regdunlap7
Registered User
Well I made the 2 hour drive up to Lewiston to see my first Q game and my first glimpse of Crosby. Rimouski won 2-0, and here are some impressions of a few of the guys I saw (other than a few guys- Crosby, Pouliot, Picard, Paiement- I was unfamiliar with the majority of the players going into last night):
Lewiston
Jonathan Paiement- Decent size, he's listed at 6'1 206 and I thought he looked all of it. Pretty mobile. Has a great feel for the offensive part of the game. He made good decisions on when to go for the puck to keep it in the offensive zone and when to go back on D. Gets to open spots in the offensive zone and is ready to receive the pass consistently. The thing that impressed me most though was his shot. Whether it was a slapper, or more of a snap shot his shot was on net and accurate from the blueline. He didn't seem very physical.
Maxime Mathieu- Feisty, and full of energy. Not necessarily tough or phsyical but he seems to have an edge to his game
Alex Bourret- My friend compared him to Claude Lemieux. He was definitely instigating stuff and got under Crosby's skin. He also got a game misconduct and was ejected. Apparently he's a decent scorer too, but he didn't get a chance to show it with the early exit.
Nick Cowan- He looked to be a good solid all around player. Was around the puck a lot on both offense and in his own zone. He had a presence about him and a solid smart style of play.
Eric Castonguay- I'd never heard of him but I was impressed by his top speed. He looked to me to be the fastest guy on Lewiston.
Sheldon Wenzel- Lewiston's enforcer. Didn't fight but was looking to go a couple of times.
Chad Denny- Chubby. He did not look like a well-conditioned athlete.
Alexandre Picard- I was impressed by him. Definitely the best player on Lewiston. Good with the puck, shifty, but also was willing to go to the corners and fight for the puck. Back checks. Looks to be more of a playmaker than pure scorer.
Jaroslav Halak- Compared to the Rimouski goalie, Halak didn't seem as well-schooled or consistent with his technique. He was more of a scrambling type and a bit unorthodox in style. He faced more shots, and better scoring chances than his opponent and overall did ok. Neither goal was an easy save. Made a couple of very difficult saves.
Rimouski
Cedrick Desjardins- Pretty good size. Very solid and consistent as a butterfly goalie. He always seemed controlled and composed. He didn't see a ton of great scoring chances, but when he did he was ready. He made some nice pad saves and a nice stick save on a top shelf attempt.
Maxime Desrussieux- He looked huge out there. I saw on the roster that the Bolducs are both bigger than him, but Maxime looked like the biggest guy on the ice to me. For his size he also seemed fairly mobile. Physical but looked pretty good in the offensive end making passes.
Francis Charette- Very small but shifty. He got a double minor and a game misconduct for a penalty and subsequent complaint to the ref (at least that's what I think the game misconduct was for). He did complain pretty visibly and blatantly despite it being an obvious penalty.
Zbynek Hrdel- Did nothing to impress me. You notice him on the ice because of his size, but other than that... I do see that he's been scoring a lot this year, so I might have just caught him on an off night.
Marc Antoine Pouliot- I was very impressed by him. Some may say he benefits from playing with Crosby, but I thought he looked really good even when he was on the ice with others. Has good size and uses it well. He has good strength and a couple of times split 2 defensemen and went right through with them hanging on to him. He looks like he has a well-rounded game too. I'm fairly confident in saying that I think he has top 6 talent.
Dany Roussin and Danny Stewart- 2 other guys I was hoping to see, but who really didn't impress me much. Neither one did anything that really made me notice them.
Sydney Crosby- First of all, he doesn't look 5-11 to me, even on skates. That said, trust me (for those of you who haven't seen him) it's not going to matter. He clearly plays at a different level than everyone else on the ice. His skating and stickhandling are great. He can dangle, spin-a-rama and do the swim move through defenders. The puck seems to be magnetically attracted to his stick. But the thing you love most is the vision. Time and time again he'd set up on the right wing near the net and thread a pass through 2 defenders over to the weak side.
The Lewiston team was trying to really go after him. Bourret and Wenzel both were chippy with him. On another play a defender put his stick through Crosby's legs, and Sydney gave him 3 2-hand chops to the stick in retaliation. On another play he got nailed and as he got up started yelling to the ref, "He went after my knee!" It would really be a shame for this kid to have his career end at 17 because some idiot decides to make a name for himself.
