-Smartest player in the draft not named Crosby.
-Dominated the prestigious Minnesota State HS tourney... drove Warrod to Class A title.... he won championship in OT with winning goal.
-Good hands and slick moves.... Great puck movement and vision with a nose for the net.
-Style compares to John Madden.
-Smartest player in the draft not named Crosby.
-Dominated the prestigious Minnesota State HS tourney... drove Warrod to Class A title.... he won championship in OT with winning goal.
-Good hands and slick moves.... Great puck movement and vision with a nose for the net.
-Style compares to John Madden.
Red Line had him at 61. ISS had him at 111.
The Blues definitely overrated this kid. They are taking a risk since he has played mostly against weak Class A teams in NW Minnesota throughout the last few years. He may end up a decent pro but a first round pick? I'm not seeing it.
I also think the comment by Red Line about comparing him to Madden is ridiculous. Oshie doesn't skate nearly as well as Madden does (or did in college).
Colgliano, Stoa, Blunden, Latendresse, Statny, Fritsche. List goes on.
Two that stand out: Cogliano and Latendresse.
Cogliano didn't impress me - I see him being a higher risk, just a gut feeling there. Latrendesse had a huge red mark on his back when you read scouts comment about how poor a skater he was - one scout said that Latrendesse was the *worst* skater he had *ever* seen in the QMJHL. If you can't skate, it's going to be *really* hard to make it to the next level. Layne Ulmer has that problem - consistent 50-goal scorer in the OHL, but struggled to skate and at last check was struggling to stick in the AHL. That might explain why he went from mid-1st round to #45.
Stasny would have been a reach even at 24, Colorado finally took him at #41. After taking a forward in the 1st round, there was no way we could take another in the 2nd - if anything we should have gone defense 1st and forward 2nd.
BTW...Jarmo says he had T.J. ranked between 10 and 14 on his list. Considering most scouts split on who they thought deserved to go where in the first round after the top 10, it's hard to say that this was really *that* big of a reach.
For what it's worth, the Oilers apparently had him very high as well. Had the Blues chosen another player Oshie may have gone 26th. Kekalainen has done a pretty solid job since coming over, right? That's my understanding although you guys would know better.
I have a question: is Ted Hampson still with the club?
The Blues definitely overrated this kid. They are taking a risk since he has played mostly against weak Class A teams in NW Minnesota throughout the last few years. He may end up a decent pro but a first round pick? I'm not seeing it.
I also think the comment by Red Line about comparing him to Madden is ridiculous. Oshie doesn't skate nearly as well as Madden does (or did in college).
You talk like you've seen him skate. Please do tell. Where? When?
this is a good pick for the blues. im a die hard north dakota sioux fan and we are very lucky to have tj coming on this year. he is a very skilled skater coming from warroad mn, and he does everything very well. he was #43 in the final css rankings for n american players. yes he did go earlier then expected but in the long run i think you fans will be happy.to follow tj through the season at UND you can check this site. good luck to the blues this year!!
I love the pick. The upside of this kid is unreal. I suppose the downside is too, but I'll gamble a late 1st rounder on a potential first line center anytime. I'd rather have a guy like this go bust than spend the next 4 years developing 3rd liners who are cheap and plentiful. This kid really loves to play hockey so I suspect he's going to develop well.
What Lowetide said earlier. It is a reach pick to take him at #24 but if STL hadn't, I'm not sure he would have gotten past the Oilers at #25. Had Cogliano and Oshie been both still been available to them, I don't know who EDM would have taken.
If you're upset at the Blues' choice of Oshie in the first round, take solice in knowing other teams had him very high too.
I love the pick. The upside of this kid is unreal. I suppose the downside is too, but I'll gamble a late 1st rounder on a potential first line center anytime. I'd rather have a guy like this go bust than spend the next 4 years developing 3rd liners who are cheap and plentiful. This kid really loves to play hockey so I suspect he's going to develop well.
I agree. I was lucky enough to see a couple of game tapes. The kid has talent and HEART. You can work with talent and hone it...but you absolutely cannot teach heart. You either have it or you don't, and I'd take a decent player with heart over a great player without heart anytime...especially at his age. I think it was an excellent choice. After a couple of years at North Dakota, he'll be ready...mark my words...and you guys will be singing his praises.
I can see it now: "Yes we really liked Oshie and think he could have been part of the future, but we couldn't match the $600,000 his roller hockey team offered - it just didn't fit within our budget.
And by the way, we resigned Jamal Mayers for 5 years at $3.5 million per."
I can see it now: "Yes we really liked Oshie and think he could have been part of the future, but we couldn't match the $600,000 his roller hockey team offered - it just didn't fit within our budget.
And by the way, we resigned Jamal Mayers for 5 years at $3.5 million per."
What is state wars?
Ive read up on him ... still cant get enoguh information.... It said on the UND hockey forum that he might not be ready for the WCHA and he might play a year in the USHL? Any one else heard that?
Ive read up on him ... still cant get enoguh information.... It said on the UND hockey forum that he might not be ready for the WCHA and he might play a year in the USHL? Any one else heard that?
I didn't see that - I saw them say they figured he'd stay 2 years and then take off for the NHL so they were hoping he'd stick around at least through his junior year. Can you shoot me a link to where you saw the "not ready for the WCHA" quote?
oshie is signed and ready to play at und. at first they were not sure if he would come this year to und or next year but all parties decided hes more then ready..he will be a impact player right away..
Quote:
Originally Posted by Irish Blues
I didn't see that - I saw them say they figured he'd stay 2 years and then take off for the NHL so they were hoping he'd stick around at least through his junior year. Can you shoot me a link to where you saw the "not ready for the WCHA" quote?
