Hockey Canada WJC Summer Camp (roster & feedback from camp)
- Thread starter Alberta tough
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I'd be hugely surprised if McIlrath was invited. Canada is deep enough and he has so much to prove that I just can't see it for some reason. Doesn't necessarily have a bearing on his future prospects, but he has a lot of developing to do and just not sure I see Team Canada interested in a guy who's a work in progress.
That said, he apparently looked great at the Rangers prospect camp...better skating, confident with and without the puck, etc.
As a Flames fan I'd love to see Holland make it. He had a great year last year and showed a lot more than you'd expect a 7th rounder to show. I think he'll need to have a great showing to have a chance though. But he is an ideal player for the bottom six - solid skater, defensively aware with some scoring ability.
Nice to see some lower picks finally paying potential dividends for the Flames. The 2010 draft actually looks like a very good one even without a 1st and 2nd rounder. What's even scarier is it was a Sutter draft.
OilCanada92
Registered User
I took some video. I tried videoing other prospects but the shifts usually ended up being extremely uneventual. It's like I was jinxing everyone on the ice when I pulled out my phone.
Not the best quality but it's better than nothing I guess.
Not the best quality but it's better than nothing I guess.
LeafOfBread
Registered User
Bjorn Le
Hobocop
Wheatking
Registered User
- Sep 25, 2006
- 15,945
- 71
I doubt it. They played 3 periods but they reset the score at the start of every period. So it was more like three 20 minute games. Didn't track shots either.
Gallagher has a very good chance of making this team because Don Hay is his coach with the Giants
Horseradish
Registered User
I was there this evening.
A few notes:
Team Red consisted of:
Visentin and Domingue in goal
Gormley, Gudbranson, Beaulieu, Pysyk, Harrington, Lefebvre, Simpson, Ceci, Oleksiak on D
Huberdeau, Johansen, Stone, Spooner, Strome, Connolly, Bournival, Freddie Hamilton, Gallagher, Lessio, Sgarbossa, Ritchie, Holland on O
Team White:
Bunz and Wedgewood in goal
Howden, Couturier, Rattie, Schwartz, RNH, Smith-Pelly, Puempel, Scheifele, Toffoli, Danault, Jenner, Thomas, McKegg on O
Murray, Hamilton, Percy, Murphy, Petgrave, Siemens, Morrow, Gauthier-Leduc on D
Team Red dominated for most of the game.
The defense, both the D and defensive play of the forwards, was much more notable than the offensive ability displayed.
In goal, Visentin wasn't tested too much, but made a handful of incredible saves, two HUGE ones with his glove. Wedgewood was the other standout. Domingue was fine, let in a couple of well-deserved goals (though he barely had any shots against, so..), and Bunz was not very good. Bunz let in 5 or maybe 6 in half a game, and I don't think he let in more than one questionable goal, but he just never made a 'big' save.
On D, the best pairing was Gormley and Gudbranson of Team Red. They didn't do anything especially noticeable, but they almost always broke up the play, covered their men, moved the puck quietly and efficiently, and the other team almost never got any kind of offensive momentum when they were on the ice. The next best d-men on Red were Beaulieu and Oleksiak. Oleksiak looked a bit raw and out of position a couple of times, but for the most part he was a rock, clearing bodies in front of the net and winning every battle he got in. He also has an incredible ability to carry the puck up the ice. 3 or 4 times he carried the puck from behind his net all the way to the other team's zone while stickhandling around and outskating the opposition's forecheck. Quite impressive for such a massive guy. Beaulieu was just rock-steady at both ends of the ice, nothing fancy. In the offensive zone, he pinched at the right times, covered for his partner(s) well, made good decisions with the puck. Defensively he broke up a lot of plays, was tough around the net making other forwards' lives difficult, and made a solid first pass every time. The rest of Red's D was either unremarkable or often out of place. Pysyk, Harrington and Lefebvre were barely noticeable. Nothing bad, but their play nor individual plays stood out. Simpson looked tentative and unconfident, not necessarily bad, but took too long with the puck, missed a few assignments, just looked very uncomfortable. Ceci just looked bad, period. You knew every time on the ice cuz he was screwing up almost every shift. That might also be why Simpson didn't look very good, cuz they were a defensive pair for most of the game.
