Game played on 11/03/2024
General Game Notes: Looks like Oshawa was at full compliment on their roster and were the better team tonight, especially when playing at even strength, as they scored three times while 5 on 5. The game was a chippy affair and for two teams that were basically even in the standings, one could tell that not much separated these Eastern Conference rivals. Brantford scored a couple of PP goals and they were missing a couple of key players in Owen Protz (suspension)and Marek Vanacker(recovering from shoulder surgery during offseason). Ben Bujold has been missing from the lineup as well and status is unknown at this time.
Ryerson Leenders (G, L, 6’1″, 165, Brampton Steelheads, 06/01/2006)
Grade: B-
Comments: Ryerson will have to get out of his crease in order to progress this season as he will be picked apart by the top players that can all shoot the eye out of a needle in this league. All of the five goals were scored against Ryerson while he was back in his net and trying to make saves that were good quick accurate shots. Ryersons job is to attack the shooter and leave the rebounds, if any, to his defence. He shouldn’t worry about his mates responsibilities as that’s his coach’s job. His job is to stop the puck.
Adam Jiricek (D, R, 6’3″, 194, Brantford Bulldogs, 06/28/2006)
Grade: B
Comments: Jiricek is a good offensive minded defence player and his skating with the puck is this player’s strength. Adam also has a big, heavy shot from the point which usually gives opposing goalkeepers a headache as the shot is usually low and creates rebounds. Defensively, Adam was constantly adjusting to the speed of the players that were skating towards his teams end of play. On a couple of plays Adam misjudged the opponents speed and was beaten to the outside. Effort isn’t a question for this tall wiry defender as he makes up for these early seasons lessons with his long reach and second effort.
Tomas Hamara (D, L, 6’0″, 194, Brantford Bulldogs, 03/09/2004)
Grade: B+
Comments: Tomas was schooled in this game and he also did his share of schooling as he was his teams most effective two way player. Tomas can continue to try to play the assertive, physical type of game as well as his teams rushing puck distributing defensive player.What he should probably try to do less of is drawing extra attention to himself and just play the game with style, skill and smarts as he is going to be a premier player this season. Tomas drew the ire of the home team when he made a big hit on one of the opposing teams players. The reaction of the home team was to send out a player to respond to Tomas’s insolence. Tomas may have been trying to get his team motivated but it backfired as he was in the box for the next 5 minutes and took some unnecessary punishment from a middleweight. Lesson learned.
Nick Lardis (RW, L, 5’10”, 167, Brantford Bulldogs, 07/08/2005)
Grade: B+
Comments: Nick is an offensive minded, goalscorer that is going to most likely be one of the top goal producers in the league this season. Nick also will get his share of assists as he and his team mates have already established that they have and will continue to have a top PP this season. Where Nick can help his team mates is by playing on the defensive side and take pride in showing the younger players what a top two way player looks like. This will also hasten his move to the professional ranks as early as next season. If not, Nick will probably be back again for his final season in the OHL. Nick can score with the best of them in this league and then he goes up a notch to the pro’s where everyone is able to score. What then separates the forwards is their play without the puck.
Jake O’Brien (C, R, 6’2″, 168, Brantford Bulldogs, 06/16/2007)
Grade: A-
Comments: Jake is going to most likely be one of the early picks in this year’s NHL draft and for the fact that he can control the game, speed of play, tone of play and it just comes naturally because this player just seems to love to play. The only thing that is holding this player back from becoming the very top player in the entire league is that he is still growing in all areas of his development. Physically, emotionally and spiritually. Jake isn’t getting the point production that he soon will, because arguably, he is on another wavelength that not too many players can get the reception coordinates to. On this night Jake was winning his share of face offs or at least tying up the oppositions player to prevent a clean win. When Jake gets a little stronger he will improve his already good rating in the face off circle. One other thing that we will say is that Jake is mainly responsible for the puck possession time while on the PP being good and the mates that he is playing alongside him are mainly read and react or must be absolutely sure type players where Jake is a feel player.
Ben Radley (D, L, 6’0″, 171, Brantford Bulldogs, 07/29/2007)
Grade: B
Comments: Ben is in a place that all players have to get through in order to move forward in their quest to become a professional hockey player. This place is what we call the bargaining stage. In a previous report for Ben it was mentioned that he doubts himself on whether he should stay or go. He now appears to doubt himself with regards to playing against the top players on the opposition. I have no doubt that Ben can, play and play well against all comers in this league. He is a very good skating player that has a surplus of skills in his toolbox. Ben just has to open the box and stop doubting himself. When Ben starts to believe in his abilities then he will start to enjoy the game again, even have some fun and then wonder why he ever worried or doubted his very good abilities. Keeping it simple, one shift at a time, doing and not thinking too much and giving someone a hit wouldn’t hurt.
Josh Avery (C, L, 6’0″, 172, Brantford Bulldogs, 01/30/2007)
Grade: B+
Comments: Josh can fly and has the ability to break a game open with this skating speed if given a chance to play with more offensive skilled player’s. I’ve seen this player dominate play just a couple of seasons ago and there is no reason for him not to excel against the present group of players that I am watching him play against. He just has to get the chance to play a bit more than the minutes he is getting presently. The other players that are getting more minutes aren’t able to produce and that is presently a problem for this team.
Patrick Thomas (C, L, 6’0″, 178, Brantford Bulldogs, 08/21/2004)
Grade: B-
Comments: Patrick is in his final year and is getting most of his points while playing on the PP. He is a setup player and could help his team and himself if he tried to score more as well. Always seems to be looking to pass. He also is a bit too passive and lackadaisical when on the backcheck. Allowed Owen Griffin to shrug off his half measured stick check and get to the net for a big goal when the game was still close. A leader wouldn’t let this happen.