Lewiston
Jonathan Paiement- Decent size, he's listed at 6'1 206 and I thought he looked all of it. Pretty mobile. Has a great feel for the offensive part of the game. He made good decisions on when to go for the puck to keep it in the offensive zone and when to go back on D. Gets to open spots in the offensive zone and is ready to receive the pass consistently. The thing that impressed me most though was his shot. Whether it was a slapper, or more of a snap shot his shot was on net and accurate from the blueline. He didn't seem very physical.
Maxime Mathieu- Feisty, and full of energy. Not necessarily tough or phsyical but he seems to have an edge to his game
Alex Bourret- My friend compared him to Claude Lemieux. He was definitely instigating stuff and got under Crosby's skin. He also got a game misconduct and was ejected. Apparently he's a decent scorer too, but he didn't get a chance to show it with the early exit.
Nick Cowan- He looked to be a good solid all around player. Was around the puck a lot on both offense and in his own zone. He had a presence about him and a solid smart style of play.
Eric Castonguay- I'd never heard of him but I was impressed by his top speed. He looked to me to be the fastest guy on Lewiston.
Sheldon Wenzel- Lewiston's enforcer. Didn't fight but was looking to go a couple of times.
Chad Denny- Chubby. He did not look like a well-conditioned athlete.
Alexandre Picard- I was impressed by him. Definitely the best player on Lewiston. Good with the puck, shifty, but also was willing to go to the corners and fight for the puck. Back checks. Looks to be more of a playmaker than pure scorer.
Jaroslav Halak- Compared to the Rimouski goalie, Halak didn't seem as well-schooled or consistent with his technique. He was more of a scrambling type and a bit unorthodox in style. He faced more shots, and better scoring chances than his opponent and overall did ok. Neither goal was an easy save. Made a couple of very difficult saves.
Rimouski
Cedrick Desjardins- Pretty good size. Very solid and consistent as a butterfly goalie. He always seemed controlled and composed. He didn't see a ton of great scoring chances, but when he did he was ready. He made some nice pad saves and a nice stick save on a top shelf attempt.
Maxime Desrussieux- He looked huge out there. I saw on the roster that the Bolducs are both bigger than him, but Maxime looked like the biggest guy on the ice to me. For his size he also seemed fairly mobile. Physical but looked pretty good in the offensive end making passes.
Francis Charette- Very small but shifty. He got a double minor and a game misconduct for a penalty and subsequent complaint to the ref (at least that's what I think the game misconduct was for). He did complain pretty visibly and blatantly despite it being an obvious penalty.
Zbynek Hrdel- Did nothing to impress me. You notice him on the ice because of his size, but other than that... I do see that he's been scoring a lot this year, so I might have just caught him on an off night.
Marc Antoine Pouliot- I was very impressed by him. Some may say he benefits from playing with Crosby, but I thought he looked really good even when he was on the ice with others. Has good size and uses it well. He has good strength and a couple of times split 2 defensemen and went right through with them hanging on to him. He looks like he has a well-rounded game too. I'm fairly confident in saying that I think he has top 6 talent.
Dany Roussin and Danny Stewart- 2 other guys I was hoping to see, but who really didn't impress me much. Neither one did anything that really made me notice them.
Sydney Crosby- First of all, he doesn't look 5-11 to me, even on skates. That said, trust me (for those of you who haven't seen him) it's not going to matter. He clearly plays at a different level than everyone else on the ice. His skating and stickhandling are great. He can dangle, spin-a-rama and do the swim move through defenders. The puck seems to be magnetically attracted to his stick. But the thing you love most is the vision. Time and time again he'd set up on the right wing near the net and thread a pass through 2 defenders over to the weak side.
The Lewiston team was trying to really go after him. Bourret and Wenzel both were chippy with him. On another play a defender put his stick through Crosby's legs, and Sydney gave him 3 2-hand chops to the stick in retaliation. On another play he got nailed and as he got up started yelling to the ref, "He went after my knee!" It would really be a shame for this kid to have his career end at 17 because some idiot decides to make a name for himself.