On Team White, the standout d-men were Ryan Murphy and Dougie Hamilton. Murphy was the best by quite a margin. He was breaking up plays left and right in his own end-- reminded me a lot of Lubo Visnovsky in that sense. He's undersized but shadows his man very well, and uses his stick defensively incredibly well. And then you watch him skate with or without the puck. WOW. I can't even think of an appropriate comparison there, he's that good. It felt like he'd take two or three strides from near his goal line and he'd be in on the rush with the other forwards breaking into the offensive zone. And he carried the puck marvelously too-- a couple of times carrying it coast to coast and making nice offensive plays. To be honest, I the only appropriate d-man comparison I can think of is Paul Coffey when it comes to his skating. He was just electric out there. Dougie Hamilton's another very good skater, makes very smart offensive decisions, and was solid in his own end as well. Duncan Siemens and Stu Percy were solid, but nothing special. Petgrave, Morrow and Gauthier-Leduc were barely noticeable, so they weren't bad, at least not often, but they weren't especially good, particularly when it came to getting the puck out of their end. They had a few goals scored against them because the team simply couldn't get the puck out when they were on the ice. Ryan Murray was the big disappointment. He was pretty much invisible and on numerous occasions his partner Dougie Hamilton had to bail him out after over-committing, both on O and D, or missing assignments, etc.
Team Red's forwards were much more dominant than Team White's. They were creating things offensively most of the night. Surprisingly, the best line both offensively and defensively was Lucas Lessio, Sgarbossa and Brett Ritchie. Actually, Lessio and Ritchie were the best forwards on the ice. Ritchie was in on scoring chances almost every time he was on the ice and netted two goals, and Lessio was creating turnovers, being physical, and was making plays out of the other team's mistake all night too. Sgarbossa was less impressive, but he was also playing conservatively in that he was in position to backcheck sooner than he needed to be in most offensive situations. Huberdeau, Johansen, and Stone were another line. Johansen is a special player. He clearly has the most offensive talent and is most NHL ready of any of the guys out there. Didn't do TOO much on offense, but was constantly swarming when on the ice. Huberdeau played solid at both ends and was just doing all the right things, though nothing spectacularly. Stone was being carried by those two. Didn't look out of place, but didn't look like he was contributing much. Spooner, Strome, and Connolly were another line until Connolly went down in the second half of the game with a leg injury. Connolly stirred the drink on that line. He looked fantastic. Strome had a few moments where he looked just like Todd Bertuzzi in his prime. Big guy who carries the puck very powerfully in the o-zone and near impossible to knock off the puck. But his speed was a problem. He looked like one of the slower guys on the ice, and it was especially evident when he was given a head-start breakaway (they did that instead of penalties) and Dougie Hamilton caught him as he was crossing the blueline. Hamilton's a strong skater, but it was night and day. Strome just looked slow as molasses. Though once he gets going he's alright, I noticed. He just needs a big wind-up to actually get going. Spooner was carried by the other two on that line too. Patrick Holland was rotating on every line, but filled in for Connolly after he went down, and he kept plays going and played positionally well while out there. Spooner looked out of place. The next line was Bournival, Freddie Hamilton, and Gallagher. They were okay. Kind of disappeared for half of the game through the middle, but in the beginning and towards the end Hamilton and especially Gallagher were doing lots of good things. Hamilton was solid at both ends of the ice, always in position, picking up his man, making good passes, and had a couple of scoring chances of his own. Gallagher was outstanding in the offensive end. Can stickhandle as good as anybody and has speed to burn. Always looked dangerous. Bournival didn't really contribute much.
