Trouble at NTDP?

[PuckFan4u]

Rumors are that 2 of the U17s were dismissed from the team (one forward, one goalie) for drinking related isssues. Also, one forward on U18 was dismissed, and a goalie was sent down to U17s for the rest of the season for assulting a teammate, that goalie apparently wont be allow to go to the IIHF World under 18s. According to pointstreak, Murray played in goal for both games for the U18s and Campbell played both games for the U17s. That must mean the goalies in trouble are Maxwel and Yanakeff?

 

[Brock]

Regarding Maxwell...

On one hand you have to question what's happening with this kid. Ever since the transfer to the OHL this season was nixed, he seems to be getting into one troubled incident after another. Has to be related to some serious bad blood between him, the coaching staff and perhaps even some of his teammates. It'd be hard pressed to argue that he's been finishing out this season in mature way.

On the other hand, you have put some of the blame on the program for this. Not allowing Maxwell to go to the OHL seems to have caused them one headache after another. Why have someone on your team that doesn't want to be there? All of this could have been avoided had they simply let Maxwell leave. Keeping Maxwell really seems to have caused a riff on the team and the program has been in the news in recent months for all the wrong reasons (the suspensions of Maxwell, Morin, among others earlier), now this.

 

[The Exiled One]

I think the NTDP gives the kids and parents a pretty good idea of what they're getting into before they sign the two year agreement. It's a contract, and letting him out of it without consequences doesn't really benefit USA Hockey.

Who's to say these same events wouldn't have happened wherever they were playing? Don't blame the program, blame the kids and/or their parents.

 

[WesternCollegeHockey]

I agree that trying to bail on teammates in the middle of a season and assaulting a teammate says something.

But I disagree that it says something about the NTDP.

 

[The Scouting Report]

I think the NTDP gives the kids and parents a pretty good idea of what they're getting into before they sign the two year agreement. It's a contract, and letting him out of it without consequences doesn't really benefit USA Hockey.

Who's to say these same events wouldn't have happened wherever they were playing? Don't blame the program, blame the kids and/or their parents.

Junior Teams in Canada and the United States often send their players home when there are major problems, or the players actually leave the team on their own will sometimes.

However the USNTDP is very different. While you can easily argue that a guy like Maxwell is actually a bad influence on the team and they would probably be better without him, they are setting a precedent. If the USNTDP starts to let kids leave everytime something happens that might upset them, they could be losing several players each year to the CHL. This is extremely problematic because it's very hard for them to just replace those holes as they cannot just trade for players during the middle of a season and would have a hard time finding players already not with other teams.

 

[orangeandblack]

Rumors are that 2 of the U17s were dismissed from the team (one forward, one goalie) for drinking related isssues. Also, one forward on U18 was dismissed, and a goalie was sent down to U17s for the rest of the season for assulting a teammate, that goalie apparently wont be allow to go to the IIHF World under 18s. According to pointstreak, Murray played in goal for both games for the U18s and Campbell played both games for the U17s. That must mean the goalies in trouble are Maxwel and Yanakeff?

Kyle Palmieri kicked off the team.

Higgins and Yanakeff booted from program.

Maxwell to u17s.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

Regarding Maxwell...

On one hand you have to question what's happening with this kid. Ever since the transfer to the OHL this season was nixed, he seems to be getting into one troubled incident after another. Has to be related to some serious bad blood between him, the coaching staff and perhaps even some of his teammates. It'd be hard pressed to argue that he's been finishing out this season in mature way.

On the other hand, you have put some of the blame on the program for this. Not allowing Maxwell to go to the OHL seems to have caused them one headache after another. Why have someone on your team that doesn't want to be there? All of this could have been avoided had they simply let Maxwell leave. Keeping Maxwell really seems to have caused a riff on the team and the program has been in the news in recent months for all the wrong reasons (the suspensions of Maxwell, Morin, among others earlier), now this.

This isn't soccer. The USNTDP invests a ton of time and money in these kids, and they are contractually obligated to finish out their stint. The mature (and right) thing for Maxwell to have done is finish up his obligation to the program and go to the OHL next season. Honestly, I see developments like this is as more of an indictment of the youth (and their parents) today than anything else.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

Kyle Palmieri kicked off the team.

Higgins and Yanakeff booted from program.

Maxwell to u17s.

Palmieri eh? Is he OHL bound as well? I wonder how this will effect his draft position. I was looking at him as a possible 1st rounder.

