GGpX
Well-known member
Latendresse probably should have gotten 9 games & then sent back to Junior. I get that he was the best player in camp, and I get giving him a shot, but "the stars of September are gone by November." Brandon Kozun was the best player in Leafs' camp this year for example, started on the second line and 5 games later, he's on the fourth line. Yeah, he got 16 goals, but he was terrible. A naturally skilled shooter, but he might as well have been 5'9", being physical was not something he was interested in. It would be one thing if he was the best player in preseason and then it translated into actual NHL games, but it never did. He was always behind the play and had tremendous difficulties. I don't understand what there is to gain by putting a 19 year old player in a situation like that.
While Latendresse was really good in Junior, he was the 13th forward on the WJC and was never a dominant player in Junior. One more year in junior to improve, get more good habits, out of the limelight would have done him wonders. And playing in the AHL would have helped him greatly as well. In an ideal world, the AHL probably would have been his best option at 19 years old.
While Latendresse was really good in Junior, he was the 13th forward on the WJC and was never a dominant player in Junior. One more year in junior to improve, get more good habits, out of the limelight would have done him wonders. And playing in the AHL would have helped him greatly as well. In an ideal world, the AHL probably would have been his best option at 19 years old.