| Colin Purcell | Penticton Vees | BCHL | L | G | 6’7″ | 205 | UMass Amherst | 2022 | Shaker Heights, OH | 2002 | 2021-2022: C |
BCHL: Penticton Vees vs Victoria Grizzlies, November 13, 2021: In the 6-3 win versus Victoria Purcell faced 19 shots. Purcell is still young in the world of goaltending and he certainly has the size to make NHL scouts take notice. In this game he faced shots sporadically and one go in off the skate of his defenseman. This is his last year of draft eligibility, but he is a player who deserves to be watched closely.
BCHL: Penticton Vees vs Langley Rivermen, October 20, 2021: In the 4-1 win versus Langley Purcell faced 23 shots giving up 1 goal on a broken play 3v2 where the middle drive was able to get a second rebound opportunity after a high tip. Purcell looks t have a very calm demeanor and does not get rattled easily. Although Penticton plays a high tempo, high paced game they do not give up a ton of scoring chances out of defensive zone coverage.
Neutral Zone Goalie Scouting Coordinator Ean Mendeszoon, April 2020: Purcell is a huge prospect figuratively and literally as the Cleveland Barons product stands at 6’7″ and has a calming presence in net. Purcell is a big kid who doesn’t have the quickest feet but he is smooth and efficient in his movements and has very good positioning when challenging shooters. Purcell’s a hybrid who is smart and methodical and uses his size to his advantage as he stays tall in his stance, tracks pucks well and plays out to where his feet are just touching the top of the crease. He demonstrated very strong pushes left to right or vice versa off of several 2v1s and he did a tremendous job of steering his rebounds to the corner. Purcell covers most of the net, is very good down low and shows great patience for a young goalie at this level. When the pace of the play starts to quicken and pucks start zipping around back and forth he starts to scramble and lose his footing, as he doesn’t have the best edge work yet. Once he goes to UMASS Amherst and starts to develop, get bigger and stronger in his legs he will have more power and better edges to control his feet and find pucks. He’s young and a little bit raw but Purcell has loads of NHL potential and strikes me as a goalie who can be a dominant force at the NCAA and NHL level if he continues to develop and get stronger in his lower body.
USA Hockey Select 16 National Development Camp Rankings, July 2018: Purcell is one of the more highly touted goal-tending prospects in the ‘02 class because of his obvious size and athleticism. He has a good glove, quick reflexes for his size and a calm demeanor in net. He can come out and play the puck, he has good instincts and can read the rush and not just hone in on the puck carrier and the footwork to get out beyond the crease and challenge the shooter. He has solid technical skill; he keeps his glove up, he has a good stance to play big in the net and take up space and he pushes off well while down to slide across the crease and make secondary saves. He stopped 79 of 86 shots for a .919 SV% which was among the camp leaders and showed why he was drafted in both the USHL and OHL draft this spring. A high ceiling goalie who is listed as undecided as to his plans for next season. Colin received an ‘A’ grade and was Neutral Zone’s highest rated goalie.
USHL Phase I Draft, May 2018: Colin was ranked #184 and still had a 3.5 Star Rating. Other goalies that were ranked include Spencer Knight, Josh Langford, Cameron Rowe, Alexandros Aslanidis, Jack Williams, Jacob Zacharewicz, Trevor Giwerowski, Joe Sharib, Aidan Harper, Henry Wilder, Ethan Haider, Marco Duronio, Marc Smith, Ben Fritsinger, Logan Stein, Connor Hasley, Caleb Meyer, Robbie Nuchereno and Matthew Schoer.
Top 200 American OHL Draft Prospects, April 2018: At this point Colin has earned a Neutral Zone 3.5 Star Rating and ranked as Neutral Zone’s 109th best American OHL Draft prospect. Other goalies who were ranked: Xavier Medina, Noah Grannan, Joe Tynan, Aidan Campbell, Liam O’Gwen, Owen Parker, Cooper Duncan, Cullen DeYoung, Nicholas Addante, Hunter Garvey, Peyton Grainer, Bennett Jung, Luke Pavicich, Gustave Bylin, Jackson Dylla, Owen Hains, Luke Beally and Grant Riley.
Photo Credit: Dan Hickling/Hickling Images
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