In my ongoing quest to take a closer look at the future assets (and fill the idle time August), I stumbled across some information on a few of the Flames more "obscure" prospects.
First, a couple of the NCAA guys, Aaron Marvin and Jordan Fulton. Jonathan Willis of coppernblue and Oilers Nation fame turned me onto "Inside College Hockey" website which has proved to be pretty decent data source, particularly qualitative stuff that can help put flesh on the bare bones of a stats line.
On Marvin:
He finished with three goals and 10 assists but his coach says the numbers are deceiving when he considers the impact Marvin had as a rookie. He was named the team’s Most Improved Player at season’s end.
Huskies head coach Bob Motzko on Marvin: “Aaron is a big horse who works his tail off, and he has a motor that just doesn’t quit. He’ll take on a bigger offensive role for us this season, but he took on a big role for us last season and grew into it. He was one of our best players in the playoffs."
That sounds encouraging.
On Fulton, via the UMD Bulldogs site:
Showed plenty of promise in a respectable college debut last winter ... contributed 10 points (which tied him with Drew Akins for top honors among freshmen) to the Bulldog scoring attack in 2006-07...
ended a prosperous four-year run at The Breck School (Minneapolis) in March 2006 ... landed a spot on the 2005-06 Associated Press All-State team after finishing third in points (83) and second in goals (45) among all Minnesota high school competitors ... amassed that impressive offensive harvest in a mere 28 games ... was also a finalist for the Minnesota Mr. Hockey Award for 2005-06
Not too shabby either.
College hockey players are tougher to track and their development tends to be "murkier". Rookies ("juniors") are usually 19 or 20, which is when the typical Canadian Junior player is ending his minor league career. NCAA is also much lower scoring relative to the CHL, with less games played every season. Finally, rookies are often bottom of the totem pole when they join a college team (similar to NHL teams) and typically have to grow into bigger roles as their collegiate careers progress. This is why both Marvin and Fulton, despite relatively nominal offensive contributions, apparently yielded some rather glowing reviews. Safe to say, we'll know a great deal more about these guys after their sophomore seasons.
And finally, eurohockey.net has numbers on Swedish defensemen Alexander Deilert, Calgary's 7th rounder from this summer. In 38 games for J20 Superelit, the 19 year-old managed 6 goals, 18 points and a +11. I dont know how that league compares to the multitude of others, but I do know other decent Swedish prospects have spent some time there recently.