White Team's offense was big time disappointing.
One line had Howden, Couturier and Rattie on it. Rattie looked slow and didn't have any hands to speak of. Howden was pretty much invisible at both ends of the ice, and for such a big, highly-touted guy, Sean Couturier was also pretty quiet out there. Made a few decent plays, but this line didn't have much of anything. Pretty disappointing with the hype around Couturier and Howden as a WJ Team vet.
RNH played with Schwartz and Smith-Pelly. He was absolutely invisible. Made a few crafty plays, but his linemates outshone him, especially DSP. RNH lost almost every draw, almost every battle for the puck, was separated from the puck almost every time in the o-zone, and looked lost on d, though that was probably the best part of his game tonight (defense). Based on what I saw, he looked and especially played too small for this team, let alone the NHL. Schwartz made a few good plays offensively, carries the puck well, but is soft and got knocked off the puck any time somebody decided to physically challenge him. Smith-Pelly was probably the best player for Team White, though. He played like a bat out of hell. Knocked Oleksiak (who's 6'7, 244 according to the camp roster) on his ass while on the forecheck, and made it look easy. Created probably a dozen turnovers just by his strong skating and stick-work. Created another few turnovers by taking the body...and then back on d, he looked like the centre, as he was picking up extra guys down low and in the slot all night. Actually, now that I think of it, RNH wasn't bad on D, so Schwartz must have really been missing his defensive assignments a lot, cuz there always seemed to be an open man against this line, and RNH and DSP looked like they were overcompensating quite a bit-- the defensive pairings were also subpar to Team Red's though, so it could be a combinationg of things. Next line was Puempel, Scheifele and Toffoli. Scheifele was a solid two-way centre. Created some offense, was the only reliable defensive player on the line, and overall looked pretty good. Toffoli was a pretty good skater and did a reasonable job on the forecheck and providing some offense with Scheifele. Looked pretty lost in the d-zone though. Puempel was pretty quiet out there. Didn't notice him much, but he wasn't helping offensively much at all. Last line was Danault, Jenner and Thomas, with Greg McKegg as the utility player rotating on each line. They were a good energy line. Danault was outstanding on the forecheck, a good skater, and played well defensively. Won lots of puck battles too. Thomas has some incredible wheels and a great release. Had a few nice shots, and carried the puck very well...also positionally pretty sound. Jenner was the one who didn't look too comfortable out there. He was tentative offensively, and was dreadful defensively. It was like Danault and Thomas just quietly agreed between each other to start picking up Jenner's assignments. McKegg wasn't really noticeable at all.
If I had to pick a team based on this lineup and the one scrimmage I saw, it'd be this:
Visentin
Wedgewood
Gormley-Murphy
Gudbranson-Beaulieu
Hamilton-Oleksiak
Extra: Siemens
Lessio-Johansen-Ritchie
Huberdeau-Scheifele-Connolly
Danault-Hamilton-DSP
Thomas-Strome-Gallagher
Extras: Couturier, Toffoli
I recognize that it seems pretty crazy to cut RNH, but he was one of the weaker players tonight (even more painful for me to see cuz I'm an Oilers fan).
Hope this helps
A few notes:
Team Red consisted of:
Visentin and Domingue in goal
Gormley, Gudbranson, Beaulieu, Pysyk, Harrington, Lefebvre, Simpson, Ceci, Oleksiak on D
Huberdeau, Johansen, Stone, Spooner, Strome, Connolly, Bournival, Freddie Hamilton, Gallagher, Lessio, Sgarbossa, Ritchie, Holland on O
Team White:
Bunz and Wedgewood in goal
Howden, Couturier, Rattie, Schwartz, RNH, Smith-Pelly, Puempel, Scheifele, Toffoli, Danault, Jenner, Thomas, McKegg on O
Murray, Hamilton, Percy, Murphy, Petgrave, Siemens, Morrow, Gauthier-Leduc on D
Team Red dominated for most of the game.
