Small forward from the BCJHL, skilled player. Overager, he will turn 20 in August. He's either Bendfeld (turning pro) or Bigos (going to the NCAA).
Stu MacGregor: "I have a little bit of passion for Jones. He played for the Vernon Vipers, they won back to back World Bank Cups. He's a very competitive player."
Bullshit. He went down in points this year.
ReplyDeletePlus he's Linus Omark small.
Burke's laughing his fatt head off.
They wanted him bad enough to give up a late pick next year. Probably found him watching Bigos.
ReplyDeleteLT - Thanks for all your efforts.
ReplyDeleteHe went down in points because he played fewer games. His PPG (1.3) was his career best
ReplyDeleteI'd be re-calculating that PPG.
http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=113607
This year he was one point to the positive of PPG. Last year, he was seven up.
not much of a goal scorer:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bchl.ca/leagues/rosters_profile.cfm?clientID=1413&leagueID=2393&teamID=267279&playerID=253355
Hockeydb doesn't have his 09/10 stats, Dorito.
ReplyDeleteHe scored 53 points in 41 games last year.
No worries. I love it.
ReplyDeleteMansbridge is on my television. I think I see Tyler Dellow in downtown Toronto. Hi Tyler!
Is he in cuffs? He was pretty worked up last night about thelaw Ontario snuck through for the G8/G20.
ReplyDeleteOverall, a very nice draft (in terms of quantity). We will throw darts at the wall to see how the quality works out after pick 48.
ReplyDeleteGreat work LT, it was nice to catch up on this after driving to Grande Prairie the last two days.
So, his twin brother plays for the same team in the BCHL and remained undrafted and is the same size.
ReplyDeleteKellen Jones: 41 12-41-53
Connor Jones: 51 36-45-81
I think I'd rather have the other Jones.
@ben
ReplyDeletethat seems weird
Maybe his brother is going to Cornell ;)
ReplyDeleteMaybe if you draft the one Jones late you can sign the other later without having to expend another late round draft pick?
ReplyDeleteI guess that could be the rationale of picking just one of them. But why this guy over the other?
Did we Jeff Finger this?
ReplyDeleteDid we Jeff Finger this?
ReplyDeleteI'm kind of wondering the same thing, whether we inadvertently grabbed the wrong brother.
They must be okay with Bigos so far if they went back to the Vipers for another overager. Must have a friend in the org too.
ReplyDeleteThis still isn't a bad pick this late. The Royal Bank Cup final is up on TSN if anyone wants to watch him play. Vernon wins 8-1 and he scores a couple of goals. Skilled, has some grit, and is high energy.
ReplyDeletehere's the lines that the oil should use in my opinion....(1)gagner,hemsky,hall(2)cogliano,penner,eberle(3)horcoff,brule,mps(4)Fraser,stortini,jones.... You have one rookie on each line.cogliano wasn't moved & he really can't be in your bottom 6 but he's twice scored 18 goals,former 1st rounder who is 23.he also had some success with penner late last year.horcoff could be our captain & shutdown 2way centre with skilled,hard hitting torpedo brule flanking him.mps can play a checking role to break in because he has experience vs men in Europe & broke in that league in a checking role.he's much more qualified to play there then eberle or hall.he's got great wheels & boatloads of talent & will be able to put up points with horcoff & brule.they will get lots of icetime vs opposing top forwards.Fraser got 19 points in limited time & same as jones.all 3 of the 4th line are physical wingers.this fourth line could actually be a very good one because both Fraser & jones have a little skill.our defence needs top 4 guy if souray isn't back(there is a chance he may be back)& a sixth & seventh.if souray isn't back the oil should target nick boynton & resign Johnson.6 defence could look like this(1)Whitney,smid(2)Gilbert boynton(3)Peckham,Johnson. Extra forwards:jacques for grit,pouliot for extra skilled forward who plays all position.strudwick or another cheap veteran.bulin & dubnyk in goal...we could have a surprising team if the youngsters have decent years & stay healthy.
ReplyDelete*standing ovation for LT*
ReplyDeleteExceptional work today sir.
Hope your beverages are as cold as my Stellas.
You should really gain financially from this, you have kids eyeing up high end tech schools you know.
The site might pay for a book!
You sir, Rock!
Probably gonna just draft this guy ... and sign his brother eventually as a twin duo.
ReplyDeleteMy post got shortened...third line horcoff,brule,mps...fourth line Fraser,jones,stortini
ReplyDeleteThanks for your work Lowetide! Following your site is much easier than going anywhere else.
ReplyDeleteViews on the whole draft?
