Dein erstes Forum » gave him permission to speak with Spurs

Last weekend, I was at the NHL Scouting Combine, an event which NHL prospects are put through the paces doing exercises and interviewing with teams, though its debatable how much value is gained through this process. Here are some observations: - One of the bigger stories to come out of the event was that Sam Bennett, the Kingston Frontenacs centre considered to be one of the top prospects, couldnt do a pull-up. A little surprising. Most of the guys I watched were around a half dozen, though some did more and, obviously, some did less. To his credit, Bennett didnt appear fazed by his goose-egg. "Games arent won or lost based on pull-ups," he said afterwards. Also, in The Hockey News Future Watch issue, published months before, a scout was raving about Bennetts strength on the ice, so this probably isnt a reason for concern. This also goes to a larger question about whether these tests have any relevance for a players NHL future. If there isnt some correlation with future success as a hockey player, what is the point? They might as well write a paper discussing theoretical physics, macroeconomics or something similarly correlated to hockey-playing success. This is the part where I annually plead for some kind on-ice testing to be part of the NHL Combine process. Nothing subtitutes for what a player does while competing in their actual sport, but knowing a players skating speed, for instance, could inform decisions more than how many times they can bench press 150 pounds. Consider the NFL Combine, for example. There are all kinds of flaws with 40-yard dash as a measure for a players football ability, not least of all because players rarely run 40 yards on a given play, but it has become a measure that affects a prospects value. A cornerback who locks down receivers in college isnt going to have the same success in the NFL if he runs a 4.7 40, or a running back who runs a 4.7 40 is going to get caught a whole lot more than a guy who runs a 4.2 and player value is adjusted based on that knowledge. Its not always right (Cleveland Browns cornerback Joe Haden has infamously performed at a high level despite a subpar 40 time), but were talking about odds and probability. Even with all the flaws in the 40-yard dash time, the uniformity of the test offers some value to teams because there isnt a circumstance in which a team prefers a slower player (you know, fast guys can always slow down if need be; it doesnt worth the other way). Former Colts GM Bill Polian, at the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference a couple of years ago, talked about how the Colts, when seeking a new middle linebacker, had set parameters for how quick the player needed to be in order to fulfill the demands that their defensive scheme required. For the Colts, that meant a linebacker that could run a 4.76 40-yard dash. Wouldnt it be worthwhile to know whether that kid who is dominating a lower level of hockey is doing so because he plays at NHL speed? The long-standing argument against having on-ice testing for NHL prospects as part of the Combine process is that players have their seasons end at different times. A prospect in Minnesota high school might finish in early March, compared to players in the Memorial Cup, which finished in late May. Thats obviously a sizeable gap, but I submit that any teenager considered to be an NHL prospect would have access to ice somewhere in order to continue training. Its not like these guys pack up their equipment at the end of the season and bring it out again in September. Those days are long gone. Moving on... - There is such a variance in body type from one player to the next, such is the nature of 17-year-olds. Some still look like kids and others might as well be full-grown men (or close to it). One of the latter is top prospect Aaron Ekblad, who goes 6-foot-4, 216 pounds. He carries himself with the confidence of someone who expects to be a top pick and, while hes sure to get stronger as he matures, its easy enough to see that Ekblad could handle himself on an NHL blueline next season. One of the challenges scouts face, when it comes to evaluating players with superior physical stature, is trying to determine how much of their relative success in junior is due to playing against smaller, weaker players, something that wont happen nearly as much in the NHL, a proverbial mans league. Its completely fair to have those concerns about Ekblad, but he can play. Ekblad scored 23 goals last season; Ryan Murphy (12th overall to Carolina in 2011) is the only first-round defenceman in the past 10 drafts (2004-2013) to score more goals in his draft year. - By contrast, Vladimir Tkachev has a tiny frame -- listed at 5-foot-9, 141 pounds -- and surely wouldnt have great physical testing numbers, yet after joining Moncton of the QMJHL late