Blake Clarke – McKeen's Hockey

The curious case of Blake Clarke

McKeen's Staff — Thu, 01 May 2014 13:00:34 +0000

It seemed easy to project Blake Clarke at first.

A first round pick of the Brampton Battalion in the 2012 Ontario Hockey League priority selection (15^th overall), the native of Wildwood, Mo. appeared on the fast track to success as a rookie. Clarke played a big role on the Battalion as a rookie, scoring 19 times and adding 32 assists for 51 points in 68 games.

Whether one wants to attribute his second season as a sophomore jinx or the signs of a once highly-touted prospect who lost his touch, no prospect saw their production fall off quite so dramatically as Clarke’s. After suffering an injury early in the year, Clarke then asked the Battalion, who moved to North Bay in the summer, for a trade.

A change in scenery only brought more of the same for Clarke, who couldn’t tap back into his offensive prowess once dealt to the Saginaw Spirit. A disappointing two goals, 10 assists in 54 games may have taken him out of draft consideration altogether.

In some ways, Clarke could have learned from teammate and fellow draft eligible prospect Dylan Sadowy. Although not considered an offensive force, Sadowy did the dirty work Clarke was unwilling to do and as a result, found himself in the Spirit’s top six, where he flourished with his north-south style.

Photo by Terry Wilson / OHL Images.

Blake Clarke (2014), LW

Few players’ stock dropped more than Clarke’s, whose production dropped by a stunning 39 points, including 17 fewer goals than he scored as a rookie .. a shoulder injury sustained during the All American Prospect Game derailed his season (missed 14 games) and subsequently resulted in him requesting a trade from North Bay .. an offensive-minded player with good instincts for the game, he can create with the puck in his possession and put it into good positions .. a bow-legged skater with a deceptive quality, he has good short-term quickness but only exhibits it below the offensive blue line .. does not play with any type of aggression in either zone and looked apprehensive to engage -- always kept plays to the outside, refusing to attack the dirty areas of the ice .. an easy player to play against on the defensive side of the puck as he doesn’t engage in open ice and loses board battles quite regularly .. coasts back into plays and far too often separated himself from the action .. Clarke has potential due to his impressive first year totals and untapped offensive ability .. he needs to find a return to his 2012-13 form and should get plenty more ice time next season with Saginaw to develop.

Photo by Terry Wilson / OHL Images.

Dylan Sadowy (2014), LW

Sadowy registered a 25 goal improvement from his rookie season largely in part to a promotion in January into the top six playing alongside Kea and Moutrey .. the sum of his parts, Sadowy plays a simple yet effective game as he habitually drives and heads to the net as soon as his line-mates have possession of the puck .. his goals come as a direct result of his hard work -- he stays with plays, has better than average hand/eye coordination and is not afraid to sacrifice his body to score dirty tallies in the crease .. does a very good job of positioning himself well inside the offensive zone and has a knack for getting his stick on pucks .. competes at both ends of the rink but can be guilty of not moving his feet at times in the neutral zone as he gets caught behind the play .. Sadowy is an average skater with no explosiveness in his stride or prevailing gear .. also lacks balance as he tends to fall down too much .. although not a physical force, he can play a pestering style that gets under the opposition’s skin .. Sadowy put up Cy Young numbers with his goal to assist ratio (27-9).

2014 NHL Draft: Saginaw Spirit game reports, Dylan Sadowy, Blake Clarke, Brandon Prophet

David Burstyn — Wed, 26 Mar 2014 15:03:48 +0000

The Saginaw Spirit underwent an unspeakable event with the passing of teammate Terry Trafford recently.

The Spirit rallied in the face of adversity and are giving the heavily-favoured Erie Otters all they can handle in their first round playoff series.

Once considered a promising prospect for this draft, Blake Clarke’s stock began falling well before being traded by North Bay to Saginaw. The Chesterfield, Mo. native actually gets lower marks for playing through injury.

Dylan Sadowy, meanwhile, found his game while playing alongside two big bodies, making him an intriguing prospect for the draft. Brandon Prophet’s eagerness is noteworthy, yet his effectiveness doesn’t always correlate to his work ethic.

McKeen’s Hockey Director of Scouting David Burstyn profiles three Spirit prospects from a recent game report.

Photo by Terry Wilson / OHL Images.

Dylan Sadowy (2014), RW

Confidence has been growing since lining up with two of the Spirit’s bigger players, Justin Kea and Nick Moutrey .. added an offensive element to the line .. numbers look similar to a Cy Young award-winning pitcher with 27 goals to accompany nine assists (68-27-9-36) .. modest size that could stand to fill out more to avoid slight appearance on the ice .. plays a consistent two-way game but can be prone to stop moving his feet at times in the neutral zone and subsequently being caught out of position .. an average skater with a sluggish first step, slight knock-knee and struggles with balanc and isprone to falling down .. skill-set is not elite, meaning his goals are a direct result of his hard work .. stays with plays, willingly drives the net and is not afraid to sacrifice his body .. shows strong determination inside the offensive zone and keeps his game simple showing that he can contribute .. skating needs to improve and he mustbulk up to be effective at the pro level.

