James Neal

[Dr Pepper]

What can OHL fans tell me about him?

He's got 19 pts in 10 games with Plymouth so far, has anyone seen him play? Who does he most resemble?

Just wondering if he's NHL-ready, and could possibly join Dallas next season.

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[Ferjo]

i'd say he's something in between Manny Malhotra and Trent Hunter. He's a wrecking ball out there. he kills anything that comes close to him. he hits like a train, and has some decent offensive abilities to go with it.

a year or two away from nhl fourth line duty. i'd think he'd settle into a 20 goal, 40 point player as he grows.

 

[RUSqueelin*]

Big kid who can skate. Likes to hit and can contribute with some offense. He'll definately get his shot in the bigs eventually. He's been a force for Plymouth in the playoffs to date.

 

[mikethompson]

I would compare Neal to more of a Chris Neil, both have good offensive abilitys but both would rather hit anything and anyone, I hope Plymouth makes it to the Mem Cup so I can see him play against Lucic.

 

[Dr Pepper]

Cool, thanks.

 

[Kipper933]

He looked like the player best suited for a 2-way, 3rd line role on Canada's WJC team.

 

[BlueJays]

What they said above ^

Neal is almost a 'total-package' type, except his hands are merely average IMO.
He skates like the wind and hits anything that moves. High-energy player, non-stop relentless forechecker, backchecker, pokechecker, .....you get my drift.

 

[Brock]

What they said above ^

Neal is almost a 'total-package' type, except his hands are merely average IMO.
He skates like the wind and hits anything that moves. High-energy player, non-stop relentless forechecker, backchecker, pokechecker, .....you get my drift.

While his hands are average or slightly above average, he combines this with a pretty good sense of the offensive end. While he's not really a threat to cut through defenses with the puck on his stick, he is a threat to score from anywhere near the goal crease. While I think it's a stretch to consider him a future 1st line winger, I think pigeon holding him to having the potential of a Manny Malhotra or Chris Neil is unfair. In a best case scenario, I don't think there is any reason to think that he could not have an NHL career similar to a guy like Scott Mellanby. Best case scenario, a solid second line complementary player (ala Mellanby), worst case scenario, a physical third liner who can chip in 20 goals here and there (ala say Dallas Drake).

 

[OttMorrow]

Sounds like he's sort of like Brenden Morrow.....would be an accurate?

 

[dougy]

He went to my high school, I actually played a few pick up games with him. From first hand experience he seems to have alot of skill.

From what i've seen and read about he is a leader and future captain material.

 

[________]

Last year he was being compared to Gary Roberts, not sure if people still would make the same comparison this year or not.

 

[Superfly Jimmy Snuka]

He went to my high school, I actually played a few pick up games with him. From first hand experience he seems to have alot of skill.

From what i've seen and read about he is a leader and future captain material.

haha no sh*t, from Whitby too eh All Saints..


i agree hes a 2nd-3rd liner

 

[dougy]

haha no sh*t, from Whitby too eh All Saints..


i agree hes a 2nd-3rd liner

small world