Joe Finley, the Capitals' second towering first-round pick from the 2005 Entry Draft, has decided not to sign with the Caps and instead will return to the University of North Dakota next fall. The lure of a paycheck and Hershey, PA apparently didn't dissuade the big blueliner, who has but one thing on his hockey mind right now: What would you do? Go for the dollars and get your pro career started or head back to school for a chance to win a Championship and be the big man on campus (literally)?"Quite frankly, I came to North Dakota to win a national championship," Finley said. "I don't want to make it sound like it's going to be an easy road, but with the type of guys we have staying, it's going to give us a great opportunity to achieve things we set out to do."
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Last week, Finley went to Hershey, Pa., to visit the American Hockey League affiliate of the Washington Capitals, the team that selected him in the first round of the 2005 draft. He said it was a good experience, but upon returning to Grand Forks, the 6-foot-7, 252-pound sophomore informed UND coaches and the Capitals that he decided another year of college is in his best interest.
"There were some guys who left early last season and played in the AHL the whole year," Finley said. "Some guys made the NHL, but they'll still tell you how much they liked playing college. They'll tell you how much fun they had. You get better because you practice quite a bit and the travel schedule isn't so brutal.""Money isn't the big thing," said Finley, who had a team-best plus-18 rating last season.
6 comments:
I would have hoped he could begin his career with a couple of season in the A. I'm not sure what another year in college is going todo for his development.
Oh well we got Shultz back there, guess we will have to wait to have the twin towers.
Personally, I'm a big believer in "winning breeds winning," so I'm glad he's going to get another year of development in the NCAA rather than being a spare part in Hershey or down in the E.
And don't forget, it's one more year later now that he becomes an RFA.
I think it's good for the player and the team.
We also have a couple of yound D and Im not sold on developing prospects in the E. He might get more ice on his college team.
on a side note...
It will be interesting to see if Dovgan can make the jump to the A, everything I hear about his is good. Seems like hes got a complete package.
I respect his decision a lot. I think the "winning breeds winning" attitude is exactly what we need. I think we can only benefit from having more players that have won Calder Cups, NCAA national championships, and whatever other titles they decide to bring with them. Hopefully, attitudes like this are the ones that will keep Caps in Caps uniforms when they are in contract years.
he has no shot at laying on the caps next year, just like he said
'p'laying on the caps
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