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Reggie wrote:

murraychadwick wrote:I was thinking of the Olimb comparison also. Help me out, was Olimb primarily a defenseman in HS and forward in college?

Mostly D.

But , about 40 minutes of ice time per game, with a great knack for rushing the puck.

Yes his size is a bit of an issue at the next level especially with the way the college game has changed for the worse with all the clutching and grabbing being allowed. Ness is a great skater and will be the immediate quarterback on any power play unit. Scoring in the WCHA is now half of what it was when Crowley played.

DewBWah wrote:I remember that we Roseau fans were a little concerned about Neal being too small for the next level. He ended up having a pretty fair career after high school.

Good point regarding Neal, but I think the college and pro games have changed a great deal since Neal's days.

BI makes a good point about quarterbacking the power play for the Gophers, he will have an immediate impact there.

Don't get me wrong, I think Ness is fabulous. I'm just thinking ahead a few years. I'm sold in this current HS environment.

greenbandit wrote:I cant believe how many quality 90 birth year defense this state has produced!! Ness is good but there are a few that are just as good and many not too far behind him. Ness should get Mr. Hockey mainly because the way voting takes place...Gardiner is awesome...Gleason is awesome....student (89) is awesome.....man see all great defense, what a tough choice.

others:
Rush, Riola, Mergens, Dolan, Sova, Raskob.........list goes on...

Greenbandit, everything you said is fine except that Ness is even mentioned with these others. You saw the game. There isn't a weakness. The others are good high school D. Ness is in a league of his own!

I said the best HS player I've seen in 20 years, not overall player. Him and Langenbrunner both left as Jr's. Crowley and Spehar played senior seasons. If we compare up to Jr Year Crowley doesn't matchup with Ness in my mind. I've seen alotta great HS players but Ness has really impressed me over the last 2 years.

I think by Sat night you might agree. Or I might be hitting the Ness Kool-Aid alittle too hard.[/quote]

I have watched Ness for 3 yrs now and totaly agree with how talented this kid is. He dominates a game, and is one of the best ever. In my opinion he is not as good as Mike Crowley was. So I have to go back 15 yrs to find a player that was better than Ness and it has been 15 yrs since I have seen a player I would compare to Crowley at the High School level.

Mr. Hockey=Leivermann

He is better than Ness

John Madden/Brett Favre = Lou Nanne/Aaron Ness

Chuck Norris wears Aaron Ness pajamas!

BIAFB...not sure where half as much scoring comes from. the gophers when crowley played were scoring about 175 goals per year and they still score that many. the big years when guys like vanek and bonin had big numbers they shot up to the 190-200 range.

Much has been said of his skill, comparisons to other great players, lack of size etc. What is truly impressive is his team play. Often players at this level will have the tendency to try to do too much or his team expects too much out of him. This team will be in the same class as Bakers Grand Rapids and Crowleys Jeffersons teams. I say enjoy it, this doesn't happen too often.

Reggie wrote:Ness is great to watch, he's gott'in a lot better since last year. Reminds me of Larry Olimb, but Ness is a little more physical.

I agree. When he has the puck, there's a buzz in the crowd....just like how Olimb had the crowd buzzing in '87.

Very similar players....both play defense, both see the ice incredibly well, both look effortless, both have incredible poise, both incredibly talented.

Lucia better leave him back on defense.

i remember a few years ago when lou nanne was obsessed with another defensemen and future mr hockey winner, although it wasnt that state tourney year. ryan mcdonagh of cretin now playing at wisconsin. what do you think of the ness vs mcdonagh comparison? that is for those of you with good enough memories to remember 2 years ago.

hwkfan wrote:BIAFB...not sure where half as much scoring comes from. the gophers when crowley played were scoring about 175 goals per year and they still score that many. the big years when guys like vanek and bonin had big numbers they shot up to the 190-200 range.

The leading scorer in the WCHA has 46 points this season with one weekend to play.

Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves G.B. That's a very good group. I agree with what Royal said. I saw the game, and i saw Ness lose some battles in his own end. Made a bad pass in his own end as well that almost cost his team a goal. I will admit i have not seem him play much. It may be entirely possible those were the first battles he's lost all year, but i don't think so. I for one would like to see him play a little more with a chip on his shoulder. He can skate and has great vision no doubt, but College hockey is fiiled with these kind of guys. Remember there are a whole lot of very good hockey players outside of MN. I would be willing to bet Sova -Dolan- and Flip will give him all he wants tonight. Here it it is. He won't be much of of a factor tonight. Gauranteed..