Blake Clarke (2014), LW

No player has seen a decline in their offensive numbers more so than Clarke with a meagre 12 points through 54 games (54-2-10-12) .. after skating a regular shift on Brampton’s first line last season, he was shipped to Saginaw just before the Christmas break for Zach Bratina .. participated at the All American Top Prospects Game where he played through a shouldeinujuryr which heneglected to tell the training staff which resulted in a slow start .. unable to find his groove in Saginaw despite possessing solid offensive instincts and better than average puck skills .. can make plays with the puck in his possession but too often bails on plays and does not compete hard enough for the puck .. skating is OK; he is a bow-legged skater with deceptive quickness and can accelerate with the puck .. always a step behind without the puck, which negatively affects his defensive contributions .. consistently loses board battles, making him easy prey for the opposition .. apprehensive to engage and plays a more perimeter game, refusing to attack the dirty areas of the ice or driving lanes without the puck .. Clarke has soft hands and can architect plays but he needs to regain his confidence as he has shown he can produce at this level.

Brandon Prophet (2014), D

Jesse Graham’s addition was a boon for Prophet as the two play together, alleviating pressure on Prophet to ignite the offence by rushing the puck up ice and making plays offensively .. offensive zone reads and pinches are often miscalculated, subsequently leading to odd-man rushes the other way .. skating is plausible -- lateral quickness needs to be addressed and forward skating is a tad jerky .. skates with his feet too close together which affects his stride and overall speed .. pivots and overall fluidity get exposed when smaller, skilled players dance around him .. ordinary puck skills , average decision making and creativityand is not a threat to make a play up ice.. a big body who plays with some jam and is good on the PK due to his size and the amount of ice he can cover.

CHL Top Prospects Game notebook: Forwards

Grant McCagg — Sat, 15 Feb 2014 12:00:03 +0000

Here are some of the key plays and memorable highlights from the 2014 BMO CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game.

We first reviewed the game and concentrated on the play of just the 12 defencemen participating - and then went back over the contest a third time - with an eye on only the forwards.

Notes are listed below by period - and by the amount of time left in the period.

Here is a list of the defensemen and forwards by team - as they are noted below by only their last names:

DEFENCE

Team Cherry (Red): Anthony DeAngelo Haydn Fleury, Aaron Irving, Roland McKeown, Jacob Middleton, Alexis Vanier

Team Orr (White): Aaron Ekblad, Aaron Haydon, Julius Honka, Brycen Martin, Alex Peters, Ben Thomas,

FORWARDS

Team Cherry (Red): Daniel Audette, Ivan Barbashev, Conner Bleackley, Michael Dal Colle, Robby Fabbri, Nikolay Goldobin, Chase De Leo, Ryan MacInnis, Matt Mistele, Sam Reinhart, Nick Ritchie, Nikita Scherbak

Team Orr (White): Clark Bishop, Blake Clarke, Eric Cornel, Leon Draisaitl, Nikolaj Ehlers, Josh Ho-Sang, Brendan Lemieux, Jared McCann, Brendan Perlini, Brayden Point, Jake Virtanen, Spencer Watson

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1ST PERIOD

16:20 - Lemieux out for a stroll in the park, picks up nobody.. Reinhart gets it alone in front and almost tucks it in. Lemieux carries puck out to neutral zone, gets caught by Barbashev on backcheck.

15:40 - Bad pass by Perlini back to no one at the point, could have been dangerous the other way. Not sure about his vision sometimes.

15:00 - Subtle little play by Fabbri - gets puck along the boards and encounters Virtanen.. as he turns to the boards to make it look like he's going to turn the other way with the puck, he shovels it back to the d-man as he's parallel with the boards...the puck goes right along the boards and Virtanen misses it.

9:17 - Audette tips shot off post, Honka gets it behind net with Audette following. Honka makes a great little fake with the puck that delays Audette just long enough while his teammate gets free and shovels it ahead to Cornel, who decides to try a move to the middle at his blueline instead of either chipping it or taking it along the boards...bad turnover.

9:00 - Ehlers with the rush, then the toe-drag move to the slot and backhand.. puck comes back the other way and Reinhart drives to the net past Haydon, a good example of how Reinhart's speed can be deceptive.

8:30 - Tremendous pressure by the Reinhart line, the puck squirts loose to Draisaitl, who decides to head to the boards with the puck and wipes out without being touched, Dal Colle comes along and outmuscles both Leon and Thomas to get the puck to Barbashev, who was all over on the shift. Had good chemistry with Reinhart in this game. Draisaitl was clearly outmatched when he went head-to-head versus Reinhart, but to be fair he didn't have linemates that were as good.

