Team Canada, Exhibition Game 1 Scouting Report

[Hawker14]

altogether, an average outing for the Team Canada prospects.
...real lack of intensity and physical play...it's hard to be believe some of these guys are competing for a roster spot, since they didn't play like it.

stand outs:

shea webber...very impressive positional play, no mistakes reading the play and handling the puck...altogether an A for the night,a surprise as i wasn't really looking at him at first but he kept you noticing him !!!

alex stewart...rock solid on his feet, great speed and offensive play...B+

dion phaneuf...best player on the ice, always where the puck was, just an outstanding effort ... A+

shawn belle...one tough player, excellent defensively...A

most of the other players were all very average and lacking intensity, especially corey perry, surprising that with his point totals in the OHL he seemed below the level of the other players.

jeff carter was good, not great.

i'd give the nod to dubnyk in net, but beauchimen was strong as well. really hard to pick one out of the four, though.

surprisingly below expectations:

sidney crosby...didn't get alot of ice time, very skilled player but just didn't bring a strong effort tonight.

cam barker...kept his head down in the neutral zone and got crunched, other than that, barely noticeable.

braydon coburn...alot lankier in person than i expected, had trouble clearing the puck out of the defensive zone.

Click to read more...

 

[Big Deaner]

altogether, an average outing for the Team Canada prospects.
...real lack of intensity and physical play...it's hard to be believe some of these guys are competing for a roster spot, since they didn't play like it.

stand outs:

shea webber...very impressive positional play, no mistakes reading the play and handling the puck...altogether an A for the night,a surprise as i wasn't really looking at him at first but he kept you noticing him !!!

alex stewart...rock solid on his feet, great speed and offensive play...B+

dion phaneuf...best player on the ice, always where the puck was, just an outstanding effort ... A+

shawn belle...one tough player, excellent defensively...A

most of the other players were all very average and lacking intensity, especially corey perry, surprising that with his point totals in the OHL he seemed below the level of the other players.

jeff carter was good, not great.

i'd give the nod to dubnyk in net, but beauchimen was strong as well. really hard to pick one out of the four, though.

surprisingly below expectations:

sidney crosby...didn't get alot of ice time, very skilled player but just didn't bring a strong effort tonight.

cam barker...kept his head down in the neutral zone and got crunched, other than that, barely noticeable.

braydon coburn...alot lankier in person than i expected, had trouble clearing the puck out of the defensive zone.

Thanks for the info. Im interested to hear how Stone and Fehr looked, as well as Dustin Boyd if he was playing.

 

[Hawker14]

stone had a couple points, but he, fehr, and boyd didn't really stand out to me. they played ok, but nothing that really made me say "wow". they're going to all have to play a more intense game if they are going to make the team.

i'll focus more on them in tomorrow's game to get a more detailed report on them.

andrew ladd however did make me say "wow", as i can see why he was drafted so high. his shot is outstanding, with a super fast release and extremely hard shot...i immediately thought of iginla. i can see him putting up alot of goals in the NHL.

 

[Took a pill in Sbisa]

Good to hear Dubnyk doing well..

As an Oilers fan, and a huge WJC fan, it always sucks when there's no Oiler.

 

[Kovy274Hart]

Did Dawes play at all?

 

[Hawker14]

yep, dawes played. he should have no problem making the team again, as his heart is bigger than his 5'8 frame...he's a sutter type player who forechecked well.

my main surprise was that most other players weren't showing any "grit".

i expect a much more physical game tomorrow

 

[Hawker14]

As an Oilers fan, and a huge WJC fan, it always sucks when there's no Oiler.

as a jets fan, i feel the exact same way.

 

[Kovy274Hart]

yep, dawes played. he should have no problem making the team again, as his heart is bigger than his 5'8 frame...he's a sutter type player who forechecked well.

my main surprise was that most other players weren't showing any "grit".

i expect a much more physical game tomorrow

Thanks for the report. Glad to hear Dawes played hard.

 

[Hobey Baker]

How did MacArthur look?

 

[bonefizzle]

sidney crosby...didn't get alot of ice time, very skilled player but just didn't bring a strong effort tonight.

