes. But, there is a group of guys above him that are ultimately responsible for selecting the team. Why have a management team and a head scout etc and then allow the coaches to pick the team? The management group is there specifically for strategy and player selection. Coaches are there to implement their system and get the most out of the players they are given.
Again, it is infuriating to single out Pinelli as “the one guy” to blame for others not being on the team (or others on the team miscast) just because Cameron happens to be his coach on the club team. There were a ton of dumb as F decisions made. I can accept an argument that maybe another player should have been there but I think you need to go through at least four other guys to replace before you fall on Pinelli. One for sure being Beaudoin. Another being Rehkopf. You can probably add Howe, Cataford, and Gauthier to the list as well. IMO, Pinelli is a pure sniper type of scorer. Had they loaded that team up with playmakers and scorers and played a high tempo puck possession game, it woudl have been a different scorer.
HOWEVER, if the coaches plan was to dump and chase and play “don’t score on me” hockey, then Pinelli should not have been selected by the management group. He’s not a dump and chase guy. May as well have filled the roster with hammer heads. Dump and chase for guys like Rehkopf, Ritchie, Cowan, Pinelli, McKenna etc is just a dumb as F way to play that tourney. In taht regard, I 100% agree Pinelli should not have been selected but then again, neither should half of the puck possession guys.