Joey Benik commits to St. Cloud

gopherhockey99 · Post by **gopherhockey99** » Sat Feb 14, 2009 10:23 am

Congratulations Joey on the record. To be honest, the overwhelming arugment that his schedule, goaltenders, oppenents he faces has gotten pretty redundant. At some point, the player deserves some credit. I know its easy to judge since he plays for a non-powerhouse program and obviously that factors into his record year, but how many players have had that same oppurtunity to play weaker teams and defenses throughout the year where they could rack up their stats? He committed to a Division-1 WCHA program, and last time I checked, is a legitimate accomplishment, especially for any player coming out of a lesser known program as St. Francis.

PuckWild30 · Post by **PuckWild30** » Sat Feb 14, 2009 7:12 pm

Well deserved! Both the Beniks have worked hard to get where they are and I'm excited to see what next season and beyond brings! Congrats!

DmanDad1980 · Post by **DmanDad1980** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 9:51 am

Bruins wrote:Its a bad arguement that this amount of goals is because of his schedule, poor goaltenders, poor defenseman. Why dont other players on his team have these numbers or other players in his conference? They all play each other. He has these numbers because he has superior talent. You dont put up 60+ goals because your lucky. Sure you can argue that some teams may be weak, but how come other players are not putting up these numbers? Congratulations. SCSU is going to love having you.

So are the Gophers...

MNHockey75 · Post by **MNHockey75** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 4:36 pm

DmanDad1980 wrote:
Bruins wrote:Its a bad arguement that this amount of goals is because of his schedule, poor goaltenders, poor defenseman. Why dont other players on his team have these numbers or other players in his conference? They all play each other. He has these numbers because he has superior talent. You dont put up 60+ goals because your lucky. Sure you can argue that some teams may be weak, but how come other players are not putting up these numbers? Congratulations. SCSU is going to love having you.
So are the Gophers...

Dangles0404 · Post by **Dangles0404** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 5:15 pm

Congrats to Joey!! Great speed, great hands, incredible shot, all around a great player with a bright future. Good luck at SCSU!

pondhockey18 · Post by **pondhockey18** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 9:14 pm

Congrats to Benik, but I am on who doesn't know if he is truly a D1 player. I have not seen him play, so the only thing I can go off of is stats. I realize that he does put up incredible numbers in high school, but I also looked at his stats for the Minnesota Owls in the MNJHL. Which I found very surprising. how does a person that only puts up 7 points in 17 games in a tier 3 league commit to scsu?

pondhockey18 · Post by **pondhockey18** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 9:17 pm

sorry if this has been already posted...skipped to the 4th page.

MNHockeyFan · Post by **MNHockeyFan** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 9:51 pm

pondhockey18 wrote:how does a person that only puts up 7 points in 17 games in a tier 3 league commit to scsu?

Kids develop their skills at different ages, with some reaching their potential much sooner (or later) than others. You can only assume that SCCU believes he's just now beginning to come into his own, and will continue to develop after high school.

MrBoDangles · Post by **MrBoDangles** » Tue Feb 17, 2009 11:33 am

pondhockey18 wrote:Congrats to Benik, but I am on who doesn't know if he is truly a D1 player. I have not seen him play, so the only thing I can go off of is stats. I realize that he does put up incredible numbers in high school, but I also looked at his stats for the Minnesota Owls in the MNJHL. Which I found very surprising. how does a person that only puts up 7 points in 17 games in a tier 3 league commit to scsu?

Not too bad for 15-16 year old after his sophomore year playing against 18-20 year olds. Look for his numbers to go way up if he goes that route again.

chiefofmedicine · Post by **chiefofmedicine** » Tue Feb 17, 2009 12:20 pm

MrBoDangles wrote:
pondhockey18 wrote:Congrats to Benik, but I am on who doesn't know if he is truly a D1 player. I have not seen him play, so the only thing I can go off of is stats. I realize that he does put up incredible numbers in high school, but I also looked at his stats for the Minnesota Owls in the MNJHL. Which I found very surprising. how does a person that only puts up 7 points in 17 games in a tier 3 league commit to scsu?
Not too bad for 15-16 year old after his sophomore year playing against 18-20 year olds. Look for his numbers to go way up if he goes that route again.

Actually that is pretty bad.

presscheck · Post by **presscheck** » Tue Feb 17, 2009 9:37 pm

It always makes me laugh to see people post judgment on players only based on stats, or who they play for, or what conference they play in. Especially if most of you haven't even seen Joey play. What's really interesting most of you are passing judgment and have little or no high-level hockey experience at all. Play the game and you’ll know what high-level coaches/scouts are looking for. I think coach Motzko knows what he is doing, if he didn't he wouldn't be in the position that he is in. I’ve actually had the opportunity to see this kid play he does things naturally that most can’t learn. He is a D1 caliber player. I’ve been blessed to play at a very high level (SCSU, HC Dukla Trenčín & Binghampton Senators) so at least I’ve walked the walk, unlike most of you. So let the experienced pass judgment and you can just sit back and enjoy the game you wished you knew how to play.

