Prospect Info: 2012-2013 Hartford Wolf Pack/Greenville Road Warriors Thread (AHL, ECHL) *Part III*

[Beacon]

If there is any justice in the world, Sam Klassen gets an NHL contract for this year and a call-up... By far the best defensive d-man with a good first pass.

That exactly what I think every game. This kid has "feel good story of the year" (2013-14) written all over him.

 

[Beacon]

Ola,

Over the last ~50 days, Vernace leads all AHL defensemen in scoring. He leads all Hartford defensemen in scoring for the whole season (not counting Pyett since he plays a lot of forward). I criticized him earlier in the season, but since January, he has not been a third pair guy.

The pair of Vernace-McIlrath has arguably been the best one in Hartford since the lockout ended. I dont know the official TOI, but I would be absolutely stunned if they were last since they paired up.

 

[Hi ImHFNYR]

Beacon made it sound like he was a top pairing guy. I don't mean because he praised him so much, but because I thought he flat out stated that he was a top pairing guy. While Ola isn't ALWAYS negative (see: Christian Thomas in that post), he seems to be more negative than positive usually. Beacon seems to be the other way around. I want to see Beacon's response. For now that was quite a depressing read. How can 2 people have such a different opinion on one guy?

Judging by Ola's post he is going based off of one game recently. Beacon was going through multiple recent games and doing an analysis that said "wow he sucked earlier but it's night and day the last week and a half." That would explain the difference. What I gather from all of this is "McI has seen massive improvement this year so far but still needs time before being NHL ready. Based on his development so far he could be one helluva defenseman" Seems fair

 

[Jarkko Immonen]

Bob Crawford ‏@HawkCrawford
Warmup lines in Syracuse for @CTWhale: Yogan-Newbury-Palmieri, Haley-Tessier-Segal, Wilson-Jean-Carroll, Pelech extra.

Bob Crawford ‏@HawkCrawford
Def. pairs for @CTWhale: Klassen-Collins, Vernace-McIlrath, Niemi-Pyett. Parlett injured.

10 forwards.

 

[Osminator]

Down 2-0 after the first.

 

[Osminator]

McI is one tough mean mofo, just ragdolled a syracuse player who probably was crapping his pants lol

 

[Vitto79]

McI is one tough mean mofo, just ragdolled a syracuse player who probably was crapping his pants lol

seems like alot of posters are saying good things. Heres hoping he is ready next yr and heck with injuries we may seem him this yr..........people are complaining about Rangers toughness right? Well the Undertaker may help with that soon

 

[Ola]

Judging by Ola's post he is going based off of one game recently. Beacon was going through multiple recent games and doing an analysis that said "wow he sucked earlier but it's night and day the last week and a half." That would explain the difference. What I gather from all of this is "McI has seen massive improvement this year so far but still needs time before being NHL ready. Based on his development so far he could be one helluva defenseman" Seems fair

I am going by one game! Never said anything else.

I am not shooting down Beacons reports.

It's great to hear that McI is playing more in other games, the game I saw he did not get much time. But Emminger was down for that game. It was the 3rd game in 3 nights -- and so forth. I saw that Beacon made alot of positive reports from that weekend, so I picked the game on the 17th, but goin back and looking more closely, he raved about his game on the 16th and morning of the 17th.

McI wasn't bad in the game I saw him in. I have high expectations on him. He is a 10th overall pick. He could play as a goon in the near future, but then, and I think Beacon agrees with me, you jump over a step in his development. He is definitely not overly raw in any way, I think McI is much better defensively than Jessiman was offensively for example.

But there is no short cuts or handicaps for McIlrath. I mean, if McI is 75% the defensive player as Sauer was, we will get 75% of what we got from Sauer when McI is on the ice. And that is not that great.

I want McI to become a Sauer that can fight and scare people coming across our blueline.

It's not fair to compare McI to Staal and co, but he got some potential defensively AND overall -- and we need to take advantage of that. Hence I definitely want him getting alot of I've time in HFD for quite some time.

 

[Osminator]

Arghhh... Talbot wasn't bad tonight, but he also wasn't good... It'll need more to replace Martin "universe 5-hole" Biron next year

 

[Beacon]

Have to watch the game late again.

The Whale dressed only 16 skaters. The "third pair" of Vernace and McIlrath is starting the game.

Terrific shot by Yogi, but a great glove save in response.

Giveaway from a few feet out by the Whale leads to a goal.

Tessier is a good AHLer. Works hard and smart. Just got a grwat chance by driving to the net as I typed the last sentence.

Giveaway in front of Talbot again. And again. The Whale plays beer league level hockey in their zone.

Penalty on Pyett. He was forgiven for one, then commited another one.

Palm hustles well.

Great save by Talbot on a one timer, but he gives up a archive goal 15 second later.

Haley reminds me a little of Avery, but not as good.

Mass wrestling match team on team. Yogi called for a penalty.

First period over. This team just got its mojo going when it was decimated by injuries and recalls.

 

[Beacon]

Second period

Bad giveaway by Talbot, but it was messed up by the forward.

Huge save on Jason Wilson. I thought it was a goal.

McIlrath sees the ice really well.

Talbot with a pair of fine saves.

Haley skating well.

Vernace actually made a good defensive play.

Pyett with another penalty.

Klassen is great.

Another mass fight.

Whale dominated for a couple of minutes, but the Crunch goalie Desjardins is really good.

Penalty on Syracuse.

If the Whale played 5-on-4 hockey the whole game, it would be an even game.

Call on Noob leads to a goal.

Another mass scramble. Caroll won his fight big.

Second period over.

 

[Beacon]

Third period

Yogan continues to look good under bad circumstances.

I can see why Jarkko likes Niemi.