Was crosby playing on the wing or at center, as I know he is much more effective at center and their has been talk that he may play wing for canada

 

[GirardIsStupid]

warning, randome thoughts ahead.

i wasn't greatly impressed with any of the goalies that played today. none of them appear to have solid puck handling skills (and it cost dubnyk the one goal). altogether a disappointing night for me considering the lack of intensity...though i can't complain too much since tix were only 6 bucks. i was further disappointed with crosby's play as i expected much more. he still continued to show great on-ice vision and created two scoring chances simultaneously on one shift with some soft passes, but he appeared to cherry pick at times and abandon his defensive position. pretty comical if you ask me. however, ill cut him some slack since i never really played hockey competitively and know that he's already got a spot locked up (which is why i also assume he didn't play much today either).

dion phaneuf was a lot better than i expected. he's currently an NHL calibre defenseman. easily the best player on the ice today. anthony stewart has got some awesome wheels and very much iginla-like with his ability to shoot and drive to the net. shawn belle is such a smooth skater...a real treat to watch. danny syrvet is a pretty good passer. he would be good complement to canada's skilled forwards in my opinion. corey perry probably won't make the team based on his most recent performance. not strong enough defensively and didn't stand out offensively like he needs, despite scoring a goal.

in sum, canada has a very strong team that has many big players that can skate and shoot very well. they additionally have a solid defensive core but could be a little suspect in goal. i am impressed with budnyks size though.

 

[GirardIsStupid]

Was crosby playing on the wing or at center, as I know he is much more effective at center and their has been talk that he may play wing for canada

wing. he just didn't bring it tonight and would have done just as poorly if he played center.

 

[Le Golie]

Here are my observations:

Stone was one of the most noticable players on the ice. He was tremendous away from the puck and capatilized on his chances. He created serveral turnovers in the offensive and nuetral zones.

Boyd was good too. Very sneaky and has an ability to create opportunities for himself.

Crosby looks a lot more average playing against the best players in the country, however you can still tell there's something special about the way he sees the game. He does little things that hardly get noticed unless you are looking for them. Example - he was killing a penalty in the second period. After fending off pressure for a solid minute, his team got the puck and fired it all the way down the ice. They went for a wholesale line change while the powerplay unit stayed out. Beauchemin went out to get the puck in the corner and looked up ice to see the entire penalty killing unit heading for their bench and one of his own wingers was heading for the far side to get a long bomb pass. Instead of making a b-line for the bench like the rest of the unit, Crosby went directly into that passing lane and skated hard all the way to the far blue line before the players coming on were able to get in position to prevent a long pass, then he went to the bench. Just a tremendously smart play that other players take for granted.

Phaneuf was all over the ice all game long, making and breaking up plays. He's very mobile and does a great job of keeping the puck in the zone, even under pressure.

Fehr played with Crosby and Bergeron, wasn't a liability at all but never found his groove. Surprisingly that line didn't seem to play a whole lot.

Perry scored a very sweet goal and showed good vision one other time, creating a good scoring chance. Other than that he didn't do much.

Carter is able to be a difference maker almost every time he's on the ice.

Belle was strong but made a couple of panicky moves, throwing the puck away and right to his opponents.

One of the Canadians (Barker maybe) was absolutely levelled by a U of M player (Grant Jacobson?) and that caused a great scoring chance for the U line.

Goaltending wise, Dubnyk was tested the most of anyone and responded the best. The only goal he gave up was an ugly one though, he made a mistake playing the puck behind the net, turned it over to Stone who walked out and beat him. Ooops. Beauchemin was a bit shakey, he got beat once five-hole and let a 40-foot floater squeeze through his arm and body and trickle towards the net before Phaneuf came to the rescue and cleared it right before it went in.

I was expected a Canada vs. U of Manitoba game but it was basically Team Red vs Team White, with one line of U of M players. One of the better lines of the night was the U of M line. They sustained a ton of pressure in the Canadian end.

*** Also, congrats to my old junior teammate Jordin Little who couldn't suit up for the U of M tonight because he was at the final episode of Making the Cut, where he won the skills competition before becomming the first ever Making the Cut draft choice, getting selected by the Edmonton Oilers 1st overall. ***

 

[Big Deaner]

Here are my observations:

Stone was one of the most noticable players on the ice. He was tremendous away from the puck and capatilized on his chances. He created serveral turnovers in the offensive and nuetral zones.

