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Nice to see the "bored" is in prime off season form.

oldbarn7 wrote:LeafDevil-

Aaron is 17 years old and will have a LONG time to get to those weights and he might get an inch or two. Something else to keep in mind. If you've ever seen Scott Neidermeyer in person there is no way he is 200 lbs. Many of the NHL'ers pad their heights and wieghts like many of the kids in high school, jr's and college do. A friend of mine is a part of the Detroit Red Wings organization told me that they add weight to their heights and weight in the program. Niklas Lidstrom (and I didn't believe this until I met him face to face) is listed at 6 '1 189lbs. The trainer whom I am good friends with told me he weighs in at that weight and plays at about 174lbs-178lbs after weigh in. It's not all about the big strong bodies in the NHL anymore. And people aren't always honest with height and weight and can be quite generous.

Sorry but Nic Lidstrom and Neidermeyer are at the end of thier careers. So to say the NHL isn't about the big strong bodies anymore is way off. Looka at the team Nieds has in front of him and that won the last Cup by force. They used big strong bodies Getzlaff, Penner, Pronger and the rest. Sorry but when the program says 6'3" you see them off ice they are 6'3". My son and I ran into Burns at Penn Cycle one day, he is a big dude a little skinny but big.

Erik Johnson and the blues d-core...you could say jackman is their little guy but he plays like he is 6-3. I guess some nhl teams are still concerned with size.
4 Eric Brewer "C" 6' 3" 222
5 Barret Jackman "A" 6' 0" 203
6 Erik Johnson 6' 4" 219
77 Jay McKee 6' 4" 203
28 Matt Walker 6' 3" 213
29 Jeff Woywitka 6' 2" 217

hwkfan wrote:Erik Johnson and the blues d-core...you could say jackman is their little guy but he plays like he is 6-3. I guess some nhl teams are still concerned with size.
4 Eric Brewer "C" 6' 3" 222
5 Barret Jackman "A" 6' 0" 203
6 Erik Johnson 6' 4" 219
77 Jay McKee 6' 4" 203
28 Matt Walker 6' 3" 213
29 Jeff Woywitka 6' 2" 217

Hey hwkfn, I know what you are saying. One thing you fail to mention is that size doesn't NEceSSarily equate to toughness. He has that over any other candy ass in the state.

There is a ton of 5-9 guys with toughness, most of them are in the ECHL. I don't think he showed a lot of toughness in the state tournament. If HM pushed you around, what will happen in the NHL?

pucknutz

You say to look at the team in front of Neidermeyer and how they won (win) by force. But look at the role Neidermeyer plays on the team. He is able to do his thing because of all the big guys in front and next to him on the blue line. Neidermeyer is a small bodied, mobile, quick decision making, highly skilled defensemen. By definition of Ness by myself and many others, he is that exact thing. I doubt he will be the next Neidermeyer. My point in this is saying there is a spot in the NHL for a defensemen like Ness. They've survived before and will continue to in the future.

hwkfan

One thing to keep in mind is the Blues are TERRIBLE this year. Their defensemen, including EJ primarily because of his inexperience, are not great offensively and are not quick and have been killed by transition all year long. They should be concerned more about winning and getting guys in there that can do it. Defense wins championships...

Old barn...ok, bad example. Not trying to get into the blues transition game. here are the sharks d. They are one of the best defensive teams in teh nhl and probably playing the best lately.
51 Brian Campbell 6' 0" 191
18 Matt Carle 6' 0" 205
10 Christian Ehrhoff 6' 2" 205
4 Kyle McLaren 6' 4" 235
3 Douglas Murray 6' 3" 240
6 Brad Norton ** 6' 4" 230
24 Sandis Ozolinsh 6' 3" 215
52 Craig Rivet "A" 6' 2" 210
21 Alexei Semenov 6' 6" 235
44 Marc-Edouard Vlasic 6' 1" 200
i am not sure if you guys who talk about this new nhl have been to a game or watched any now that its crunch time. it isn't a bunch of 5-7 guys running around playing shinny.

hwkfan

Much better example. I agree recently its hard to disagree that the sharks aren't the best team in the league as of today but thats for a different board.

My point in bringing up the size issue is only that I believe he can survive and really have a nice career. The game is still full of very big and skilled players and will be probably forever. But the current NHL isn't AS physical as it once was it's a lot more up and down and full of transition rather than just grind it out "bar fight hockey" styles of old. My point is he can survive being a small defenseman not that every defensemen will be that size or anything. I think his skills and intangibles (with a lot of hard work) will get him to the NHL and he should be able to survive as a small defensemen. That's all.