The defense, both the D and defensive play of the forwards, was much more notable than the offensive ability displayed.
In goal, Visentin wasn't tested too much, but made a handful of incredible saves, two HUGE ones with his glove. Wedgewood was the other standout. Domingue was fine, let in a couple of well-deserved goals (though he barely had any shots against, so..), and Bunz was not very good. Bunz let in 5 or maybe 6 in half a game, and I don't think he let in more than one questionable goal, but he just never made a 'big' save.
On D, the best pairing was Gormley and Gudbranson of Team Red. They didn't do anything especially noticeable, but they almost always broke up the play, covered their men, moved the puck quietly and efficiently, and the other team almost never got any kind of offensive momentum when they were on the ice. The next best d-men on Red were Beaulieu and Oleksiak. Oleksiak looked a bit raw and out of position a couple of times, but for the most part he was a rock, clearing bodies in front of the net and winning every battle he got in. He also has an incredible ability to carry the puck up the ice. 3 or 4 times he carried the puck from behind his net all the way to the other team's zone while stickhandling around and outskating the opposition's forecheck. Quite impressive for such a massive guy. Beaulieu was just rock-steady at both ends of the ice, nothing fancy. In the offensive zone, he pinched at the right times, covered for his partner(s) well, made good decisions with the puck. Defensively he broke up a lot of plays, was tough around the net making other forwards' lives difficult, and made a solid first pass every time. The rest of Red's D was either unremarkable or often out of place. Pysyk, Harrington and Lefebvre were barely noticeable. Nothing bad, but their play nor individual plays stood out. Simpson looked tentative and unconfident, not necessarily bad, but took too long with the puck, missed a few assignments, just looked very uncomfortable. Ceci just looked bad, period. You knew every time on the ice cuz he was screwing up almost every shift. That might also be why Simpson didn't look very good, cuz they were a defensive pair for most of the game.
On Team White, the standout d-men were Ryan Murphy and Dougie Hamilton. Murphy was the best by quite a margin. He was breaking up plays left and right in his own end-- reminded me a lot of Lubo Visnovsky in that sense. He's undersized but shadows his man very well, and uses his stick defensively incredibly well. And then you watch him skate with or without the puck. WOW. I can't even think of an appropriate comparison there, he's that good. It felt like he'd take two or three strides from near his goal line and he'd be in on the rush with the other forwards breaking into the offensive zone. And he carried the puck marvelously too-- a couple of times carrying it coast to coast and making nice offensive plays. To be honest, I the only appropriate d-man comparison I can think of is Paul Coffey when it comes to his skating. He was just electric out there. Dougie Hamilton's another very good skater, makes very smart offensive decisions, and was solid in his own end as well. Duncan Siemens and Stu Percy were solid, but nothing special. Petgrave, Morrow and Gauthier-Leduc were barely noticeable, so they weren't bad, at least not often, but they weren't especially good, particularly when it came to getting the puck out of their end. They had a few goals scored against them because the team simply couldn't get the puck out when they were on the ice. Ryan Murray was the big disappointment. He was pretty much invisible and on numerous occasions his partner Dougie Hamilton had to bail him out after over-committing, both on O and D, or missing assignments, etc.