4:45 - Dal Colle with the first of his many ill-advised cross-ice errant passes on the night, intercepted by Ehlers who knocks it up and then bats it to himself and goes on his famous rush where he pretended to be going around the d-man when he was in fact passing it to Cornel. If he doesn't flub the return pass and puts it in that goal is on every highlight reel all week. Ehlers a little lax on the defensive side a couple of times in this game, but he's a penalty killer in Halifax. His speed is a factor in any circumstance if he uses it. He was guilty of doing a little too much 'thinking' instead of 'doing' at times in this game, but he should have been on the top line, not the fourth. Ehlers falls down a lot, which is surprising for such a great skater. Mind you on some occasions he falls down on purpose to get at a loose puck...he can get up quickly a la Crosby.

4:30 - The pass by Ehlers to Cornel was special, not sure I've seen one quite like it before.

1:35 - The Virtanen brain cramp to let Scherbak get a break, to his credit he skated back to check him. Nice play by Audette to get puck in corner and center it to De Leo in slot.

MacInnis made three decent plays in the first 14 minutes, winning a couple of board battles and checking the puck away. On another occasion an opponent just waltzed around him in the open ice. Agility and first steps are in need of some refinement. I run a little hot and cold on him, mostly cold. Sometimes he looks lost, other times he anticipates the play well. Looks like he needs plenty of teaching, something you don't always expect in an ex-pro's son.....De Leo has a hard shot - had a couple of good scoring opportunities during the game.

2ND PERIOD

19:20 - Dal Colle gets his pocket picked by Draisaitl, who showed some hustle for once in this game, but Draisaitl, loses it back to DC.

18:14 - Ho Sang finds McCann in the sweet spot in the slot.. threaded the needle on the pass between two defenders.. disguised the pass. Nice play by McCann to get to the best spot. Ho Sang and McCann had several nice plays together.. would have liked to see those two with Ehlers.

16:26 - Audette to Scherbak at own blueline. Scherbak decides to try and deflect it off skate to a linemate who misses it. Instead of stopping dead and checking Watson, does a huge lazy loop where he goes outside of his own zone and comes back in covering no one.

15:10 - Dal Colle coughs up puck when McCann comes back to hit him. Great play by Ho Sang to draw opponents to him in the middle of the slot, and then having the vision to spot Perlini for an open shot in a prime scoring spot.

15:00 - The Thomas rush....he had time to wind up so it wasn't as impressive as it first looked I don't think. Check out his right arm swinging up wildly coming up to the opponent's blueline.. he almost wiped out unimpeded.

14:50 - Superb defensive play by Bishop or McKeown springs Ritchie on a break...breaks up the pass with solid defensive awareness.

11:20 - Draisaitl gets the puck at Red blueline, does a complete circle against three checkers until Ekblad is open on the boards.

10:10 - McCann sees the d-man move up on the puck, he circles in behind to make sure the puck carrier has backup as there was danger lurking.

8:00 - Mistele passes when he should have shot.. then tried to skate back hard, which was amusing to watch - looked like he was running, kinda like Fred Flintstone when he's about to take off, feet moving a foot above the ground and Fred not going anywhere. Then when he got back, he turned around in a defensive stance. Honka came coasting in from the red line with the puck, met Mistele, shifted a little to the left and quaintly coasted past him along the boards...Honka never took one stride the whole time. Needless to say agility is not Mistele's forte.

7:15 - White power play. Ehlers in his office on the right half wall, little backhand saucer pass to Ekblad for a good chance. Does it with Drouin all of the time.

5:36 - Point does several sharp give and go's moving up the ice. the pass by Bishop back to Point inside red blueline was excellent. Scherbak is not hard to beat, do not like his defensive play. Point set up Virtanen in front, Bishop nice lateral move to pounce on rebound.

2:40 - Thomas gets pass in his skates, nice play to kick it to his stick and then waltz around Reinhart. Perlini good eye-hand coordination batting down pass 20 inches off ice.

2:25 - Ho-Sang goal. Dal Colle was the goat but Point made the play, nice move to the slot from the wall and good low shot on net that Ho-Sang batted in.

2:20 - Audette makes skilled backhand tip pass to De Leo for great chance, vision-playmaking are his strong points.

0:15 - Draisaitl showed his puck possession skills. Had a few moments in the game and could have had a goal or two with some luck, but skating and lack of intensity were issues.

3RD PERIOD

17:05 - Leon coasts on backcheck on penalty kill, not one stride from center ice to the slot - he takes one stride and he stops Fabbri feed to Scherbak for a good chance.

16:01 - Good pass by McKeown to spring Goldobin, who feeds Mistele who finally shoots. Rebound to Goldy who scores on wraparound. Ho-Sang coasting on the backcheck again.

14:30 - Audette gets walked around easily by Virtanen. Not much presence defensively.

