Livewire
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I just returned home from day 2 of the Blackhawks prospects camp. The players were broken into 2 separate groups and each group held a 1 hour scrimmage. If you can make it to Johnny's Ice House West tomorrow or monday between 10 am and 2 pm I would highly recommend trying to catch one of the last 2 days of camp. I was killing for some hockey being that I am not a baseball fan and football season is still a couple months away. The players were playing fast and hard trying to earn an invite to training camp and really provided some great hockey to watch.
The first session was highlighted by the play of Kevin and Jimmy Hayes. They played on a line centered by Brandon Pirri. That line controlled the game when they were on the ice and provided the most goals and scoring chances of any line during the day. All three contributed and played well but Jimmy Hayes was the catalyst and most impressive player in the first group.
Jeremy Morin also was impressive, he was fast to the puck and being he is a smaller guy he plays very tough in the corners. Philippe Paradis showed his skills and also created some offense with his crafty passing.
We had a fight between Sena Acolatse and Justin Courtnall in the first group, both landed some good blows but in the end I gave the fight to the smaller Acolste who showed to be a very scrappy kid.
Kyle Beach skated with the first group but did not have his best performance today. Beach made a few plays at the net and was seen playing the point a lot of the time, he almost started a fight as well. Still you could feel his presence on the ice with how physical he plays and he knows how to find the open ice, it just seemed like his line mates could not and that could be the reason I found his performance unimpressive.
During the second group of skaters Shawn Lalonde owned the ice. The kid looked and performed like he played in the NHL last season. He is an amazing skater and has great vision. He also created a ton of offense by jumping up into plays. I think this kid has a roster spot waiting for him in the NHL. He partnered with Nick Leddy who played well, he was crafty with the puck but still shows he is not big and physical enough to play in the NHL yet. He still impressed with his skill.
Probably the only mistake by Lalonde all day was when Mathis Olimb dangled a puck through his legs for a break away. Olimb looked really good at times (he created a few offensive plays by himself and had a few take aways where I thought I was watching Pavel Datsyuk on the ice) but his play was inconsistent and would dissapear on the ice at times.
Marcus Kruger played well in the second group showing a strong 2-way game. Aaron Bogosian (brother of Zach Bogosian of the Thrashers) looked really solid on the ice, not a flashy player but played a good simple game.
The two players that surprised me the most today were Terry Broadhurst and Ludvig Rensfeldt. Broadhurst created a lot of offense on his own and even scored a nice breakaway goal. He is not the strongest skater but plays hard and tough and looked to have good hands. Rensfeldt started the second scrimmage with the puck on his stick for the entire first 5 minuets, as it seemed. He plays fast for his size and had great vision and made some great tape to tape passes.
The pictures and video are uploading right now and will be posted shortly.
The first session was highlighted by the play of Kevin and Jimmy Hayes. They played on a line centered by Brandon Pirri. That line controlled the game when they were on the ice and provided the most goals and scoring chances of any line during the day. All three contributed and played well but Jimmy Hayes was the catalyst and most impressive player in the first group.
Jeremy Morin also was impressive, he was fast to the puck and being he is a smaller guy he plays very tough in the corners. Philippe Paradis showed his skills and also created some offense with his crafty passing.
We had a fight between Sena Acolatse and Justin Courtnall in the first group, both landed some good blows but in the end I gave the fight to the smaller Acolste who showed to be a very scrappy kid.
Kyle Beach skated with the first group but did not have his best performance today. Beach made a few plays at the net and was seen playing the point a lot of the time, he almost started a fight as well. Still you could feel his presence on the ice with how physical he plays and he knows how to find the open ice, it just seemed like his line mates could not and that could be the reason I found his performance unimpressive.
During the second group of skaters Shawn Lalonde owned the ice. The kid looked and performed like he played in the NHL last season. He is an amazing skater and has great vision. He also created a ton of offense by jumping up into plays. I think this kid has a roster spot waiting for him in the NHL. He partnered with Nick Leddy who played well, he was crafty with the puck but still shows he is not big and physical enough to play in the NHL yet. He still impressed with his skill.
Probably the only mistake by Lalonde all day was when Mathis Olimb dangled a puck through his legs for a break away. Olimb looked really good at times (he created a few offensive plays by himself and had a few take aways where I thought I was watching Pavel Datsyuk on the ice) but his play was inconsistent and would dissapear on the ice at times.
Marcus Kruger played well in the second group showing a strong 2-way game. Aaron Bogosian (brother of Zach Bogosian of the Thrashers) looked really solid on the ice, not a flashy player but played a good simple game.
The two players that surprised me the most today were Terry Broadhurst and Ludvig Rensfeldt. Broadhurst created a lot of offense on his own and even scored a nice breakaway goal. He is not the strongest skater but plays hard and tough and looked to have good hands. Rensfeldt started the second scrimmage with the puck on his stick for the entire first 5 minuets, as it seemed. He plays fast for his size and had great vision and made some great tape to tape passes.
The pictures and video are uploading right now and will be posted shortly.