chiefofmedicine · Post by **chiefofmedicine** » Tue Feb 17, 2009 10:46 pm

presscheck wrote:It always makes me laugh to see people post judgment on players only based on stats, or who they play for, or what conference they play in. Especially if most of you haven't even seen Joey play. What's really interesting most of you are passing judgment and have little or no high-level hockey experience at all. Play the game and you’ll know what high-level coaches/scouts are looking for. I think coach Motzko knows what he is doing, if he didn't he wouldn't be in the position that he is in. I’ve actually had the opportunity to see this kid play he does things naturally that most can’t learn. He is a D1 caliber player. I’ve been blessed to play at a very high level (SCSU, HC Dukla Trenčín & Binghampton Senators) so at least I’ve walked the walk, unlike most of you. So let the experienced pass judgment and you can just sit back and enjoy the game you wished you knew how to play.

just to clear up i wasnt trying to knock the kid i think he is really good its just that stat line suprised me. Figured he would do more inthe MJ is all

presscheck · Post by **presscheck** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 1:52 pm

There is always going to be exceptions to the rule on who really can spot talent. All I was saying is most people think they can base talent on some stats, or watching a clip or two from the news. But they really don’t know what they’re really looking at. Like the people stating: wonder it they will let him continue to play suck hole hockey & getting thrashed by Benilde last year 16-0 & 12-0. These are the people that I was primarily directing my earlier comments about. They obviously don’t understand the underlying definition of what a good hockey player is, based on those comments.

Believe it or not, there are kids out there that do know how to play the game well enough to go D1 or further and they don’t have to be playing for a powerhouse team in a competitive conference. This happens in all sports.

This just came to me…. If this whole Joey thing is a joke going to SCSU, because he’s playing weak competition and that’s the only reason he getting the looks he is. Why don’t more kids that are middle of the road players playing for these powerhouse teams transfer to the smaller schools with easy schedules so they to can be standout players? Cause if it’s that easy, the question is why aren’t they doing it?

Also, I don't need nor want people trying to look me up. I knew by posting my earlier statement it was going to raise a brow or two. So yes I changed two of the teams I played for, but kept the one I had the most pride playing for.

presscheck · Post by **presscheck** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 1:59 pm

MNHockey75 wrote:
jpv wrote:I don't post here much, but I've been reading this board for years now.
I remember precious few years ago when people on here were bad-mouting Blake Wheeler and TJ Oshie ("overrated"); I wonder where those two are now?
I'm not saying this kid is Blake Wheeler. What I am saying is that scouts and coaches at SCSU have significantly more hockey knowledge and scouting acumen than anyone sitting and spouting off on an anonymous message board. If they didn't think he was "DI material", like all you experts ponder, then I wonder why they would recruit him? Obviously they see something in him, eh?
Well that wasn't me. Blake Wheeler was the best Class A player I've ever seen and T.J. Oshie was not far behind. They obviously see something in him, it's just going to be strange seeing a kid from St. Francis playing D1 hockey.

I don't think Joey is the only one out of St. Francis to go D1. Back in the mid 90's there was a defenseman (Boerboom sp?) that was going to SCSU. But he was a in a car accident and had some bad nerve damage that prevented him from continuing his career. Maybe lighting is striking twice on that little town with the meat locker for a arena?

Edger · Post by **Edger** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 2:20 pm

Good stuff.
I really hope there are a ton of people choking on their cheerios when they turn on the NHL and see Oshie and Wheeler ripping it up.
And yes, they are ripping it up in the NHL.
Love it when guys take that whole "Class A sucks" and stuff it right up people's opinion holes.
"They'll never make it at D1"
"They'll never make an NHL club"
What's left? Hope these guys and many more just keep proving them wrong.
Enjoyed your comments, presscheck.
Special people and players DO things, while some just sit around, act bitter, and talk smart about things they never did .... or will never do.

MrBoDangles · Post by **MrBoDangles** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 3:41 pm

Edger wrote:Good stuff.
I really hope there are a ton of people choking on their cheerios when they turn on the NHL and see Oshie and Wheeler ripping it up.
And yes, they are ripping it up in the NHL.
Love it when guys take that whole "Class A sucks" and stuff it right up people's opinion holes.
"They'll never make it at D1"
"They'll never make an NHL club"
What's left? Hope these guys and many more just keep proving them wrong.
Enjoyed your comments, presscheck.
Special people and players DO things, while some just sit around, act bitter, and talk smart about things they never did .... or will never do.

Perfectly said!

scoreboard33 · Post by **scoreboard33** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 4:03 pm

The thing that really annoys me is the comment that he scores because he floats. Yes, there are some players that leave the zone early pretty consistently and Benik may be one fo them, but if he scores 62 or5 something goals in a season that really helps his team. If his coach didn't want him to do, he'd sit him down.

As I've said before, college coaches don't at how his high school coach uses him, they look at a few key things and if they are a good coach, they trust themselves to be able to coach the kid into playing the type of hockey they wan't their players to play. Motzko is a good enough coach to that.

This strategy is employed by most college coaches at almost any level in almost any sport and the type of player they consistently miss is the player who has the intuitive feel for the game and is always in the right place at the right time, but may not have massive physical skills. A lot of times, that is where stats come in to evaluate a player. They are an important tool in evaluating players, but htey are definitely not one of the first things that coaches look at.

I think Motzko probably used a combination of his stats and his natural physical ability in making the decision to offer Benik.