14:08 - Nice pass from McCann to Ho-Sang.

12:15 - Point gets puck in corner, waits for Rhino to make his move, then a little deke to gain free space, gets it to the d-man for a shot.

Goldobin penalty shot - Clarke with a poor play along the boards trying to check Dal Colle, but very half heartedly - should have skated back instead as Ehlers was out of the play behind the net.

11:00 - Ritchie decides to get physical, causes havoc and turnovers because of it. He's like the forward version of Douglas Murray when he hits.

10:35 - Fabbri with smart tip pass to Barbashev who does an inside-out move on Thomas, and drives to the net only to hit the post. Barbashev hard hit on Thomas.

9:00 - Virtanen rush - he and Scherbak were on even footing, Scherbak didn't even come close to touching him, not sure about Scherbak's straight-ahead speed, quicker east to west than north south.

8:45 - Nice pass by De Leo to Bleackley in slot, Bleackley's hands looked poor on that play. Looks like his upside is third liner with average skating.

Sportsnet nominated Fabbri as the hardest working player - can't say I disagree - was very diligent on the forecheck on the penalty kill in particular, threw a few hits, competed. Tied for OHL lead in GWG with 8, and that's with missing ten games. During those ten games Guelph lost five of them....in their 36 games with Fabbri Guelph has lost three times. Has a better work ethic than Ho-Sang, and is much better defensively. I thought it was a good move to pair H-S with McCann. Ho-Sang is more effective with a smart two-way center backing him up.

4:08 - Point gets puck from Ritchie, makes a smart pass to Bishop when he goes to his backhand and shovels it laterally to make sure it's not intercepted. Bishop got it to Virtanen, and he smokes it off the post. Virtanen can really blast the puck.

McKeen's Hockey 2014 Draft Rankings

CHL Top Prospects Game notebook: Defence

Grant McCagg — Fri, 14 Feb 2014 15:08:01 +0000

Here are some of the key plays and memorable highlights from the 2014 BMO CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game.

We first reviewed the game and concentrated on the play of just the 12 defencemen participating - and then went back over the contest a third time - with an eye on only the forwards.

Notes are listed below by period - and by the amount of time left in the period.

Here is a list of the defensemen and forwards by team - as they are noted below by only their last names:

DEFENCE

Team Cherry (Red): Anthony DeAngelo Haydn Fleury, Aaron Irving, Roland McKeown, Jacob Middleton, Alexis Vanier

Team Orr (White): Aaron Ekblad, Aaron Haydon, Julius Honka, Brycen Martin, Alex Peters, Ben Thomas

FORWARDS

Team Orr (White): Clark Bishop, Blake Clarke, Eric Cornel, Leon Draisaitl, Nikolaj Ehlers, Josh Ho-Sang, Brendan Lemieux, Jared McCann, Brendan Perlini, Brayden Point, Jake Virtanen, Spencer Watson

--------------

1ST PERIOD

19:00 - Martin's fist shift, caught flat footed, Red gets good scoring chance, Bleackley robbed by Mason McDonald.

10:40 - DeAngelo and McKeown paired together. DeAngelo leaves player to the side of net, then puck ends up behind the net..both d-men go back there but have no chance of getting puck.

8:50 - Thomas caught pinching again. Hayden and Thomas overwhelmed by Reinhart line at 8:20...been out too long at that point. Hayden made poor decision on who to take at one point, but he had three choices as Thomas was running around taking no one.

Hayden a limited puck mover, got beat to the outside a few times, pivots need work, mind you he was paired with Thomas, who was caught up ice nearly every shift. Martin skated backwards about ten feet in this period, as he was always behind the play. Does not anticipate when to back up very well at times. Honka and McKeown turn over the puck in their own zone too often. Honka gets a lot of his passes intercepted at the blueline.

2ND PERIOD

18:00 - Two minutes in on the chance by McCann - check out the defensive play by DeAngelo and Vanier. Vanier's pivot is horrid... DeAngelo reads the play much too late and then doesn't pressure McCann at all.

17:20 - Check out the play by McKeown. Why does he just blindly dump the puck away the second he gets it..doesn't look anywhere, has lots of time, and just throws it away.

13:15 - Honka passes it to Perlini...what was Perlini doing there...was he not aware of the d-man being there..skated right into Irving, who made a good read to pinch in there and cause the turnover. Perlini looked scared to get hit there...was soft on that play...he makes a play like that in the NHL, he's riding the pine for awhile.

11:50. Strong penalty-killing shift by Fabbri. Excellent forechecking and strong battle on that play. Martin on the other hand was putrid. Not sure why they started a PP with Martin and Peters, but anyway..

11:00 First White goal - DeAngelo on the penalty-kill with Middleton - recipe for disaster. DeAngelo was lost - left Lemieux alone to sit on the goalie.