in the year, he put up 17 goals and 39 points in 26 (regular season plus playoff) games. How much should teams care about his physical stature and fitness as an 18-year-old? At past Combines, I recall seeing the likes of Toni Rajala or Mike Reilly, who both looked way too small to be pro hockey players. Rajala was nearly a point-per-game scorer in the AHL (61 points in 63 regular season plus playoff games) before heading to Sweden this past season, where he scored 30 points in 37 games. Reilly isnt big, but he has grown since and was an All-American as a sophomore at the University of Minnesota last season. Not every player will fill out ideally for pro hockey, but some of them fill out at 19 and 20 instead of 17. - If Ekblad, as the top defence prospect, looks NHL-ready, the second-ranked defenceman, Haydn Fleury, doesnt look too far behind, physically. Hes not as imposing as Ekblad, but Fleury was listed at 6-foot-3, 201 pounds, enough size that it wouldnt necessarily prevent him from playing in the NHL next season. There may be a whole host of other reasons not to play an 18-year-old defenceman, but Fleury has the build of a solid defenceman. - Headed to Boston College in the fall, Sonny Milano probably drew more attention for his stick and puck tricks than anything else he did at the Combine. He was the second-leading scorer on the U.S. Under-18 Team, witt 39 points in 25 games, behind only 2015 top prospect Jack Eichel. - One of the most fascinating prospects in this years draft is Josh Ho-Sang, a very talented forward who played for Windsor in the OHL. Universally, Ho-Sang is described as a talented hockey player -- no one disputes his skill -- but, theres always a "but". In interviews, Ho-Sang is described as engaging and intelligent, an independent thinker.. Uh-oh. NHL teams (and pro sports teams in general) are not known for their acceptance of independent thinkers; they tend to prefer the players that follow the script. I recall, a couple of years ago, again at the Sloan Conference, former NBA head coach Jeff Van Gundy talking about how, as a coach, he wasnt seeking well-rounded individuals. He wanted players who were obsessed with basketball. My impression is that NHL teams have similar ideals -- hockey comes first, everything else can be a distant second, third, fourth in the pecking order. So, there may be some teams that dont want to deal with Ho-Sang and it could cost him spots in the draft as a result, but there will be teams that recognize that the vast majority of 18-year-olds have a lot of growing up to do and they might not want to let Ho-Sangs talent pass just because he talks a different game than others. A stats note on Ho-Sang: he scored 61 points (23 G, 38 A) at even-strength, tying Nikolaj Ehlers (30 G, 31 A) , not far behind late-birthday prospects Nikolay Goldobin (28 G, 37 A) and Sam Reinhart (22 G, 41 A) for even-strength scoring among first-year draft-eligible CHL forwards. Another Combine note for Ho-Sang: hes not big (5-foot-11, 175 pounds), but is very fit. He did more pull-ups than any other prospect, rattling off 13, the first 10 or so with easy fluidity. No idea if that makes him a better or worse prospect. - Leon Draisaitl is a big-bodied (6-foot-2, 204 pounds) that would be easy enough to project into an NHL lineup next season. In addition to having the frame, Draisaitl came across as mature and thoughtful in interviews. - There is an interesting group of second-generation NHL hopefuls. The most notable of which is Sam Reinhart, whose father Paul played 648 NHL games after he was drafted 12th overall in 1979, and has brothers Griffin Reinhart and Max Reinhart already in the prospect pipeline. That NHL exposure may help explain why Reinhart doesnt appear fazed at all by the attention. Some others: Kasperi Kapanen (father Sami played 831 NHL games), William Nylander (father Michael played 920 NHL games), Ryan MacInnis (father Al played 1416 NHL games), Dominic Turgeon (father Pierre played 1294 NHL games), Brendan Lemieux (father Claude played 1215 NHL games), Daniel Audette (father Donald played 735 NHL games), Ryan Donato (father Ted played 796 NHL games), Josh Wesley (father Glen played 1457 NHL games), Ryan Mantha (uncle Moe played 656 NHL games) and Luc Snuggerud (uncle Dave played 265 NHL games). - Oshawa Generals winger Hunter Smith, nephew of "Motor City Smitty" Brad Smith, is a tall one. Hes 6-foot-6 and will need time to fill out, but he emerged as a prospect this year scoring 40 points in 64 games for Oshawa. Thats not amazing production, but he had two points in 45 OHL games previously, so its progress and teams are always intrigued by the big guys. Its easy to see the appeal of players like Nick Ritchie, Brendan Perlini and Alex Tuch; they have huge frames and while its one thing to be a refrigerator on skates, its another to be able to put up numbers like those