Just came back from the camp, stayed after the game to get some autographs and to talk with a few players.
I was seated right beside the Fucale family
He had his whole family over, they were like 25 and cheered every time Zach made a save. Got to love their passion. Especially, his dad, he was so pumped before the game started.
So a few notes from the players in today's game :
Sven Andrighetto : Not a good day for him, did not see his quick release and comitted way too many errors, bad passes and turnovers.
Nathan Beaulieu : Honestly didn't seem to care much. The game was really intense, lots of hard hitting, but Nathan just really took it as a summer practice, and really didn't push hard. Pulled a couple of nice moves though. And also met him after the game and I must say that he's not the nicest guy around. Some kids tried to say hi and talked to him and he seemed really annoyed by it and walked away as quick as possible with Tinordi.
Mac Bennett : His skating is above-average BY NHL STANDARDS. I thought he really showed what he can do, and he's really not all that small. I'm positive he will be in the NHL. He looked confident defensively and can pinch from time to time in offense too because of his amazing skating.
Michael Bournival : Good skating, a 'North-South' player, but will need to add to his build because he was getting physically outplayed out there.
Tim Bozon : Didn't really notice him all that much except for one or two shots.
Sebastian Collberg: Color me surprised. I did not expect him to be so creative and dominant offensively. If there were + and - today, he would be like a +4 or +5.
Michael Condon : Shades of Petr Budaj. Very good at blocking the first shot, but no rebound control from what I've seen.
Jean-Sébastien Dea : Really not impressed. Seemed to float around a bit.
Gabriel Desjardins : Those that were saying that he's pretty much Desharnais are right. Smallish (although not as small as DD) forward with good passing abilities but not much else.
Ben Duffy : If I'm not wrong, he got a hat-trick. His line with Collberg and Nystrom were literally the best line out there. I'm not sure where he comes from but definitely had the ability to finish.
Morgan Ellis : Sound defensively, nothing flashing, but intercepted a few passes and blocked a few shots. Pretty much a potential Gorges.
Stefan Fournier : VERY good around the net, and very physical. But severely lacks speed. He was one of the slowest players out there and got beat a several times by defensemen coming back from pretty far behind.
Zachary Fucale : Very calm in his net, Price-like. He got beat by a few perfect shots, but it's normal considering that there were a lot of AHL players and he's a very green rookie. He is gonna be really good.
Jérémy Grégoire : On the ice, he wasn't really noticeable. But I just wanted to say how nice he is off the ice. He was very friendly, and just had that vibe about him that he wasn't faking it.
Patrick Holland : Way too cute with the puck. If he wants a chance of not being the next Ben Maxwell, he has to improve his fundamentals better. But he is patient with the puck and still has potential.
Charles Hudon : He was on a weak team on a pretty weak line, but Hudon looked kinda stressed out or something out there. He even fanned in the shootout, not sure what was up with him.
Louis Leblanc : Decent effort, but he doesn't handle the puck really well. Also, I saw him after the game outside, and man...he's REALLY not tall and really as skinny as we see on TV. He hasn't put on any weight at all since his draft...But he had several injuries, so it might have something to do with that.
Michael MacCarron : He's pretty much a project. He is VERY raw. He has some tools, a good shot, amazing size. But he just looked awkward and really not NHL-ready. He needs constant improvement to make it.
Erik Nystrom : So why isn't this guy highly regarded in our prospect pool? Showed some very good vision, puck handling, playmaking ability, seems like a guy that would be very useful in our current system
Martin Reway : Good skillset, but he looked tiny...
Braeden Shaw : Hitting machine. That is all.
Colin Suellentrop : Very sound and calm defenseman. If we didn't have so many defensemen already, would have been worth keeping.
Christian Thomas : He is pretty short, but he stays on the puck and can get away from checks. Tinordi tried to nail him but he came back out with the puck. Very resilient. Reminds me of Gallagher.
Jarred Tinordi : He shouldn't even be here. He was totally in an another league. He was a step ahead of everyone. Dominant physically, and got a few good wrist shots on goal.
