Who Is Mike Kostka?

[dongjohnson]

I've never heard of the guy before, but he's putting up huge numbers in the AHL. 26 points in 28 games for a dman is impressive at any level. Can someone educate me on him?

[ovi42]

All you need to know right here:
http://www.tsn.ca/toronto/blogs/jonas_siegel/?id=412297

[sparrowtrini]

HFBoards are a little more pessimistic about him.

Guess hes worth a flyer in big leagues.
Being in Toronto I see him alot and while not overly flashy he gets the job done.
The thing is he does everythg(Not just offence) solidly. Really determined.

[Jason_Banks]

He is an offensive dynamo... at the AHL level...

His game is unlikely to translate to the NHL, I see too many holes in his game...

Also his point total is nice... but consider all the offence the Marlies create, When playing with Keith Aucoin and company, some riders will have inflated stats...

That said he is a good skater who has a knack for getting into good shooting lanes... but being undersized and inconsistant defencively hurts... also he is prone to extreamly poor decision making....

He is only +5 on the season, but that is because he has a +7 in the last 6 games, much because he has taken over Jake Gardiner's position and plays with a +13 Paul Ranger or the odd shift with the +8 Holzer... who tend to cover Kostka's ass...

Kostka's #s will digress once Gardiner comes back, but he is strong and proven at the AHL level...

Apperently he came to Toronto to be close to home when he plays (Etobicoke native) and because we needed to replace a couple that left and those that were suppose to move up (Holzer and Gardiner)... not because he himself would have an NHL shot... That said it wouldt surprise me if he gets emergancy recalls...but at the age of 27, his door is closing quickly...

[sparrowtrini]

He is an offensive dynamo... at the AHL level...

His game is unlikely to translate to the NHL, I see too many holes in his game...

Also his point total is nice... but consider all the offence the Marlies create, When playing with Keith Aucoin and company, some riders will have inflated stats...

That said he is a good skater who has a knack for getting into good shooting lanes... but being undersized and inconsistant defencively hurts... also he is prone to extreamly poor decision making....

He is only +5 on the season, but that is because he has a +7 in the last 6 games, much because he has taken over Jake Gardiner's position and plays with a +13 Paul Ranger or the odd shift with the +8 Holzer... who tend to cover Kostka's ass...

Kostka's #s will digress once Gardiner comes back, but he is strong and proven at the AHL level...

Apperently he came to Toronto to be close to home when he plays (Etobicoke native) and because we needed to replace a couple that left and those that were suppose to move up (Holzer and Gardiner)... not because he himself would have an NHL shot... That said it wouldt surprise me if he gets emergancy recalls...but at the age of 27, his door is closing quickly...

Wow. Not to call you out bro but this is completely wrong. Ive been to several marlie games this year so i can attest to his play

Now thats not saying he'll ever play in the nhl. Sometimes they just cant transalate their game.

First hes not undersized hes 6'1 210lbsl
and though playing physical is not his game hes not afraid of going into the corners.
Hes also very solid defensively. And is very trusted, being used on quite a few penalty kills.
Yes hes playing over his head right now and his pts r inflated by the talent around him
(as most offensive defencemen benefit from whats around them).
But also dont forget 2 years ago, as a defencemen, he led a very weak offensive Rochester. American team with 55pts. So hes more then capable of doing it in any situation..
As for bad decisions? Im yet to see it, other then the odd giveaway.
Again as i said in another post its all abt confidence with him
I really hope he gets a chance. Who knows maybe thats all he needs.

[Jason_Banks]

Wow. Not to call you out bro but this is completely wrong. Ive been to several marlie games this year so i can attest to his play

Now thats not saying he'll ever play in the nhl. Sometimes they just cant transalate their game.

First hes not undersized hes 6'1 210lbsl
and though playing physical is not his game hes not afraid of going into the corners.
Hes also very solid defensively. And is very trusted, being used on quite a few penalty kills.
Yes hes playing over his head right now and his pts r inflated by the talent around him
(as most offensive defencemen benefit from whats around them).
But also dont forget 2 years ago, as a defencemen, he led a very weak offensive Rochester. American team with 55pts. So hes more then capable of doing it in any situation..
As for bad decisions? Im yet to see it, other then the odd giveaway.
Again as i said in another post its all abt confidence with him
I really hope he gets a chance. Who knows maybe thats all he needs.

he is posted as 6-1, but the defence around him and the forwards he plays agaisnt outsize him, in this day 6-6-2 sometimes isnt big enough... and honsetly walking up to him... he isn't much taller than me and I'm 5-10ish... I'd give him a 6 foot maybe... he does have a good weight and has had it for a while I'll give him that...

As far as seeing him... I've been at nearly every Marlie game in Toronto and Hamilton and have been every year of the Marlies existance... I think I've missed a total of 11 games in 8 seasons, plus have watched many online... I've also been to several Hamilton games vs non-marlie opponents (usually Rochester and Manitoba) and have been streaming several AHL games online for several years... I've seen Kostka everywhere he's gone and followed him for a while ever since he was on Portland paired with Mike Weber and Buffalo screwed up thier affiliation with Rochester due to owners not seeing eye to eye (oddly enough Florida had the same issue with Rochester, that and distance)....

