I watched both of Saskatoon games this weekend. They outscored Regina 16-0 over the weekend
. Hopefully they carry that momentum. That's the best I've seen them play this year.
Dalton Thrower played his first and second games back from injury. He picked up 1 goal and was +6. He was paired with Colorado Avalanche prospect Duncan Siemens for the most part. He scored a beautiful goal after intercepting a pass, came flying down the wing and cut to the slot and went backhand on the goalie. He also dropped the gloves after someone ran Makarov, but the guy turned around and hid behind the refs. For the most part, I really liked his defensive game. He's very aggressive though, which at times can be his downfall. However, when it's situations where he has to defend, he usually makes the right play. I don't think he got beat 1-on-1 in either game. His skating and active stick can definitely be attributed to that. I also liked how he pushed the play forward. Playing with Siemens certainly allowed for Thrower to take more risks. Whether it be with a big hit on the blue line, passing, or by carrying the puck out, he's always pushing it forward. Speaking of passing, he's fantastic at it. His passes are crisp and accurate and he can pass extremely well under pressure. His saucer pass was a big surprise to me, it's very accurate. I mentioned how he's sometimes to aggressive in his own zone, well that also stands offensively too. Sometimes he gets too aggressive charging the puck forward, and ends up turning it over. Also, Thrower picked absolutely terrible times to the shoot the puck. I think his shooting percentage this weekend was 100%, because not one of the other times he shot hit the net as they were all blocked immediately.
I really liked Thrower's play for the most part this weekend. He provides that aggressiveness that we've missed on our backend since Wisniewski left. Hopefully he can become a player like him. Personally, I think he has it in him. He's a fantastic skater, has great hands and offensive instincts, hits everything, and is extremely aggressive.
Darren Dietz picked up an assist and was +3. He was generally paired with Graeme. Similar to Thrower, you can't help but like his combination of skating and bulldog-like mentality. Despite only picking up one point, he probably could have a few goals over the weekend. His speed always impresses me. He's just so deceptive with it. One moment you thing he's going to lose the footrace and then he takes one strides and he wins it. While he's been good all year (especially the first 10 games or so), he hasn't been very aggressive. However this weekend, he was definitely aggressive. He laid a few hits and missed quite a few others. Dietz was great in the corners too, he won the vast majority of his puck battles. He did have a few bad reads though, particularly in the first game. Luckily Makarov came up big and his skating allowed him to get back in position. Offensively, he had a large number of chances. He has a great wrist shot and a bomb of a point shot. Both of which he uses he very effectively. His assist came from a shot that rebounded right on McColgan's stick for an easy tap in.
He had a great weekend too. He made was very good defensively and had multiple chances offensively. He's more of a power play specialist offensively, as he doesn't really show off that craftiness that he demonstrates on the PP. His booming shot is a huge part of his production.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dirty Danglez
How is it that the Blades have scored a combined 16 goals in two games this weekend while thrower and Dietz combined for 1 goal and 1 assist?? I'm only asking because I havn't watched the games. Who's getting all the points???
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Their forwards. Nicholls had 6 points, Stransky and Walker had 7, and Kambeitz had 5. Most of the Blades goals came from sustained pressure or capitalizing on terrible give aways in the Regina zone.