I wonder if he fell simply because he was a late bloomer?
I really, truly hope he's in the plans for the Pirates this year. Between him, Ennis, Brennan, a full year of Persson, etc., I'm liking the Portland squad.
It's just good to see, at the very least, that OUR OWN farm team is stockpiled with OUR OWN draft picks and free agents. It's a cool thing to see IMO Posted via Mobile Device
I'm glad to hear some many good things about Schutz. He and Goggles are my favorite not-top prospects in the pipeline, but I think both will be at worst serviceable NHLers. I'd love to see the two of them on a line together with somebody like Good Pominville and see what they could do.
Caught the last 5 minutes of the first half and the whole second half of today's scrimmage. Blue dominated, the final score was 5-1 if memory serves. I didn't see Blue's first two goals but their last three were McNabb, I believe Schutz, and Orpik on a penalty shot. Tropp scored Grey's lone goal on a penalty shot.
Guys who stood out for me:
Shutz was the first star of the scrimmage I thought. He was everywhere, throwing his body around and making plays. At one point there was a big collision between him and Butler in the corner and they had some words in the skate back up the ice.
Brennan and Grags were really driving Blue's offense from the blueline. I was especially impressed with Brennan in the offensive zone, he was always looking to step up and make a play. At one point he ran a give and go with Generous from the blue line, on another occasion he went end to end and got a good shot on Enroth. Brennan has one heck of a shot as well.
Despite Blue's offensive talent from the blueline, the only defender who scored a goal was...McNabb. Wired a shot from the circles high glove side on Enroth.
Byron's very slight but he's got a million moves. I remember him stickhandling around two guys on one occasion.
Fienhage (sp?) stood out by trying to hit everything in sight.
In terms of build, Weber looked like a man among boys out there. He is built like a tank. He was the only player with a red jersey, not sure what this meant, no contact?
Weber was paired with Myers, D-pairing of the future?
Myers didn't stand out much. Well, when I say that I mean he didn't dominate like I was expecting to see. He's very fluid with the puck and I noticed he's very good in getting into spots where he can get shots on net. He was not initiating contact at all.
I didn't notice Gerbe or Kennedy at all. Ennis tried to pull some fancy moves but didn't have much success.
Enroth had a tough afternoon. McNabb picked the corner on him and then Orpik went high glove as well to score on a penalty shot.
Payerl (sp?) was struggling out there, took two penalties.
Other guys can fill in the rest, I'm no expert on evaluating prospects, this is just the stuff that stood out to me. I'm pretty sure I saw Bakes sprinting to his car after the scrimmage, I'm assuming he was rushing to get his report posted for Sabresprospects.
In terms of build, Weber looked like a man among boys out there. He is built like a tank. He was the only player with a red jersey, not sure what this meant, no contact?
They simply ran out of grey jerseys. He is not injured.
But yes, normally red jerseys would be no contact.
Thanks for the write-up ace. I'm glad I'm not the only one unimpressed by Myers this year.
Sounds like Myers didn't take a good first step to making the club in the fall. I hope he uses this as motivation and comes into training camp as a man possessed. Certainly sounds like Weber may have the upper hand right now, no?
This year? It's been what...2.5 practices? It sounds like you were expecting a polished Chara out there...it's just not going to happen yet.
This year['s camp].
I was expecting a slight improvement over what I saw last year. Instead, I saw a little nervousness in his game and some bad decisions on the defensive zone.
This year? It's been what...2.5 practices? It sounds like you were expecting a polished Chara out there...it's just not going to happen yet.
Well it's not like he was horrible....I'll admit that my expectations are high and he didn't have a dominant performance. He played good, steady D though.
I wonder if players who have a shot at making the team, say Myers, Gerbe, Kennedy, consciously or unconsciously don't go as hard in a prospect camp scrimmage as guys who are looking to catch the eyes of the coaches and GM (Ruff and Regier were watching today's scrimmage)- guys for example like Schutz, who are trying to get into the conversation for the NHL, or young guys like Byron, Brennan, Adam who are trying to make a good impression. There's an interview with Gerbe on Sabres.com where he said that "I'm not trying to make the team out of here, you do that in September, I'm just trying to work on little things." I think that's a telling quote.
Just out of curiosity, what time did practice end? I got there at 105 pm (I thought it was 11-2) and didn't see any of it. I might have seen Myers in non-practice gear (some really tall, young dude)...
Just out of curiosity, what time did practice end? I got there at 105 pm (I thought it was 11-2) and didn't see any of it. I might have seen Myers in non-practice gear (some really tall, young dude)...
So still no BZK I'm assuming? Posted via Mobile Device
No, I did not see him out there.
KRT: Christiano said in an interview that Ennis is in the plans for Portland so although he has not been signed yet it a good bet that he will be. Orpik is done with college so he will either be signed or become a Free Agent in the fall (I think it is). I think Biega will go back for another year of college. Not sure about MacKenzie.
McNabb's goal was awesome - galloped up from his blueline, found a seem and wristed it using his check as a screen. He's shown me more than I was expecting.
Just out of curiosity, what time did practice end? I got there at 105 pm (I thought it was 11-2) and didn't see any of it. I might have seen Myers in non-practice gear (some really tall, young dude)...
Same thing happened to me. I actually got there around 12:30 (I think like 12:35, but I'm not positive), and people were already leaving. I stuck around hoping for another session, but it never came. I ended up going around to the back and got a few autographs; Tyler Myers, Corey Fienhage, Connor Knapp, and a few other guys were signing when I was back there. Myers got by far the most attention of the guys I saw. I was more than disappointed to not be able to see the practice, as the SabresDotCom Twitter sent me a message just last night last night saying the open practice was from 11-2. I assumed I'd be able to catch at least an hour of it, but at least I was able to catch a few of the prospects in the back.
The following prospect are going to be signed, yes?
Tyler Ennis (LW)
What about these guys?
Alex Biega (D)
Andrew Orpik (RW)
Drew MacKenzie (D)
I heard Lindy single about Biega. He'll be a junior at Havard this year, will he play in college or get a contract offer?
MacKenzie is going to a Sophmore this year. We own his rights for 3 more years and I wouldn't expect him to be signed before then (not the Sabres MO). As for the rest, I think Chain pretty much covered them. I don't expect a guy going to Harvard to leave school early, no matter how good he is.
Biega will be a senior at Harvard and is going to be team captain from what I recall.
I had a whole writeup ready to go and Sprint Canada ate my signal while it was posting.....
MacKenzie will be back with UV and I expect Orpik tpo be signed.
I agree with you on all counts. Biega should be back at Harvard for one more year, MacKenzie will be in college for three more years most likely, and Orpik should be signed to provide some bottom six grit on the Pirates.
McNabb's goal was awesome - galloped up from his blueline, found a seem and wristed it using his check as a screen. He's shown me more than I was expecting.
How is his skating? Is it as bad as people were making it out to be when he was drafted?
He wasn't signed yet, right? They'll have to sign him if they want him at training camp, right?
Nah, he can show up to camp without being signed. Myers got an extended look last year without being signed. If he impresses they will sign him to an entry deal.
