Money You Can Take to the Bank

[ted]

With the season coming to an end for most of the local talent, I offer you the following "sure fire" bets for the upcoming season or two....

1. Mr. Leveille will play exactly zero games in the NHL. In fact, I suggest that he has enjoyed the peak of his career as the next step will prove to be fatal as the negative aspects of his game will be exposed at a higher level and his stock will plummet faster than Bre-X. He will be drafted, not in the first round as suggested by Mr. Mackenzie, but nonetheless in the top 50.

2. The scout that drafts Dalton in the top 50 will be working for the Port Colborne Pirates in a year.

3. Riley Sheehan is the real deal. He has a shot at the NHL.

4. If Luca Caputi roles his eyes and shrugs his shoulders at the Pens training camp everytime he thinks Sidney Crosby or someone should have passed him the puck.....George Laroque or Ray Whitney is going to take him aside and beat the living crap out of him. Mr. Legin can score too Luca - go to the net.

5. The IceDogs won't make the playoffs next year. Lord help us if Alex sticks in the NHL.

6. Murray Nystrom and the Badgers will return to the CIAU finals and make it to the finals with Mike Swift and Jordan Foreman leading the way. No one will benefit more from the relocation of the IceDogs to Niagara than Brock.

7. The Thorold vs Techumseh game on Sunday, April 20th will be meaningless. Elmira in 4 or 5 over Techumseh to win the SC.

8. Mr. Hubbert will "bow out" as suggested in the Standard at the end of the season becoming one of the longest serving and most successful coaches in the GHL. His style and determination will be missed. Thorold management will mark his retirement by hanging a special banner on the wall beside Risi's. Rob will go down as the best coach in modern day history.

9. And if you buy that......take Ottawa to win the Cup this year.

10. See you at the rink!

[stunned]

My final thoughts and predictions:
1/After watching the other leagues dismantle Thorold, change the word parity to mediocrity for the Golden Horseshoe. Some claim this hockey is as good as OPJHL, when in fact the GHL should worry about being a good Junior B league first.
2/Niagara Falls fielded their worst team since Masterson took over. Terrible defence, selfish offence and no toughness. Good goaltending though.
3/Daulton Leveille will be the first player in the area drafted from a poor Junior B league. He will go to the NHL combines and the bench press starts at his weight. He will get stuck under the weight and people will come on here claiming it was JT's fault. His eyes will get opened when he finds out how good the next level is. Prediction - won't play first year and will bolt team for Ottawa 67's. Will wind up the year with the Falcons. Can you say Bellows.
4/Icedogs Head Coach Ciccillio will only take six forwards and three defencemen next year to start the year, claiming why bother paying for unused luggage. Can anyone out there explain how anyone can play one line hockey at the top Junior League.
5/Politicians will wait for the Icedogs to drop in the standings and their attendance will drop appreciably. They will then play the pied piper to get the Dogs out of town and not have to spend any more money on arenas.
6/Thorold Blackhawk's CJ Dicksons comments in the paper about the glass being half full. It is more like the swimming pool is half full and you are attempting a half gainer in a pike position into four feet of water instead of eight. Can you say ouch...
7/Rob Hubbard will blame the refs, the fans, his goalies, his vetereans .....keep filling in the blanks...
8/After seeing Riley Sheahan play once the scouts don't need to go back. He is the real deal.
9/Stay tuned and see you next year.....

[gunnerstahl]

it would be easier to accept dumb statements such as the one about Leveille if people like you werent nowhere to be found when they were successful and deny saying such claims

even if he doesn't go to the show, he just earned a 4 yr degree for free. are you jealous, are you still pumping gas trying to pay off your uni bills, or did you not even get in?

[icedog]

stunned - your first statement is stunned. "other leagues dismantle Thorold" c'mon, give me a break. They lose the first game in O.T. and then lose their second game 6-3 on account of sitting in the penalty box too much. That is far from dismantling Thorold. There are still 2 more games to be played. Even if they were to lose all 4 games, it would not be a dismantling. I could see if they were blow outs but huge margins but not not on account of these two games. Unless you were there you would have seen that they gave them this game. Yes, they took some stupid penalties that cost them and didn't capitalize on their powerplays but by no means were they outplayed 5 on 5. Elmira had 4 p.p. goals and one given to them by Ricky which would never happen on a normal night. You will definitely see a different team Friday night so enough of your stunned remarks.