 

[Hunter Gathers]

Kyle Palmieri kicked off the team.

Higgins and Yanakeff booted from program.

Maxwell to u17s.

So it sounds that Palmieri has the same attitude issues his brother has?

 

[The Scouting Report]

So it sounds that Palmieri has the same attitude issues his brother has?

If you're referring to Nick, they are not related at all.

 

[The Scouting Report]

Palmieri eh? Is he OHL bound as well? I wonder how this will effect his draft position. I was looking at him as a possible 1st rounder.

Without researching, I'm almost positive Guelph drafted him last year because I know he went undrafted in his first draft.

But I would assume he'll still be going the college route.

 

[Hunter Gathers]

If you're referring to Nick, they are not related at all.

They aren't? Funny that two Palmieri's would have attitude issues and both play hockey.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

Without researching, I'm almost positive Guelph drafted him last year because I know he went undrafted in his first draft.

But I would assume he'll still be going the college route.

Well, seeing what's happened with other Notre Dame recruits, I wouldn't be surprised to see him jump ship as well.

 

[The Scouting Report]

Well, seeing what's happened with other Notre Dame recruits, I wouldn't be surprised to see him jump ship as well.

That's true, although I would think Calabrese is definitely going to take the NCAA route.

 

[The Scouting Report]

They aren't? Funny that two Palmieri's would have attitude issues and both play hockey.

Haha yeah it's kind of odd, that's for sure. Let's hope that Kyle turns out a little better than Nick.

 

[orangeandblack]

Stephen Johns was also suspended as part of the drinking incident.

Theres been rumors about Johns going to Windsor next season for a few months. This may make Windsor even more enticing.

Not sure if Palmieri will end up in the OHL, but theres definitely been rumors since he was drafted last spring. Guelph has made a big push, this may also push him to the OHL.

 

[Gump Hasek]

This isn't soccer. The USNTDP invests a ton of time and money in these kids, and they are contractually obligated to finish out their stint. The mature (and right) thing for Maxwell to have done is finish up his obligation to the program and go to the OHL next season. Honestly, I see developments like this is as more of an indictment of the youth (and their parents) today than anything else.

Yeah, right, because Brad Maxwell clearly doesn't understand what is best for his Son. [/sarcasm]
.

 

[Brock]

This isn't soccer. The USNTDP invests a ton of time and money in these kids, and they are contractually obligated to finish out their stint. The mature (and right) thing for Maxwell to have done is finish up his obligation to the program and go to the OHL next season. Honestly, I see developments like this is as more of an indictment of the youth (and their parents) today than anything else.

While I completely agree with you guys in saying that Maxwell has to take the blame for handling this situation immaturely (which I thought I did make clear), I also still think that the development program should have at least seen this coming.

If I'm a coach, I don't want a player on my team who has made it public that he does not want to be on my team or part of my program. And that is regardless of whether they signed a contract or not. By keeping someone who doesn't want to be a part of your team, you're just asking for bad blood. For one, now all his teammates know that he doesn't want to be there, so how do they know he's giving it his all for them? Not to mention it seems to have created a bit of a division in the locker room, with the reports that guys like Maxwell and Morin (among others I'm sure, Fowler? D'Amigo? Palmieri?), are ready to jump to the CHL.

The Development program could have avoided all of this animosity if they had simply let Maxwell go. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to predict that a 17 year old kid (obviously immature) could react negatively and be a distraction should he not get his way. Is it wrong? Abso-freaking-lutely. The kid needs to grow up. But is it unexpected? I would say no. How many 17 year olds are mature enough these days? All this and it appears it has spilled over to the rest of the team.

I'm not saying we should be taking the blame off of Maxwell and the other dimwats for being immature jerks about this. They deserve what they have gotten. What I am saying is that the Development program should have seen something like this coming and it all could have been prevented if they had just let Maxwell go. It's not like he's helping them win games now playing for the Under 17 team. By trying to prove a point and teach him a lesson, all they have appeared to have done is alienated some of the other guys on the team who are probably Maxwell's buddies and will be joining him shortly to the OHL.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

Yeah, right, because Brad Maxwell clearly doesn't understand what is best for his Son. [/sarcasm]
.

Well, he sure looks to be doing a masterful job as a parent so far.

