The Oilers prospects gave a good account of themselves. Dillon Simpson made the simple play, didn't seem to get caught out of position much and looked good passing the puck. He did take a big hit early on; I think he's faster than we've been lead to believe but it's one game.
Tyler Bunz had a solid 30 minutes, making some difficult stops and facing several flurries during his time in net. One of the goals slipped through him (I think he thought he had it) and the other was a no-chance opportunity from the goalmouth.
Nugent-Hopkins started slowly, with only a couple of notable items in the first period. He made a nice pass in the slot in the white end when chaos reigned, and looked impressive a couple of times on the forecheck.
The 2nd period was better, as he and Jaden Schwarz put on a penalty killing clinic and RNH's line had a couple of nice chances. The third period gave us more evidence that Nugent-Hopkins does several impressive things (like puck pursuit, penalty kill and faceoffs); he also endured plenty of stick work in a game that was at times nasty--especially considering it was an exhibition game.
The two goals were pleasing. The first one came from the goalmouth and featured a blind shot that found the net despite good coverage by the goalie. Impressive and maybe a bit lucky. The winner was a much nicer hockey play, with RNH getting his own rebound and then ripping it short side (I think it went short side) at the end of period three.
Overall, a fine evening and a nice memory to stowaway with the others through the years. Nugent-Hopkins would appear to be a far more complete player than some of us have been giving him credit for so far. I have no idea if he'll make the Oilers but am more convinced than ever that he was a fine choice. He certainly has an ability to pursue the puck and a soft touch and quick release around the net.
He's already worth the price of admission.
wow
ReplyDeleteRNH looked slippery and swift tonight. Looks to be a solid faceoff man. Doesn't shy away from anything physical,he was giving and taking bumps all night, but didn't see him get tagged at all. The real deal I hope!
ReplyDeleteSmith-pelley was an absolute beast. I didnt watch the third but he was by far the most impressiv player the first two periods.
ReplyDeleteMike grier 2.0
I think I remember Nugent-Hopkin's second goal going in the farside of the net along the ice. I was impressed because there wasn't much net there. I might be remembering it wrong too. I had a couple of beers. Good atmosphere and the standing O for Smyth was nice.
ReplyDeleteI chatted with an acquaintance of Billy Moore's who said that he called Lander weekly last year and that they are doing alot of work with things like diet with the prospects. Apparently they had a cooking contest at the prospects camp, as a fun way to talk about nutrition.
On another note, it looks like Hitchcock has lost weight. Good to see. My Dad used to take me watch him coach AAA Midget when I was growing up in Sherwood Park. I don't remember how many championships they won but it seemed like they never lost. Good times.
I thought Smith-Pelly was great.
ReplyDeleteThe older prospects sure showed the difference a year makes. Gudbranson and Johansen dominated the game at times. It is too bad they won't available to play. Murphy was a joy to watch. His skating reminds me of Coffey. It looks so effortless, yet he is just flying. My Dad reminded me of the fact that Coffey used to wear skates a size too small when he played. I think I remember him sharpening his skates differently too. Does anyone recall hearing anything to that effect?
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ReplyDeleteRNH was decent on the penalty kill, but i found him less impressive on the power play.
ReplyDeletehopefully that can be chalked up to a lack of familiarity with his teammates.
the 'no look' goal was impressive. RNH got a little lucky in that the goalie wasn't tracking the unexpected backhand, but that's mostly because it was a clever play.
it really did seem like he had eyes in the back of his head on the shot. exceptional spatial awareness.
the second goal was interesting too, in that he found the seam between the two red players playing zone defense and caught both of them flat footed.
i'm not sure the positioning was entirely intentional on his part. the defense was rather uncoordinated on that particular play, but the ability to sense gaps in zone coverage is extremely useful. you can see how dangerous he'd be on a well coordinated power play.
still, other than the entertaining timeliness of his goals i'm not sure he had a better game than Huberdeau or Couturier. in the case of the latter, looks like the Flyers picked up a gem.
It's been a while but I thought Coffey's skates had almost very little rocker on them. The length of most hockey skates has a smooth curve, so you can have usable blade contacting the ice even if you rock your foot a little forward or back. Other kinds of skates -- like speedskaters and goalies -- they have little to no rocker on their blades. Figure skates are inbetween. A longer contact patch allows you to have a more powerful stride without tearing the ice. The trade-off is you're working your ankles more, and turning takes more effort.
ReplyDeleteFrom Wikipedia...
ReplyDeleteCoffey preferred his skates to fit as tightly as possible, and wore two sizes smaller than his shoes. They were tied with two sets of laces, one laced from the bottom to half way up, and the other from the halfway point to the top. The skates were so tight that rather than untying them trainers cut the laces to remove his skates after every game. Also, he preferred to grind the blades of his skates to a very dull finish resulting in him "gliding" over the surface of the ice.
