Game played on 10/18/2024.
General Game Notes: Friday night in Brampton and the host # 2 ranked team in the country was playing against the nations capitol Ottawa 67’s in front of a decent sized crowd. This game had many of each teams top player’s available to play, although one of the very best goaltenders in this year’s crop of draft eligible’s(Jack Ivankovic) was a healthy scratch, for Brampton and one of the visiting team’s top scorer’s(Luca Pinelli) was also a late scratch. The game was relatively an equal matched , back and forth, quick paced game with good overall two way conservative styles of play being displayed by both teams. Ottawa scored their two goals on the PP and Brampton scored one of their goals when they were in a two man advantage situation. The only even strength goal scored in this game was by the home team, in the third period, when a defensive miscue by one of the Ottawa’s defender’s allowed Porter Martone to drive to the net while his opponent’s defenseman was busy watching the puck instead of watching Martone. All in all the game was decided by a shootout and the home team were victorious, gaining the extra point in the standings. Both goaltender’s deserved to be stars in this game although the home teams keeper, Jacob Gibbons was the busier of the two, stopping 41 shots in total of the 43 he faced. The visiting teams keeper, Collin MacKenzie had many difficult saves to make of his own in this game and saved 33 of the 35 shots he faced in the total 65 minutes played. Scout: Mike Crawford
Jacob Gibbons (G, R, 6’5″, 205, Brampton Steelheads, 11/23/2006)
Grade: B+
Comments: Jacob had one of his best recorded games tonight and was rewarded with credit for a win, which is his first win of this season. Jacob was also given the first star of the game as he stopped 41 of 43 shots over 65 minutes of play which included a 5 minute overtime period and he then went on to stop 2 of 3 penalty shots. The goals he allowed were both while playing a man short and he was only beaten cleanly on one of those goals. What we noticed about Jacob tonight was that his defence was trusting him and basically clearing his path and vision in front of him. Jacob was assertive in his approach to the shooters he faced tonight and relied on his quickness and size to either make clean saves or get a piece of the many shots he faced. Jacob is getting used to his new teammates as he has just been traded from another team at the end of this summer. If this is an indication of what Jacob has to offer as a young, tall and athletic styled goaltender, he should provide a buffer for his other teammates as they look to move forward toward a successful season which is predicted by the people in the know, in the CHL.
Carson Rehkopf (C, L, 6’2″, 202, Brampton Steelheads, 01/07/2005)
Grade: B+
Comments: Carson has been playing with his teams top line and has shown, at times, that he can either finish off plays or set them up when he is playing on the offensive side of the puck. Tonight was another indicator where Carson can find his teammates with a pass, when it appears that he is covered in the opposition’s end of play. Carson’s hand eye coordination is at the top of offensive puck handlers/shooters in this league. Carson is a bigger player, that has very good strength and speed to complement his reach advantage, over the many of the mid sized defenders. Although Carson was left holding the bag all night, not scoring on the six shots recorded on net, he did make a beautiful pass from the corner of the R side of the rink,while on his backhand to an uncovered Porter Malone for the only goal scored by either team when even strength. Carson will need to continue to work on his edges as he does still lose his balance on occasion when he is turning in either direction and it also wouldn’t hurt his defensive effectiveness if he could improve his transitional skating from the forward to backwards direction.
Angus Macdonell (C, L, 5’10”, 181, Brampton Steelheads, 05/01/2005)
Grade: A-
Comments: The heart and soul of this team each and every night that he has played in front of this observer. Angus seeks out the best players on the opposition team and single handed, will make an attempt to make those players have a difficult nights work. Angus plays the most minutes for his team as he is double shifted, plays on both special teams and has a compete level that exceeds most of the players in the entire league. Tonight Angus was paying special attention to a player for the opposition that gave him some trouble. Angus seems to know which player that he thinks could be a difference maker in the outcome of the game and makes it a point to draw a line in the sand, practically daring this opponent to cross it. The problem tonight was that Angus was picking on a player that can handle whatever Angus was able to muster in the physicality department. Angus won a couple of the confrontations with Kohyn Eshkawkogan, a 15 year old rookie defender for the Ottawa 67’s, but Angus found out that he better not play with this fireball and he did get burned a couple of times. lf Angus wants to last a long time in his future career, he should probably not take on all comers and should be more selective as this young player he was hunting is a young wolf. The rest of the game was just another day at the office for Angus and his goal in the first period, along with his usual tireless pursuit of excellence throughout the game, earned him a second star rating in this game.
