Menard is a hard worker, team player, solid defensively but chips in with the offense too.
Best of luck to him with the Petes, hoping this is a deal that works well for both teams, and especially for Menard himself in his last year in the O. According to Tony Saxon, Storm GM Mike Kelly made this move to open up some ice time to develop some of the team's younger players: http://guelphmercury.blogs.com/storm...rd-traded.html
Agree with Marcus, he shows up every night ready to go. Does the little things needed.
I thought that even before the trade, we probably have 7 or 8 guys ready for top 6 minutes. Mitchell, Kosmachuk, Richard, McGinn, Garlent, Dickinson, Fabbri, Menard and you could argue McNaughton. So I guess Menard was just the odd one out here as Mike Kelly turns to younger guys.
Agree with Marcus, he shows up every night ready to go. Does the little things needed.
I thought that even before the trade, we probably have 7 or 8 guys ready for top 6 minutes. Mitchell, Kosmachuk, Richard, McGinn, Garlent, Dickinson, Fabbri, Menard and you could argue McNaughton. So I guess Menard was just the odd one out here as Mike Kelly turns to younger guys.
I wanted to comment on this yesterday and I agree that this will be great as some of the above names will get bigger and better roles.
I wanted to comment on this yesterday and I agree that this will be great as some of the above names will get bigger and better roles.
I agree I think this team is in for a good year offensively. Hopefully Mike Kelly adresses the D because that's still a big weakness. And Hopefully Sparks has been training hard this off-season and shows up ready to play.
Congrats to Hunter Garlent and Jason Dickinson on their invites to the camp for the Hlinka Tourney in August...
A quick look through the musings and prognostications of the "experts" on this site leads me to believe they're both long-shots to make the team; but given Garlent's play at the U-17s and Dickinson's play through the last half of the season and playoffs- I think either or both will surprise some folks!
Matt Finn - 2nd Round, Toronto
Brock McGinn - 2nd Round, Carolina
Scott Kosmachuk - 3rd Round, Winnipeg
Tanner Richard - 3rd Round, Lightning
Mitchell is attending Jets development camp
Hell of a draft for Storm City. When you factor in Garlent and Dickinson as top 3 round talents for 2013, and a very good talent in Fabbri, it's hard not to get excited.
Guelph have shipped prospect defenceman Connor Carrick to Plymouth for a 6th round draft choice. Carrick was originally drafted in the 11th round of the OHL draft.
Don't want to open new thread just for one post, so I will ask it here. How good player is Brandon Buck, former Guelpher ? What are his strenghts and weaknesses. Is he good in faceoffs ?
I am asking all of this because today he signed for my team. Medvescak, croatian franchise that plays in EBEL league.
Brandon's got good size and is a good skater, forechecks hard and uses his body. He had a good work rate in his time with Guelph, was always one of the hardest working kids on the team. Made the team as a free agent walk on, so shows you something about his make up.
He's got some touch around the net too and pays attention to his own end.
He's a decent two way forward at a certain level, he's a bottom six / depth player at the AHL level, probably fits in well at the ECHL level.
Brandon's got good size and is a good skater, forechecks hard and uses his body. He had a good work rate in his time with Guelph, was always one of the hardest working kids on the team. Made the team as a free agent walk on, so shows you something about his make up.
He's got some touch around the net too and pays attention to his own end.
He's a decent two way forward at a certain level, he's a bottom six / depth player at the AHL level, probably fits in well at the ECHL level.
Can anybody tell me if Menard wore an A in Guelph? And what kind of guy he is off the ice? Thanks
Well he wore the A for road games. The Storm didn't have the traditional C with two A's. We had 3 guys wear the A at home and 3 different guys on the road.
I have never actually met him but everyone I have heard says he's a great guy off the ice, no issues. He also always seemed happy to be able to do PR's and other things.
Never quite understood that selection, if you talk to the boys' father for minimum 5 minutes you willl realize family has zero interest in the OHL, as further evidenced by older boy now playing at Harvard (and Mark was ranked much higher pre-draft).
I thought teams normally guage player's interest prior to selecting them?
Never quite understood that selection, if you talk to the boys' father for minimum 5 minutes you willl realize family has zero interest in the OHL, as further evidenced by older boy now playing at Harvard (and Mark was ranked much higher pre-draft).
