So after a couple of days at the rink and another couple of days talking to players on MSN and outside the rink here is my report on the Top 3 players in Camp so far !
1 - Carey Price : it's easy to see the mark of a dominant goalie on the ice, there are characteristics that don't lie, when José Theodore attended his first training camps in the late 90's you could see a fast goalie, maybe a bit small, but with definite template indicators when it came to his potential as well as shortcomings, José Theodore and Carey Price have VERY little in common and that much is apparent when you sit down at camp and watch this kid go, the first thing that is telling is the sheer mass of the individual, I'm 6'4 and standing next to him on skates, Carey almost looks 6'6, which brings back bad memories of other huge format goaltenders ( anyone remember Garth Snow ? ). What makes Price just ridiculously well packaged is the combination of lightning reflexes, EXTREMELY well honed rebound control skills and Stick-work, Carey Price has allot of promising markers that seem tailor made for dominating the NHL, will he deliver that promise ? only time, patience and goaltending will answer that.
So far in camp Carey has been benchmarked against Loic Lacasse and particularly Cedric Desjardins who has kept Roland Melanson busy, Carey and Loic have a healthy competition going, they are both big kids but the main difference as it stands now is largely between the ears, Loic looks discouraged at times and gives up on shots too easily, doesn't respond to speed well either, but don't dismiss Loic as a lost cause, it's easy to see the progress in this guy ! As for Price, the rest of camp will tell on his overall preparedness and quickness.
Glove hand ++++
Blocker ++++
Puck Control +++++
Pad Speed +++++
Drop Recovery ++++
Anticipation ++++
in comparison Loic Lacasse would rate as such
Glove hand +++
Blocker ++++
Puck Control +++
Pad Speed +++
Drop Recovery ++++
Anticipation +++
2 - Kyle Chipchura : Kyle Chipchura is BIG, he has the charisma that makes guys captains and has an on ice strut that shows someone in control and well aware of his job come crunch time, this rookie camp is a bit of an oddity for him as he isn't generally the kind of player that is formated for on ice drills, this was evident durin stickhandling drills. Neverrtheless he didn't have a bit of trouble with any of them and showed exemplary fitness and stamina throughout the sessions, Kyle made a couple of guys look lazy too, Ben Maxwell and Ryan White haven't been too high on my radar this camp, D'Agostini and Chipchura look like NHL'ers even though none are projected to score more than a dozen goals and definitly look like your '' 40 point '' guy, it is quite telling when Maxwell especially looks outworked by those guys.
Offensive projection +++
Defensive projection +++++
Puck Control ++++
Speed +++
Stamina - Strength +++++
Creativity +++
Passing ++++
Slapshot +++
Wristshot ++++
Response to coaching +++++
in comparison Ben Maxwell would rate as such
Offensive projection ++++
Defensive projection +++
Puck Control +++
Speed ++++
Stamina - Strength +++
Creativity +++
Passing +++
Slapshot +++
Wristshot ++++
Response to coaching ++
2 - Janne Lahti : Janne is BIG, quite BIG, and if his mobility, obvious nose for the net and speed hasn't sold you on him, well ... you haven't been watching him play ... BUT let us not forget, for now he is skating with kids and it isn't as hard as tht for this veteran of the SM Liiga to stand out, but that doesn't minimize what he is doing at all, in camp are core members of Hamilton's championship team and if we are to evaluate the AHL as being at a better level than the Liiga, than what Lahti is doing in camp is absolutely great so far, you can't help to love the hussle this guy has, at times reminded me of a Andrei Kostitsyn with a little less skill and allot more hussle, but also made me realize a couple f things about Andrei Kostitsyn ( even though he isn't part of this camp ) I've watched rookies now for the past 5 years, I've seen guys like Higgins in camp, I've seen Plekanec all the way to Josef Balej and Hainsey strut their stuff for the coaching stuff and what I can tell you is that our current core would DESTROY these guys in camp, put our training camp of 2000 lineup vs these kids, and it would be a 12 - 2 game ( with Riberio probably assisting on 2 goals for a losing effort ). Janne Lahti is a very talented player, but if in the NHL Lahti is a 50 point guy, Kostitsyn should definitly be a 90 point guy, well at least thats the impression I get comparing my memory of these 2 guys from last years camp and this year. Kostitsyn would be your Elias type player in camp, Lahti reminds you of that player who plays a rough and tumble game managing to notch 40 - 50 points ...
Offensive projection ++++
Defensive projection +++
Puck Control +++
Speed +++
Stamina - Strength +++++
Creativity ++++
Passing ++++
Slapshot ++++
Wristshot ++++
Response to coaching ++++
in comparison Sergei Kostitsyn would rate as such
Offensive projection +++++
Defensive projection +++
Puck Control +++++
Speed ++++
Stamina - Strength +++
Creativity ++++
Passing ++++
Slapshot +++
Wristshot +++++
Response to coaching ++++
Other Notables : Ryan O'byrne, Valetenko, Fortier, D'Agostini