Red came back 8 seconds later. Not really anyone on White's fault other than Cornel by the look of things...doesn't help that we miss the first three seconds as the camera is still on Lemieux. Nice play by Barbashev along the boards, nice pass by Reinhart, great pass reception and fantastic shot by Dal Colle. That play right there tells you he's a top five guy..pro-style winger with a sniper's shot.

9:55 - Vanier's lead pass to Scherbak was bad...he should have been sprung on a breakaway..Thomas should have been back more covering Scherbak. Poor play by Scherbak not to at least touch it and negate an icing.

8:10 - Chance for Team Red - Honka does not see Mistele coming in on the wing...he had half the ice to himself when he got the pass from Goldobin. Mistele should have either shot or went to the net..small d-man, small goalie..instead he stays outside and passes it back through two opposing d-men to nobody. Goldobin with the old Ribiero deke, fake going outside and sidestep to the inside, it's Goldobin's bread and butter and he usually gets away with it - Martin bit and looked pretty bad on it, but most d-men do the first couple of times they play Goldobin.

6:50 - Clarke scores on the power play. Decent shot, but Nedeljkovic should have come out of his net to cut off the angle. Fleury let Clarke walk in a bit...both he and MacInnis skated to the same spot, leaving Clarke alone. MacInnis looked a little lost on the penalty kill, didn't really know what to do. Good puck movement by Ekblad on the power play.

6:30 - Thomas decides to skate from his side to mid boards in his own zone, and then stands there for a couple of seconds only to be then hopelessly out of the play. Barbashev goes to front of net, Hayden doesn't stand between net and Barb, he stands beside him to the side of the net while his defence partner stands on the same side along the boards. You know where this is going. Barbashev gets the puck, simply pivots towards the net where Hayden can't check him, and dishes the puck to a wide open Reinhart, who is stopped while Ho Sang admires the play.

5:18 - DeAngelo lost in his own end..doesn't take Virtanen, or Bishop afterwards. Good chance.

4:10 - Honka makes a nice play to evade Goldobin, but then passes the puck to Fabbri at the line. Nice intercept and play by Fabbri, but the right play by Honka was along the boards to Ehlers, who chips it out.

3:35 - Vanier gets puck at blueline. Mistele has 40 feet of wide open space to the net, he doesn't see him, wrists a soft shot on net.

3:00 - Thomas burned with moves by Dal Colle a few times in this period. I think perhaps Thomas tried too hard to do things as it was in Calgary, but he ran around more than blueliner in the second period. Dal Colle hits the post with a great chance, Cornel for the second time in period caught sleeping defensively, didn't get between the pass and Dal Colle. Barbashev with the good pass from down low again. Thomas too late to do anything about it as he was running around...Dal Colle's shot was a ten in this game, another rocket.

2:20 - Ho Sang tip goal .. and again DeAngelo doesn't take anyone, deflects it to Ho Sang, who was left alone to tip it. Not totally DeAngelo's fault, a flukey one. Point with a decent play to break into the middle and get a shot on net after intercepting a horrible pass by Dal Colle in the neutral zone. Middleton wasn't great on the play, but not really at fault. Middleton actually played okay in the first two periods. No huge gaffes, worked hard and had decent positioning. Even challenged Lemieux but Claude Jr. wanted no part of him.

3RD PERIOD

17:30 - Middleton made a nice play to kick the puck to his stick and then do a loop inside the white blueline to lose checker, then made decent move around Haydon to drive to net, but was in too close.

16:05 - Good hit by Peters on Fabbri, played the man, not the puck.

14:40 - Strong play by Fleury to steal puck in White zone and get it to front of the net.

12:55 - Haydon with puck behind the net. Loses it trying to go in front of the net as he forgets about it, and then coughs it up. Not exactly soft hands there. Turnover caused by Fabbri again on penalty kill.

11:35 - Martin lets Goldobin get in behind him, ends up causing a penalty shot. His defence partner Thomas backed up keeping an eye on the invisible man, should have sensed Martin was in trouble and tried to head off Goldobin as well. Once again Martin didn't skate backwards an inch. Can he skate backwards?

11:00 - Haydon gets rubbed out by Ritchie trying to carry the puck, turns it over, gets it back, passes it back to other d-man Peters, who is surrounded by Red guys, coughs it up... Ritchie gets a good chance.

10:40 - Martin caught up ice again..he's the first forechecker at center ice for some reason but once again misses the puck, leaving Thomas and Draisaitl the coaster to defend Barbashev..wasn't pretty. Barbashev made an inside-out move on Thomas, who bit, and he powered around him and hit the post while Leon coasted along a little too late as usual.

9:50 - Goldobin and Reinhart at it again. Reinhart beats Peters (who falls), then between Point's legs and back over to Goldobin..who does his move to the middle and barely gets around a sweepchecking Ekblad. Meanwhile Bishop is coming back and covering the lane from Goldy to Reinhart, and then checks Goldobin in front of the net. Solid play by Bishop...wish they were all as smart as him. Bishop's skating is what's going to hurt him more than anything, he's certainly got good defensive awareness though.