Gabriel Chiarot (F, L, 5’11”, 192, Brampton Steelheads, 09/17/2006)
Grade: B+
Comments: Because Gabriel has a late birth date. his value to the NHL teams is higher. For us he is on course to end up scoring at around a point a game, but more importantly should get stronger physically and may exceed these point total expectations. Gabriel plays an aggressive physical compete style of play with an emphasis on defence first while playing on a checking line. If given the chance to play in an offensive setting we believe Gabriel could become a scorer as well. The NHL teams are most likely taking note of his speed of play, physical competitive nature and very good hands with a willingness to get to the net in order to get the gold. If Gabriel is who we think he is off the ice he will move up the ladder throughout the season in the NHL’s rankings. A reliable player that is a good teammate and very patient, just waiting for his opportunity to shine.
Lucas Karmiris (C, R, 5’11”, 181, Brampton Steelheads, 09/27/2006)
Grade: B
Comments: Lucas is in his draft eligible season and appears to have gotten off to a decent start, points wise, having scored 6 offensive points and is a plus one. Tonight though Lucas had only a couple of shifts where he was creating offensive opportunities and was relatively ineffective throughout the entire game. It appears that the speed of play and the competitive physical nature of the game was not up to snuff. Maybe a blip on the radar.
Luke Misa (C, R, 5’10”, 170, Brampton Steelheads, 02/28/2005)
Grade: B
Comments: Luke for a first round pick in his OHL draft year appears to be having the post NHL draft blues where he has lost a bit of the urgency that he had last season when he had something to prove. Now that he has been at an NHL rookie camp, had his first taste of the professional style of play, it could be a bit of a letdown. It was showing up mainly in his lack of competition for pucks, races for pucks being lost and just appeared like Luke looked disinterested. Luke should be proud but not boastful that he was drafted and should prove to himself that Calgary was right in selecting him in the draft. Back to the drawing board and one shift at a time was not what this viewer was watching. Luke is most effective when he makes things happen, utilising his speed and play making abilities.
Porter Martone (RW, R, 6’3″, 208, Brampton Steelheads, 10/26/2006)
Grade: B+
Comments: Porter is one of the players that is predicted to go early in this year’s NHL draft and he just keeps putting up the offensive numbers to justify his early season points production. Porter has only been kept off the scorer’s sheet on one occasion in the games that he has played in and tonight was no exception. Porter was basically being kept to the outside for most the game but did score a goal in the third period when he drove the net with his big body and received a perfect feed from his new teammate, Carson Rehkopf, and showed off what we think is his biggest asset, that being a great set of hands, especially in close to the net. Porter will have to continually need to work on his overall footwork and edges to maximise his chances of being an early first round selection in this years NHL draft but there will be no denial of Porter going in the early selections. Right now Porter is out of the blocks with Michael Misa as the early favorites to be taken in said NHL draft.
Collin MacKenzie (G, L, 6’8″, 175, Ottawa 67s, 11/30/2004)
Grade: B+
Comments: Collin played a very good game and at times was making spectacular saves against some of the top shooters in the OHL. You can tell when the save is a good one, when you hear the home town crowd groan with disappointment, and Collins teammates instantly perk up, knowing that they should have been scored on. I can count on both hands the number of saves Collin made that should have been goals against. Collin was tracking pucks passed through his crease, in either direction, making the saves with any part of his body. If there is a fault I could find it would be that Collin, being a smaller sized goalkeeper, does play deep in his crease. This allows the oppositions players more space to throw pucks across or sometimes through the front of his net.