You talk like you've seen him skate. Please do tell. Where? When?
I have seen him play a decent number of times since he was a sophomore in high school. He is a heady player and has a very good shot. Has some toughness and is tough on his skates. I don't agree with some of the comments about his skating being better than average. I think that may be a bit of a weak point in his game right now.
As with any kid coming out of Class A hockey in Minnesota, there is risk involved because he hasn't really had to play a lot of good teams or consistently play against other top players. He'll be seriously tested in college. It will be interesting to see how he responds. I think the previous poster is a bit optimistic about Oshie being an immediate impact player. It is a major step to go from Class A hockey to high level college hockey. He'll have his struggles.
Oshie was on the borderline of playing in the USHL for a year before heading to college but North Dakota decided late to bring him in to play this fall. The timing of the decision to have him play college this fall seemed to neatly coincide with Brady Murray signing a pro contract and opening up a roster spot. Though the story is that North Dakota was going to bring in Oshie no matter what Brady Murray did, I would question how truthful that really is.
Warroad was one of the toughest teams last year. They played Moorhead hard and tied them. Lee, and Vandevelde played at Moorhead. They always play Roseau. Rosseau put out he Brotens so they are usually good. And Blake Wheeler played in MN class A hockey. Nikkasen played played class A too. I said it about Brian Lee on the main draft board. If Paul Martin was given credit for his ability when he played. Not the level of his opponets. He does not go #62 overall. I do agree it may have swung the other way and guys like Wheeler, Oshie, Lee, Nikkasen all first rounders all MN HS players when they got drafted. But only time will tell.
I searched the USA hockey site for Oshie and came up with this - all for in-line skating.
1999:
USA Hockey InLine Easton Skills Challenge 12-and-Under Players - Overall Standings
Fastest Skater Winner: Josh Fields
Puck Relay Winner: Mark Blewett
Breakaway Winner: T.J. Oshie
Catch and Shoot Winner: Tommy Bardis, Josh Fields
Overall Winner: Josh Fields
2001:
14-and-Under
Championship - Loudoun Lightning (Va.) 4, Dry Ice X-Treme (Ill.) 3 (OT)
All-Tournament Team
T.J. Oshie, Washington Jr. Stars (Wash.)
Kyle Farrell, Washington Jr. Stars (Wash.)
Joseph Williams, Knoxville Thunder (Tenn.)
Shane Mytnik, Dry Ice X-Treme (Ill.)
Kenneth Swinson, Knoxville Thunder (Tenn.)
Team Sportsmanship Award
Prince William Panthers (Va.)
All-Tournament Team:
Travis Bokina, Hockeygear.com (Conn.)
Dan Marziani, Mission Cooler Selects (Ga.)
TJ Oshie, Washington Jr. Stars (Wash.)
Doug Jones, Mission Cooler Selects (Ga.)
Goaltender - Kenny Calicchio, Fear Factor (N.J.)
Team Sportsmanship Award - Fear Factor (N.J.)
17-and-Under Division
Fastest Skater: Travis Bokina, Hockeygear.com (Conn.)
Puck Relay: Wade Seal, Lake Charles Bucs (La.)
Breakaway: TJ Oshie, Washington Jr. Stars (Wash.)
Overall Best Skater: Travis Bokina, Hockeygear.com (Conn.)
Overall Runner-up: Andrew Harclerode, Mad Dogs (Va.)
Overall Best Goalie: Michael Halpin, Skaters X-treme (Ga.)
2004:
The Washington Jr. Stars (Wash.) defeated the Central Virginia Sabres, 8-2, winning the 17-and-Under Stars national championship. All-Tournament Team selection TJ Oshie scored four points on two goals and two assists to lead the Stars to the title. Jared Darby added four points in the win.
I agree with PuckFan01 that speed would seem to me to be his major weakness. He's not a bad skater, but you don't watch him and think - he's a burner. I had thought this might have been what would send him to the USHL for a year before college.
His strengths are:
- he plays much bigger than his size, and that's true in the corners, in hitting and being hit, and in puck possession. He just has a lot of natural strength on his skates.
- he has above-average vision and the hands to make that matter.
- He has plenty of grit and already plays a solid two-way game.
Ive read up on him ... still cant get enoguh information.... It said on the UND hockey forum that he might not be ready for the WCHA and he might play a year in the USHL? Any one else heard that?
I think you're confusing Oshie with Chris Vandevelde, who Edmonton drafted. Oshie will be playing for UND this fall as previously stated. Vandevelde is coming to UND in 2006.
If you want to know more about Oshie, here's a nice background story from his (original) hometown paper in Washington.
Nice article; thanks for posting it.
I knew Oshie was related to Henry Boucha [and the article doesn't mention that Boucha also played for the Colorado Rockies... grr... ], and it was interesting to read Boucha's comments about him.
I must admit that I wasn't thrilled about the pick when Kekalainen made it, but the more I read about this kid, the more I like the pick.
0 points in 4 games at the U20 tryouts, one of only 2 forwards to not record a point. We will know a little more about this kid in ND this next season. I think it will take him a while to get going against better competition.
I am still not thrilled w/ the pick and will look to see if ND will be playing against the OSU, UM, or BG this season - then I will head to the game to see this kid for myself.
I can see it now: "Yes we really liked Oshie and think he could have been part of the future, but we couldn't match the $600,000 his roller hockey team offered - it just didn't fit within our budget.
], and it was interesting to read Boucha's comments about him.