Boyd was good too. Very sneaky and has an ability to create opportunities for himself.

Crosby looks a lot more average playing against the best players in the country, however you can still tell there's something special about the way he sees the game. He does little things that hardly get noticed unless you are looking for them. Example - he was killing a penalty in the second period. After fending off pressure for a solid minute, his team got the puck and fired it all the way down the ice. They went for a wholesale line change while the powerplay unit stayed out. Beauchemin went out to get the puck in the corner and looked up ice to see the entire penalty killing unit heading for their bench and one of his own wingers was heading for the far side to get a long bomb pass. Instead of making a b-line for the bench like the rest of the unit, Crosby went directly into that passing lane and skated hard all the way to the far blue line before the players coming on were able to get in position to prevent a long pass, then he went to the bench. Just a tremendously smart play that other players take for granted.

Phaneuf was all over the ice all game long, making and breaking up plays. He's very mobile and does a great job of keeping the puck in the zone, even under pressure.

Fehr played with Crosby and Bergeron, wasn't a liability at all but never found his groove. Surprisingly that line didn't seem to play a whole lot.

Perry scored a very sweet goal and showed good vision one other time, creating a good scoring chance. Other than that he didn't do much.

Carter is able to be a difference maker almost every time he's on the ice.

Belle was strong but made a couple of panicky moves, throwing the puck away and right to his opponents.

One of the Canadians (Barker maybe) was absolutely levelled by a U of M player (Grant Jacobson?) and that caused a great scoring chance for the U line.

Goaltending wise, Dubnyk was tested the most of anyone and responded the best. The only goal he gave up was an ugly one though, he made a mistake playing the puck behind the net, turned it over to Stone who walked out and beat him. Ooops. Beauchemin was a bit shakey, he got beat once five-hole and let a 40-foot floater squeeze through his arm and body and trickle towards the net before Phaneuf came to the rescue and cleared it right before it went in.

I was expected a Canada vs. U of Manitoba game but it was basically Team Red vs Team White, with one line of U of M players. One of the better lines of the night was the U of M line. They sustained a ton of pressure in the Canadian end.

*** Also, congrats to my old junior teammate Jordin Little who couldn't suit up for the U of M tonight because he was at the final episode of Making the Cut, where he won the skills competition before becomming the first ever Making the Cut draft choice, getting selected by the Edmonton Oilers 1st overall. ***

Great to hear Stone and Boyd both played well. I'd like to see Stone and Fehr put back together though, the two of them play like they can read each others minds. Still a tad concerned about the goaltending and this report does not ease that concern. Thanks for the great report. Cheers!

 

[Le Golie]

Great to hear Stone and Boyd both played well. I'd like to see Stone and Fehr put back together though, the two of them play like they can read each others minds. Still a tad concerned about the goaltending and this report does not ease that concern. Thanks for the great report. Cheers!

Perhaps I came off too harsh on the goaltending. I'm not overly worried about the position. As a country Canada always produces top notch goaltending and the four guys in camp are the four best in the country right now. All are capable of doing the job. None of them looked out of place out there tonight, all are very good technically and move around the crease as good as anyone.

It's not that none of them can do the job, it's more like they can all do it equally as good. That's why it's tough for them to stand out, they're going to need to prove mental toughness more than anything. The skills are all there.

 

[Jason MacIsaac]

University of North Dakota beat these guys 8 - 1 at the start of this season. That tells you how strong college hockey teams are.

 

[Big Deaner]

University of North Dakota beat these guys 8 - 1 at the start of this season. That tells you how strong college hockey teams are.

Thanks tips!

