DelCastillo: 25% of UAF Has Talent

One of the biggest challenges of writing this blog is sounding like I know what I'm talking about when I write about an opponent. It's easy enough to sound like I know what I'm talking about when writing about the Seawolves. I've seen most of the guys play for at least a year and some of them I've watched for more than 3 years. I pay as much attention to them as anyone. I don't pay as much attention to opponents. Don't get me wrong. I've got more than a decent idea about most of the teams UAA goes up against. But comparitivly speaking, I know a a boatload more about UAA than the team just up the road. That being the case each week I spend some time doing a bit of "research" (for lack of a better word). Mostly, it consists of a google search or two followed by a bit of reading. Obviously, past experience against the foe is a factor as well. This week the task is thankfully easier than other weeks. Not because I pay any more attention to UAF than say UND or DU or CC; but because I came across an absolute gem just as I was getting underway.

Coach Doc DelCastillo sat down with Fairbanks News Miner reporter Danny Martin and gave his assessment of the teams talent on a player by player basis. We hadn't heard much about the team and it's new coach, so to have all this right from the horses mouth makes my day. By analyzing his full comments I've come to an interesting thesis that Coach DelCastillo doesn't exactly think some of this players are the "bees knees". (note: I've included the key portions of his comments which I believe are the most relevant) I've broken it all down for simplification into two categories. The "Have's" and "Have Not's".

The Have Not's
Justin Binab - "Veteran, older, more mature"
T.J. Campbell - "Leader ... extraordinary kid, extraordinary person"
Brandon Gawryletz - " ... fearless-type ... good guy to have ..."
Trevor Hyatt - "A complete person ..."
Chad Johnson - " ... his challenge is to be at another level consistenly ..."
Kyle Jones - " ... new lease on life with a new coach."
Derek Klassen - "Relentless. He can really skate"
Brandon Knelsen - "I think he's opportunistic."
Bryant Molle - "He needs to grow into his body and learn to adapt his game ..."
Dustin Molle - "He's a good team guy ..."
Ryan Muspratt - "Steady ... someone with veteran leadership."
Adam Naglich - "... he could be a very good, two-way power forward ..."
Kevin Petovello - "... going through a learning process right now."
Wylie Rogers - "... everyone in this town loves Wylie"
Cody Rymut - "He works hard and he wants to be a player."
Steve Vanoosten - "He's another who's on a learning curve ..."
Braden Walls - "... he needs to continue to get better."
Jeff Young - "Physcially, he's a little bit behind ..."

The Have's
Tyler Eckford - "Gifted. He's just gifted. He has god-given ability..."
Dion Knelsen - "... if it doesn't work out for Dion, it isn't because of what Dion did ..."
Jeff Lee - "He's very gifted, he skates well for his size ..."
Landon Novotney - "Incredible acceleration, very gifted ... contributor at this point."
Jeff Penner - " ... could be a very good defenseman in the CCHA."
Dustin Sather - " ... He has a tremendous amount of skill."

So ... of the 24 players commented on; Doc DelCastillo gives comments on only six that would indicate he thinks have talent. Let's not misunderstand what was said. His comments on all his players were positive in nature. He didn't disrespect anyone in particular (well, maybe Tavis MacMillan in a subtle way). But regarding 18 players he sure didn't use the words that you might hear from a coach who thought they were talented. Sure, I only included snippets of his comments. But the link is there so you can read every word he said about every player. No doubt that a new coach looks forward to the time when he can get "his players" into the system. But if i was any of those 18 on the "Have Not" list I'd definitely be wondering if that was the best my coach could come up with. Perhaps he was hoping they'd want to prove him wrong. I remember another NCAA Division 1 coach who told the local newspaper his team wasn't very talented during his first year. His name was Dean Talafous.