Team Red's forwards were much more dominant than Team White's. They were creating things offensively most of the night. Surprisingly, the best line both offensively and defensively was Lucas Lessio, Sgarbossa and Brett Ritchie. Actually, Lessio and Ritchie were the best forwards on the ice. Ritchie was in on scoring chances almost every time he was on the ice and netted two goals, and Lessio was creating turnovers, being physical, and was making plays out of the other team's mistake all night too. Sgarbossa was less impressive, but he was also playing conservatively in that he was in position to backcheck sooner than he needed to be in most offensive situations. Huberdeau, Johansen, and Stone were another line. Johansen is a special player. He clearly has the most offensive talent and is most NHL ready of any of the guys out there. Didn't do TOO much on offense, but was constantly swarming when on the ice. Huberdeau played solid at both ends and was just doing all the right things, though nothing spectacularly. Stone was being carried by those two. Didn't look out of place, but didn't look like he was contributing much. Spooner, Strome, and Connolly were another line until Connolly went down in the second half of the game with a leg injury. Connolly stirred the drink on that line. He looked fantastic. Strome had a few moments where he looked just like Todd Bertuzzi in his prime. Big guy who carries the puck very powerfully in the o-zone and near impossible to knock off the puck. But his speed was a problem. He looked like one of the slower guys on the ice, and it was especially evident when he was given a head-start breakaway (they did that instead of penalties) and Dougie Hamilton caught him as he was crossing the blueline. Hamilton's a strong skater, but it was night and day. Strome just looked slow as molasses. Though once he gets going he's alright, I noticed. He just needs a big wind-up to actually get going. Spooner was carried by the other two on that line too. Patrick Holland was rotating on every line, but filled in for Connolly after he went down, and he kept plays going and played positionally well while out there. Spooner looked out of place. The next line was Bournival, Freddie Hamilton, and Gallagher. They were okay. Kind of disappeared for half of the game through the middle, but in the beginning and towards the end Hamilton and especially Gallagher were doing lots of good things. Hamilton was solid at both ends of the ice, always in position, picking up his man, making good passes, and had a couple of scoring chances of his own. Gallagher was outstanding in the offensive end. Can stickhandle as good as anybody and has speed to burn. Always looked dangerous. Bournival didn't really contribute much.
White Team's offense was big time disappointing.
One line had Howden, Couturier and Rattie on it. Rattie looked slow and didn't have any hands to speak of. Howden was pretty much invisible at both ends of the ice, and for such a big, highly-touted guy, Sean Couturier was also pretty quiet out there. Made a few decent plays, but this line didn't have much of anything. Pretty disappointing with the hype around Couturier and Howden as a WJ Team vet.
RNH played with Schwartz and Smith-Pelly. He was absolutely invisible. Made a few crafty plays, but his linemates outshone him, especially DSP. RNH lost almost every draw, almost every battle for the puck, was separated from the puck almost every time in the o-zone, and looked lost on d, though that was probably the best part of his game tonight (defense). Based on what I saw, he looked and especially played too small for this team, let alone the NHL. Schwartz made a few good plays offensively, carries the puck well, but is soft and got knocked off the puck any time somebody decided to physically challenge him. Smith-Pelly was probably the best player for Team White, though. He played like a bat out of hell. Knocked Oleksiak (who's 6'7, 244 according to the camp roster) on his ass while on the forecheck, and made it look easy. Created probably a dozen turnovers just by his strong skating and stick-work. Created another few turnovers by taking the body...and then back on d, he looked like the centre, as he was picking up extra guys down low and in the slot all night. Actually, now that I think of it, RNH wasn't bad on D, so Schwartz must have really been missing his defensive assignments a lot, cuz there always seemed to be an open man against this line, and RNH and DSP looked like they were overcompensating quite a bit-- the defensive pairings were also subpar to Team Red's though, so it could be a combinationg of things. Next line was Puempel, Scheifele and Toffoli. Scheifele was a solid two-way centre. Created some offense, was the only reliable defensive player on the line, and overall looked pretty good. Toffoli was a pretty good skater and did a reasonable job on the forecheck and providing some offense with Scheifele. Looked pretty lost in the d-zone though. Puempel was pretty quiet out there. Didn't notice him much, but he wasn't helping offensively much at all. Last line was Danault, Jenner and Thomas, with Greg McKegg as the utility player rotating on each line. They were a good energy line. Danault was outstanding on the forecheck, a good skater, and played well defensively. Won lots of puck battles too. Thomas has some incredible wheels and a great release. Had a few nice shots, and carried the puck very well...also positionally pretty sound. Jenner was the one who didn't look too comfortable out there. He was tentative offensively, and was dreadful defensively. It was like Danault and Thomas just quietly agreed between each other to start picking up Jenner's assignments. McKegg wasn't really noticeable at all.