Yes, Ness' size may not be what most NHL teams are looking for in their D but he'll do fine with the Goph's. He sees the ice well and can create a lot of offense.

When he makes the jump up to Pro - don't be surprised if he ends up playing Wing.

MetroScout

That wouldn't surprise me to say the least either. Especially if he was used as Tampa Bay used Brad Richards on forward for even strength situations and on defense when they had powerplays

hwkfan wrote:Old barn...ok, bad example. Not trying to get into the blues transition game. here are the sharks d. They are one of the best defensive teams in teh nhl and probably playing the best lately.
51 Brian Campbell 6' 0" 191
18 Matt Carle 6' 0" 205
10 Christian Ehrhoff 6' 2" 205
4 Kyle McLaren 6' 4" 235
3 Douglas Murray 6' 3" 240
6 Brad Norton ** 6' 4" 230
24 Sandis Ozolinsh 6' 3" 215
52 Craig Rivet "A" 6' 2" 210
21 Alexei Semenov 6' 6" 235
44 Marc-Edouard Vlasic 6' 1" 200
i am not sure if you guys who talk about this new nhl have been to a game or watched any now that its crunch time. it isn't a bunch of 5-7 guys running around playing shinny.

Paul Coffey Defense
Born Jun 1 1961 -- Weston, ONT
Height 6.00 -- Weight 200

I heard this guy was pretty good and playing defense, too bad he's too small to play in the NHL.

I don't think anyone on here including myself considers 6' 200 too small to play in the nhl.
It looks like you got those number from hockeydb. Well maybe you saw coffey had 100 points and 200 pims in his draft year playing in the ohl. he also had 70 as a junior playing that league (not normal). not bad and it looks like he finished with over 1500 points in the nhl.
ok, the ness bandwagon has thrown coffey, zubov and niedermeyer in the discussion. anyone care to put orr, bourque, lidstrom, etc. out there?

is anyone accounting for the fact that guys are commonly still growing when they hit 20? I bet he has a few inches left in him

Wonder if anyone noticed that ness got hit two mabey three times vs hill and became a non-factor. Ness will struggle in the wcha when everyone has the same vision, shot, and puck skills, but have size over him.

Anybody else think Ness will eventually play forward? the kid has amazing vision and hands, and can clearly score goals, but with the size...maybe a forward in years to come?

Ness to join Team USA for World U18 championship. Only one other non-NTDP member on the team and that is Philip McRae. The rest are players from the NTDP U18 team.

2008 USA U18 Team

61ache wrote:

hwkfan wrote:Old barn...ok, bad example. Not trying to get into the blues transition game. here are the sharks d. They are one of the best defensive teams in teh nhl and probably playing the best lately.
51 Brian Campbell 6' 0" 191
18 Matt Carle 6' 0" 205
10 Christian Ehrhoff 6' 2" 205
4 Kyle McLaren 6' 4" 235
3 Douglas Murray 6' 3" 240
6 Brad Norton ** 6' 4" 230
24 Sandis Ozolinsh 6' 3" 215
52 Craig Rivet "A" 6' 2" 210
21 Alexei Semenov 6' 6" 235
44 Marc-Edouard Vlasic 6' 1" 200
i am not sure if you guys who talk about this new nhl have been to a game or watched any now that its crunch time. it isn't a bunch of 5-7 guys running around playing shinny.

Paul Coffey Defense
Born Jun 1 1961 -- Weston, ONT
Height 6.00 -- Weight 200

I heard this guy was pretty good and playing defense, too bad he's too small to play in the NHL.

Six feet and two hundred pounds of mostly muscle is a fairly good sized guy.

I had never seen Ness in person until a couple of weeks ago. He's not as small as some people think he is and I'm sure he's still growing. I had pictured in my mind a lot smaller of a kid, but his height definitely surprised me. I'd say he's 5'10" off his skates. I doubt he weighs much more than 160 though. Obviously he's never going to be a big guy. But, with this kids work ethic and hockey skills I think an NHL team will want him playing for their team in 4 years or so. No matter where Ness ends up it will be fun to watch him along the way. I believe i'll be watching him play hockey for a good 20 years, but that's just my opinion and i could be wrong. I just think this kid is too good not to make it one way or another. The thing I have a hard time understanding is some of the Ness haters out there. It's fine to have your opinion that he's not big enough to make it or you just flat out don't think he's skilled enough, but i think it goes too far at times. Why can't you just wish the kid good luck? Pretty childish. It's like Ness stole some of these guys wifes or something. Now, i've said what i think, i won't be back on here saying it 12 more times because i think i'm the only person in the world who's right about things. He's a kid and he's a Minnesota kid, cheer the kid on!