I thought teams normally guage player's interest prior to selecting them?
Not necessarily, the scouting staff obviously liked something about the the player. The 12th round is a good time to take a player like Luzar, someone that they may be able to convince to head over to the OHL. Happens all the time, and it seems, so far, like this time it will not work out.
Not necessarily, the scouting staff obviously liked something about the the player. The 12th round is a good time to take a player like Luzar, someone that they may be able to convince to head over to the OHL. Happens all the time, and it seems, so far, like this time it will not work out.
Spoke to his dad about 3 weeks ago and asked if they were attending the camp. He shrugged his shoulders and indicated they had gotten an email a while back, had not responded and didn't seem interested in responding.
Doesn't sound like much of a convincing, but I'll trust your word on it.
Spoke to his dad about 3 weeks ago and asked if they were attending the camp. He shrugged his shoulders and indicated they had gotten an email a while back, had not responded and didn't seem interested in responding.
Doesn't sound like much of a convincing, but I'll trust your word on it.
Good luck to the Storm this season!
Well that's the risk I guess, it's a shame because I really like his size.
But it's the same reason we took Americans Tuch and Stevens, in hopes they can be convicned to actually show up.
THE ROSTER: 46 players: four goalies, 13 defencemen and 29 forwards. Split into two groups, with each group practising twice a day and scrimmaging twice a day.
THE BREAKDOWN: 20 returnees, four free agents, 11 players drafted this year and 11 draft picks from 2011 that didn’t make last year’s team.
THE BATTLES: Returnees Spencer Turcotte and Patrick Watling up front and Mac Nichol and Daniel Poliziani on the blueline will battle a crop of rookies for a roster spot.
KEEP AN EYE ON: 2011 third-rounder Michael Levesque looks to make a presence physically; local boy Brody Milne has plenty of potential; Big blueliner Chad Bauman is very physical.
LOCAL FLAVOR: Free agent invitee Steven Domenchini and 2011 picks Milne and Ryan Migliaccio are from Guelph; 2012 pick Griffin Heitshu is from Puslinch; Free agent Matt Martin played on the Guelph Hurricanes last year.
SEE FOR YOURSELF: Scrimmages go weekdays at 10:45 a.m. and 5:10 p.m. They last an hour and are open to the public.
THE SURE THING: First-rounder Robby Fabbri is reportedly a star in the making.
THE NEXT THING: Goaltender of the future Matt Mancina, this year’s third round pick, will be in camp but is already slated to play junior B in Leamington.
THE LONG SHOT: Derian Plouffe, a 5’11”, 155-pound winger taken in the eighth round in 2011, had 17 goals in 56 games with Kanata of the tough Central Junior A Hockey League.
First day in the books, it was a fairly exciting day of scrimmages.
Patrick Watling looks much improved. Looks much better as far as putting on muscle and he can fight through checks and work along the boards better.
Justin Auger appeared to be better at using size to his advantage.
Both Chad Bauman and Kyle Locke impressed me with there physical game from the back end.
Tyler Bertuzzi according to Tony Saxon measured an even six foot at fitness testing yesterday, and he certianly looked bigger today.
Robby Fabbri during the night scrimmage was by far the best player on the ice, his skill level is off the chart.
We even had a fight during the night scrimmage. Ryan Migliacco fought a much bigger Spencer Turcotte. Both got a few punches in but Turcotte was the winner.
For any Storm fans out there, if you can get to the Sleeman Centre I highly reccomend it, it's some exciting hockey.
How has Michael Levesque looked so far in this years training camp? What are the chances that he makes the team?
I like his physical game, and his skating looks decent as well. Looks much better this year then he did at last years camp. As for his chances, I would say he is definitely in the mix for one of the final forward spots.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dean youngblood82
You just have to look to Reid Boucher and Connor Murphy as expels in Sarnia. When they drafted these
Future NHL draftees, they had no intent of coming
Situations change. Worth the risk sometimes
Exactaly, sometimes a player gets drafted and the NHL team decides that junior would be the best route for a player. A recent example would be Connor Carrick, who Guelph traded to Plymouth. I have a feeling the Washington Capitals wanted Carrick in the OHL, and that had bearing on his decision because up until the draft he seemed like a fairly strong Michigan Wolverine commit.