9:00 - Virtanen with a burst around Irving, who was at the end of a shift. Fleury, who was fresh, watched Virtanen come in 1-on-4, beat Irving and come in on the goalie while Fleury watched..at the end he put his stick in front of Virtanen's shot, but too late.

Vanier-McKeown pairing wasn't seeing a lot of ice time in the third. Can't say I blame the coaches - that's not a good pairing..Vanier not quick enough to cover for McKeown brain cramps.

7:00 - Ekblad decides to go for a foray alone red zone on the PP, DeAngelo was trying to check him.. looked like a mouse trying to check a moose, just bounced off of him when he got near.

6:43 - Even the good ones can screw up.. Reinhart with an awful turnover inside his blueline that left Watson alone to walk right in. Reinhart tried to slide a slow backhand pass over to DeAngelo...who should not have been trying to exit the zone at that time. His partner was down in the corner.. he should have remained deep in his own zone as the proper outlet for Reinhart.

6:35 - Speaking of good ones.. Ekblad's turn to screw up.. loses the puck to Goldobin trying to rush in neutral zone.. Goldobin beats Peters.. to the outside!! Peters takes a hooking penalty.

6:15 - Goldy and Sam go to work on the power play.. and the Thomas-Martin combo. Martin was lost after losing Honka, who missed the third after taking a stick to the chops. Lousy job by Martin tying up Reinhart, who scored easily. Not much pressure from Thomas on Goldy either.

5:26 - Martin takes time going into corner, then gets muscled off the puck easily by MacInnis.

5:15 - Vanier hits Lemieux in White zone...has to skate back to catch play.. not pretty. Lemieux gets great scoring chance as Virtanen goes around a covering Audette and gets it to him.. Vanier can't catch Lemieux, who is no speedster.

5:05 - Ekblad mishandles puck at blueline, Scherbak pounces on puck and gets a breakaway, hits post. Thomas didn't come close to catching him, not as fast and took wrong angle. He coughs up the puck 30 seconds later as well, and then fails to pressure De Leo who has loads of time to make pass in the slot. By this time, Thomas was lacking confidence.

4:00 - Haydon loses puck in own end trying to carry it again. Ritchie with a big shift, two big hits including Peters, but at the end of his shift....brutal speed...he's out of shape. Ho Sang whizzes by, draws the d-man over and then slides it to McCann going the other way...excellent shot by McCann. DeAngelo is the one who follows Ho Sang to nowhere.

2:15 - Point comes in on Irving and DeAngelo, tries an inside move on Irving, hits Irving's skate, bounces back to Point who gets around Irving. Where's DeAngelo? Irving kept Point to the inside, all DeAngelo had to do was cover an inside move, instead he goes in front of Irving and misses Point altogether, leaving Point with a breakaway. Stopped by Nedeljkovic, who pokechecked him.

- Fleury makes some rushes with and without the puck in the third with his team down. Like that he wanted to make a difference.

McKeen's Hockey 2014 Draft Rankings

Top Prospects Game review: Team Orr forwards

Grant McCagg — Mon, 10 Feb 2014 15:21:21 +0000

Of all the participants in the 2014 BMO CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game, no player gave a more complete performance than Jared McCann of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.

The London, Ontario native showed off his shooting prowess on the game-winning goal for Team Orr, while also distinguishing himself with stout defensive play.

Others who managed to elevate their profiles included McCann's linemate on the evening, Josh Ho-Sang of the Windsor Spitfires, and Brayden Point of the Moose Jaw Warriors.

Playing in front of a hometown crowd being a Calgary native, Point arguably may have helped his draft position more than any other player in this contest.

His game smarts and offensive vision were on full display especially in the second and third periods as he grew in prominence as the game wore on.

There were however some disappointing showings among the forwards for Team Orr, most notably from a pair of highly-ranked prospects in Leon Draisaitl of the Prince Albert Raiders and Nikolaj Ehlers of the Halifax Mooseheads.

The two prized imports came out surprisingly flat, although Ehlers drew the short end of the stick as far as line combinations went, being stranded on the fourth line with Blake Clarke and Eric Cornel, neither of whom stood out.

