Played on February 29, 2024
|Aiden^Wright|
Game Grade: B-
Comments: Wright is a below average sized goalie with an upright posture and a quick glove. In this mid-morning game he showed nice mental toughness after allowing a goal 0:28 seconds into the game on the first shot he faced. After that he settled in to face 52 attempted shots with only 21 hitting the net and only 9 of those from inside the house. The first goal against came off a grey area turnover that allowed the goal scorer a breakaway from the hashmarks in. The goal scorer faked to his backhand and then quickly snapped the puck under his glove. The second goal came on a 3 on 1 where the left handed goal scorer carried the puck the length of the ice and beat him cleanly from inside the right dot-lane 12″ high to the blocker side from just inside the top of the circle. It was a rip but there’s no doubt that Wright wanted it back. The third goal was a seeing eye wrist shot from the point that Wright guessed was going high blocker but instead went in high to his glove side. He was playing the percentages through a mass of bodies. Th fourth goal was off a designed face-off play but it was another wrist shot that beat him glove side. For the game he faced six high danger shots with one missing the net and one going in.
|Sascha^Boumedienne|
Did not play
|Conner^de Haro|
Game Grade:
Comments: Conner de Haro is an undersized left shot defender with smooth feet and an athletic knee over toe skating posture that will allow him to maintain his speed and quickness as his frame fills out. He has the footwork to skate backwards while a forechecker is in his face and still make a nice indirect pass into space. In the past we have seen him as an accurate passer but in this game we feel he tried to force his passes into tight areas without showing the deception we have seen in previous games. In the defensive zone he used his footwork to maintain net side positioning and he showed the core strength to hit and stick his man to the wall while his low support could win the puck to start offensive transition.
|Luke^Osburn|
Game Grade: B
Comments: Standing at 6’1″ Osborn is a slightly below average sized left shot defenseman who has the game awareness to play both the left or right side. He showed a bit of an inside edge skating base but his glide was smooth and his 10 & 2 skating base allowed for effortless easy pivots with needing to cross-over. During neutral zone offensive transition he worked to be an outlet for his partner without falling outside the dot-lane to limit his passing options. He finished the game with three secondary assists. The first two came as a direct result of him making passes from near his defensive blueline that trapped Waterloo forwards on the wrong side of the puck going the wrong direction. The third came on the power play where Osborn carried the puck from below his goal line through the neutral zone and then fired a pass back to the slingshot and that player did the work. Overall his passing was excellent. He moved his feet to manipulate Waterloo’s defensive structure and then he fired tape to tape bullets that were easy to handle. Physically he is still quite light and gaining the strength needed to defend at the NCAA level and beyond but in today’s game he pinned his man to the wall to end the cycle and his hands were strong enough to pop sticks to win the puck.
|Tory^Pitner|
Game Grade:
Comments: Pitner is a slightly below average sized right defender with a shoulder width skating base and a stride that begins with a knee over toe athletic posture. Defensively he was on the ice for three goals against. He had very little to do with the first as it occurred on the opening shift when his defensive partner activated into the weakside on a low percentage situation without the puck leaving the defensive zone. On the second goal against we feel he failed to recognize that the puck carrier was Waterloo’s leading goal scorer. The miss read was all stick placement and failing to communicate with his backchecker but in our mind this is a totally correctable situation because his feet and depth were where they needed to be. The third goal came on a seeing eye point shot that went through a mass of bodies. Yes we could say he could have used his leg drive to move his man a little earlier from the slot but he had just made a beautiful play breaking up a quick 3 on 1 so we feel the goal was out of a scramble and a forward should have eaten the point shot. Offensively he moved the puck quickly and his passes were flat. There were a few times on D to D neutral zone passes where the puck bounced off his stick about 12″ in front of him but they were in situations where he was taking ice to gain the neutral zone. Pitner was very strong through contact and showed little trouble moving his man or pinning him to the walls when ending the cycle.