The crazy bastard.
@striatic: I'm pretty sure RNH never got a sniff on the PP. His line drew the first penalty and never got back out before it was over, and on the second Howden scored in the first minute of the PP. I'm pretty sure those were the only two PPs White had. So you are technically correct that he wasn't impressive, but ... :)
ReplyDeleteI was pleasantly surprised with his performance on the PK, a role he did little of in Red Deer. He and Jaden Schwartz looked very comfortable together.
Hopkins looked lazy on the backcheck, but maybe that's just me?
ReplyDeleteThe story on Coffey was he wore a size 9 shoe and a size 6¾ skate. He was indeed a crazy bastard. Hard to argue with the results, though, buddy could skate just a little.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of what I saw in my parents garage up on a shelf last weekend. A shiny new pair of Daoust skates that I think I had worn twice during a growth spurt from many years ago. Skates sure have changed since then!
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear RNH seems to be doing well
ReplyDeleteQuick side note LT and co. I just finished reading moneyball in my travels. Fantastic read! Looking for other recommended books ... Preferably hockey related. Any recommendations?
Ribs, I think the "dull finish" quote is a little misleading. He kept his skates sharp, but apparently he liked his radius of hollow to be unusually large -- more like a figure skater, or what a sumo wrestler would use if sumo wrestlers skated. I did a little Googling to see if I could confirm my recollection about his rocker profile but so far I haven't. Anyhow, here's an article by Jim Matheson and Barrie Stafford: http://www.mainlandathletics.ca/custom_skate_sharpen.html
ReplyDeleteThat jersey he's wearing in the pic is on display in the HOF with Couturier's.
ReplyDeleteSaw a movie trailer for Moneyball and it looked like it might be a very good flick. Love a good baseball movie.
ReplyDelete"@striatic: I'm pretty sure RNH never got a sniff on the PP. His line drew the first penalty and never got back out before it was over, and on the second Howden scored in the first minute of the PP. I'm pretty sure those were the only two PPs White had."
ReplyDeletethe full game info is here ..
http://www.hockeycanada.ca/index.php/ci_id/75138/la_id/1/game_id/172020/season_id/171978/ss_id/56000/
Red had three penalties..
05:50 RED 13 Scott Harrington (Roughing)
11:33 RED 17 Jamie Oleksiak (Hooking)
11:12 RED 17 Jamie Oleksiak (Interference)
that last one was 11:12 in the 3rd, the second one being 11:33 in the 2nd.
ReplyDeleteGents,
ReplyDeleteHow did that California Redwood Oleksiak look?
Olessimp: Tambi's master plan for desmurfinating the squad.
To my eye the Redwood looked great. High event player. His positioning was good,he played the point well and got a couple of assists, and didn't lok slow playing with his peers. Footspeed will have to improve before the NHL, but it looks like the other tools might be there.
ReplyDeleteI noticed him a little, mostly for the goal (it was the one that Bunz thought he had). Honestly, I was focused on RNH for the most part and felt he had a tough time will all of the tall trees on team Red.
ReplyDeleteBut I don't recall if it was Oleskiak, Gormley or Gudbranson causing all the troubles.
that last one was 11:12 in the 3rd, the second one being 11:33 in the 2nd.
ReplyDelete... and the first one being a coincidental, when Harrington rather unwisely exchanged pleasantries with Devante Smith-Pelly. So just the two powerplays, and I'm almost certain 0 seconds of PP time for the other hyphenated-one.
Too bad, I wish the fans had gotten a chance to see RNH run a powerplay. I saw it during the week when they did PP drills, and he's very impressive. But in the game they just rolled the lines, so it didn't work out.
@LT: Canada can only wish that Gormley and Gudbranson will both be available in December. They would be a dynamite shutdown pairing. Alas, I doubt it.
ReplyDeleteAs for Oleksiak, holy shit. He's three inches taller and 26-33 pounds heavier than anybody else in camp! (There were two sets of vitals on the rosters distributed through the week, with Oleksiak listed as 6'7, 244 in both of them.) His skating was not that bad; I was chatting about him with Guy Flaming at yesterday's morning skate, when one of the guys from Hockey Canada who was sitting nearby piped up that when he first saw him a couple years ago he couldn't skate at all. He said buddy has made/is making huge strides (so to speak).
Oleksiak apparently said he wants to put on another 20 pounds to make the NHL, and he is already Gargantuan. A little crude, but that's exactly what you want in a 6'7 d-man, no?