Two on one leads to 4-0.

4-0 loss. This team is borderline ECHL.

 

[Ola]

The "third pair" of Vernace and McIlrath are starting the game.

Sorry Beacon, that's just not correct.

It would the the third pair of Vernace and McIlrath is starting the game.

 

[Bluenote13]

McIlrath sees the ice really well.

Please tell us what made you say this, gotta be a reason, no?

 

[Beacon]

Please tell us what made you say this, gotta be a reason, no?

Let's say the puck goes into the corner and he can make a split second pass. That pass doesn't go into empty real estate, but on a Whale stick. This is consistent, and not just in the corners. He has very good awareness of who is where on the ice.

 

[Bluenote13]

Lers say the puck goes into the corner and he can make a split second pass. That pass doesn't go into empty real estate, but on a Whale stick. This is consistent, and not just in the corners. He has veer good awareness of who is where on the ice.

It helps to give examples, that's why I bug ya as much as I do.

Anyone can say 'oh he played great!'

The real meat of his game is in the details, not on a scoresheet, every bit helps those of us not getting to see him on the regular.

 

[Hi ImHFNYR]

I am going by one game! Never said anything else.

Oh I know but the other guy was unclear so i was explaining. He asked why your report was so different from beacon's reports so I explained that yours was focused on a specific game.

It helps to give examples, that's why I bug ya as much as I do.

Anyone can say 'oh he played great!'

The real meat of his game is in the details, not on a scoresheet, every bit helps those of us not getting to see him on the regular.

As the official HF NYR question rater I give yours a 10/10 . Now if someone here was the official dbag rater they would give me the same... Seriously though thats an excellent question I was going to ask it when I saw yours

 

[wolfgaze]

Let's say the puck goes into the corner and he can make a split second pass. That pass doesn't go into empty real estate, but on a Whale stick. This is consistent, and not just in the corners. He has very good awareness of who is where on the ice.

How has his hitting / physical play been? Does he hit well consistently? Stand out as one of the more physical players on the ice?

 

[Beacon]

How has his hitting / physical play been? Does he hit well consistently? Stand out as one of the more physical players on the ice?

His hitting is what you'd expect him to be. He's physical and intimidating, and unlike before, he rushes to get back in position. He doesn't kill people like Chelios and Stevens used to, but he hits decently hard. We aren't talking about Boyle-style gentle hits. He hits like a man.

 

[Boom Boom Geoffrion*]

Beacon, we ****ing love you for these updates you provide us. Thanks bud

 

[Cmox]

Gosh, Mcilrath cant come quick enough.

 

[Ola]

His hitting is what you'd expect him to be. He's physical and intimidating, and unlike before, he rushes to get back in position. He doesn't kill people like Chelios and Stevens used to, but he hits decently hard. We aren't talking about Boyle-style gentle hits. He hits like a man.

Yeah, and this is one of his biggest strengths.

He is a natural hitter. It's very hard to hit people. In hockey, it's fun to hit, and any player on the ice who can hit will hit. The problem for many big guys are that they just can't catch people, and if you miss a hit, you are completely out of play.

It's of course hard to rank, but I would say that this is the one area McI probably is better than McD, Staal, Girardi and co. Not because he is bigger and stronger, but because he just got a better feel for it.

I also definitely think you are right re McIs vision and overall play with the puck. We expect McI to be a 6th D "+", or I don't know how to put it, like Beuke II (nr 2 D on paper and icetime, but played a game of like a 6th D). But McI doesn't play that style naturally really. He takes bigger initiatives with the puck and I would compare him in style to at least Sauer, if not McI has even bigger ambitious. He is also quit heady with the puck. That's great.

In the NHL, Torts put huge emphasize on gap controll. And we play a style that puts alot of pressure on our Ds in terms of being able to handle that. We all love Staal, McD, Sauer and Girardi, but it's not like a D with 75% their ability to stay in position and keep the gap between them and the forwards would still get by well. It's more the opposite. Hence I think this is the area McI really needs to improve.

 

[Beacon]

Beacon, we ****ing love you for these updates you provide us. Thanks bud

Glad to help!

 

[Bluenote13]

Yeah, and this is one of his biggest strengths.

He is a natural hitter. It's very hard to hit people. In hockey, it's fun to hit, and any player on the ice who can hit will hit. The problem for many big guys are that they just can't catch people, and if you miss a hit, you are completely out of play.

It's of course hard to rank, but I would say that this is the one area McI probably is better than McD, Staal, Girardi and co. Not because he is bigger and stronger, but because he just got a better feel for it.

I also definitely think you are right re McIs vision and overall play with the puck. We expect McI to be a 6th D "+", or I don't know how to put it, like Beuke II (nr 2 D on paper and icetime, but played a game of like a 6th D). But McI doesn't play that style naturally really. He takes bigger initiatives with the puck and I would compare him in style to at least Sauer, if not McI has even bigger ambitious. He is also quit heady with the puck. That's great.

In the NHL, Torts put huge emphasize on gap controll. And we play a style that puts alot of pressure on our Ds in terms of being able to handle that. We all love Staal, McD, Sauer and Girardi, but it's not like a D with 75% their ability to stay in position and keep the gap between them and the forwards would still get by well. It's more the opposite. Hence I think this is the area McI really needs to improve.

Now that is some good perspective, instead of labels you use detailed analysis of the player as a whole as of right now. Nicely done.

 

[Jarkko Immonen]

Deal announced between Global Spectrum (the new XL Center management) and MSG to keep the Rangers' AHL club in Hartford until 2016 (or 2018 if extension options is chosen). Link: http://www.governor.ct.gov/malloy/cwp/view.asp?Q=519576&A=4010