I see many poor decisions on a nightly basis... in the ACC game he made 2 ill-advised passes into the neutral zone into coverage in the 2nd period that led to rushes agaisnt us and one he slipped on fell on but Ranger bailed him out on it... also late in the 3rd picking up a puck around the net he skated with the play to his backhand into his defensive parter and his only outlet was a cross ice pass in his own zone on his back hand, with no one to cover and 2 Hamilton forechekers bareing down... he was lucky the pass wasn't picked off... but the poor pass still never allowed Toronto to gain ice and the puck was returned into the zone creating anouther oppertunity agaisnt (I was sitting 15th row behind Scrivens, unfortunatly an ugly seat in that late 3rd period)... Vs St John's his poor pass out of the zone lead to a break away for a St John's player late in that game... along with a 'suicide' pass early in the game to Greg Scott... (thats just the last 2 games)

The 3 D I hate seeing on PKs are Kostka, Blacker and Gysbers.... for the most part the PK pairings tend to be, Holzer/Fraser, Blacker-Gysbers lately with Gardiner injured, and Ranger-Yeo/Blacker/Gysbers depending on who is in... Kostka's PK time is limited to times when the team is down and they need an oppertunity or late in a PK when we are about to return 5 on 5....

Eakins says he 'trusts' everyone, he is a 'yes man' for Brian Burke which is the only reason he got the job, Greg Gilbert wasn't a yes man and butted heads with Burke and co. over Pogge in the playoffs, a move the ultimately killed us that Burke forced upon him... But Eakins is a piss-poor coach (great at developing players with the mentality to make the NHL and prepare) but poor in-game coaching and integrating systems, very few of them work, the only one I like is setting Zigomanis/Aucoin/Scott behind the net on the PK waiting for shoot ins and I believe that is a brain child of Gord Dineen the assistant defensive coach.... Take what ever Eakins says with a gient grain of salt... he is more worried that has his hair in the right place and that he uses his time out in the 1st or 2nd period when it is un-needed...

Also I wouldn't say the Rochester team that Kostka led in points was 'very poor offensivly'... he played all 80 games and got that 54 points (not 55, which was strong no dispute), That team scored 218 goals which was only 8 less than division leading Hamilton, 5 less than 2nd place Lake Erie, and 2 less than 3rd place Manitoba... They actually scored more goals than the Texas Stars who made the playoffs in the other division yet they finnished dead last in the conferance dispite posting similer offence to the teams that made the playoffs.. Rochester's issue was that they couldn't keep the puck out of thier net and Kostka was a -9 on that team... Also when you rate the players on a Point Per Game basis he was behind Chris Taylor, Tim Kennedy, Mike Repik, Patty Rissmiller, and fellow D man Clay Wilson and he was tied with Bill Thomas and Evgeni Dadonov was .01 PTS/GP behind him... So the fact he led the team in points was rather miss leading...

I appreciate you coming out to the games and we have differing opinions, which is great, the more info and opinions we put out there, the more readers can make thier own judgements... I wouldn't have spent the time to write all this out if no one pressed the issue, and the readers, wouldn't have received all this information... (and of course no hard feelings bud)

[Jason_Banks]

he is posted as 6-1, but the defence around him and the forwards he plays agaisnt outsize him, in this day 6-6-2 sometimes isnt big enough... and honsetly walking up to him... he isn't much taller than me and I'm 5-10ish... I'd give him a 6 foot maybe... he does have a good weight and has had it for a while I'll give him that...


I see many poor decisions on a nightly basis...

For those trying to follow Kostka: we have seen many of examples both of these in my scouting report the past couple nights vs NYI and he was eaten apart by the Nash, Gaborik and Richards line

He is now -7 and Phanuef is -8 in 5 games this year...

Kostka tho should not shoulder all the blame for the poor past 2 games... but he has shown an inablity to help... he was shoved off the puck several times tonight by the bigger Ranger forwards working on him low, and he and Phanuef made one poor neutral zone choice on coverage CBC outlined after the game...

As I spoke earlier with 3 points in 5 games is an offensive D but all 3 of the points are on the powerplay... but his game 5 on 5 is not translateing well at all for the 4 games I've so far (mind you his last 2 have been his worst, the other 2 he looked fine dong small things)... but he is also being mis-used on the top pairing when if they are using him he should be a bottom pairing utility guy that would play the Powerplay... Much like Andy Delmore...

[dongjohnson]

Phaneuf is -8 and Kostka is only -7, so he's obviously the better of the two. C'mon dude, he's getting his first NHL action and is being constantly thrown against the top players in the game. That doesn't mean he sucks, it means the coaching sucks.

[Jason_Banks]

Phaneuf is -8 and Kostka is only -7, so he's obviously the better of the two. C'mon dude, he's getting his first NHL action and is being constantly thrown against the top players in the game. That doesn't mean he sucks, it means the coaching sucks.

I mentioned he was being mis-used