I was there today. I felt bad for the kids on Team Black
Anyway a few thoughts:
- It was pretty disappointing that the more NHL ready guys like Sundqvist and Wilson were injured. I was also bummed when it was time for the team picture and Marcantuoni walked onto the ice in shorts with his ankle wrapped. I always look forward to seeing his speed at these camps, and I really want to see him on our fourth line someday. There wasn't a report about his injury and there was
this article about him healthy and ready to expand his role yesterday, so not sure what happened there.
Team Black:
- Jarry was obviously disappointing.
Yeah but so was Murray last year
- I disagree with those saying that Guentzel wasn't good. I thought he showed a lot of skill and made a few nice defensive plays as well. He was one of the better players out there today in my opinion.
- Sprong had a rough showing. I'm not going to judge him on one camp, but it was frustrating as I expected him to be better.
I don't think he was as bad as people are saying. I liked his hockey sense. Showed he can get open. At some point though someone should tell him his team has a goalie as well.
- The big Russian is... big. His skating is a big awkward, which is unsurprising for someone that tall and lanky. He seemed to try to make his way to the net every time he was in the offensive zone, which is where he'll need to be to make it. The most notable thing he did was whack Pouliot in the face, which got a loud gasp from the crowd,
Yes, his skating is noticeably bad.
- I like Troy Josephs. He was on a line with Blueger and Tiffels, and I thought he stood out the most of the three. Good board player, good speed. Seems to be good defensively as well.
I was surprised that he was one of the better forwards out there. Might say more about the prospect pool than anything.
Team White
- Both goalies had a good showing
The Goalie from PSU (from what I could tell from his helmet) had his wife in the stands screaming Micheal every time he made a save. At the end of the game everyone started to mock cheer for him. I couldn't stop laughing.
- Loney was the star and surprise of the day. If you asked me who was going to score 4 goals, I doubt I would have pegged Loney for anything. Pretty funny that the best player of the day is someone who some on this board complained about giving an
AHL contract to.
- Sheary was really exciting to watch. The scorekeeper robbed him of multiple assists. He was probably the fastest player out there today.
- Simon looks like he could be a call-up later in the season. I'm not sure he's ready for NHL time right now though.
Besides DP he looked the most NHL ready
- Lindo seems to have a fan club already. People around me were drawn to him and cheering for him. I was happy with how he looked. He's a better skater than I was expecting, and he had a nice screen on a goal. I'm glad that they seem to have taken an interest in developing him because there could definitely be something there.
- Pouliot looked good, as expected. None of the other defensemen stood out much.