If I had to pick a team based on this lineup and the one scrimmage I saw, it'd be this:
Visentin
Wedgewood
Gormley-Murphy
Gudbranson-Beaulieu
Hamilton-Oleksiak
Extra: Siemens
Lessio-Johansen-Ritchie
Huberdeau-Scheifele-Connolly
Danault-Hamilton-DSP
Thomas-Strome-Gallagher
Extras: Couturier, Toffoli
I recognize that it seems pretty crazy to cut RNH, but he was one of the weaker players tonight (even more painful for me to see cuz I'm an Oilers fan).
Hope this helps
Last edited:
BronxBruin
Registered User
Hope this helps
It certainly does. Awesome job. We can only hope we get these kinds of updates from someone for every scrimmage.
CantHaveTkachev
Legends
I recognize that it seems pretty crazy to cut RNH, but he was one of the weaker players tonight (even more painful for me to see cuz I'm an Oilers fan).
Hope this helps
cutting RNH after one scrimmage game?
bet you had him on the team after he scored that beautiful opening goal...
btw, the folks at TSN were gushing about RNH tonight
Wheatking
Registered User
- Sep 25, 2006
- 15,945
- 71
I thought he looked alright. Didn't think he looked weak. He actually threw a pretty nice hit at the end of a shift. Didn't think he lost many battles either. To be honest...he kinda looked like he wasn't giving 100% tonight. If I had an issue with anything it was that it looked like he was just goin through the motions...but he didn't look bad. His raw talent was enough to look alright.
Even in that video posted you can see him separate a player from the puck and then move it while spinning out of a hit. Not a flashy shift but an effective one.
Horseradish
Registered User
Hehe, I guess he spent himself in the 4 minutes before I got there. I got there with about 16ish minutes left in the first period.
Horseradish
Registered User
I'd been traveling for the past 10 months, so I hadn't seen any of his season outside of a few highlights that took forever to load because of slow Latin American internet connections.
But I don't think you could say his game today was anything more than average. And maybe that's what was so surprising- I'd have thought that a #1 overall, even in a weaker draft year, would automatically be one of THE best players on the ice, even when not playing 100%. And at the top of his game, there should be no question. I just didn't see anything like that from him tonight.
Colt.45Orr
Registered User
SDig14
Registered User
I'm sure tons of us will be at the red/white game in 2 days, so we should have more insight into the play of some guys. Remember, lots of these guys haven't skated much, have little to no chemistry with each other, and just don't have their legs yet. I'm hopeful after tomorrow they will be ready to go by Saturday and I can get a good viewing of them all at once.
Jabba11
Hockey Lobby
How's Brendan Gallagher? Habs prospect whose coach is Don Hay lolll. I've heard that he was playing great today. TSN seemed to like both Habs prospects: Gallagher and Beaulieu. Can anyone confirm?
Wheatking
Registered User
- Sep 25, 2006
- 15,945
- 71
You also have to remember that RNH plays a low key game. He's like a silent assassin. Even when Eberle talked about playing him in junior...he said you wouldnt really notice him but then you check the score sheet at the end of the night and he has 2 goals and an assist. He plays a thinking man's game.
Let's also not forget that it took Hall a while to show anything during the prospect tournament last season. It's not as simple as "you went 1st overall...go dominate".
Philly85*
I Ain't Even Mad
- Mar 28, 2009
- 15,845
- 3
The Nuge has barely been on the ice at all this summer, as he's said so himself. Oilers Development camp was his last time on skates. Kid's working furiously in the gym to add muscle and get stronger, bigger. I'd read virtually nothing into yesterday's performance.