 

[The Exiled One]

Unlike other NTDPers, it doesn't appear that any USHL teams own any of their rights. That's the most likely destination if Higgins (Maine), Palmieri (Notre Dame), or Yanakeff (Michigan State) want to pursue their college commitments.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

While I completely agree with you guys in saying that Maxwell has to take the blame for handling this situation immaturely (which I thought I did make clear), I also still think that the development program should have at least seen this coming.

If I'm a coach, I don't want a player on my team who has made it public that he does not want to be on my team or part of my program. And that is regardless of whether they signed a contract or not. By keeping someone who doesn't want to be a part of your team, you're just asking for bad blood. For one, now all his teammates know that he doesn't want to be there, so how do they know he's giving it his all for them? Not to mention it seems to have created a bit of a division in the locker room, with the reports that guys like Maxwell and Morin (among others I'm sure, Fowler? D'Amigo? Palmieri?), are ready to jump to the CHL.

The Development program could have avoided all of this animosity if they had simply let Maxwell go. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to predict that a 17 year old kid (obviously immature) could react negatively and be a distraction should he not get his way. Is it wrong? Abso-freaking-lutely. The kid needs to grow up. But is it unexpected? I would say no. How many 17 year olds are mature enough these days? All this and it appears it has spilled over to the rest of the team.

I'm not saying we should be taking the blame off of Maxwell and the other dimwats for being immature jerks about this. They deserve what they have gotten. What I am saying is that the Development program should have seen something like this coming and it all could have been prevented if they had just let Maxwell go. It's not like he's helping them win games now playing for the Under 17 team. By trying to prove a point and teach him a lesson, all they have appeared to have done is alienated some of the other guys on the team who are probably Maxwell's buddies and will be joining him shortly to the OHL.

The problem is, this is less about an immature kid and more about he and his handlers trying to leverage the program to get him into a "better" situation to fast track his career. The USNTDP stayed firm because of the precident situations like this set. The one issue I do have with the hardball approach is the fact he assaulted a teammate. Shouldn't that be grounds for dismissal rather than demotion?

 

[RangerRed]

These kind of problems have been a long time coming for the NTDP. There's always been rumours of this kind of stuff going on and the assumption has been that the program has been able to smooth over the problems in the public eye. A lot of scouts have said that the program has problems controlling kids, largely because it also has problems controlling the parents. As for the status of some of these kids, I know Guelph has been putting a full court press on Palmieri to get him to come north. The Storm are going to be pretty good for the next two seasons with Holland, Beck and Latta up front and Cody McNaughton developing further down the depth chart. Palmieri could be joining a Guelph team with Memorial Cup designs.
In terms of Maxwell and Morin, both are supposedly going to be reporting to the Kitchener Rangers next season which means that the headache could go from being USA Hockey's to Steve Spott's. The Rangers have managed to control pretty big egos and attitudes in the past, so it wouldn't surprise me to see the two of them mature a bit during their time in Kitchener.

 

[The Exiled One]

If I'm a coach, I don't want a player on my team who has made it public that he does not want to be on my team or part of my program.

So if Crosby decided he didn't want to be a Penguin, they should just let him go?

So if Tavares decided he didn't want to be a Knight, they should just let him go?

So if Maxwell decides he doesn't want to play for the NTDP, they should just let him go?

Sorry, I don't see the difference.

 

[Brock]

The one issue I do have with the hardball approach is the fact he assualted a teammate. Shouldn't that be grounds for dismissal rather than demotion?

You would think so. But then that brings up the point I was trying to make and I'm going to use the word "hardball" you mentioned. Because they are trying to gain leverage and play hardball, they are refusing to release him because in a sense that means he ultimately won. Instead, they send him down to the Under 17 team, where he's likely to cause more headaches and set a bad example for the younger guys.

Let him be someone else's problem and get rid of this jerk already. He can like to think he's won by getting his release, but when draft day comes, we'll see who is the winner.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

You would think so. But then that brings up the point I was trying to make and I'm going to use the word "hardball" you mentioned. Because they are trying to gain leverage and play hardball, they are refusing to release him because in a sense that means he ultimately won. Instead, they send him down to the Under 17 team, where he's likely to cause more headaches and set a bad example for the younger guys.

Let him be someone else's problem and get rid of this jerk already. He can like to think he's won by getting his release, but when draft day comes, we'll see who is the winner.

The funny thing to me is Maxwell was already a highly regarded prospect. I envisioned him as a second rounder at worst. I doubt a move to the OHL this year would have helped his draft postion all that much if at all.