VHL: Perm at Krylia

Game Grade: C+

Comments: Kol showed flashes of being a very effective puck rush/offensive leaning defenseman in tonight’s game but still has far too many flaws to his game. He still does not look comfortable at the VHL level despite playing there for the whole season. Timur showed flashes of some impressive skating/rush ability. He has smooth edgework and quick hands that allowed him to join the rush on a couple of occasions. One in particular he jumped into transition and moved into space to become a pass option which generated a quality scoring chance for himself. The problem is Timur lacks the confidence and drive to execute plays like this consistently. 90% of his game is stationary which is very frustrating when he has the puck on his stick. He has the skill to walk the blue line or escape pressure and move into space, but he chose to stand completely still after receiving passes and whack the puck to an area without looking. If he was just a bit more patient and confident, he would be able to escape pressure and find quality pass options in the offensive one. This stationary trend is also seen in the defensive zone. He is very passive and reactionary when on defense. Most of the time he parks himself in the crease and stands still until his team has possession again. If play comes into the slot/crease, Timur looks a bit lost and scrambles to try to keep up with play. He gave up a bad goal in this game when he slid to a man with the puck but did not fully commit and let a pass slip under his passive poke check for a tap in goal. Timur needs to build his confidence at this level and raise his level of play. He has the skill and skating ability to become an effective defenseman but does not use his possessed traits effectively and plays a style that is far too passive. He needs to improve his decision making with the puck and learn how to play a more aggressive style on defense.