Red Team
Forwards:
Klimchuk - quiet game from him, as his line had very little offensive zone time. Scored a very nice goal in the shootout, so it was nice to see him show off that skill. I thought I would notice him more on the forecheck after watching some highlight videos on him. Just one viewing but I was a little disappointed.
Knight - "competent" is a word I would use to describe his game in both zones. He wasn't dominant in any area, though seemed to do well on faceoffs, but he gets to the right place and he either wins battles or ties them up until more players get there. I like what I've seen from him. Good skater with solid puck skills and gets to the right places on the ice.
Harrison - similar to Klimchuk in that it is more difficult to notice wingers when the line doesn't have the puck all that often. He's a physical guy who finished some checks (Conroy mentioned this), but I can't comment on his puck skills.
Van Brabrant - I think he was the second best invite after Penner. He is a good skater who plays an upbeat game. Who knows if he will get an opportunity but I wouldn't be surprised if Hartley liked him as he isn't the type of player who pulls up on the rush, rather he chips and chases and competes on the boards. Good showing, I thought.
Monahan - He is a guy that I think is held back only by his body not yet fully grown. The way he anticipates plays and makes himself available for short quick breakout passes, along with his vision when he's got the puck is very exciting. He made one long pass to Gaudreau in the first that sent JG in that I thought was really impressive. Unfortunately, I was looking away when he scored.
Gaudreau - Best player on the red team. He is so quick and intelligent that he doesn't need a lot of room to make plays. Interesting that he's not great at shootouts, but it reminds me of Heatley and Naslund who both were experts at scoring within the context of the game moreso than an artificial setting.
Ferland - Looks a lot better than last year, but he's got a long ways to go if he's going to play in the NHL. He's very strong and his speed is better, but he wasn't very effective today. I didn't see him establishing a net front presence better than the other bigger players or consistently finishing checks.
Horak - you can see the talent level is better this year because Horak doesn't look way ahead of most guys like he did last year. He fit in with the play of Knight and Monahan for the most part. He's a clever player who does the little things better than most. Perhaps a little disappointing that he wasn't creating more good chances.
Hankowski - got more involved as the game went on. Easy to see he has improved his skating to the point where he doesn't stand out one way or the other. He's another guy who makes the little plays to get the puck out and to take sticks. Thought he was one of the better guys at getting to the net and making things tough on goalies.
Carroll - this was the least effective line and I can't remember Carroll doing much other than getting the puck deep a couple of times. Can't comment much further than that I didn't notice him much.
DeBlouw - Very disappointing in my opinion. Last year he was much more noticeable and creative (was one of the pleasant surprises of camp), whereas this year he looked like he is afraid to make mistakes. Felt bad that the one time he got it and really got on his horse, his winger went offside on him and ended the play.
Padakin - kept things pretty simple, but you can see he is a very strong skater with good hands. Didn't make much of an impression on me today.
Defense
Culkin - best of the red D today. Skated the puck out of corner battles a couple of times and made smart breakout passes. Didn't notice him as much of a physical presence, but he looks like a smart defenseman.
Martin - probably the most physical red D (gave a bit of an elbow to Agostino early for a penalty as well). I thought he struggled a little bit making crisp passes and playing with the puck on the offensive blueline. I sort of doubt he'll work his way into the mix at the NHL level, but he doesn't look bad out there.
Lewis - less physical in the game than he was in the practice that I saw. He joined the rush a few times and his skating is solid. I think he needs to do more to get in the mix for a contract.
Leonard - can't remember him... but he is a D so that may be a positive.
Gilmour - good skater, but like a lot of D on the red team spent a lot of time in his own zone. Struggled against the better black forwards.
Roy - he was inconsistently good. Some shifts, I thought we might have found a steal and then others he looked more like an invite. He definitely has some stick skills and his size looks pretty good out there. I'm very curious to see how he develops.
Goalies:
Berra - He generally looked very good, but the second Penner goal probably should not have been scored. He has a pretty decent glove as he caught a few shots in traffic. He made a great save on Elson going post-to-post (doesn't take him long as he is gigantic).
Hoffman - Fit in with other goalies on the day. He made the saves that he needed to. Looks pretty good, but I don't think he's forcing his way onto the team or anything.
Gillies - The goal he let in was a pinpoint shot on a 2 on 1, so no worries there. He's a really solid looking goalie. There weren't a lot of great chances against him, so he wasn't forced to make a bunch of athletic saves.
|