The Lac St-Louis Lions - Part 2

As promised, here's a little more insight on the Lions.

Yesterday, when discussing Biega, I brushed on how blueliners have been used on the wing this season. Well, Michael Matheson is another one of those defensemen to spend time upfront. But, it is on the back end that you truly can apprecite his contribution. There honestly is nothing flashy about his game, as he happens to be one of those defensemen who is playing his best when you don't notice him. But if you do follow him around for a bit, you truly begin to appreciate what a steady and reliable player he is. He spent little time on the wing in the second half of the season, and his game started to blossom as a consequence, on some nights forcing you to take notice of his play. He seemed to need a little bit of time to adjust when he was shuffled back and forth. While not a power play quarterback, he's got a heavy shot that he started using more and more in the second half of the season, and his consistent progress is a great sign for a player of his age. He'll need some more seasoning before making the jump, but he's looking like a solid second rounder.

A little later in the draft, when everyone starts running after the 16 year-olds, two Lions should find themselves in high demand. The first would be forward Philip Zielonka. He seems to have truly benefited from the coaching change and has been a solid player for his team this season. What he lacks in size and speed (that surely scared off teams last year), he sure makes up for it in smarts and smooth hands (which should get him drafted this year). While he won't have the junior career Alex Bourret had, I would fully expect Zielonka to be able to contribute to a team's offense in much the same manner. Think of him as a poor man's Brent Aubin.

And finally, because somebody needs to kill penalties on a team, I have to bring up Ryan Eardley's name. While he may only chip in occasionally offensively at higher levels, there is no denying his defensive prowess. He's got good size, good eyes and the proper work ethic to succeed in his own end. He's been a mainstay on the Lions penalty kill and there's no reason to think he won't be able to bring the same dimension to Junior hockey. Some team will probably be looking to steal him with some later round pick, because he'll be ready to challenge for a roster spot at the very next training camp. I would expect the team to step up will be one looking for a player who can fill in immediately a defensive-oriented roster spot. It'll be interesting to see what happens on draft day.

To conclude on the Lions, and this has nothing to do with the players and all to do with management, as someone who saw the Lions win championship after championship when they played at the Verdun Auditorium way back when, it sometimes saddens me to see some of the things I now see. This was once the model organization in the League, but now not so much, and I feel the people running the ship have their part of the blame to take over this. For instance, the Lions run their own hockey school. I've actually seen this program, and talked to one other person who sees it on a regular basis, and we both agreed. The guy on the ice with the kids, Karel Svoboda, for the lack of a better word..... is a nut. The curriculum is pretty solid, nothing special but certainly better than a lot of those other 'developmental' programs, but never have we seen a coach talk/scream in such a condensending way to kids. After a few sessions, these kids confidence level must be shattered. You can't be spoken to in that fashion for that long without having an impact on you. And the worst part is... the kids are actually pretty good players.

Another example was the situation with the head coach last season. The way Danny Dupont was acting behind the bench, he was making Mike Ditka look like he's reading the paper. It was incredible to watch a coach shout so much.... and never over anything positive. I will give the devil his due and admit that he is a good tactician, but there is a lot more to coaching than Xs and Os. And in that regards, it was just awful to watch. The yelling, the complaining, the gesturing ... and everything in a completely 'over the top' way. And I assure you that if a coach loses control, you can be pretty sure the next people to lose it are the players on the bench in front of him, and on a lot of nights, it is exactly what happened. Which was too bad, because they had a pretty good team, and started the year strong because of that talent. But as soon as other teams coaching started kicking in, the Lions started sinking despite having more talent than their opponents. That season might have been the first time I ever heard of parents holding meetings to see what could be done about replacing the coach. And my sympathies to those parents, who had to spend 4 digits to have their kid play on the team to only be forced to watch that nonsense going on behind the bench.

While I realize this will not be the most popular point of view, I write it sincerely hoping the Lions can better themselves and find their way again, to once more become the model franchise it deserves to be, because I truly feel the players deserve it.

The Lac St-Louis Lions

It's been a tough year for the Lions, but things did pick up in the second half (keep an eye on them in the playoffs - they've been finding ways to win lately). The weird thing with the Lions is that the 15 year-olds were terrific, generally it's the 16 year-olds who didn't do their part. From a scouting perspective, performing 15 year-olds are a God send, so the Lions were a popular destination this season.