players and have the size that wont present questions about whether they can handle the physical play at the next level. The challenge for player evaluators is not to overvalue that size. - While there havent been any in-depth combine analytics, to my knowledge, going back over past results, there do seem to be some pretty good prospects finishing near the top of the VO2 Max test duration. Last year, the top 10 included the likes of Mirco Mueller, Chris Bigras, Rasmus Ristolainen, Samuel Morin, Bo Horvat, Sean Monahan and Anthony Mantha. The year before, it was Hampus Lindholm, Ryan Murray, Henrik Samuelsson, Tom Wilson and Nail Yakupov. In 2011, Adam Larsson, Brandon Saad, Dougie Hamilton and Jamie Oleksiak were among the leaders. This year, the leader was Clark Bishop, a centre for Cape Breton, but some other top prospects fit in the Top 10, including Sonny Milano, Sam Reinhart and Hunter Smith. What does all this mean? Maybe nothing. We dont know because we dont see the Bottom 10 (or all the results) so that we can find out of if there is any real correlation between having a good VO2 Max test and having an NHL career. Some other notable showings in the Combine exercises: - William Nylander had the best Anaerobic Fitness, both Peak Power Output and Mean Power Output on the Wingate Cycle Test. Tkachev fared well on the Mean Power Output, perhaps in part because the calculation is based on the participants weight. - Robby Fabbri (6.1%) had the lowest body-fat percentage. Sonny Milano and Nikolaj Ehlers were other top prospects in the Top 10. - Shane Gersich, who plays for the U.S. National Under-18 Team, has springs. He had the best scores in standing long jump and all the vertical jumps, his top vertical jump was 36 inches. - Alex Peters, a 6-foot-4 defenceman for Plymouth, had the strongest grip strength, in both hands. Aaron Ekblad was among the Top 10 in both too. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. Air Force 1 Norge . According to USA Today the Finns have tapped forwards Jarkko Immonen and Sakari Salminen to replace injured forwards Mikko Koivu and Valtteri Filppula at the Sochi Games. Nike Air Force 1 Norge Prisjakt . The result was a game-winning, power-play goal. Chiasson snapped a third-period tie and lifted the Dallas Stars to a 3-2 victory on Monday night. http://www.airforce1norge.com/air-force-1-just-do-it.html . Fans can also watch the game on the newly launched TSN GO (currently available to Bell TV and Rogers customers), which gives TSN subscribers the freedom to live stream the networks programming from their smartphones, tablets, and computers at no additional charge – just as they would watch Canadas Sports Leader on TV at home. The following week, MLS ON TSN is at BMO Field in Toronto to deliver live coverage of TFCs home opener vs. D.C. United on Saturday, March 22 at 4:30 p. Nike Tanjun Norge . Acclaimed by world football leaders but held in contempt by many football fans. Blatter should arrive at the Itaquerao stadium in Sao Paulo to watch host Brazil play Croatia confident that this tournament -- his fifth as president -- wont be his last leading the worlds favourite sport. Nike Roshe One Norge . PETERSBURG, Fla.Ryan Mason is backing his Tottenham team-mates to help inspire England to Euro 2016 glory in France. Roy Hodgsons side begin their Group B campaign against Russia in Marseille on Saturday night and could field up to five Spurs players at the Stade Velodrome.Only Liverpool and Juventus boast more players at this summers tournament than Mauricio Pochettinos side and the 24-year-old believes England can go all the way. Ryan Mason is confident England can impress at Euro 2016 Theres no limit on what they can achieve, said Mason. Theyve got some very positive results in recent friendlies against top nations. Theres no reason they cant win it.Theyve got to go out there and play with belief and not fear anyone and focus on themselves and you never know what can happen.Getting to a semi [final] or the quarters would be a great achievement but we are a massive nation with the ability and the players to go on and win it, and hopefully we can do that. Im sure theyre confident and Im optimistic.Hodgson named Premier League top goalscorer Harry Kane alongside Jamie Vardy and Wayne Rooney for the first time in the final warm-up game against Portugal, and Mason would like to see Hodgson stick with the side that won 1-0 at Wembley. Wayne Rooney, Jamie Vardy and Kane all started Englands final warm-up match against Portugal Kane and Vardy fired an astonishing 49 league goals between them this season as the latter inspired Leicester City to their first top-flight title in 132 years and Mason, who was speaking as part of the Farah menswear #MatchReady campaign, said he would like to see them lead the line for the Three Lions.Hopefully [they will start], he told Sky Sports. Weve