 

[ktownhockey]

altogether, an average outing for the Team Canada prospects.
...real lack of intensity and physical play...it's hard to be believe some of these guys are competing for a roster spot, since they didn't play like it.

stand outs:

shea webber...very impressive positional play, no mistakes reading the play and handling the puck...altogether an A for the night,a surprise as i wasn't really looking at him at first but he kept you noticing him !!!

alex stewart...rock solid on his feet, great speed and offensive play...B+

dion phaneuf...best player on the ice, always where the puck was, just an outstanding effort ... A+

shawn belle...one tough player, excellent defensively...A

most of the other players were all very average and lacking intensity, especially corey perry, surprising that with his point totals in the OHL he seemed below the level of the other players.

jeff carter was good, not great.

i'd give the nod to dubnyk in net, but beauchimen was strong as well. really hard to pick one out of the four, though.

surprisingly below expectations:

sidney crosby...didn't get alot of ice time, very skilled player but just didn't bring a strong effort tonight.

cam barker...kept his head down in the neutral zone and got crunched, other than that, barely noticeable.

braydon coburn...alot lankier in person than i expected, had trouble clearing the puck out of the defensive zone.

Alex Stewart.... WHo in the blue hell is that??? lol
must have played a good game to have his name changed

 

[Jason MacIsaac]

Thanks tips!

Just for those who feel London could compete with a top college team. Team Canada only beat this team 4 - 2, UND blew them out.

 

[ktownhockey]

wing. he just didn't bring it tonight and would have done just as poorly if he played center.

How would you know he wouldn't have played well at centre? thats a pretty bold statement talking about the CHLs leading scorer buddy.....

I'd say you stop being biased and start using common sense

 

[ktownhockey]

Just for those who feel London could compete with a top college team. Team Canada only beat this team 4 - 2, UND blew them out.

You are obsessed with the NCAA.... honestly buddy the game tonight was almost an inter squad game... it wasn't TEAM CANADA VS U Manitoba.... that would be a different game.... players were given to other teams.... and London would beat most division 1 NCAA teams... maybe not all of them but on any given nite the majority....

Where do you come up with this stuff?

 

[ktownhockey]

I didn't want to sound like an dick but come on.... you don't think Canada's team would beat University of Manitoba by at least 5 goals?

 

[Jason MacIsaac]

I didn't want to sound like an dick but come on.... you don't think Canada's team would beat University of Manitoba by at least 5 goals?

They may....but thats team Canada and not London Knights.

 

[ktownhockey]

altogether, an average outing for the Team Canada prospects.
...real lack of intensity and physical play...it's hard to be believe some of these guys are competing for a roster spot, since they didn't play like it.

stand outs:

shea webber...very impressive positional play, no mistakes reading the play and handling the puck...altogether an A for the night,a surprise as i wasn't really looking at him at first but he kept you noticing him !!!

alex stewart...rock solid on his feet, great speed and offensive play...B+

dion phaneuf...best player on the ice, always where the puck was, just an outstanding effort ... A+

shawn belle...one tough player, excellent defensively...A

most of the other players were all very average and lacking intensity, especially corey perry, surprising that with his point totals in the OHL he seemed below the level of the other players.

jeff carter was good, not great.

i'd give the nod to dubnyk in net, but beauchimen was strong as well. really hard to pick one out of the four, though.

surprisingly below expectations:

sidney crosby...didn't get alot of ice time, very skilled player but just didn't bring a strong effort tonight.

cam barker...kept his head down in the neutral zone and got crunched, other than that, barely noticeable.

braydon coburn...alot lankier in person than i expected, had trouble clearing the puck out of the defensive zone.

Is it just me or did all the comments that you made look like the complete opposite on TSN? LOL or on other sites and message boards.

Corey Perry looked incredible on a couple of plays and he turned Shawn Belle inside out on his goal... Crosby and Bergereon didn't get much ice because their shoe ins for the team... maybe thats why you didn't think he was doing so well... n

Crosby's assist to Patrice was quite the pass through traffic and it had big league finish on it from Bergereon

Dubnyk looked shakey on his goal but other than that looked strong from my sources.

 

[Jason MacIsaac]

You are obsessed with the NCAA.... honestly buddy the game tonight was almost an inter squad game... it wasn't TEAM CANADA VS U Manitoba.... that would be a different game.... players were given to other teams.... and London would beat most division 1 NCAA teams... maybe not all of them but on any given nite the majority....

Where do you come up with this stuff?

Yea, thats it......Im obsessed with a league I have never seen in person.