Just got out of the 11am session, and had a great time with CagedGreat, Freeway, and the scorpion who is a great kid and should be treated nicer here.
A few thoughts from the session
I'll reiterate a few common things, Mangiapane looks great out there. A deceptive, sneaky shot, great lateral movement and really creative. He had a hell of a 1-1 play that nearly scored.
Carroll has a hell of a shot but is out of step with the play
Jankowski looked real good out there. His skating has always been beautiful, and he's such a responsible player. Caged great seems to think he may make the team out of camp, I'm not as optimistic as he wasn't as assertive out there as he needs to be to succeed in the NHL. But that's something you gain with confidence. Regardless I would be suprised not to see him in the saddledome sometime this year.
Bennett was a standout on the ice. He looks thicker, you can noticeably tell he's gained weight. Him, Brouwer and Tckachuk put on a clinic at one point in an offensive zone 5-5 drill, and Bennett was the star of it.
Speaking of Tka####, he was great but I think he needs to put on weight, especially compared to how Bennett is looking right now. This kid will be a great player however. He had one of the slickest passes of the morning on a two on one drill that was buried.
Brouwer looked as advertised. Strong, lots of sandpaper, and a good scoring touch. Him and Benny were absolutely robbed on a beautiful 2-1. He gave Jankowski a good elbow to the head at one point in the 5-5.
Tuulola had some nice moves and good puck protection
Kanzig did not look very good out there. Everything was just so slow, from his lateral movement to his release. I really think he's going to need a lot of AHL seasoning.
No one else really stood out in a good or bad way. Gio was great as you would expect. The goalies were forgettable, which is something that McDonald shouldn't be happy with.
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