Rookie Tournaments

[MSP4LYFE]

Meh, it's only one rookie tourney game, I've seen enough of Holland to feel comfortable in his abilities, besides it's not like hes competing for a spot in camp, he is still 2/3 seasons away, at least.

[Nick]

EDM vs VAN

On paper this was a mis-match and it played out as such. The speed and skill of the oilers was too much for the young knuckle-heads.

This time I'll give a player by player breakdown as I remember it.

MSP -> Wow. His speed is lights out, simply incredible. He struggled in the first, not really seeming to move his feet, looking around as if in a confined space, trying to see the open ice but simple couldn't find it. The 2nd period was a different story, he came out skating and rarely stopped, his step inside transfer to burst outside left every Canuck defense-man panicking, I've heard his 2nd goal looked nice on tv, and although it was a nice shot, I seriously doubt it beats very many NHL-caliber goalies (Houser? sucked bad), the wrister was a little too far out, not much screen, and not notably hard. Magnus's skating and comfort with the puck really showed through the 3rd period, just dancing around the rink, using his impressive frame to easily fend of any vancouver player who thought to take the puck from him. Great first showing for him.

Eberle -> iMO the best player in this game, scored a goal that would likely beat most NHL goalies, lots of great passing, insane hands and nice stripping of the puck. His skating is lacking, likely magnified by having Hall around him. The number of puck battles Jordan wins is simply insane given his size and relatively slow foot-speed.

Hall -> Clearly the most skilled and best all around player, blocked shots, threw some checks, rolled out of checks and dealt with constant harassment. His all-around skating and skill-set is amazing, very difficult to get the puck from, nice perfectly placed passes, incredibly hard shot,etc. However he needs to be more selfish with the puck, and iMO he passed up too many shooting opportunities.

CURTIS HAMILTON -> had a strong first and then became hard to notice.

TYLER PITLICK -> impressed with his 1 on 1 skills, and his evasive skills, he was put in some very bad spots by poorly placed passes but was able to play to puck to safety and avoid injury to himself.

CHRIS VANDE VELDE -> OWNED the faceoff circle, appears to be a good skater, but lacked any chemistry or planning with his line-mates, did perform well on multiple PK's.

ALEX PLANTE -> BRUTAL, brutal, absolutely brutal. Poor puck skills, crap skating, and somehow managed to lose hits despite his size. I'd say the rest of the Oiler's d-core was 'meh', some okay plays, some nice plays and some junk plays, nothing of note.

OLIVIER ROY -> was 1st star of the game w/o question iMO, crazy fast glove hand, ate up most shots limiting rebound opportunities, did a great job of looking around screens and really really impressed.


now the Canucks:

Aaron Volpatti impressed me the most, able to land several devestating body checks as well as creating several reasonable scoring chances. He really got the crowd into it when he ROCKED two oilers one after the other.

Jordan Schroeder -> this kid is posied and calm with the puck, however he appeared to be on a different page (perhaps ahead) of anyone he was playing with, and his one on one skills could definitely use some work, but his patience and passing ability allowed him to be the most dangerous canuck by a fair margin.

Tochkin showed some really nice hands, but his size and skating make him a long shot at best.

Tanev likely was the most unexpected player to look better then most of the competition, lots of smart plays, solid puck battles and excellent in-zone coverage.

Michael Houser was brutal and didn't appear to belong at this level, whereas Lack really held the Canucks in for the first half of the game, but did have rebound issues.

Kevin Connauton had an up and down game, some impressive plays, as well as some very bad ones, seems to struggle with some of his decision making.


Feel free to ask any clarification questions, this was an awesome road-trip and one I would happily do again! We had a smoking hot waitress at the bar between games, definitely a 10/10 bum.

[bills09]

Did Adam Polasek play for the Canucks?

[Nick]

Did Adam Polasek play for the Canucks?

I don't believe so, and if he didn't he wasn't noticed.

I think their D was:

Kevin Connauton - Chris Tanev
Oberg - Ellington
Fischer -???? maybe he was here? i don't recall.

[bills09]

Did Adam Polasek play for the Canucks?

I don't believe so, and if he didn't he wasn't noticed.

I think their D was:

Kevin Connauton - Chris Tanev
Oberg - Ellington
Fischer -???? maybe he was here? i don't recall.

from what ive read he was paired with Ellington
#63 IIRC

[Nick]

hmm... i think I saw Oberg and Ellington together a fair amount... but neither really did much to impress (and I know Ellington, his gf is a friend from UVic/works @ earls with a very good friend of mine). Taylor did scrap, but it was a size miss-match.

[bills09]

hmm..From what ive read on the nucks board he was one of the big surprises on the nucks defence other than K-Con especially in the first period, maybe just a fact you weren't watching for him.

[Nick]

ye, live you definitely get different a perspective.

Tanev was iMO the defensive stand-out for the Canucks, and I'd wager Bryan would agree (he was still semi-sober at this stage), K-Conn had some BRTUAL give-aways... and honestly I doubt Polasek did anything truly impressive if I didn't even notice he was on the ice (or remember asking who #63 was), he might have made lots of safe plays or something, but fair enough, tv might have caught something away from the play or something that I missed.