ReplyDeleteI hafta say that I'm quietly impressed. Nothing left-field, solid if not spectacular; MBS deserve praise (as, of course, does LT for his sterling work)
I think the oil did pretty good this draft.size & skill were both needed & they got that in this draft.I'm impressed for sure & look forward to next year
ReplyDeletegood stuff lowtide...I'm new to the site & find your site very interesting.lots of different opinions on players
ReplyDeleteKudos! Always my first stop when hockey's on the brain. Honestly, LT, great writing, great atmosphere, excellent commenters. All thanks to a fantastic host.
ReplyDeleteWhere's the donate button?
These kids are from where I live and work. They,re two time national champs and were the best players at both ends of the ice. At a cottage but I have much more to say if anyone is interested.
ReplyDeleteAnon: Spill it. Grab a bear and start typing. :-)
ReplyDeleteAnon, come back!
ReplyDeleteI was the Anon sorry not able to come back earlier I was on an iPod at my buddy's cottage.
ReplyDeleteKellen Jones (and Connor) are twins from Fruitvale which is part of the area I cover for the local radio station. I also cover the league they played in. With the Vipers they killed the team I broadcast for (Trail) every year. We're glad to see them heading to college!
Anyhow, having seen them over the years I can tell you there's more to the pick than just counting numbers.
First of all the stats are a little misleading because the Vipers play a strict four line system most of the time. Unlike most teams in junior hockey you don't see the top lines out there most of the game.
Secondly these guys have proven to be absurdly clutch. I know that's not really a math thing, but anytime they were in big games they game through. If there was a game seven or a deciding game you can almost guarantee Kellen and Connor were big factors in those games. They were almost 100% likely to be on the box score for the tying or winning goal. They rose to the occasion every time and were frankly in my view the MVPs on both Vernon's back to back national championships.
They were on one of Vernon's best lines in the playoffs as 16 year old APs (and the best players on their Junior B team that year) and were then Vernon's best line as 17, 18 and 19 year olds.
They not only are the best offensively line but were also used to shut down the other team's best players. They were generally the top PP and PK unit. They were always the line sent out at the end of the game even when they were rookies.
They're small but still play with a physical edge. It's very hard to knock them off the puck and they're always going to the dirty areas. They took a ton of punishment and always bounced right back.
They skate well, read the ice well, shoot well, pass well, etc. Like other twins we've seen enough of they're deadly in the cycle and just seem to know where each other are on the ice. They also have the uncanny ability to make people make mistakes.
If they had played in a different system their counting numbers would be among the top in the league IMO.
The other things about them you can't measure are their competativeness and work ethic. While they've been the best players on a winning team you can ask anyone who knows anything about them and find out quickly they are also the hardest working. I know whever I talked to a coach about them they'd mention how key it was for the Vipers that their best players were not only the best... but were outworking everybody else at the same time. They never had a lazy shift in the three years I saw them play.
ReplyDeleteThey're also two sport athletes. They were co-MVPs of their American Legion Baseball team in Trail last summer as the teams' best pitchers, hitters and fielders. They likely could've been scholarship baseball players as well.
That all being said they're not all that big... I wouldn't say at this point they have NHL prospect quality shooting ability... Kellen is being drafted at 19... and it would be fair to say they're both long shots at making the NHL. Of course they have yet to fail to be the best players on their team at any level of hockey. I think it's a reasonable bet to take a flyer on them and see if everything that made them winners as teenagers will translate to the college game. If it does, who is to say it can't then translate to the pro game? They've yet to fail so it'll be interesting to see if that trend continues.
As for whether drafting Kellen would lead them to Connor, I would be shocked if it didn't. From what I understand they do everything together on and off the ice. They've always played together on the same line and are going to Quinnipac together. They've also always progressed together at basically the same level and pace.
If one of them gets good enough to make the NHL than I imagine both would and that they would go where they could do it together. However, can you pull off a twin act in the NHL if you're both long shots? We're not talking about the Sedins at this stage certainly.
So bottom line is that I wouldn't pencil them in to future line-ups, but I totally understand why the Oilers used a 7th round pick on them. It's basically a cheap bet that everything that has made them two of the best players in Canadian junior hockey will allow them to do that at higher levels as they continue to mature. If so they would have the inside tack on two players intead of just one.
If not it was a relatively cheap bet.
Hope that was of some use I am still carrying a buzz from more cottage beer tonight. I'd gladly answer any questions to the best of my ability.
Oh and they're from Montrose not Fruitvale... just down the same road but I made a goof there.
ReplyDeleteThanks Shawn. Your interview with one of them came up when I was googling for info.
ReplyDeleteI have seen your posts here before but have you confused with another Shawn now. (See today's QO thread - he's active early.)
That post was the best I could do when already half in the bag so hopefully it made sense.
ReplyDeleteI've talked to both of them on my show a number of times. Good character young men.