BERG RENOLZ wrote:I had never seen Ness in person until a couple of weeks ago. He's not as small as some people think he is and I'm sure he's still growing. I had pictured in my mind a lot smaller of a kid, but his height definitely surprised me. I'd say he's 5'10" off his skates. I doubt he weighs much more than 160 though. Obviously he's never going to be a big guy. But, with this kids work ethic and hockey skills I think an NHL team will want him playing for their team in 4 years or so. No matter where Ness ends up it will be fun to watch him along the way. I believe i'll be watching him play hockey for a good 20 years, but that's just my opinion and i could be wrong. I just think this kid is too good not to make it one way or another. The thing I have a hard time understanding is some of the Ness haters out there. It's fine to have your opinion that he's not big enough to make it or you just flat out don't think he's skilled enough, but i think it goes too far at times. Why can't you just wish the kid good luck? Pretty childish. It's like Ness stole some of these guys wifes or something. Now, i've said what i think, i won't be back on here saying it 12 more times because i think i'm the only person in the world who's right about things. He's a kid and he's a Minnesota kid, cheer the kid on!

Agreed

BERG RENOLZ wrote:I had never seen Ness in person until a couple of weeks ago. He's not as small as some people think he is and I'm sure he's still growing. I had pictured in my mind a lot smaller of a kid, but his height definitely surprised me. I'd say he's 5'10" off his skates. I doubt he weighs much more than 160 though. Obviously he's never going to be a big guy. But, with this kids work ethic and hockey skills I think an NHL team will want him playing for their team in 4 years or so. No matter where Ness ends up it will be fun to watch him along the way. I believe i'll be watching him play hockey for a good 20 years, but that's just my opinion and i could be wrong. I just think this kid is too good not to make it one way or another. The thing I have a hard time understanding is some of the Ness haters out there. It's fine to have your opinion that he's not big enough to make it or you just flat out don't think he's skilled enough, but i think it goes too far at times. Why can't you just wish the kid good luck? Pretty childish. It's like Ness stole some of these guys wifes or something. Now, i've said what i think, i won't be back on here saying it 12 more times because i think i'm the only person in the world who's right about things. He's a kid and he's a Minnesota kid, cheer the kid on!

I'd be a really big fan if that happened

Good luck MN kid!

Can't Never Tried wrote:
I'd be a really big fan if that happened

Good luck MN kid!

He can start with mine...

BERG RENOLZ wrote:I had never seen Ness in person until a couple of weeks ago. He's not as small as some people think he is and I'm sure he's still growing. I had pictured in my mind a lot smaller of a kid, but his height definitely surprised me. I'd say he's 5'10" off his skates. I doubt he weighs much more than 160 though. Obviously he's never going to be a big guy. But, with this kids work ethic and hockey skills I think an NHL team will want him playing for their team in 4 years or so. No matter where Ness ends up it will be fun to watch him along the way. I believe i'll be watching him play hockey for a good 20 years, but that's just my opinion and i could be wrong. I just think this kid is too good not to make it one way or another. The thing I have a hard time understanding is some of the Ness haters out there. It's fine to have your opinion that he's not big enough to make it or you just flat out don't think he's skilled enough, but i think it goes too far at times. Why can't you just wish the kid good luck? Pretty childish. It's like Ness stole some of these guys wifes or something. Now, i've said what i think, i won't be back on here saying it 12 more times because i think i'm the only person in the world who's right about things. He's a kid and he's a Minnesota kid, cheer the kid on!

You are 100% right - I can't wait to see him play for the Maroon and Gold, hopefully for all four years.

I think he should just skip college all together and lead the Wild to a Stanley Cup next year

From today's StarTribune:

U's Frazee goes pro; Roseau star signs on

The Gophers lost goalie Jeff Frazee to the New Jersey Devils but locked up Aaron Ness, Minnesota's Mr. Hockey in 2008.

A day after confirming the loss of one player, the Gophers men's hockey team signed another, Roseau defenseman Aaron Ness, for next season.
Lucia said he is excited about receiving Ness' faxed national letter of intent........

"He is obviously a real promising player," Lucia said. "He played in an elite program for a terrific coach, and he learned how to win at Roseau.

"He is a dynamic offensive player. He's strongest with the puck on his stick. He is like the basketball player who can throw no-look passes. You always have to be ready. He has a chance to be real special."

Ness had 28 goals and 44 assists for the Rams this season and was named Mr. Hockey. He completed his junior and senior academic years this school year, so he could sign early.

Currently, he is playing for the U.S. team in the under-18 world championships in Kazan, Russia.

He is the ninth player to sign with the Gophers for next season. Lucia expects to sign one or two more.