Top 5 (+1) Österreichische Prospects

Preview of 3 Top Prospects with a comparison to a few well-known top prospects
https://authockeytxreports.wordpress.com/2016/08/14/bol…aho-puljujarvi/

Fassler could stand to put on a lot of weight...how that would affect his movement is dubious. Nifty hands, developed better in Bregenzerwald than expected, though not stunning.

Frowis as I understand had endured some personal qualms which may explain his Elite A struggles. If he can straighten that out and put in a solid off-season's work then I think he could surprise a lot of people. I had him in my pre-season ranks in 5th.

I see you also liked Demuth a lot and he has no doubt improved. Good speed. The community seems split on him between those who haven't seen him in a year and those who have seen him more recently.

I wouldn't necessarily assume the nature of SBG/NT politics because I am aware of more aspects of the nature of this relationship, though even my point of view is still incomplete, and it is more complicated than I think most people would give it credit for.

@Blaukraut I wouldn't panic over the report. Bokk and Seider are intriguing enough, if perhaps overrated in some German circles. I feel like mention of the others is more a product of where I think the scout originates from than comparative measure.

We will see about Fassler of course. He can definitely monitor his progress with Pusnik or Trothan as benchmarks, see where he's able to go in the next season or few seasons.

Zitat von Keine Ahnung

Habe die Spiele der U18 gesehen da stellt sich die Frage wo wahren Kutzer, Rüdisser Kandemir oder Reinbacher . Hätten dem Team sicherlich geholfen.

Beck is a nice player. But Austria hasn't produced a quality goaltender since Bernhard Starkbaum and I'm supposed to believe that a 172 cm (you say 175, doesn't look like it, but even if so a marginal difference) athlete is going to be the first? Kutzer has got good wheels, pretty good hockey IQ, but at 171 cm I've never seen him do anything that a player like Luis Lindner, who is 178 cm, couldn't do and perhaps even do better. And if the pressed for the rankings today, Lindner wouldn't even make the rankings because the last three slots are taken by players who are key players in the U20 team. Perhaps you doubt how much exposure I've had to the athletes, and that is fair, but if you think the only reason the U20 coaches don't recognize these players is because, after scouting the rest of Austria, they grew too tired and lazy to watch film of the athletes in your vicinity. I simply don't think that's the case.

Zitat von marksoft

I dont know if its relevant but there is also this Player => https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/397743/florian-zajic

Nice guy! As a prospect has a lot of work to do.

Zitat von five-hole

Bat einmal einen recht bekannten österreichischen Spielervermittler um eine Meinung über den einen oder anderen österreichischen Nachwuchsgoalie. Seine Antwort war, dass er, als ehemaliger Feldspieler, einfach zu wenig spezifisches über goalies i.e.S. aussagen kann. Das war, wie ich finde, sehr ehrlich von ihm!

Kabidjan 14 oder Herr Freimüller stehen da natürlich drüber 🙉

I've been told this story a couple times before, and it comes across to me as self-comforting...

If you really believe you, or anyone in your community, have some knowledge on Austrian goaltenders that isn't being adequately expressed by existing outlets then by all means, write your thoughts, publish them, promote them. I'll read it. I'll even promote it. We're all on the same team, and I'm not above anyone else from an authoritative perspective, your word can be just as good as mine if you decide to put pen to paper.

But the facts are clear. There are clear precedents of Austrian excellence in the skater categories, and clear paths to excellence for Austrian skaters than some Austrian youth are following. Recent athletes like Konstantin Komarek, Alexander Rauchenwald, and more. If you look back on the first Top 5+1, much of it bore out to be true. At the top, Mario Huber, Dominic Zwerger (these two were probably ordered incorrectly), Ali Wukovits, Erik Kirchschlager, all these athletes play important roles for their EBEL/NLA teams and/or the National Team now. If you look at the 97 class, same story. I got a few wrong for sure. Haudum at the top. Wolf is playing an integral role in Villach, plays on the National team. Got a few wrong for sure, it came down to Nissner and Winkler, I took Nissner, clearly I should have taken both. Or Feldner, who now has a prominent role in Salzburg, or Payr, a 2000 born kid who was the first #1 00' born athlete in my rankings and now is a staple in Davos, or Benjamin Baumgartner who also scored recently for Davos and was the first #2 in the 00' rankings or Marco Rossi in the OHL... The skaters could be better. But by and large, the skaters are finding at least some success. Armin Biedermann (I believe) and a few of the other stat-heads on twitter offer an analytical perspective. Guys like Bernd Freimuller are better described as storytellers. They tell narratives, give examples. But both support one thesis, there's simply been no success on the goalie front, whether you want to look at it from a perspective of stories or just cold hard numbers. There's not a single starting Austrian goaltender in any tier 1 hockey team in the world. The goaltenders from 95, 96 (the first class I ranked), 97, 98, only one goalie from those classes has a single, unremarkable, EBEL appearance this season. I wish this weren't the case, but it is.

I hear rumors about a goaltending revolution. I've yet to see that bear out or even the promise of such, and talking to others (yes, including agents) about events I wasn't witness to is even more depressing. If you believe its coming, I hope you're right. But forgive me, and others, if we take a "believe it when I see it" approach.