Jacob Oster (G, L, 6’3″, 187, Oshawa Generals, 03/26/2004)
Grade: B
Comments: Jacob didn’t allow any goals scored against while playing even strength and appeared to be steady although a bit unsure of his whereabouts when playing shorthanded. What was happening when the visiting teams PP was moving the puck around Jacobs end of play was that Jacob appeared to be content to play back in his crease. Oshawa was scored against twice while shorthanded and both goals were from the same high left circle and beat Jacob to his low glove hand cleanly. Actually while following the puck on the first goal Jacob went down on his knees thinking the shot was coming while the puck was being distributed to the eventual shooter. Jacob had no chance to recover from the incorrect guess.
Brooks Rogowski (F, R, 6’6″, 219, Oshawa Generals, 06/24/2008)
Grade: B
Comments: Brooks is a good skating player especially when skating north to south. For a very big player he has a good set of hands and can make simple passes and on occasion stick handle around a stick checking opponent,with his long reach. Brooks can stumble and fall on occasion as his skating coordination is a bit clumsy. Brooks also was utilized when his team was playing a man short and did a good job using his long reach to take away space in the box/diamond penalty kill formation. For us Brooks is getting ample situational ice time for a rookie and looks like he isn’t out of place.
Calum Ritchie (C, R, 6’2″, 187, Oshawa Generals, 01/21/2005)
Grade: A-
Comments: Calum has quickly adapted to the speed of play, since coming back from his short stint with his NHL parent club,the Colorado Avalanche. When we say the speed of play, let’s just say the adjustment back down to the level of speed from playing in the best league in professional hockey to the best league in Jr. hockey takes an adjusting period. Calum found his sights tonight and scored two goals while assisting on another. Calum will also help other players on his team, just by attacking the net when he gets his opportunities to score in his opponents end of play. His linemate Beckett Sennecke scored a carbon copy goal that Calum scored earlier in this contest, when they both skated into an open space in the opponents slot area and blew it by the visitors surprised goalkeeper. Calum will need to assert himself to defending on the correct side of play when he doesn’t have the puck as he appeared lackadaisical on the backcheck. This correction is probably why Colorado sent Calum back to work.
Colby Barlow (LW, L, 6’1″, 195, Oshawa Generals, 02/01/2005)
Grade: B
Comments: Colby appeared to be struggling for the entire game as he was getting involved in the negative emotional side of the game rather than doing what he does well, that being driving hard to the net with or without the puck and just playing hard. Colby is going to get his minutes to prove to everyone and most importantly, to himself that he can help his team push for a championship. Colby can show the newcomers on his relatively new team what it takes to succeed in this league just by working hard and doing what they do well. Colby didn’t appear to be this type of player and was being distracted from being himself.
Lauri Sinivuori (LW, L, 6’1″, 170, Oshawa Generals, 04/28/2006)
Grade: B+
Comments: Lauri had some very impressive offensive moments in this game as it appears he is a setup player who can skate with or without the puck, creating space for his mates to get to where they need to get. His new team has a group of good offensive minded, speedy players that Lauri fits right in with. Lauri is also very hard with his physicality and never seems to give up on the defensive side of play. We would like to watch Lauri play a few more times, at home and while on the road, against top contending teams, before we start to give ranking considerations for the upcoming NHL draft. As it stands Lauri has impressed and is considered as a good prospect. We would need to see if Lauri can use his size and speed to create space, by driving the net either with or without the puck, in order to upgrade the game rating.
Beckett Sennecke (RW, R, 6’2″, 177, Oshawa Generals, 01/28/2006)
Grade: B+
Comments: Beckett asserted himself offensively a few times in this game and the one goal and two assists were enough for him to be chosen as the games 2nd star by the home town star gazers. Getting to the net untouched seems to be on Becketts mind when he finds the space to jump into. We know that this isn’t probably going to be the case on most nights for Beckett as he is going to draw the opposition’s best defenders on any given night. Beckett should probably be working at both ends of the ice equally hard, as this will help him get out of himself and become the team first player that he will need to become in order to quicken his move to the pro’s.
Benjamin Danford (D, R, 6’1″, 194, Oshawa Generals, 02/06/2006)
Grade: B+
Comments: Ben is begining to understand that he has the ability to jump into spaces with his offensive skating bursts and now is doing things with the puck once he gets into these said spaces. Ben broke his goalless string, to start this season, when he jumped into the play as a trailing player in the offensive space created by his speed. A one timer beauty was the best goal scored on the night for both teams and Ben should be losing any self doubts he has as to why his name was called by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round of last seasons draft. Ben also got a secondary assist when his skating speed gained the opponents end of play and he distributed the puck appropriately to the open man. Defensively Ben has some work to do, but one thing at a time.
Owen Griffin (C, R, 5’10”, 158, Oshawa Generals, 04/08/2007)
Grade: B
Comments: When Owen decides to get to the net with his very good skating speed and ability to get his stick free from the oppositions defensive check, this is when Owen is at his best. Although Owen is still getting stronger and faster he will need to pick and choose when to get out of the way of a few of the big hits that he takes when he is watching the puck rather than getting to the open spaces created with his quick skating bursts. Owen is growing stronger but still he can’t take these big hits, which will eventually probably get him injured.
Luca Marrelli (D, R, 6’1″, 181, Oshawa Generals, 10/04/2005)
Grade: B+
Comments: Luca was his team’s best all round D man.He is distributing the puck with precision passing when quarterbacking the PP. Stick checking effectively and good body positional play is how I would describe Luca’s style of defending and his gap control is ok at this level. Still could play with a bit more ‘Umph’ when finishing his checks as he will be respected more by his opponents and his teammates.
Photo Credit: Dan Hickling/Hickling Images