Thursday, March 15, 2012
Matt Barzal Sweepstakes heating up
The most talked about prospect since Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has fans, teams, scouts and the hockey world talking as the 2011-2012 WHL season is winding down. Barzal has drawn many comparisons to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins due to the fact that they both played with BWC, both likely to share going first overall and both wear the number of their birth year as Nugent-Hopkins whore #93 and now Barzal #97. However, I don't think they play all that similar, as RNH will slow the game down to his pace and isn't quite as physical as Matt. While Matt tends to take the game to you and a high speed.
Matt Barzal first made noise at the Quebec International Peewee Tournament where he had scouts and critics buzzing all across Canada in dominating the tournament which features the best 12 year old talent in the world. Barzal had an astonishing 22 points in 7 games at the tournament and received rave reviews. Later that season, Barzal made his bantam debut with BWC at westerns as a 12 year old and did not look out of place at all. He then entered his first bantam season with a huge target on his back all season long, despite being a first year player and didn't disappoint, leading his team in scoring and to a birth in westerns. At westerns, he led the tournament in scoring with 14 points and was named the top forward in leading his team to the Western Canada Bantam Championships.
This season, Barzal has continued his progression despite being plagued by some ankle injuries, which has caused him to miss a fair amount of time. He scored over 3 points per game in league play and was named to the All-star team at the John Reid Memorial Tournament.
Here is a bit of a profile that CityTV Vancouver did on Matt.
http://video.citytv.com/video/detail/1350777293001.000000/matthew-barzal/
With all that said, the teams that have the best chance at landing Matt are the Prince Albert Raiders, Prince George Cougars and the Seattle Thunderbirds currently. The bottom three teams in the final standings all have a chance due to the lottery and the fact that a team can move up a maximum of 2 spots, depending on which ball is drawn. Listed below is the chance of landing the first overall pick, based on standing.
Chance of ball being drawn
1- 6 balls - 28.57%
2- 5 balls - 23.81%
3- 4 balls - 19.05%
4- 3 balls - 14.29%
5- 2 balls - 9.52%
6- 1 balls - 4.76%
Teams with with the 1 - 2 - 3 positions have a chance of landing the first overall pick. Teams with the 4 - 5 - 6 positions can move up 2 positions and if any of those teams balls are drawn, the team in the #1 positions still would get the first overall pick.
Chance of landing the first overall pick
1 - 57.14%
2 - 23.81%
3 - 19.05%
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14 comments:
There will be some players hanging this in their locker for the rest of the season.
Barzel is a great Bantam hockey player, sees the ice, not selfish, and will go to the dirty ares, doubt if he goes to any of the teams that are suggested tho.
hmmm.NCAA route for matt???
The interviews and articles that I have read as of late are all saying he will NOT play in the WHL. He is going to play BCHL and hopefully achieve a scholarship from there. Especially the TV interview from Van. So..... thank goodness, maybe we wont have to talk about this player anymore regarding the upcoming draft.
Why are you people so angry with this player and for the writer who wrote the story?
For 12:55 is this why you come to this site to hear about the top players?
So in about 5 years you will be telling your friends that your son played against him. I don't get it. But I guess some people just can't enjoy others success.
if the players who read this are mad enough to actually make his publicity a centre point in their minds, then they are in for a long and jealous and stress filled life. There comes a time to tip your hat to a player when he is just that much better than everyone else. Yes you still try and beat him on the ice. But shifting a whole dressing room's focus on the fact that a great player is getting publicity is a loser move. Sounds to me like its more than likely some jealous parent who would fixate on the success of an elite player And yes, Barzal will most likely go BCHL and then to college. His dad played in the BCHL and it is a probability the kid will too. Having said that, he is to good to not go number one. The WHL team that gets him will have to do some massive trust fund work to make it worthwhile. But, look for him to go college unless he goes to the right team.
success is the nature of the game, barzal will succeed were ever he goes to play hocey, more importantly will he succeed in life, jeez hes a good kid a good player and hopefuly the route he takes he will have fun and succeed, relax everyone he is 14 years old.
Someone told me that Jesse Gabrielle was somehow playing in the BC zones. Also, I heard he was going the college route unless he was drafted by the right team. Then, I heard somehow he was listed on a Saskatchewan zone team. Now I am confused. I thought he was from the states.
It's called motivation. He has been the top guy as long as I can remember but that doesn't mean that guys aren't after his spot.... that's hockey. With the questions about him playing in the WHL and injuries this season, that number 1 spot might not be as preordained as it seemed last year.
Gabrielle was born in Saskatchewan, has played in the States for the last 2 years and tried out and won a spot for the Sask First Zone 1 team. Anything beyond that i can't speculate on.
RE March 15 10:17 - very sad to see such comments targeting a 14 year old. This kid was born to play hockey, he has never been a dirty player and if anything has only shown respect and modesty with regards to his success. For those wondering, he will likely go the WHL route and hopefully get drafted at 18 (and you can bet he would never be one to boast about any of it). Good luck to all players - they all deserve success at whatever they work hard at.
I'm also confused that Gabrielle is on Zone 1 in Sask. Doesn't seem fair at all. His dad for sure is living in the states with him. Come on SHA look into this especially if he tried to get into BC.
Doesn't much matter. He is a good player, but average on the whole scale.
who really cares about Gabrielle? Last time I saw him play he was really average compared to the best??
Ty Comrie got to be from Alberta when he lives and played in the states...played for team Ab etc. and I am sure he will be playing on team pacific even though he really lives in the states...no one really cares from the provincial associations as long as the player makes their team stronger...sad but true
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