Quick thoughts on the scrimmage today. Some of it will mirror the poster above but I'll have to disagree on some points. Red was definitely the stronger team and carried the play for most of the night so more positives on their squad.
RED
Visentin looked terrific as both his positioning and his movement were top notch. He's likely the favorite to start and he's helping himself with his play here. Domingue was okay when he was in but let both White goals.
The best forward on the ice for both teams was Johansen who was always around the puck and making positive plays. His game just seemed more mature than the other players on the ice. Ritchie and Lessio were probably the next best forwards. Lessio used his speed and size to consistently create chances and body players. Ritchie still looked a bit awkward with his skating but was difficult to knock off the puck and scored 2 goals with the second being a terrific snipe. Gallagher also had a strong game as he managed to stay elusive so his size wasn't a hindrance and had an extremely nice top shelf goal against Bunz. Of the two big names up front, Huberdeau looked better created a few nice plays with his vision and seemed quicker than last time I saw him but wasn't overly noticeable. I didn't notice Strome do too much but as an added note on the penalty breakaway when he was caught from behind by the defenceman (I thought it was Siemens and not Hamilton), he didn't seem to hear the whistle and so started skating a good 2 strides too late. Connolly also showed off his quick release and seemed to be skating better than last year. No major negatives other than I didn't really notice Stone at all.
For the defenceman, Gudbranson looked very good and was aggressive at both ends of the ice with both his physical play and making his reads. None of the other defenceman really stood out, but seemed to mostly take good angles and move the puck quickly out of the zone when given the opportunity. White did not spend a lot of time in their end, especially in the latter part of the second and third period. Oleksiak did look a bit awkward though handling speed in tight.
WHITE
Bunz did not have a strong game and let in a couple of weak goals on concentration lapses with his positioning. Wedgewood played a fairly similar game to Domingue and had a fairly average perfomance.
There was really only one line which created any offence for White with most of it being in the first two periods. Nugent-Hopkins was very creative and when he acquired space with his speed and puckhandling he really can't be stopped. But his lack of strength did show when Red engaged him physically. Schwartz was quick and has terrific anticipation and was able to sneak through gaps defensively and create chances as a result. Both players were involved on both White goals. Smith-Pelly was probably the most effective physical presence on the ice and used it to create turnovers and smartly complemented his more skilled linemates. The rest of the White forward group was not very noticeable other than a odd shift here and there. The best was probably Scheifele who used his size and skating to create a few plays in transistion. Thomas also looked quick and was able to get some tough shots on goal with his release. Of the other big name up front, Couturier was very quiet offensively but positioned well in the defensive zone as he usually does. As with Stone on Red, I didn't even notice Puempel.
Hamilton's combination of size and skating is truly remarkable. He was able to make a couple of plays with the puck in his own end which only a handful of defencemen in the NHL would have the physical talent to make. That being said, he did make a couple of noticeable errors because of over-aggressive decisions. Murray looked very good as well and was very calm in his own zone and initiated the transition game beautifully early on. Murphy made plenty of positive plays offensively and was able to consistently get the zone for his forwards (which they mostly squandered). He made some noticeably bad reads in his own end and gambled a couple times with rushes he shouldn't have but on the whole he put a lot more on the table then he took off. I could see a more conservative coach or management being frightened of his game (i.e. Mike Green for the 2010 Olympics), but I doubt it with Hay and at the junior level. The other White D were more noticeable than their Red counterparts since the puck was in their own end more but didn't make any big noise good and bad. The only notes would be that Siemens is not a good decision maker relative to his physical ability and you would not guess that Petgrave went undrafted twice when compared to his peers on White.
RED
Visentin looked terrific as both his positioning and his movement were top notch. He's likely the favorite to start and he's helping himself with his play here. Domingue was okay when he was in but let both White goals.