With Halifax finishing last and the Maritimes supposedly producing one or two spectacular talents, I'll play along and say the Mooseheads will draft the local kid first overall. But sooner or later, someone will have to draft a Quebec player, and if the first Quebec player drafted isn't Dillon Fournier, that team will have a lot of explaining to do.

Fournier is really a terrific defenseman. A large framed, smooth skating, puck moving defenseman with the hockey sense to back it up. I actually like him better than I did Simon Desprès in his QMJHL draft year. Dillon is just that impressive. He competes very hard every shift, never shies away from physical play (but sadly doesn't initiate it often enough - because when he did, he truly flattened out some players) and what I like best about him, is that he simply kept getting better as the year went along. He went from a skilled defenseman to one who can take control of the play is his own end - truly impressive.

This consistant progress as they year went along also happened to be the undoing of Marc Biega. Playing as a 14 year-old last season, he started the year as an early favorite to go first overall. However, while still maintaining first round status, he has long fallen out of the race for first. With Biega, it isn't a question about tools, because his skill level is probably the highest of any Quebec AAA player, it isn't about hockey sense, because he actually makes smart decisions look easy. No, with Biega, it's all about hard work (or lack thereof). From the start of the year until Christmas, Biega was on the ice working only to make it seem like he was working. When he made a soft pass that became a turnover, you would see him smash his stick as if he was upset. But next shift, he would go back out there with the same indifference in his play, completely lacking intensity. And when he'd get burned, he'd go back to acting upset, with no response in his play to follow. He really was working to just make it seem as if he was working.

I heard a number of different theories over this -he's just bored with the caliber of play, he's hiding an injury, the new coach doesn't push him like the old one- but I don't buy any one of them. My feeling is he simply let his status go to his head. But, when the second half of the season started, his work ethic began to show progress. Playing on a team that dresses 7 defensemen (with one playing the wing), Biega found himself on some nights as the designated defenseman to go play the wing. And while it did little to spark his play in the first half of the season, the best hockey he played in the second half came with him playing the wing. Most notably, in one of the best games I saw this season pitting the Lions against Séminaire St-François, Biega was on the wing and setting the standart for hard work. While his hockey sense is definetely better suited for the blue line, that intensity with his skill on the back end equals one dominant defenseman. And for that reason, he will be a first round pick, but, by not competing, he sure missed out on a lot of development and even saw some players pass him by (most notably, Dillon Fournier).

The final Lion I want to touch on today (got to save something for next time) is Patrick Walsh. Simply put, this guy is money. Now I can already hear some of you telling me that 29 points in 37 games is nothing special, but that's because the numbers don't tell the whole story. Walsh is the best two-way player out there, bar none. I've seen him play with success at both center and left wing, and at 15, he's already a skilled penalty killer with good size and speed. Lost in the shuffle would be his skill set. Don't be fooled, this guy can finish, and I have seen him raise his game to dominant levels on some nights. He's got early first round pick written all over him, because the demand for a hard working, two-way player who can score is always there. He's not the offensive dynamo Quebec usually produces in top end players, but he's just so reliable. Plus, he's pretty sure to go early, because he's exactly the type of player Pascal Vincent wants to build the Montreal Juniors around, and if he's there when they pick, they'd be nuts not to grab him, and since they're picking no later than mid-first round ....

I'll make sure to cover the rest of the prospects next time.

Introduction

So after a season of enjoying terrific hockey games in Midget AAA rinks (with the playoffs just beginning), I wonder what the general opinion of these prospects is. To my great disappointment, all I see are websites charging money for their services. While I understand that selling their product is how they pay their bills, I can't help but feel that there should be a source offering a free opinion, sharing with others the wonderful talent playing in Quebec Midget AAA hockey. It is a truly wonderful league, with players competing with great drive and determination, and seeing as there isn't anyone out there willing to just share their findings, I figured I would do it.

And before you fill my e-mail box with accusations of being some 'wannabe' scout, I feel I should give you a little bit of background info. I used to scout, travelling to games and tournaments to find players and recruit them. I was even able to recruit a few good ones! One thing nobody ever says about scouting is how lonely of a job it is, and so now I coach. I find myself at a rink almost everynight, and honestly .... what could be better?