EDIT: just read through the GDT thread, they were saying polasek made nice paces and was good positionally... but it's also hf boards and referencing that is worse then wiki Reading through the Oilers board shows they really didn't notice him, just K-conn & Lack.

Oh, completely forgot to mention Sweatt -> he's a frigging hard worker and looks good positionally... but the speed that I've heard people talk about wasn't as good, perhaps there's more to be seen, and his puck skills seem slightly above average relative to this level of play... just game 1 though right.

[bills09]

ye, live you definitely get different a perspective.

Tanev was iMO the defensive stand-out for the Canucks, and I'd wager Bryan would agree (he was still semi-sober at this stage), K-Conn had some BRTUAL give-aways... and honestly I doubt Polasek did anything truly impressive if I didn't even notice he was on the ice (or remember asking who #63 was), he might have made lots of safe plays or something, but fair enough, tv might have caught something away from the play or something that I missed.

EDIT: just read through the GDT thread, they were saying polasek made nice paces and was good positionally... but it's also hf boards and referencing that is worse then wiki Reading through the Oilers board shows they really didn't notice him, just K-conn & Lack.

Oh, completely forgot to mention Sweatt -> he's a frigging hard worker and looks good positionally... but the speed that I've heard people talk about wasn't as good, perhaps there's more to be seen, and his puck skills seem slightly above average relative to this level of play... just game 1 though right.

i didnt see the game so cant really argue otherwise.

[bills09]

Also nick how was Devante Smith Pelly in the first game, hes looked good so far in the game against Calgary.

[MSP4LYFE]

What a tilt between Banks and Carrick...

[bills09]

Surprisingly solid hockey out there

some notes After 20 minutes

-Great tilt between Banks and Carrick, both throwing huge haymakers.
-Devante Smith Pelly with a few take aways, but not much offense from his line.
-Michael Backlunds speed/skill, is incredible. imo the best player on the ice in the first period.
-Kyle Palmieri and Mitch Wahl also looked impressive.
-Peter Holland set up a nice goal from the point by Jake Newton with an impressive screen by Kyle Palmeiri
-Cam Fowler impressive quarterbacking the powerplay, assisted on Anaheims first goal.
-Nick Bonino and Cam Fowler have been the most impressive from the Anaheim squad.

[Nick]

Also nick how was Devante Smith Pelly in the first game, hes looked good so far in the game against Calgary.

everything about him kicks ass... except his skating, which might be a big issue

[hong57]

Go Captain Crunch

[shooker]

Also nick how was Devante Smith Pelly in the first game, hes looked good so far in the game against Calgary.

everything about him kicks ass... except his skating, which might be a big issue

I disagree. I didnt see anything good about him in the entire game. I wouldnt call skating an issue, I would call it a catastrophy. It was so far from nhl caliber skating it wasn't even funny. Unless the kid sheds 25 lbs and learns how to skate I would say that he has zero hope of the nhl. Imo of the guys I expected to play well, he was heads and tails the biggest disapointment for me.

[MSP4LYFE]

I completely disagree...and DSP plays in my backyard, so I've seen him play upwards of 15-20 games live (last year alone). He isn't the best skater, but he combines strong work ethic with an NHL skill set and grinders mentality. He is a great kid, and packs a ton of muscle under that small frame, with his attitude I am sure he will overcome his shortcomings in the skating department, and at the very least earn a callup to the NHL.

[shooker]

I completely disagree...and DSP plays in my backyard, so I've seen him play upwards of 15-20 games live (last year alone). He isn't the best skater, but he combines strong work ethic with an NHL skill set and grinders mentality. He is a great kid, and packs a ton of muscle under that small frame, with his attitude I am sure he will overcome his shortcomings in the skating department, and at the very least earn a callup to the NHL.

thats against ohl players. When he was surrounded by nhl caliber skaters he looked like me out there. his decision making was rushed and his complete lack of vision ruined many of rushes. He may very well have grinders mentality but imo in this day and age a grinder needs to be an exceptional skater to make up for his lack of skill. It was only one game but he seem overwelmed in that game. I had high expectations in that game and maybe held him to a higher standard but holy hell did he look bad.

[MSP4LYFE]

I completely disagree...and DSP plays in my backyard, so I've seen him play upwards of 15-20 games live (last year alone). He isn't the best skater, but he combines strong work ethic with an NHL skill set and grinders mentality. He is a great kid, and packs a ton of muscle under that small frame, with his attitude I am sure he will overcome his shortcomings in the skating department, and at the very least earn a callup to the NHL.

thats against ohl players. When he was surrounded by nhl caliber skaters he looked like me out there. his decision making was rushed and his complete lack of vision ruined many of rushes. He may very well have grinders mentality but imo in this day and age a grinder needs to be an exceptional skater to make up for his lack of skill. It was only one game but he seem overwelmed in that game. I had high expectations in that game and maybe held him to a higher standard but holy hell did he look bad.

I only saw the first in todays game, but IMO he was among the top Ducks players out there...And let's not forget he is only 18/19 years old, much development remains.

[bills09]

Dsp was the top ducks player out there against a veteren laden Calgary team.

[bma]

Its ok, bshooks just racist.