The best forward on the ice for both teams was Johansen who was always around the puck and making positive plays. His game just seemed more mature than the other players on the ice. Ritchie and Lessio were probably the next best forwards. Lessio used his speed and size to consistently create chances and body players. Ritchie still looked a bit awkward with his skating but was difficult to knock off the puck and scored 2 goals with the second being a terrific snipe. Gallagher also had a strong game as he managed to stay elusive so his size wasn't a hindrance and had an extremely nice top shelf goal against Bunz. Of the two big names up front, Huberdeau looked better created a few nice plays with his vision and seemed quicker than last time I saw him but wasn't overly noticeable. I didn't notice Strome do too much but as an added note on the penalty breakaway when he was caught from behind by the defenceman (I thought it was Siemens and not Hamilton), he didn't seem to hear the whistle and so started skating a good 2 strides too late. Connolly also showed off his quick release and seemed to be skating better than last year. No major negatives other than I didn't really notice Stone at all.
For the defenceman, Gudbranson looked very good and was aggressive at both ends of the ice with both his physical play and making his reads. None of the other defenceman really stood out, but seemed to mostly take good angles and move the puck quickly out of the zone when given the opportunity. White did not spend a lot of time in their end, especially in the latter part of the second and third period. Oleksiak did look a bit awkward though handling speed in tight.
WHITE
Bunz did not have a strong game and let in a couple of weak goals on concentration lapses with his positioning. Wedgewood played a fairly similar game to Domingue and had a fairly average perfomance.
There was really only one line which created any offence for White with most of it being in the first two periods. Nugent-Hopkins was very creative and when he acquired space with his speed and puckhandling he really can't be stopped. But his lack of strength did show when Red engaged him physically. Schwartz was quick and has terrific anticipation and was able to sneak through gaps defensively and create chances as a result. Both players were involved on both White goals. Smith-Pelly was probably the most effective physical presence on the ice and used it to create turnovers and smartly complemented his more skilled linemates. The rest of the White forward group was not very noticeable other than a odd shift here and there. The best was probably Scheifele who used his size and skating to create a few plays in transistion. Thomas also looked quick and was able to get some tough shots on goal with his release. Of the other big name up front, Couturier was very quiet offensively but positioned well in the defensive zone as he usually does. As with Stone on Red, I didn't even notice Puempel.
Hamilton's combination of size and skating is truly remarkable. He was able to make a couple of plays with the puck in his own end which only a handful of defencemen in the NHL would have the physical talent to make. That being said, he did make a couple of noticeable errors because of over-aggressive decisions. Murray looked very good as well and was very calm in his own zone and initiated the transition game beautifully early on. Murphy made plenty of positive plays offensively and was able to consistently get the zone for his forwards (which they mostly squandered). He made some noticeably bad reads in his own end and gambled a couple times with rushes he shouldn't have but on the whole he put a lot more on the table then he took off. I could see a more conservative coach or management being frightened of his game (i.e. Mike Green for the 2010 Olympics), but I doubt it with Hay and at the junior level. The other White D were more noticeable than their Red counterparts since the puck was in their own end more but didn't make any big noise good and bad. The only notes would be that Siemens is not a good decision maker relative to his physical ability and you would not guess that Petgrave went undrafted twice when compared to his peers on White.
SmokeyDuck
Registered User
How did Smith-Pelly look out there? I heard he was a beast physically and that makes me happy. Other than that, how is his game overall, and do you think he has a chance taking the open spot on the Ducks third line?
McMillan-Cogliano-DSP
McMillan-Cogliano-DSP
Wheatking
Registered User
- Sep 25, 2006
- 15,945
- 71
I didn't really make a note to watch him a whole lot by he was by far the most physical out there. He forced you to notice him. Couldn't really tell you about his overall game though. Sorry.
Coco the Monkey*
Registered User
- Aug 31, 2010
- 1,435
- 1
I'm glad they don't base their decision on one scrimmage, because that line-up is quite bad.
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