I find almost every year in this game its the 2nd and 3rd round ranked guys who look the best. The top guys already know they're the top guys. The other kids are trying to prove they can hang with the best in the draft class. Have more to prove.
If any of you guys have time (who watched the game) it would be great to hear who your 3 stars from each team would be and why?
Just throwing it out there... please haha.
Was at the game...
1. Domi (lots of engergy, shifty)
2. Jones (when I noticed him, it was for good things, didnt see any bad)
3. Zadorov/Petan (Petan has a wicked wrist shot I thought(warm ups))
1. Drouin (creative)
2. Subban (great first, tried to create some offence, solid in his own end)
3.....??No one else really did anything for me(Mac tried a few things)
Mantha and Monahan both were on my "naughty" list. Expected more from Monahan, found he was invisible. Mantha looked lazy.
Also thought Fucale made the mose highlight reel saves of any of the goalies
Just not sure if Domi's game will ever be top 6 material in the bigs. Looks to me like a future energy guy that should be pick at best in the 2nd round and especially this year.
As far as Nurse is concerned, well he is tough but geez....looked awful in his fight. Is it always like that?
Zadorov looked like a wall, Morin looks like he's improving almost game after game. Will make that blunder once in a while but he shows some great stuff. Incredibly raw.
Erne looking like Erne. Great player. Dauphin making a name for himself, though I'd wish he would not have been invited....Seems that Habs are interested in him in the 2nd round...will he last that long?
Don't believe nobody can drop from a game like this, but surely some players can put the attention on them for the rest of the year. I will believe it will surely be the case for Dauphin and Morin in the Q.
1. Domi (lots of engergy, shifty)
2. Jones (when I noticed him, it was for good things, didnt see any bad)
3. Zadorov/Petan (Petan has a wicked wrist shot I thought(warm ups))
1. Drouin (creative)
2. Subban (great first, tried to create some offence, solid in his own end)
3.....??No one else really did anything for me(Mac tried a few things)
Mantha and Monahan both were on my "naughty" list. Expected more from Monahan, found he was invisible. Mantha looked lazy.
Also thought Fucale made the mose highlight reel saves of any of the goalies
Seriously?... That was the worst game I have seen Drouin ever play at the Metro Centre IMO
Last edited by CrosKinnon: 01-16-2013 at 10:42 PM.
Seriously?... That was the worst game I have seen Drouin ever play at the Metro Centre IMO
Definitely. He tried to make too many moves (a recent trend) and lost the puck numerous times. He also failed on no look passes a few times completely turning it over. Most nights he is successful in 90 percent of his stickhandling.
Seriously?... That was the worst game I have seen Drouin ever play at the Metro Centre IMO
Yep. He is the guy I noticed the most on Team Cherry. I agree it was by no means a high level he was playing at and that he was trying to do too much, but I didn't see anyone else on his team doing much of anything offensively. I thought the team in general struggled and hardly anyone could "make a pass or hit the one timer) in the offensive zone
Wow the big guys were so unimpressive. I mean Jones was pretty good but I was expecting them to be great. I mean these guys are the 1, 2, and 3 best prospects in the world in a deep draft year.
Are you kidding me?
Seth Jones was dominating the game the first period, like literally made everyone else look like lower tier players.
There was one little play in the third period, that I'm sure you'll see about a million times in the week leading up to the draft. With his team down three, McKinnon gets the puck, steams into the offensive zone and one defenceman fends him off and Jones comes in and puts him down on the ice and, to me, it seemed like such a perfect summation of how it's going to stack up at the end of the year: McKinnon, a very good player having a very good year, being shut down by Seth Jones.
My faves of the night were Dauphin, Hartman, Petan (I'd be very surprised if he wasn't a 1st round pick by June.
I'm hoping that after they win the Stanley Cup, the Oilers manage to snag Curtis Lazar at the tail end of the first round because that guy just screams 'solid player who'll stick in the NHL for a long time'. Even tonight, when he wasn't producing offensively, he was in there grinding away, even getting in a fight with a much larger opponent, holding his own, and laughing about it afterwards. The kid just seems to love to play hockey.
MacKinnon was easily the best forward for team Cherry. Looked very dangerous coming down the wing, but was very unselfish with the puck, which I was disappointed in.