Nicolas Whitehead (C, L, 5’10”, 159, Ottawa 67s, 02/11/2007)
Grade: B
Comments: Nicolas is a very fast skating player that has the ability to carry the puck with good forward movement and does get the oppositions defenders backing up on their heels at times making these defenders give up their own blue lines. Nicolas distributes the puck to his teammates and is very noticed every time he picks up the puck, either in his own end or through the neutral zone. As Nicolas gets stronger and faster this year he will more than likely gain confidence to make plays and take these defenders on in the one on one situations.
Henry Mews (D, R, 6’0″, 181, Ottawa 67s, 03/09/2006)
Grade: B
Comments: Henry is more of an offensive style defender that can create space when he passes the puck out of his end but does lose the puck on occasion when he easily gets knocked off the puck while trying to carry the puck out against a good positioned opponents fore checker. Henry does do an adequate job when playing on the PP with his puck distribution and good low hard shot when he can get time to let the shot go. Henry has good footwork when playing in his own end and can use this footwork to stay in front of his check, but his strength is an issue when playing against bigger and stronger players. Henry doesn’t appear to want to compete as hard as most of his opponents and this allows for the separation or edge that the opponents are working for.
Kohyn Eshkawkogan (D, R, 5’9″, 164, Ottawa 67s, 11/19/2008)
Grade: A-
Comments: Late birth date rookie defender who at 15 years old sometimes is playing like a seasoned Professional. The best player in this game for both teams and Kohyn Eshkawkagan will become a household name in the coming years. We have to wait for three more drafts in the NHL until we hear his name being called but we are quite confident that it will. Kohyn is very much comparable to a new style of two way defenders like Quinton Hughes, Cale Makar, Adam Fox and more recently Lane Hutson. All of these players have the ability to skate in any direction they so chose equally well and can do so while changing speeds like a Formula One driver with a gear shifter at hand. What makes Kohyn unique is that he is playing arguably in the best Jr league in the world(CHL) at a young age, and he is getting better in every game he plays. His minutes played are going up and was the most used defender for his team, being used in all situations and double shifted occasionally to boot. One on one Kohyn is almost unbeatable and his stick checking is second to none. The players in this league are going to test him, his resolve and will most likely find out that this guy has a fierce compete level, so they better approach with caution. All in all, once Kohyn gets stronger and grows we think that he is going to be one of the most talked about players in this present season.
Cooper Foster (C, L, 5’11”, 187, Ottawa 67s, 06/04/2005)
B+
Comments: Cooper is going to be relied upon to continue to score offensive points for this team and shore up his defensive positioning when he is playing on the defensive side of the puck. So far Cooper has scored at about a goal per game clip and now will need to set up more opportunities for his line mates, which should naturally occur once he starts to get special attention from the opponents defenders. This guy is probably going to lead this team in scoring and should continue to develop his overall two way play in order to get ready to move to the next level which is professional.
Filip Ekberg (LW, L, 5’10”, 165, Ottawa 67s, 04/14/2007)
Grade: B+
Comments: Filip had a very good showing for us in this game as he has settled in nicely with his new teammates and overall the OHL in general. This guy is a very skilled two way player that is relatively unassuming, not drawing attention to himself but yet can be explicit with his straight forward offensive game and will score if given the opportunity to. While Filip is adjusting to the new league, the league will in turn adjust to his game. I like the fact that Filip is one step ahead already and will most likely stay at least one step ahead. Filip has a sixth sense of what to do in the three areas of play and will make the other players on his team better players due to this higher IQ ratio. A responsible defensive player that can be utilized on the PK and eventually the top PP unit.
Photo Credit: Dan Hickling/Hickling Images