got a lot of players going into the Euros off the back of a good season and thats important. England will be hoping to get their Euro 2016 campaign off to a strong start against Russia I think theyre still fresh mentally and its exciting. Theyre still a young group of players but at the same time weve got a few experienced heads in there and thats very important.I think theyll do well and if they play with no fear theyll do the nation proud. Joe Hart thinks England have to start being on the right end of key moments if theyre to make it to the latter stages of Euro 2016 The 24-year-old made a total of 29 appearances for Tottenham this season, scoring twice, including an 82nd-minute winner away at Sunderland back in September.Mason has represented his country at every level from under 16s and made his debut for the senior side in a 1-1 draw with Italy in Turin last year, but knows he needs to establish himself as a regular at club level before he can think about pulling on the famous Three Lions again.First and foremost Ive got to get back into the Tottenham team, he said. I think itll probably be a clean slate in pre-season and everything is to play for with this manager. Tottenham Hotspur enjoyed a fantastic season, qualifying for the Champions League You train your way into the team and how you perform in pre-season determines the team for the first game of the season so hopefully I can make sure Im part of that and cement my place.dddddddddddd.Tottenham suffered a stunning collapse at the back end of last season, failing to win any of their final four games, including a 5-1 hammering against relegated Newcastle at St. James Park on the final day.Arsenals 4-0 win over Aston Villa meant the Gunners leapfrogged Spurs into second place, but Mason is confident they will be fighting for the title again in the next campaign.I think every season in pre-season you go into it and everyone is saying, theyll be strong next season, but you never know. There are no guarantees in football, he added.In the last couple of years weve had the same gaffer and a very similar squad of players and weve progressed very well together. Hopefully we can kick on again next season and be challenging. Euro 2016: Ultimate Guide Euro 2016: Ultimate guide to the tournament After Leicesters unlikely title win, Arsene Wenger triggered a £20million release clause for top scorer Vardy, but the former Stocksbridge Park Steels man is yet to agree terms at the Emirates Stadium.Jose Mourinho has already started strengthening his new Manchester United side with the arrival of Eric Bailly, whilst Pep Guardiola moved for Ilkay Gundogan as his first signing in charge of neighbours Manchester City.Antonio Conte also takes over at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea look to bounce back from a disastrous season and Mason is fully aware of how tough next seasons Premier League will be. Kane fired Tottenham to third place in the Premier League last season All of those are massive teams and theres not much in it, he said.Its just a bit of consistency that separates first to second and second to third and so forth. Well just have to concentrate on ourselves.Were confident and we know that if we can perform to the best of our ability each week then well win more games than we lose.Obviously we were disappointed with the way the season finished but we secured Champions League football and that was our aim at the start of the season.Next season weve got another year of experience under our belt. Were a very young team and hopefully well be better next season and be up there. Sky Sports Euro 2016 predictor Make your predictions with our interactive wall chart here Pochettinos side have held talks with Eredivisie top scorer Vincent Janssen after AZ Alkmaar gave him permission to speak with Spurs, and on the possibility of new recruits at White Hart Lane, Mason said: Thats up to the gaffer, the chairman and the club. Well see what happens, but Im sure theyll make the right decision.They wont just get someone in for the sake of it, theyll have to be the right player to fit into our philosophy and the way we work. Mason is looking to reestablish himself back in the Tottenham team next season Mason has also been the subject of speculation surrounding a move of his own, with both Bournemouth and Crystal Palace reportedly interested, but he insists his future is in the capital.Im a Tottenham player and am determined to go back into pre-season as fit as possible with the aim of impressing the gaffer to try and establish myself in the team.Ryan Mason was at the number one pub to watch the Euros as voted by the Farah menswear #MatchReady campaign. To see the full list of pubs visit: http://www.farah.co.uk/blog?post=matchready-pub-guide Also See: Euro 2016: Ultimate Guide Mersons Euro predictions YOUR England XI v Russia England, beware of the giant ' ' '