Jo Drouin... Was that you Jo? Probably made only a handful of bad passes in his whole career in Halifax, and matched that in the second period tonight. Wasn't thinking the game like he did at the WJC or here with the Moose ... Tried to hit more often than he does in junior, maybe trying to show the scouts physical readiness ... Anyways, it wasn't working for him.
Seth didn't do anything to make him stand out ... Obviously you're not going to be wowed every game, and a lot of people expect the world each night from Nathan and Seth which is unfair, but nothing tremendous ... Certainly is calm with the puck and an excellent skater.
Now for the others, that aren't the "Big dogs" ...
Darnell Nurse - First live viewing of him, and I'm impressed ... Easy to see why he's mentioned in the potential for top 10. Tough as nails, good puck skills, and was easily the best D for grapes, and in the game IMO ...
Nikita Zadorov - Very fun to watch. Not much offensively, but pasted several guys along the wall ... Big physical player, top 20 pick.
Mirco Mueller - Never heard of him, but he made his presence felt for me this week. Great skater, and so poised with the puck ... Wouldn't be surprised to see him go in the early stages of round 2, late first tops.
Ryan Hartman - I was drooling at the thought of him playing with Nate and Jo regularly lol ... Very physical and has a good shot, really fun to watch tonight.
Valentin Zykov and Fred Gauthier - Big, skilled with the puck, just didn't seem to know what to do when (they) got in the offensive zone.
Max Domi - Looks very small out there, but is pretty strong. Great hands, but may be the most hated player by Moose fans for his dirty cross check on MacKinnon lol ... One of the top forwards for Orr tonight.
Adam Erne - Always impressed with him as I've seen him a lot, but tonight showed how well he can drive the puck to the net. Can't see him slipping outside the top 15.
Laurent Dauphin - Wondering why he wasn't on the team originally. Best player out there, and with his play in Chicoutimi he's done everything in his power to improve his draft stock.
Goalies - Jarry and Martin were great. Poor Fucale. Made several spectacular saves and looked like 2012 playoff Fucale, but was the only goalie with a GA, and 3 at that ... No chance on the Erne goal, and the defense kind of backed off the 2nd one ... I'll always try and defend him lol, too bad though.
Overall, didn't like the game. No flow on Cherry's side, and there weren't enough offensively minded forwards on the team to create a lot of quality scoring chances ... White was better on paper, and they showed it ... Don't know if I would like to see this seven times lol ....
Once in a lifetime experience in our hometown though, so I can't complain.
As someone who watches the 67s its been one of his most 'meh' offensive performances of the year. He's been extremely solid defensively though.
Definitely not a great Monahan performance, as he seemed a bit off with his timing offensively. Part of it was that his linemates were unfamiliar (and in my opinion not very impressive), but the pace of the game might not have helped. Monahan is used to controlling the flow of play offensively, and it's harder to do that in a game like that - not the style where you can make that adjustment instantly. On the plus side, he made several strong defensive plays and probably reinforced that his all-round game is top notch.
I doubt that this game matters much for Monahan's stock though, at least with scouts. Few players in this draft have been more heavily scouted over the past three years, so scouts know what he's about. His performances with Team Canada for the WJC (mixed results overall) during the summer and fall are far more relevant.
MacKinnon was easily the best forward for team Cherry. Looked very dangerous coming down the wing, but was very unselfish with the puck, which I was disappointed in.
Jo Drouin... Was that you Jo? Probably made only a handful of bad passes in his whole career in Halifax, and matched that in the second period tonight. Wasn't thinking the game like he did at the WJC or here with the Moose ... Tried to hit more often than he does in junior, maybe trying to show the scouts physical readiness ... Anyways, it wasn't working for him.
Seth didn't do anything to make him stand out ... Obviously you're not going to be wowed every game, and a lot of people expect the world each night from Nathan and Seth which is unfair, but nothing tremendous ... Certainly is calm with the puck and an excellent skater.
Now for the others, that aren't the "Big dogs" ...
Darnell Nurse - First live viewing of him, and I'm impressed ... Easy to see why he's mentioned in the potential for top 10. Tough as nails, good puck skills, and was easily the best D for grapes, and in the game IMO ...
