John Tavares Update
I am a huge John Tavares fan, always have been, always will be, and no amount of press saying that he's not living up to the hype or that Victor Hedman is better is going to change that.
What I've been saying is this: I hope John knows how hard he has to work this season. It's common knowledge that he's been under the gun for years now, and he's clearly lost interest in playing in the OHL. He needs to put that aside and play this season like it's his last- in the OHL, I can guarantee it is. He needs to want to score 100 goals, he needs to want 180 points, he needs to want to be that #1 pick. He needs to work to improve the weaker areas of his game, if he's going to use this year for anything.
Anyway, the point of this post is: Tavares obviously worked hard on his strength in the off-season, and has come into this season much heavier than last year (198lbs). He already leads the OHL, and the entire CHL, in goals, with 12 in 11 games. He's leading the OHL in points, too, with 19. He's playing in all situations and it's paying off for the Generals- 3 shorthanded goals to go with 6 powerplay goals. The only problem is, he's still a -4 and you don't impress anyone with a -rating. There are obviously a lot of issues with the way +/- works, but I think it's still a valuable stat. His defensive play needs to be better.
Is that teen stubble, JT? Look at you.
I'm looking forward to see what Tavares shows us this season, and I'm VERY much looking forward to seeing him star for the World Juniors, with what will undoubtedly be a leadership role.
John has had a strong enough showing in the early part of the season that the ISS has bumped him back up to #1, and I think he'll stay there.
What I've been saying is this: I hope John knows how hard he has to work this season. It's common knowledge that he's been under the gun for years now, and he's clearly lost interest in playing in the OHL. He needs to put that aside and play this season like it's his last- in the OHL, I can guarantee it is. He needs to want to score 100 goals, he needs to want 180 points, he needs to want to be that #1 pick. He needs to work to improve the weaker areas of his game, if he's going to use this year for anything.
Anyway, the point of this post is: Tavares obviously worked hard on his strength in the off-season, and has come into this season much heavier than last year (198lbs). He already leads the OHL, and the entire CHL, in goals, with 12 in 11 games. He's leading the OHL in points, too, with 19. He's playing in all situations and it's paying off for the Generals- 3 shorthanded goals to go with 6 powerplay goals. The only problem is, he's still a -4 and you don't impress anyone with a -rating. There are obviously a lot of issues with the way +/- works, but I think it's still a valuable stat. His defensive play needs to be better.
Is that teen stubble, JT? Look at you.
I'm looking forward to see what Tavares shows us this season, and I'm VERY much looking forward to seeing him star for the World Juniors, with what will undoubtedly be a leadership role.
John has had a strong enough showing in the early part of the season that the ISS has bumped him back up to #1, and I think he'll stay there.