viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2206&hilit=wjc

I believe that thread became the de facto WJC thread in here. He's discussed in there

Beatoni12 wrote:I'm all for it, but this might be the most oddly timed post I've seen .

For a second I though there was a secret Spring tournament I didn't know about

As for Tage, he had a really good start and looked exceptional in the beginning of the tourney (the goal he scored was slick) but kinda of tapered off a bit in the medal round. Still was good, just nothing super exciting.

Dave's a mess wrote:

Beatoni12 wrote:I'm all for it, but this might be the most oddly timed post I've seen .

For a second I though there was a secret Spring tournament I didn't know about

My bad. I guess I "assumed" Worlds and World Junior were taking place at the same time. You know what they say about assuming.

Dave's a mess wrote:

Beatoni12 wrote:I'm all for it, but this might be the most oddly timed post I've seen .

For a second I though there was a secret Spring tournament I didn't know about

I admit it. I panicked a bit.

merged.

Since we're on this random topic, here is an exchange I had with STL fan in IA over on the other forum. He had some good insight on Tage I thought.

(Me):
Thanks IA...I appreciated your thoughts on Kyrou so much that I want to ask you about Tage Thompson. Seems like he went into the WJC earning rave reviews and started the tournament on the top line. By the end of the tourney he was basically benched, seeing very little ice in the gold medal game and almost none in the 3rd period/OT. He went on to finish out a decent college season but has done absolutely NOTHING at the AHL level. Pretty decent AHL sample size at this point as well.

So, I feel like six months ago everyone thought he was a can't miss prospect and has since regressed a fair amount. Thoughts? Is he hurt perhaps? I guess I had slightly higher expectations for his transition from college to AHL, where he seems like he's really stagnated. Thanks in advance.


(IA's response):
Just the highs and lows of a prospect for the most part IMO. I think perhaps TT got a little overhyped for a while and perhaps now some are more sour on him than they should be IMO.

To me, he's having a somewhat difficult adaption to the pro game but let's be honest - he was thrown into the mix late in the season onto a 1st place team that didn't really need him. He's been getting 3rd/4th line minutes. That said, he hasn't earned more so I'm fine with how the Wolves are handling him. They want/need to win and TT is simply not a key cog at the moment.

He needs a big summer in the gym IMO. I think he gained something like 20 lbs since he was drafted but he's still a giraffe out there. Super top heavy with a high center of gravity so pretty easy to knock off pucks by experienced pros. If he's still struggling 20-30 games into next season, I'll worry more.

So while it's certainly not a positive that he's not really doing much of anything with the Wolves, I consider this stint with them more of a bonus than anything. I mean, Kyrou and some other prosepcts are there too but at least TT is getting into games while the other kids sit (I haven't counted but with all of the kids the Blues sent to the Wolves late in the season, it have to have something like 30 guys on their roster now).

I still see him a late blooming project that has 2nd to 3rd line potential. Good shot, good skills and good size (just needs to add weight to the frame) and he has good hockey sense and is extremely coachable but he's never been a blue chip prospect IMO.

As for the WJC and his decreasing icetime, here's how I remember it. He did very well on the 1st line to start out the tourney but that was the only line that was clicking so the coach switched up lines to try to not be just a 1 line team. That move got other lines going but TT's play and production seemed to dip. So I suppose some of it could be blamed on him just not gelling with his new linemates but it's also fair to admit that if he was truly elite, he would've produced and looked good regardless. As for not playing later on in the gold medal game, I recall reading that he had a nagging injury. Ankle I think. So maybe that can somewhat explain his lack of production the 2nd half of that tourney as well but I'm not sure.

Bottom line is that he's a good but not great prospect IMO. Good potential but still very raw and coming into his own. Lots of solid fundamentals but he just needs to put it all together. His dad is a pro coach though and every coach TT has had raves about his character and coachability so that makes me think he has pretty good odds of putting it all together as he seems like a kid willing to put in the work and sacrifice.

Sure wish IA would bring his talents to this forum.

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote:Sure wish IA would bring his talents to this forum.

Seconded.

http://www.thehockeynews.com/news/artic ... y#cxrecs_s

This is from March, but just saw it. THN thinks Thompson would go 11 spots higher than he was drafted, if the draft was redone today. Probably way too early for a "re-draft" type article to be out, but still good to see.

Also was a write up on Thompson in the PD:
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/ ... 4debc.html

UMSLBlues12 wrote:http://www.thehockeynews.com/news/artic ... y#cxrecs_s

This is from March, but just saw it. THN thinks Thompson would go 11 spots higher than he was drafted, if the draft was redone today. Probably way too early for a "re-draft" type article to be out, but still good to see.

Also was a write up on Thompson in the PD:
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/ ... 4debc.html

I saw that article as well in the PD and thought this sounds like a kid with a mission. Hopefully if/when he doesn't make opening night roster he continues to have a positive outlook and strong work ethic. I still think he works his way into the top 9 by next season's (18/19) opening night, if not sooner.