Development Camp Report

(reprinted from HockeyBroads.com)

I spent a couple hours at the Sensplex this morning. The prospects were split up into black and white squads. I caught both groups doing skating drills for the first hour. They were wearing elastic bands from the heels of their skates to their waists. I'd never seen that before. I guess it's to encourage them to keep low, and to provide resistance training for full extension during skating strides.

The second hour was mostly competitive drills ending in shooting opportunities. There were some pass-pass-pass-breakin drills, 2-on-2, 1-on-1, and finally a short breakaway competition.

Here are my observations, and I apologize for the disorder. I took notes whenever I could but I was trying to watch as much as I could, and I had a buddy to serve as a second pair of eyes, which also meant discussion to distract from the proceedings.

Peter Regin - Precise skater. Used by coaches to lead off drills and set good example. Skates barely leave the ice (as requested by the coaches). His speed was evident in comparison to most other prospects. Very smooth in motion and puck-handling.

Jim O'Brien - Looks small, but in a good way. The coaches were preaching getting low, he was LOW. He was so low that the elastics were dangling behind him and he sliced it during crossovers. His stance gave him a compact, powerful and explosive appearance. He executed the drills with particular intensity. He demonstrated a good wrist shot on a few scoring drills. His background as a D-man shows. He was effortless in defending 1-on-1 against some of the slicker offensive talents. I took note of the fact that he was the player asking the session coach questions as they left the ice, and he was also the friendliest with the kids waiting to bump fists with the players who as they left the skating drill rink. He was also one of the last guys to leave the ice after the competitive drills. Good character. He seems to really want it. At the NHL level I think he'll be a slightly larger Chris Kelly, with better hands. In other words, a very useful and versatile player.

Patrick Wiercioch - He does look large, but he also looks a little slow. He made some questionable plays during 2-on-2 coverage. Reaching around a guy on the up-ice side, leaving the guy an open path to the net. Maybe his head just wasn't in it. What I saw raised more questions than anything else.

Mike Sdao - Moves very well for a big guy. Good positioning against this level of competition. Suitably aggressive against the boards.

Cody Bass - Was the best skater in his group. Focused and competitive. He was banging guys, not to the point of injury, but raising the overall intensity. Perhaps taking on a leadership role in this group, appropriate for a guy of his experience. Additional comments in shootout section below.

Andre Petersson - This is the tale of two players. The first player was the one I saw during the skating drills. He looked slow and disinterested. He actually cut loops out of his skating drills, finishing ahead of others while skating slower. He looked sloppy. His crossovers were very high. His lines were poor. He looked lazy. The second player showed up for the competitive drills. He was faster and more intense during the shooting drills and the 2-on-2. The 2-on-2 had 2 attackers and 2 defenders (+goalie) and the attackers kept circling back and getting another puck and more chances to penetrate and score. He and Karlsson had a nice physical battle going on throughout the couple minutes they were matched up. Crosschecks to the back of the head. Reaching over the head and pulling the back of a guys collar down to the ice. General rough-housing. He showed a good shot and fair intensity. Still not one of the faster skaters though.

Erik Karlsson - One of the best skaters on the ice. Looks larger than expected. He looked completely average in this group. Much larger than the Caporussos or midgets like Brisebois, and just one or two sizes down from the really big guys. His passes were crisp. His skating was smooth. His coverage was solid. He showed some good intensity when required, and laid a guy into the boards when he got a chance.

Craig Schira - Not a big guy, but not small either. Observed him as the static guy passing to guys in motion during skate and shoot drills. His passes were CRISP. Also saw him show good positioning and 1-on-1 coverage.

Jakob Silfverberg - Missed most of his drills (as frequently happens at these things) but did manage to catch some very nice goals. Seems to have a strong wrist shot.

Mike Hoffman - Has a nose for the net. In position for dirty goals. Possesses a very hard and accurate wrist shot. He had a couple of goals from the slot where the goalie saw him coming the whole way. Nothing tricky. No screen. Just snap - goal. Moves very well. I don't know if there is any substance to the supposed 'character issues' but he seems like the type of prospect that has the tools to be a Top 6 guy. Speedy, slick, average size, nose for the net and a good shot. What's not to like?

Erik Gryba - The best 1-on-1 defender on the ice. Big, good positioning, and punishing when appropriate.

Ben Blood - The only thing I noticed was that his skating seems to be pretty stiff. He doesn't seem to fit in that well.


Shootout - After the competitive drills, two skaters (I think) from each team did shootouts against the opposing goalie. We found out after that the losing team would have to do pushups. I don't think either of the first guys scored. But Petersson scored a very slick goal for the Whites. And then it was Karlsson for the Blacks to tie it up. He had some good moves but the goalie shut the door and he missed. Black lost the competition.

Karlsson was swarmed by Petersson and Regin (both Whites) with fake high-5s and congratulations. Meanwhile his teammates were doing their pushups. Then Karlsson finally got to centre ice, dropped down and started his pushups. Bass, also Black Team, finished, got up, skated over to Karlsson and put pressed his stick against Karlsson's bum for some extra resistance. Big grins all around. They seemed like they were having fun.

Random Thoughts: Caporusso doesn't seem tiny, just a little small, and showed a decent shot. Brisebois is tiny, but had a sustained battle with a big guy in the corners and came out with the puck. Lehner is huge, and looked pretty good. My buddy thought he might have a weak glove hand though.


Awards: (my opinions)

The Men Among Boys Award: (Tie) Peter Regin and Cody Bass

The Hardest Worker Award: Jim O'Brien with an Honourable Mention for Cody Bass

The Best Shot Award: Mike Hoffman

The Best Skater Award: (tie) Erik Karlsson and Cody Bass

The Brick Wall Award (hardest to get through): Erik Gryba

The Clutch Passing Award: Erik Karlsson with an Honourable Mention to Craig Schira

More discussion available here.