[hockeyguy1]

Why is it that others feel jealous over someone elses sucess. I have read these forums and have seen it written that Leveille is to soft, to scared, to small, to weak, won't pass the puck, can't play in the big games, won't make it to the next level, won't get drafted, is not a Div 1 player. Yet each step of the way he keeps proving people wrong. I for one thought he stepped his game up big time in the playoffs and addressed many of the issues stated above. Now according to jim ralph hes not a first rounder but in the top 50. Hello sounds pretty impresive to me. I also beleive if he gets drafted that team is not expecting him for several years and if he does get stuck under the bar at the combines (if he gets invited) all the better for him because once again it shows potential seeing as it looks like he doesn't even know what a weight is. I'm sure Michigan States recruiters are not fools as a matter of fact they noticed him before any of the draft hype. He will play and develope there and hopefully have better support from East Lansing fans then it appears he is getting from the local group on these forums. I bet there are many fans like me who will miss watching him play for the Falcons next year. I quite sure Gary will not be able to replace him.

[hockeyfreakkk]

Leveille has had to put up with the non sense of others his entire life, there always has been jealous people and jealous parents who try to put him down just because it makes them fell better. IMO he deserved everything hes earned, and michigan state saw that. obviously he isnt ready to play in the NHL yet, but almost no one is as a 18 year old. he will develop at michgian state and a team who drafts him will know this, they are banking on him getting bigger, because size is all he needs the rest of his game is complete. nothing against shehan hes an outstanding player but to be honest i dont think he helped out that much in playoffs when it really counted. leveile carried the team his line mates played awsome as well and fed off of him. the falcons wouldnt have made it as far as they did if it wasnt for leveile, plain and simple. instead of being a group of jealous individuals we should support local talent and hope him all the best, who wouldnt like seeing another NHL player coming from st.catharines?

[Just the Facts]

Very true; considering the size of the city of St. Catharines, you haven't had very many others to brag about.

[stunned]

Hockeyfreakkkkk:
Sorry, just having a little fun and maybe got a little too personal. I hope Leveille grows and matures into the type of hockey player that is capable of playing Division One hockey. I agree that he has the potential to do so. However, reread your post and if you truly believe that I am jealous because of my comments towards Leveille then your swipe at Sheahan is ironic. He was the heart and sole of the team and without him the Falcons were perimeter players with no chance of winning. Sorry, just my opinion.

[leafsfan]

Here are my surefire bets for 2008-09:

1. Fort Erie wins the GHL
2. St. Catharines places 5th because of the premature losses of Leveille to University, Floris, Steele and Sheahan to Tier II
3.Hubbs retires from Thorold and is replaced by Giles
4.Ice Dogs Fire Mario at mid-season and replace him with Hubbs when it appears they will miss the post season
5.Legein plays in the AHL for 2 months and is sent down to the East Coast League because the players is Syracuse dislike him more than his Ice Dog teammates
6. Petro plays his 10 NHL games for Tampa and is sent back to junior for more seasoning
7.Grimsby win the Jr. C title again and joins the GHL for the 2009-10 season replacing Wheatfield who finally realize that they can't play with the big boys ever, in the GHL.
8. The Leafs make the playoffs!!!!!
9. Brock wins the CIAU title with Bellows scoring the winner over UNB in overtime
10. Nystrom signs his first NHL contract as an assistant.

[hockeyfreakkk]

stunned i wasnt making any attack on shehan, i simply was stating leveile is the one who did the most for there team when it counted in playoffs. but on the other hand i do belieev shehan is a great player dont get me wrong. but its sad seeign everyone saying leveile isnt as good as everyone says he is. last time i checked the NHL and Div 1 schools no what they are talking about, and if they say he has talent then he does, thats why they do there job and we do ours. they are paid to find the best, and leveile may possibly be the best, not right now but maybe in a few years