Here is a player-by-player look at how the forwards performed for Team Orr:

Team Orr (WHITE) - Forwards

Photo by Terry Wilson / OHL

Jared McCann, C, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL) - Game Grade: 8.5

Scoring the game-winning goal on a terrific shot didn't hurt his grading, but his two-way play throughout the game was even more impressive. Quite possibly the best defensive forward in the game, has excellent puck instincts, reads and positioning, anticipates the play well, knows where his linemates are, works hard at getting back into the play. Good puck skills, vision and shot. Showed scouts and GM's alike that he is versatile and will be able to play in any situation. Draft Ranking: 5-10

Josh Ho-Sang, RW, Windsor Spitfires (OHL) - Game Grade: 8.0

His stickhandling skills and agility were on full display the final two periods as he and Goldobin flashed more deking ability than the rest of the prospects combined. Fooled forwards and defencemen several times with his quickness, lateral moves and hands, but unlike some nights in junior also made good use of his teammates, setting up his linemates with unsuspecting passes that exhibited his vision. He will have to continue to work on his defence, and not try to go end to end when a give and go is safer and smarter. Draft Ranking: 15-25

Photo by Brad Watson

Jake Virtanen, RW, Calgary Hitmen (WHL) - Game Grade: 7.5

Showed the hockey world his tremendous speed and shot, but that was nothing new to the Calgary crowd or the scouting fraternity as the 30-goal scorer has been assaulting WHL defencemen and goalies all season. What also impressed scouts was his speed and determination to get back to distract Scherbak on a breakaway. He also displayed an edge, and threw his weight around, which never hurts the draft stock. Loses his concentration at times, especially in the defensive zone, needs to learn to utilize his linemates more. Draft Ranking: 8-13

Brayden Point, C, Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL) - Game Grade: 7.5

His lack of size is an immediate concern when you first watch him, but he brings so many effective elements to his game that he's not a player you can discount from making the NHL someday. Point has enough speed, skill and craftiness to be a point-per-game scorer in the WHL this season, by the time he graduates he may be a 100-point producer given his offensive skills and determination. Point's puckhandling abilities in tight spaces resulted in several scoring chances. Good anticipation, vision and hockey sense. Draft Ranking: 40-70

Clark Bishop, LW, Cape Breton Screaming Eagles (QMJHL) - Game Grade: 6.5

He wasn't able to get on the scoresheet, but came close to cashing in a couple of rebounds with hard drives to the net. Smart two-way player who saw the ice well and made few mental mistakes, was responsible in his own end, adept at anticipating passes and intercepting them with a quick stick. His lack of size, skating explosiveness and average hands kept him from manufacturing more scoring chances. He will need to keep working on his quickness, and add strength. Draft Ranking: 45-75

Photo by Terry Wilson / OHL Images.

Brendan Perlini, LW, Niagara IceDogs (OHL) - Game Grade: 6.0

Did not do much offensively to help his ranking other than one rush and a couple of passes, was expecting more from him in this setting. Effort was spotty at times, although he did make some smart plays throughout. Intriguing combination of size, skating, skill and shot, but wasn't overly dangerous considering his skill-set. It would be nice to see him get more involved physically given his size and athleticism. Draft Ranking: 8-13

Brendan Lemieux, LW, Barrie Colts (OHL) - Game Grade: 6.0

He certainly inherited his father's penchant for getting under opponent's skin. Lemieux was one of the more active players after the whistle, but chose not to fight when challenged by Middleton. His histrionics, along with being credited with a goal he may not have deserved, were enough to give him his 15 seconds of fame on the night. Overall though, his game was underwhelming. He missed assignments and was lackadaisical in his own end, his skating stood out in a negative sense in this game. Draft Ranking: 40-70

Leon Draisaitl, C, Prince Albert Raiders (WHL) - Game Grade: 5.5

Disappointed the scouting community who were hoping to see him bounce back from a disappointing world junior. instead his decline continued, as he appeared to be a step behind the play at times and not exerting himself. Skating speed was never his strongest suit, but when he's not moving his feet it becomes a negative, especially in defensive situations. Had a few chances thanks to his elite hands, protection skills and vision, and even rang one shot off of the post, but he will have to find the energy that made him one of the most dangerous WHL forwards before the WJC. Draft Ranking: 5-12

Nikolaj Ehlers, RW, Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL) - Game Grade: 5.5

Another player who failed to live up to his advance billing, but to be fair he was stuck on the fourth line with Cornel and Blake. He made one pass in particular that was eye catching and almost converted the return pass from Cornel, but he didn't get many opportunities to show off his world-class skating skills in this game. Had a few hiccups in the defensive zone, and looked to be coasting on a few occasions. As always he made a couple of skillful passes, and had some shots on net, but he was miscast in a secondary role. Draft Ranking: 7-12

Spencer Watson, RW, Kingston Frontenacs (OHL) - Game Grade: 5.5

Sporadic effort throughout the night, not overly effective on the defensive end and no sustained offensive thrust. Intercepted a couple of passes and tried to convert them unsuccessfully, but other than that didn't create any offensive opportunities of note. His speed did not stand out in this game, and a player with his lack of side needs to have strong skating skills and consistent work habits at both ends of the rink. Decent hands and quickness, good at anticipating the play, needs to get stronger. Draft Ranking: 50-80

