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Habs Prospect Camp Day 2


Psycing

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Day 2

Well I was quite pleased to see Coaches Guy Carbonneau, Kirk Muller, and Doug Jarvis hit the ice today along with the players. The presence of the coaches seemed to motivate the players as they had a much more high-tempo practice today.

Bob Gainey was also in attendance for a bit during the first hour. As soon as he took a seat all of the video cameras from various television stations swarmed him. All of a sudden, the prospects weren’t the main attraction.

The drills were much different than yesterday. Today most of the drills involved puck movement or stick handling where yesterday there was no puck involvement at all. They also had a drill where there would be three players fighting for the puck in order to try and score on either of the goalies. This drill was interesting because it allowed some of the bigger players to showcase their physical ability. A couple of guys were even a bit shook up after this one.

Anyway, here are the specific players I took note of today and what I saw. I won’t be sharing everything, as I want to have a good article at the end of the week, but I’m sure you’ll be pleased.

RW Matthew D’Agostini – Skates with his head down while stick handling, could be dangerous. When he did start to look up, he lost control of the puck. He look smaller than I expected, may need to beef up a bit. He does possess some quick hands though, and certainly has potential to be a shifty winger. His stick work helped him create a few scoring opportunities for himself. Surprisingly I found him to be a very smooth backwards skater.

C/RW Mathieu Aubin – Looks up the ice more often than D’Agostini, but looks down every so often to check that the puck is still on his stick as he handles it. Though, he strikes me as a power-forward type player, so his skill with the puck isn’t too bad considering. He had some trouble stick handling at a fast skating speed. Thus, he may be the kind of player who rather push the puck up ice and chase it down. Not afraid to challenge defenders physically.

RW Sergei Kostitsyn – Had a pretty good shot, and seemed to slow things down when he was in control of the puck. He’s a sharp skater, able to control his speed. He really didn't catch my attention that much today.

D David Fischer – Had some trouble stick handling with the puck, seems to slow down his skating in order to concentrate on the stick handling. He seemed to be a step behind everyone today, but is a much better backwards skater. At times Fischer looked a bit tight out there. I caught him holding his breath as he went through one of the drills, he was clearly nervous. He showed some strong skating every so often, and looked very good on one occasion rushing down the rink with the puck. I found that he was hooking the opposing players quite a bit while defending, a habit he’ll have to shake before he gets to the new NHL.

D Ryan O’Byrne – He continued to impress me today. He’s very good when he has to pivot one way or another, and can do it while skating fast. When challenging an opponent, he liked to power his way through rather than skate around. Threw some big body checks on the boards during a mini-skirmish, then skated away and scored on Carey Price. He looked like a man amongst boys. Proved that he’s a skilled skater, just not extremely fast, takes him a little longer to get to his top speed.

C/RW Ryan White – Like Fischer, he was a step behind everyone. However he did show some good stick movement. Not afraid to use his body to get by a defender. White surprised me when he was able to get off a quick snap-shot while in traffic. It reminded me a lot of Michael Ryder. Still, he isn’t the fastest or smoothest skater.

D Mathieu Carle – Very smooth skater and great with the puck. Had a few good shots as well and even scored a goal on Price. While defending against a forward, he used the same trick 3 times to win the battle. He basically obtained the puck and did a spin to deke out the attacker and skated away. It was a nifty little play, but I’m not sure how many times it would work in the NHL. Very good skater.

LW Gregory Stewart – Not afraid to use his body to challenge the defender. He found the net a couple of times as well. Seems to be a smooth skater.

D Philippe Paquet – Not a very crisp skater, but he has some speed. He looked better today than he did yesterday though. He’s tall and thin, and it causes him to be a bit clumsy. He’ll need to add some weight. Rather skate and maneuver around opponents than use his body. Still, showed some fast and agile backwards skating.

G Carey Price – Seems to be a pretty good skater. Quick/crisp movement with and without the puck.

G Loic Lacasse – Looked slower and a bit clumsy handling the puck. At one point the goalie coaches were giving him a lot of pointers, but it may have discouraged him, as you could tell by his play that he was a bit frustrated.

-Matthew Macaskill

If anyone has anyone particular they want me to check out, let me know as usual :D.

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That's awesome work Maca! AWESOME WORK! Thanks a trillion.

That seems to be quite good news from what you're writting about O'Byrne and Carle. Maybe because I'm a little more anxious about our few D-men prospects than forwards.

Not so bad that Fischer looks a little behind the rest. That's to be expected with long-term projects

Just too bad that Grabovsky couldn't get a work visa in time to be at this camp.

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keep up the great work!!

maybe if you could talk about ben maxwell and korpikari i'd appreciate

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keep up the great work!!

maybe if you could talk about ben maxwell and korpikari i'd appreciate

I checked them out today, and I've got some stuff to say, but my next update will have to wait a bit... been a busy day and had to help my dad out as he had a car-accident today, so still working things out there. (He's not hurt or anything, but his car isn't in good shape at allll).

