"I'm sorry; I've got the utmost respect for Jacques Lemaire as a player and so forth, but they did not like (the skill level of) American players," Larson said.
He was speaking of the former Minnesota Wild coach and management.
"Craig Leipold should be a hero; he should get an award for changing the management," Larson said of the Wild owner who recently hired Chuck Fletcher to oversee his team.
"I'm not saying you can't use Europeans and you can't use Canadians, but don't turn your back on Minnesota or Americans," Larson said. "Those guys (Lemaire and former GM Doug Risebrough) came from Montreal, where they had some very good American players when they were winning Stanley Cups.
"What I don't understand about being in management here in Minnesota is that you've got really good Americans, not just in Minnesota, but in Michigan and other colleges, and everybody else is using
them. I'm not trying to cut up Risebrough and Lemaire, but my point is that I don't think they had the best interest in this area as far as American and Minnesota players.
"Nobody wants to say it; everybody's scared."
Larson, 52, is in the insurance business and helps develop young players as a coach in the Minnesota Elite prep hockey league.
"Everybody thinks there's no one around here who knows anything about hockey," he said. [Shooter Now]
I don't know what everyone was so afraid of? I was also shocked that this wasn't brought up sooner. Personally I can think of many Canadian college hockey players, American college hockey players as well as hockey players from Minnesota that would look great in a green and red uniform.
I can also think of a couple players that are free agents right now. I have faith that Fletcher a Harvard grad will be smart enough to figure it out. The Boston Bruins won the Eastern Conference regular season title with, two Minnesota Gophers, one Catamount, two Wolverines, one Boston College Eagle Eagle and a Cornell Big Red. Lastly, Jason Blake an former fighting Sioux hockey player that was a Hobey Baker Memorial finalist was the top scorer for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Oh yeah; Jason Blake is also from Moorhead Minnesota. Maybe he would like to come home and play for the hometown team.
The Blue Jackets could use a refresher on American college players, or frankly, American players, too.
ReplyDeleteThis is a no-brainer especially living in the state of hockey. The Wild are a joke and their style of hockey is boring and lame, but the rest of the state in terms of hockey is a gold mine. High School and college hockey in Minnesota has to be at the top in the entire country. One could argue this, but I know of no other state that sells out an 18,000 seat arena during the week and during the day for AA hockey. Then there's the 5 D-1 teams in Minnesota as well, four of which play in the ultra-elite WCHA. I'm not saying to just ONLY look at these players to fill your roster, but at least start noticing them. Here's two excellent examples, and they are both undrafted: Nick Leddy and Ben Hanowski. Both are projected to be first round picks and have size, skill, and puck-savvy attitudes to match. They are also both slated to attend Minnesota and St Cloud in the fall right out of high school. That says something right there, not very often can high school players make the jump to D-1 anymore these days. DRAFT THEM!!!
ReplyDeleteYeah good points WCHA, the wild could fill a few of their roster spots with former NCAA hockey players. Last season was bad as Voros, Rolston and Parish parted ways with the Wild. Rolston was my favorite players as well.
ReplyDeleteSwaindog, CBJ's have a few college hockey players like R.J. Umberger (OSU, American),Mike Commodore (UND, Canadian), Wade Dubielewicz (DU, Canadian), Andrew Murray (BSU, Canadian). But your right they could use a few American players. R.J. Umberger is awesome.
You're right Goon, but of the guys you mentioned, only Murray from Bemidji was drafted by the CBJ. Now that Dougie Mac is gone, perhaps Howson will take a closer look at college players. That said, both Miami's Will Weber and Trent Vogelhuber are CBJ draft picks and both came on Howson's watch.
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