Nikita Zadorov - Very fun to watch. Not much offensively, but pasted several guys along the wall ... Big physical player, top 20 pick.
Mirco Mueller - Never heard of him, but he made his presence felt for me this week. Great skater, and so poised with the puck ... Wouldn't be surprised to see him go in the early stages of round 2, late first tops.
Ryan Hartman - I was drooling at the thought of him playing with Nate and Jo regularly lol ... Very physical and has a good shot, really fun to watch tonight.
Valentin Zykov and Fred Gauthier - Big, skilled with the puck, just didn't seem to know what to do when (they) got in the offensive zone.
Max Domi - Looks very small out there, but is pretty strong. Great hands, but may be the most hated player by Moose fans for his dirty cross check on MacKinnon lol ... One of the top forwards for Orr tonight.
Adam Erne - Always impressed with him as I've seen him a lot, but tonight showed how well he can drive the puck to the net. Can't see him slipping outside the top 15.
Laurent Dauphin - Wondering why he wasn't on the team originally. Best player out there, and with his play in Chicoutimi he's done everything in his power to improve his draft stock.
Goalies - Jarry and Martin were great. Poor Fucale. Made several spectacular saves and looked like 2012 playoff Fucale, but was the only goalie with a GA, and 3 at that ... No chance on the Erne goal, and the defense kind of backed off the 2nd one ... I'll always try and defend him lol, too bad though.
Overall, didn't like the game. No flow on Cherry's side, and there weren't enough offensively minded forwards on the team to create a lot of quality scoring chances ... White was better on paper, and they showed it ... Don't know if I would like to see this seven times lol ....
Once in a lifetime experience in our hometown though, so I can't complain.
Very nice post.
The more I watch Hartman the more I think he'll be somewhere between Hartnell and Clowe.
Being live at the game and from Halifax, here is my take on the top 3 guys:
Jones looked VERY steady and always made the smart, easy passes. Didn't force anything. He jumped into the rush a fair bit, but was always back on D.
MacK and Drouin- Their line was the only line that had sustained pressure in the offensive zone. The rest of the team seemed to be fighting the puck a lot during breakouts, whereas Team Orr was MUCH better at this. as others have stated, Drouin was bad last night. I saw about 5 different times that Nate was open, and Drouin chose to make a more difficlt pass to another player or tried to stickhandle thru someone. Maybe Driun's drive for 1st overall has him not wanting to help Nate as well. Just a feeling. Either way, this was the best line and Nate had approx 6 shots.
Something that is going unnoticed with jones is how he would step up to cut off potential passes to any winger on his side. He did that more in last nights game then ive ever seen from a jr defenseman.
As others have mentioned, everybody I have talked to was impressed with zadorov. Big smooth defenseman who threw some very stiff checks. Off game for jo, he seemed to be playing way too cute. All of cherrys team could not pull the trigger around the net.
I was impressed with bowey as well. Great speed and he used it to join the play a lot, I wouldn't mind my Bruins taking him late in the 1st round.
Fucale made some very tough saves and I'm sure hed like that 2nd goal back, but all in all he was hungout to dry a lot of the time.
- Sean Monahan just doesn't impress me. I loved the kid when I watched him as a 15 or 16 year old (don't remember which tournament it was exactly, or when exactly). But since that time, he just doesn't stand out to me. Yeah, he's well rounded, but I don't think I've ever seen him take over a game offensively or really stand out in any other way. Not sure why he's constantly being talked about as a top 4-5 pick.
- Darnell Nurse reminds me a lot of Duncan Siemens. Both big, mean and great skaters. Could see some teams liking Darnell in their top 10.
- For me, Seth Jones was far and away the best player on the ice during the top prospects game. Dominant at both ends.
- Other players who stood out for me were: Erne, Zadorov, Horvat, Martin, Jarry, Petan, Bowey, Morin, Bailey, Subban and Lazar's left hand.
Reading through this thread I really can't believe the amount of "Seth Jones didn't really stand out" type of comments.
Are you kidding me? He joined the rush about 4-5 times in the 1st period alone and didn't make a mistake defensively all night. If you didn't notice his play, then I have no idea what game you were watching. Like I said above, he was hands down the best player on the ice in the game for me.