Anyways, an update and some new fresh pictures should be up sometime tonight. :)

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Mathias Brunet mentionned him in the same breath as Kost and Lats as a possible guy to start the year in MTL!!! :o

Could be. Grabs has been playing with men for 2 seasons already; and he was pretty good at the WC. So you never know. Considering we lost Bulis, Sundstrom and that Downey isnt exactly Gretzky or even Semenko, its not far-fetched to think that with a good camp Grabs could start the season in Montreal.

Same logic applies to Kost and Lats. Though I imagine that the incentive to keep Lats in Montreal would be his physical play and he'd be kept mostly in a checking/defensive role; in which case I think Ferland, Lapierre or Chipchura are ahead of him in that department. Unless Lats shows such a definite scoring touch that the Habs can't send him back, I doubt he'll stay in Montreal.

Might be better for him too. Just look at how the fans and medias hyped him last season. Way too much crap for an 18 yrs old to take unless he grew up with it since he's 10 like Crosby.

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I've seen all preseason games last year... and In my very biased Latendresse superfan opinion, the kid is ready.

Remember when Komo hit Joe two seasons ago in the playoffs? At that time we kinda knew komo was the man! Well same for lats. He hits like no other, skates decently and can cement his skates in the crease while keeping a good upper body (hands included) mobility. Along with Bonk he was our best player of the preseason (and that's when Bonk got injured :( )

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I've seen all preseason games last year... and In my very biased Latendresse superfan opinion, the kid is ready.

Remember when Komo hit Joe two seasons ago in the playoffs? At that time we kinda knew komo was the man! Well same for lats. He hits like no other, skates decently and can cement his skates in the crease while keeping a good upper body (hands included) mobility. Along with Bonk he was our best player of the preseason (and that's when Bonk got injured :( )

But preseason is only that: preseason. Vets always take it easier in preseason. They dont have to fight for a roster spot or impress the coaches.

Who puts on a show in preseason? Prospects and guys who've just been traded to a new team. They're the ones fighting for a spot or with something to prove. But once the real season starts: whole new ball game. And its a long long looooooong season.

I get what you meant about Komisarek's hit. But that was in the playoffs and Komo was already 20-something. Completely different setting. Latendresse might be ready as far as hitting goes; but to do it through about 8 months of regular season and playoffs is a whole different history. And that's without considering the medias and fans who are in your face almost 24/7.

Lats got a month of fame and it took him almost 4 months to get grounded again, which is just a normal reaction for an 18 yrs old who almost comes out of nowhere and is pushed in the spotlight overnight. Imagine now that he has to deal with the same type of scrutinity but that it turns negative because he goes through a slump. The kid will be screwed up. Its much easier to play well when you're in the zone and everyone's cheering for you. But it can be just equally hard to play better when you hit a wall and people starts second guessing you.

So dont put too much stock on what Lats did in a couple of preseason games last year. Habs have enough good kids in the system; they dont need to rush Latendresse one bit like they had to do with Ribs because the team had no depth.

Beside, if Lats is to be stuck on the 3rd or 4th line, he'd be better off getting top minutes somewhere else.

Edited by KoZed
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Why don't you ask Jeremy Roenick? :P

Haha ... I was at that game when JR did his dancing .... although it was in Vegas and the fun before and after the game has clouded my memory. ^_^

oh and btw .. great job with the pics and report from the camp :D :hlogo: :D

Edited by CaliHabsFan
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awesome stuff maca, you should turn it into an article and we'll throw it on the front page. you'll get, like, a bazillion hits.

seriously, right now you have the top spot on "Aussie's list of people to trade places with, by force if necessary". keep up the good work

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awesome stuff maca, you should turn it into an article and we'll throw it on the front page. you'll get, like, a bazillion hits.

seriously, right now you have the top spot on "Aussie's list of people to trade places with, by force if necessary". keep up the good work

Hahaha, thanks mahn, I think :P.

I plan on doing an article at the end of the week, I've got a good feel on all the players now.

I'm going to try and get an update up today or tonight, but I'm not 100%. The rest of the week looks quite busy for me as well. But Don't worry, I am still attending all of the practices (2 left) and will have plenty more pictures to share, and some updates eventually, and if not here, then via an article for sure.

Teaser: Aubin, Chipchura, O'Byrne, and Korpikari look great!

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Teaser: Aubin, Chipchura, O'Byrne, and Korpikari look great!

what about korpikari?? does he seem like the physical or more like a finesse guy ??

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Maybe someone can clarify this, but is Andrei Kostistyn there? He's a rookie, but I suppose he is too old?

No, but his younger brother, Sergei, is there. :)

what about korpikari?? does he seem like the physical or more like a finesse guy ??

I've noticed he's both physical and has some finess. He seems pretty strong though, and is a good skater, and he holds a good shot.

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Haha ... I was at that game when JR did his dancing .... although it was in Vegas and the fun before and after the game has clouded my memory. ^_^

oh and btw .. great job with the pics and report from the camp :D :hlogo: :D

Actually I was talking about the Denis Gauthier hit that he and Avery were whining bout because it was preseason.

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