Blake Clarke, LW, Saginaw Spirit (OHL) - Game Grade: 5.0

His power play goal saved him from having a worse ranking than Cornel, but his night was highly uneventful before and after the goal. Not a strong skater or overly skilled with the puck, average hockey sense, inconsistent work ethic. The main positive from his game was the velocity of the shot on his goal, a hard wrister in the top corner. Will need to pick up his game considerably for the rest of the season to regain scout's interest. Draft Ranking: 3-4 round

Eric Cornel, C, Peterborough Petes (OHL) - Game Grade: 4.5

He did not abate any concerns about a lack of jam in this contest, avoiding the boards and physical contact for most of the night. Will have to stop playing on the perimeter to gain serious consideration for the top 40 in the draft. Missed several defensive assignments with poor positioning and/or lack of effort. Looks good in warm-up - good size, smooth skater, decent hands and puck skills - but the work ethic will need to improve in addition to his competitiveness to play in the NHL. Draft Ranking: 35-65

McKeen's Hockey 2014 Draft Rankings

McKeens Hockey releases its preliminary 2014 NHL Draft list

McKeen's Staff — Tue, 06 Aug 2013 14:09:03 +0000

Fresh off the heels of an exciting 2013 NHL Draft, McKeens Hockey releases its first look at the top names for the 2014 NHL Draft in our preliminary list. This will change and come into focus as the season gets underway in September and our first official ranking will follow once we have had a chance to do more scouting.

Unlike the 2013 draft, where the focus was on Seth Jones and Nathan MacKinnon, there are a 5 or 6 names to consider for the 1st overall ranking. Players like William Nylander and Jakub Vrana will make the push from overseas, while the CHL will have a significant impact as well, with players like Sam Reinhart, Aaron Ekbald and Leon Draisaitl also in the mix for the first overall slot. The OHL has the potential to be one of the heaviest scouted areas in 2014, with 10 players in McKeens players in the initial rankings, which puts them tops among all development leagues.

The 2014 NHL Draft scouting season starts early for scouts, with the 2013 Ivan Hlinka Tournament and U20 camps starting up in Lake Placid next week, scouts are already preparing to get early looks at the top names available.

RANK	PLAYER	POS	TEAM	HT/WT	DOB
1	William Nylander Altelius	C	Sodertalje (Swe)	5-10/170	01-May-96
2	Sam Reinhart	C	Kootenay (WHL)	6-0/185	06-Nov-95
3	Nick Ritchie	LW	Peterborough (OHL)	6-1/210	05-Dec-95
4	Leon Draisaitl	C	Prince Albert (WHL)	6-1/195	27-Oct-95
5	Roland McKeown	D	Kingston (OHL)	6-1/185	20-Jan-96
6	Ryan MacInnis	C	NTDP (USA)	6-3/170	14-Feb-96
7	Aaron Ekblad	D	Barrie (OHL)	6-3/210	07-Feb-96
8	Jakub Vrana	RW	Linkopings (Swe)	6-0/180	28-Feb-96
9	Haydn Fleury	D	Red Deer (WHL)	6-3/205	08-Jul-96
10	Anton Karlsson	LW	Frolunda (Swe)	6-1/190	03-Aug-96
11	Jared McCann	C	Sault Ste Marie (OHL)	6-0/175	31-May-96
12	Michael Dal Colle	LW	Oshawa (OHL)	6-2/175	20-Jun-96
13	Brycen Martin	D	Swift Current (WHL)	6-1/180	09-May-96
14	Nick Schmaltz	C	Green Bay (USHL)	5-11/170	23-Feb-96
15	Jake Virtanen	LW	Calgary (WHL)	6-0/190	17-Aug-96
16	Alexis Pepin	C	PEI (QMJHL)	6-2/195	24-Apr-96
17	Sam Bennett	C	Kingston (OHL)	6-0/170	20-Jun-96
18	Jack Glover	D	NTDP (USA)	6-3/185	17-May-96
19	Joshua Jacobs	D	Indiana (USHL)	6-2/195	15-Feb-96
20	Blake Clarke	LW	Brampton (OHL)	6-1/190	24-Jan-96
21	Kaapo Kahkonen	G	Blues (Fin)	6-1/195	16-Aug-96
22	Sonny Milano	C	NTDP (USA)	5-10/170	12-May-96
23	Adrian Kempe	C	MoDo (Swe)	6-1/170	13-Sep-96
24	Alex Tuch	C	NTDP (USA)	6-3/225	10-May-96
25	Mason McDonald	G	Acadie-Bathurst (QMJHL)	6-3/175	23-Apr-96
26	Jacob Middleton	D	Ottawa (OHL)	6-3/195	02-Jan-96
27	Oskar Lindblom	RW	Brynas (Swe)	6-0/185	15-Aug-96
28	Kasperi Kapanen	LW	KalPa (Fin)	5-10/165	23-Jul-96
29	Joshua Ho-Sang	C	Windsor (OHL)	5-11/160	22-Jan-96
30	Matt Schmalz	LW	Sudbury (OHL)	6-5/190	21-Mar-96