Grantham & Bouma
I watched these prospects play over the weekend in Red Deer, here are my observations:
Lance Bouma:
Bouma can skate, although not the speed of Lombardi, he is above average and I expect he will get faster by the time he leaves Junior. He takes every opportunity to finish his checks and plays well in his own zone. He isn't a great passer but knows who he is supposed to pass to. He had a couple problems clearing the zone but not to the detriment of his team. This kid is aggressive but not wild, he seems to be calm and understand and accepts his role very well, he doesn't appear to have any ambitions of being Gretzky.
With Bouma, it's as though he has a very high hockey intelligence but a lack of high end skill that would make him a star. It was interesting to watch him play, I thought I was going to see Darcy Tucker, Steve Ott, or even Ruutu; what I actually saw was Kirk Maltby, and I have to say, I prefer it.
Ryley Grantham:
He is a big boy and he played a ton of minutes, seemed like every 2nd or 3rd shift. He is responsible defensively, in the 6-0 loss to the Rebels, he was only a -1 and on that play we was backchecking on a 2-1, caught the 2nd player and put himself in a position that made a pass to the second player impossible, the player carrying the puck scored on a fluke play from his butt after being knocked down by the defenseman.
There were absolutly no disturbances in the play and no rowdyness by the Rebels while Grantham was on the ice, there was a fight after the 6th Rebel goal at the end of the game while Grantham was on the bench and it was obvious the coach wasn't going to put him on the ice for a gong show.
Grantham played some PP time, whenever the puck went to the point, he moved to the front of the net for the screen, when the puck was passed to the payers on the side boards, he made himself available ner the side of the net for a pass. I'm not going to say he has some offensive flair, but he does have a move, maybe two! He doesn't pass well, but has a decent shot. He isn't quick and has poor acceleration but when he decides to get on his horse, he can get to a high speed in a straight line.
Like Bouma, he finishes all his checks and has a good head for the game, he seems to know where he needs to be at all times. Even though he was out there with the obvious intention to start a fight to get his team going, he never took himself out of position or took a bad penalty, his only penalty was for interference trying to get to the front of the net for a screen. It's nice to know we have a goon in the system that knows his role and won't take bad penalties or go wild, he is farely composed.
It was fun watching at every face-off, he would wait for his counterpart to get there first, then he would line up next to him and initiate contact immediately in order to intimidate the oponents. At one perticular face-off, he waited until the officials weren't looking, he them proceeded to give his opponent a sort of noogie to the back of the head, it was quite commical, almost like when an adult gives a boy a pat on the head or ruffles his hair.
All this being said, looks like we have 2 prospects with potential for the NHL, skill won't get them there but determination and the knowledge and acceptance of their role may.
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