Valentenko- is a beast. Looks like Obyrne last year. This kid has filled out. Nobody was talking to him. Where´s chipper when you need him. Valentenko won´t be in Hamilton for too long.
Subban- Strong skater, outgoing personality, hard working. Great agility, very good speed. Looks really solid. Caught a glimpse of his uncanny hands while he was goofing around at the end.
MCDonagh est de loin le plus talentueux et son coup de patin de reculons dépasse celui de tout les autres joueurs par une bonne distance. Seul défault: ne sait pas patiner sur un seul patin (il a paru fou lors de cette excercice)
Pacioretty m´a vraiment impressionné et il est très grand.
Joueur le plus sympathique avec les fans : et non, ce n´est pas Subban, mais bel et bien Beauregard qui a parlé à tout le monde et fesait bien rigoler les fans lors de la séance d´autographe. Sur la glace, la bonhumeur de Subban m´a aussi marqué.
d´autre
On to Mcdonagh which I´m sure everyone is curious about, like I said since its just skating drills its hard to paint a picture about a player. Mcdonagh is fast, both forward and backwards, had a hard time in the one leg skating drill but seems to come as advertised vis a vis his skating, the guy is about 6´1 and 205 but well built, good frame.
David Fisher, the first thing that I noticed was his size, I saw him at the same camp last year and he wasn´t nearly as imposing, the kid had a growth spurt this year, he was the biggest guy on the ice, he´s listed at 6´4 192 and it was obvious he got bigger, needs more bulk to really look NHL size, but he´s getting there,I assume he´s not done growing. Unlike Subban, Fisher is a more effortless skater, smooth strides and efficient strides whereas Subban are powerful energetic strides.
Valetenko, 6´2 214, looks like an NHL Dman, may not be as tall as Fisher but looks stronger, not the best skater but seems to have adequate mobility, not in Subban,Mcdonagh or Fisher category, definitely ticket as a #6 type guy.
Matt Carle isn´t overly tall but he´s built like a Bouillon, he´s about 5´11and 215-220, skates decently but nothing great, I think as a dman his strength is with the puck, I saw him last year and he´s very good passer and a good shot.
Webber and Torp, are in the same kind of situation, still way too small for dmen, under 6´0 and about 190 to 195, but theyt skate extremely well, very quick guys and mobile, they are fleet footed guys that have jump to their step...but they need to get bigger to have any shot at the NHL, they´re definitely in that category of smallish quick dmen.
Kishel- seemed a step behind all day. He is young and needs time. Just seemed a bit out of his league.
Pacquet- is big and mature. Filled in a bit since last year...but could fill in more. Good skating and agility, not great. Seems calm and consistent.
Cepek -improved a lot since last year in terms of skating. Still not great all around.
On to forwards.
Pacioretty in my opinion was the best skating forward, which is great to see because he has great size, 6´1 and 212, he is fast and mobile, turns corners very well as was seen on pylon (no Souray wasn´t there) drills. I can´t wait to see how this kid is with a puck, hopefully tomorrow, if he´s as good with a puck as with his skating we may have ourselves a gem here people, he really looked good today, power forward with wheels.
Ben Maxwell also looked good, he´s in that Fisher mold of skating, effortless strides but very efficient, he doesn´t look like he skates hard or makes a big effort but he´s just as effective as anyone else. I saw him last year and I know he´s a good player with a puck, stickhandles well and so on...Maxwell is a guy we should really get excited about, he did well at the big camp last year and has some Brad Richards and Jonathan Toews in him, I´m basing this on what I saw last year...if he´s going back to junior like I suspect he should dominate that league, we´re talking top scorer.
One guy that impressed me alot today was this years 4rth rounder I think, Andrew Conboy, with Fisher the biggest guy on the ice, 6´4 196 and moves extremely well, good skater, can skate pretty fast in a straight line, not as agile as Pacioretty but still pretty good for a guy his size, interested to see him with pucks tomorrow.
Ryan White, he´s not a great skater, really needs to work hard to get from point A to B, but gives it a hell of an effort, this guy had a great year In Calgary last year so he must be a traffic, puck protection guy, skating is not his strength.
Olivier Fortier, if he has Begin type game like everyone says than we´ll be happy because he´s got wheels, combine that kind of high energy game with his speed and he´ll be effective....I liked what I saw from him.
Aubin- good strong stride. Big frame. seemed really comfortable with all the drills. Should play in Hamilton this year.
Stewart- solid unspectacular. May take Lambert´s spot in Hamilton/ECHL.
Beauregard- worked hard. skates a bit like Yannick Perreault. May end up being that kind of player (we can only hope). Seems agile but not fast.
d´apres toi ?