And he was easily the best player on the ice today IMO...I'll take some heat for saying this, and it's a longshot, but I think he could end up outshining PLD.
I'll go on record as saying I agree with you, at least at this point. Stenlund's got the advantage in terms of age and having played in a men's league, so maybe over time PLD closes the gap as his experience catches up to his talent. But for now, I felt like Stenlund was the better player.
As far as PLD goes, I think he's without a doubt ready to compete for a spot. He wasn't overly flashy, but it was all the small things.
Every year I go to devo camp thinking it's dumb to read too much into it and every year I manage to draw sweeping conclusions in spite of myself.
This year, that sweeping conclusion is that PLD is going to be disappointing. I just don't see it. I guess one year removed from a #3 overall pick, I'm looking for a dominant performance and not the small things. Doing small things well is for the first year in the league when he's a bit overmatched and confused, but you can see the flashes. Playing against a bunch of similarly aged players who aren't as highly touted, my expectations are higher.
Keep in mind, I came away from devo camp many years ago thinking Tomas Kubalik was a poor man's Zherdev so what the hell do I know?
Bobby MacIntyre didn't do anything outstanding, but I think he played well enough and his stats are interesting enough that signing him to a contract can't be a bad thing.
Finally, I ended up sitting next to Tyler Bird's mom just by happy coincidence - poached a vacated seat in the top row near center ice (too bad for you and your tiny bladder, tattooed beardy guy!) and she struck up a bit of a conversation. Very nice lady and clearly proud of her son.
Couple of things she mentioned:
* Says he's more focused on making the NHL than she's ever seen anyone be focused on anything.
* After the season, she expected him to take some time off just to recharge, said he was back in their home gym the day after school ended and puts in about 5 hours per day working on his game in some form.
* Estimates he takes about 15k practice shots per off-season. She and her husband went the extent that they built a practice shooting range in their back yard. All three of the kids are hockey players, so they all use it (other 2 kids are both younger, both d-men. She said she thought his 17 year old brother could probably get drafted as well, but isn't driven to play professionally like Tyler is).
* Most interestingly, she said that he plays in a "pro summer league" (I think that was how she phrased it. I guess it's some kind of summer league in the Boston area where pros play during the off-season) and he always does really well. Feels like he doesn't have the style of game to stand out for the college game and says she wishes she could get the CBJ brass to come see him in that venue because it would open their eyes to his potential in a way they're not seeing from his college play.
Unrelated to Tyler, she said she's a friend of Ray Shero and said that Shero told her the Nat is the hardest place in the NHL to play when it's rocking. Specifically *****ed to her about the cannon.