Ness is a great player but at his size playing denfense will be the problem. I expect to see him moved to a forward position where his skills will shine. The WCHA has too many bigger forwards for him to contend with in front of the net.

zinovy08 wrote:

Reggie wrote:Ness is great to watch, he's gott'in a lot better since last year. Reminds me of Larry Olimb, but Ness is a little more physical.

I agree. When he has the puck, there's a buzz in the crowd....just like how Olimb had the crowd buzzing in '87.

Very similar players....both play defense, both see the ice incredibly well, both look effortless, both have incredible poise, both incredibly talented.

Lucia better leave him back on defense.

Exactly what I thought, he does remind me of Olimb. Setting up to have the same type of career, great HS, good college and then what? NHL has changed.

well maybe i would say it's more balanced or maybe more depth. i wouldnt base the entire scoring in the league based on one guy not having 60-70 points. my guess would be that guys like kessel and toews moving on after one or two seasons. the league appears younger with more fr/so in the scoring leaders and jr/srs. the top 3 scorers are underclassmen. put a guy like toews (6-2, 200) who is at almost a a point per game as an 19 y.o. in the nhl on #1 north dakota and you would most like see a 60-70 point guy.
with that being said. crowleys first two seasons the gophers scored about 370 goals and he contributed to over 100 of those. yes, playing on the pp during bonins hobey yr surely helped.
the gopher will probably score 360 goals over the next two seasons. will ness put up numbers like crowleys? only time will tell.

It is a thrill to watch Ness and the whole Rams team. We've all seen SO much talent come out of that area but it's a TON of hard work and effort-along with team work that gets them to where they are.
This state has a group of talented young peope that know that they want and work hard to get it......

Pucknutz69 wrote:

zinovy08 wrote:

Reggie wrote:Ness is great to watch, he's gott'in a lot better since last year. Reminds me of Larry Olimb, but Ness is a little more physical.

I agree. When he has the puck, there's a buzz in the crowd....just like how Olimb had the crowd buzzing in '87.

Very similar players....both play defense, both see the ice incredibly well, both look effortless, both have incredible poise, both incredibly talented.

Lucia better leave him back on defense.

Exactly what I thought, he does remind me of Olimb. Setting up to have the same type of career, great HS, good college and then what? NHL has changed.

They say that Olimb wasn't big or fast enough for the NHL....I think if teams would have given him an opportunity, he would have succeeded.

Larry was also hindered by Woog moving him up to forward. Some players see the ice much better when they're back on the blueline. Although Larry did a good job up at forward, I think he would have been better back on the blueline.

The NHL has changed....you no longer have to be huge, strong, and physical to play defense. You can front the forward and block shots, without having to move guys.

Look at guys like Neidemeyer and Paul Martin...they don't play physical, but are good defenders, because they are smart.

I hope that Ness does grow a bit, however.

Listening to KFAN right now. Michelletti and Dubay must have been reading this thread.......They esentially repeated everything we have said here, even some of the more random points.

The opportunity to see Aaron Ness play is worth the price of admission regardless of the game results. By far, the best player I have seen in the tournament so far. I'm not going to get in the comparison game and state he is the best of all time, but he is truly a special player and am thrilled to death that he will be wearing a Gopher jersey next year. Both he and Schroeder will make a BIG difference for them. Until then...enjoy the opportunity of watching a very gifted player. Good luck Rams!

Is he turing 18 in May? So basically he is Senior age, so instead of graduating early he is just catching up with his class?

I remember when RR was beating Roseau and that oliver coach only took Ness out once the whole game after RR scored. I beleive he had like 47 minutes of total ice time

He was only 2 feet tall when he was kindergarten age so his parents decided to wait a year before enrolling him.

Pucknutz69 wrote:Is he turing 18 in May? So basically he is Senior age, so instead of graduating early he is just catching up with his class?

Well, kinda, although turning 18 in May is a young senior.

I think the story goes something like this... His folks wanted to move back to Roseau when he was 5--sometime in the middle of the school year. So, rather than having Aaron start kindergarden in one place (St. Cloud?) and then up-root him and make him adjust to a new kindergarden class, they decided to just have hime start school the next year. I think the fact that he would have been pretty young for his class might have played into the decision a bit...