For context I clocked this by myself tonight on the replay, so ~ is used for "about" in this tweet. There were a few moments he was out of frame and I didn't give him the benefit of the doubt, but I'm certain he played over 30:00 TOI no matter which was you slice it.
Lohrei played well in both games, though he was trying to do
everything by himself on the ice. Is that bad? No, it's not, but his teammates have to be clicking on all cylinders with him and they just weren't. Even on the eventual goal that knocked them out in Game 2, the forwards were kind of just over the place and it's tough to get things going when your goalies constantly kill momentum.
Green Bay's downfall can be largely attributed to Muskegon playing them hard along the walls, sort of neutralizing fellow prospect Jake Schmaltz, and also because their goalies just kill their momentum. They have goaltenders with little confidence in 50/50 catch and releases, cover ups or puck-play. They'll always make the safest, calculated play and its tough to control the tempo of the game when you're playing like that. They needed better goaltending and although Davis was better in Game 2, he was essentially caught snoozing in the final minutes of an elimination game and cost his team the game.
Lohrei was a -3 in Game 1 and that marks the fist time since November 20, 2020 that he was higher than a -2 in a single game. That alone is impressive in a highly competitive league like the USHL is. He was rather dominate in the first game, too FWIW. There were times in Game 2 where he set up some high-danger, prime scoring chances for his teammates and they either hit post, botched the play or just couldn't get it in the back of the net.
Lohrei is on to Ohio State next season unless something changes in the coming months.
Jake Schmaltz had himself a good season, but he doesn't necessarily excel in any aspect of the game and he'd not hard to contain nor shutdown for a night. His skating is average, as is his acceleration, but he does know where to be on the ice it seems. Would have liked to see him rotate on the GWG in Game 2 though, just a little bit outside of the slot area where he was locked up. Lohrei has made that puck-carry swing from the line several, several times this season and he doesn't usually shoot for a tip when driving like that. The pass may have been ill-advised by Lohrei, but desperation is setting in and the team hadn't gotten much sustained pressure. Their goaltender is the biggest issue on that though as a whole.
Schmaltz is off to North Dakota and I really don't expect much from him there. Not to harp on him, but he just doesn't do enough for me across all three zones to standout. North Dakota plays a high-tempo system that emulates that of teams in the NHL. They can run and gun with the best of them, but also lock it down and switch the tempo at will if need be. Schmaltz doesn't do it for me in that regard, especially when it comes to pace. He's a bottom-six type, though I'm sure he can refine his skating and conditioning in the program he's going to. Either way, he's a seventh-round pick that's going to play for a high-end program in the NCAA, coming off a very good PPG year in the USHL. He's good at the dot, he's good defensively and he's got a solid frame. I'm not expecting much, but we shall see what happens.