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UTMCretin wrote:Esposito should definitely be around at #6, so there's no worries there. His stock has really fallen considering he was #1 (among North Americans) as recent as January. Not sure what the deal is there, but he's turned into this year's Phil Kessel

Myth Busters: Angelo Esposito Edition


1. He has a poor attitude.

In a situation similar to that of the Rob Schremp/Ice Dogs debacle, Esposito brought a great deal of hatred upon himself as a 16 year-old when he stated he was going the NCAA route. In reality, the QMJHL was his choice all along, but he wanted only to play for the Remparts, a non-lottery team. Q GMs steered clear of Esposito in the first round as they believed him, allowing the Remparts to select him with a freshly acquired pick.

Some NHL people are obviously going to hate on him forever and ever amen because of that, claiming he's a precocious so and so. So what if he wanted to play for his favorite team? He gamed the system to assure that, and that doesn't mean he's going to be a locker room cancer the rest of his career.

One only needs to look at last season to see how false this myth is: Esposito was captain of not only one, but TWO Team Canada entries (World U17s, World U18s). And guess which team happened to win Gold both times?

2. His numbers indicate he's a failure/has regressed/is a bust

The 2005-06 was anomaly, and not only for Esposito. Every North American league that adopted the new rules experienced a jolt in scoring. Now, in 2006-07, teams have become accustomed to things and are scoring nowhere near the inflated totals they did last year.

As a result, it should come as no surprise that Esposito's totals have fallen off. But there are a great deal of people who have ignored that. There's also the matter of how his 79 points in 60 games stack up against his peers.

Fact: Esposito had the 2nd-highest point total among first-time QMJHL eligible forwards (Jakub Voracek was the highest). If you're going to call him a bust this early based only on his numbers, everyone besides Voracek must be as well.

3. He lacks drive/motivation/is lazy/won't go into traffic

Closely related to Myth #1, one of the 'obvious' explanations for Esposito's apparent regression is that he's just a lazy coaster who is finally being exposed for the player he's always been- a perimeter player who got by on talent alone.

Well, in 2006-07, Angelo Esposito gave out 72 hits, a total that puts him squarely in the top 50 among forwards. And when looking only at the league's leading point-getters, only five players had a better ratio of hits to points. And in the playoffs, Esposito put it up a notch, distributing 11 hits in just five games, the second-highest Quebec total.

4. He doesn't show up when it matters

Another common criticism of Esposito's is that his points are primarily scored in meaningless situations, something that runs back to his 16 year-old season when he had an underwhelming postseason.

But looking at some statistics, we can solidly put to bed this notion that Esposito disappears with the game on the line.

60%- That's Esposito's shootout success percentage, highest on the Remparts among players with more than one shootout attempt.

4 goals- Esposito finished tied for first in playoff goals for the Remparts.

7 points- The 2nd-most on Quebec in the post-season.


So, there you have it. The four biggest myths about Angelo Esposito, at the very least countered with tangible facts.

Now, does this mean he's perfect? Absolutely not. There are things Esposito must work on, as with all prospects. A perfectly legitimate concern is his lack of muscle. However, that's not insurmountable, and neither is pro success. In fact, he's a lot closer than most will give him credit for.

UTMCretin wrote:1st Round Picks

6th: Sam Gagner
15th: Alex Plante
21st: Riley Nash

I so despise this organization

Crowned wrote:-= original quote snipped =-




Sam Gagner may end up being the best player to come out of this draft. At this point, I'm higher on him than everyone but Kane.