|Zachary^Morin|
Game Grade: B+
Comments: The January 2007 Morin is a highly skilled left shot left wing with an NHL frame who processes the game like a goal scorer. He showed a knee over toe skating base with long powerful strides and a return leg that landed on its flat edge. He showed improved top speed and explosiveness out of hard stops that he had not seen before. Offensively he scored a beautiful cross body one-timer after recognizing a breakdown in Waterloo’s defensive zone coverage and sprinting to the slot screaming for the puck. Although he has the frame to be an NHLer there is no doubt that he is still gaining the strength and power needed to win battles consistently as there were times that he was pushed off the puck or had his stride broken while he was trying to jump off contact into space. As a high skill guy coaches are going to let him try to make plays in dangerous areas but Morin had three turnovers in the offensive grey area. None of them led to odd man situations going the other way but at higher levels, especially professionally, those will quickly end up as odd man rushes towards his goalie.
|Ryan^Rucinski|
Game Grade: B-
Comments: Rucinski is a compact undersized right shot center with a shoulder width bowlegged skating base. He has powerful strides with a bit of a heel kick but his return leg lands flat and he is very quick in 10′-12′ puck races. Offensively he scored a power play line rush goal with 1:23 remaining in the second after showing the awareness to break his skating down and remain in the right dot-lane so he would remain a passing option. Before shooting he handled the pass cleanly, did not stickhandle and took the extra second to bear down. He showed a good first touch, his passes were flat and he took the time to show deception before moving the puck by moving away from his intended passing target or by simply looking one way before moving the puck the other direction. Rucinski is more than willing to battle for loose pucks but as a December 2006 he is still gaining the strength, power and explosiveness to consistently win those battles. In the defensive zone he worked well with his defensemen to sort out scissors and picks and he used his quickness to maintain defensive side positioning through contact.
|Brecken^Smith|
Game Grade:
Comments: Did not play. We know from previous viewings that he’s got a powerful stride, stays low in his stance and bounces off body-checks. He’s got touch on his passes both forehand and backhand and a sneaky release that he gets off in stride without any windup or indication that a shot is coming. He is a competitive December 2006 with high end offensive instincts with leadership skills who is in his first season in the USHL.
|Kuzma^Voronin|
Game Grade: B
Comments: Voronin is an undersized left shot forward who can play either wing but is more comfortable on the right side. He showed a shoulder width skating base with a fluid full length stride that ends with a powerful toe snap. He uses a full cross-under thrust when coming out of turns to gain speed and create space for himself. He is not a threat to put anyone through the boards but he does not shy away from initiating contact on the way to 50/50 pucks and we like how he keeps his feet moving through the contact. Offensively he has a wide stick handle, soft hands and a shooter’s mentality but at this point we feel he is still relying on his skills to play a 1 on 1 game rather using his skill set to generate small area 2 on 1s which is exactly how he earned a secondary assist on Youngstown’s first goal of the game. Defensively Voronin can be a bit of a drifter looking to push the pace as soon as there is a loose puck but with added details we feel he certainly has the pace to be an effective penalty killer as he matures.
|Grant^Young|
Game Grade: A-
Comments: Young is an undersized slight right shot center who is light on his feet and plays the game with real pace. He showed a shoulder-knee over toe in line skating posture with fluid strides and an explosive first step that had him be at top speed in a single thrust. His edges are smooth and he showed the leg strength to gain speed while holding a tight edge. Young had two secondary assists with the first coming positioned on the right dot-lane during the power play. The second came after he won a 1 on 1 battle along the right mid-wall to cycle the puck to the corner for his linemate. Neither play showed off his skill level or could be called special but both assists came on plays that were made at the right time after not messing around with the puck trying to do too much. Defensively he used his quickness to takeaway passing lanes and to beat his man to the valuable ice to limit scoring opportunities against but we do feel this will be a huge off season for him to gain strength so he can be a valuable two-way center at higher levels.
Photo Credit: Dan Hickling/Hickling Images