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Scouting Reports

Chicago Mission Showcase: Top 20

Game/Tournament Reviews, Prospects, Scouting Reports

Neutral Zone headed to the Chicago Mission showcase on September 3-5, 2016. Our scouts generated a list of 20 players that stood out on the weekend. Play was excellent and we were impressed by the level of but also the maturity of these young prospects.

Players from both the U16 and U18 divisions are listed. There are some familiar names with other new players that we liked. We have profiles but nor rates for some of these prospects as we want to get a better feel before we add star ratings.

Matthieu De St. Phalle (R, 5-7/140, Chicago Mission, ’00) – De St. Phalle was one of the more noticeable players on the ice all weekend. Every shift, he does something memorable and catches one’s eye. He is so dynamic in every facet and showed no holes in his game.

His speed is excellent, and his foot speed and quickness are equally as prolific. He is shifty and his ability to move laterally and slice and dice through traffic with the puck is extremely impressive. He does not slow down when possessing the puck and his vision and awareness match his skating ability. His head is always up and his vision and puck handling combine to make him a lethal playmaking threat. He can finish in his own right, potting a couple of top-shelf goals from the slot. He founds the soft areas of the offensive zone really well, and thinks the game at a high level. He is a must-watch every time he is on the ice. Grade A

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USPHL Premier NJ Hitmen Showcase: Top 85

Articles, Feature Story, Game/Tournament Reviews, Prospects, Scouting Reports

Neutral Zone headed to Wayne, NJ for the annual NJ Hitmen Classic on October 6-9, 2016. Our focus for this report was the Premier Division. All 10 teams played three games each. The games were played under regular season rules and counted in the standings.

The overall play was good. The event was well run and attended by some Division I college scouts and lots of Division III schools. Games were played on two rinks, many at the same time. We did some “bouncing” but mostly tried to watch entire games.

The players noted here stood out for mostly positive reasons. The grades are in relation to the other players noted. We were in attendance for all four days of the showcase.

 

A

Tomas Psenicka (6’4”/208lbs; NJ Hitmen, #66, late ’98; F)-The 1998 from the Czech Republic is a new addition to Neutral Zone. He was impressive here. He can make quick, simple plays on line rushes. He is tough and played hard. He showed a quick, hard shot. Tomas is hard to handle once he gets going. He must learn to use his body more to get to the net and his first step needs some work. He was, however, one of the best players this weekend.

 

Matt Thomson (6’1”/195lbs; IHC, #15, ’98; F)- Our knock on Matt last season at Reading HS was his play away from the puck and his overall consistency shift to shift. He has improved a lot in both areas. He is working hard away from the puck and in all three zones. His skating and strength look improved. Matt showed his quick stick, shot and touch around the net. He scored one goal on a rebound from a near possible angle. His game is rounding out nicely with the IHC and he is clearly one of the best players in the league. College: Northeastern

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GOJHL Scouting Report: Chatham vs Sarnia

Articles, Game/Tournament Reviews, Prospects, Scouting Reports

Neutral Zone attended a GOJHL game on October 13th, 2016. The Chatham Maroons beat the Sarnia Legionnaires 2-1 at Sarnia Arena.  Below are 20 players we evaluated from that game. The players are almost all new to our profiles. As we evaluate further, we will add star ratings for each prospect. All future scouting reports will be attached their profiles. Grades are based on the players’ performance in this game only.

Alec DeKoning #22 (R, 5-10/175, Sarnia, 1998)

Dekoning is in his second season with the Legionnaires. He is a cerebral hockey player who has a good skating stride and handles the puck well.   He does a good job picking up passes from his D in the neutral zone and works hard on the PK keeping the puck in his feet in corners to kill some time.  He leads his team in scoring until now (11 pts in 11 games) but needs to make sure he moves the puck quicker as he tends to hold on too long in certain situations.  Grade: B+

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All American Prospects Game Sept. 22, 2016

Around the Rinks, Articles, Game/Tournament Reviews, Prospects, Scouting Reports

The best of the best 1998 and 1999 birth years were on display September 22nd, 2016. There was a load of skill and talent on the ice , but it was a typical all-star game style of play.  There wasn’t much defense and play got a bit sloppy at times.

Goalies:

Jake Oettinger CL 6’04 206 late 98 Team Leclair Boston University

Best goalie in game. Calm. Positions self well. Paddle down.  Covers lower net well good knee slide. Good glove. Directs rebounds well. Let in 2G in 12. One was a nifty backhand one on one the other a rebound in tight crashing the net,neither was bad. Gives you nothing to shoot at.  Grade: A

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USHL Fall Classic U16: Top 110

Articles, Feature Story, Game/Tournament Reviews, Prospects, Scouting Reports

 

The USHL Fall Classic U16 Tournament didn’t disappoint with the caliber of teams and talent from around the country.  The high end field displayed many teams that have the capability to compete for a U16 USA Hockey Tier 1 National Title next spring.  Don’t be surprised if there is 7-9 teams in this field that are consistently ranked in the top 20 in the country throughout the 2016-17 season.  The tournament was won by the Minnesota Blades, a team that competes in the Fall made up of some of the top players in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area.  The Blades played a very consistent tournament and were able to hold off the Chicago Mission and Honeybaked in the Semifinals and Finals respectively.  An early U16 Tournament can bring some challenges for the 01’s as they compete against older players for the first time.  As the year goes on, look for some of the 01’s to move up in our rank in future Neutral Zone reports.

 

Alex Turcotte (L, Chicago Mission, ‘01) –  High end talent with all the tools.  Solid size and strength with a skill set to go along with it.  A strong and powerful skater who can separate from defenders.  He can make plays on the rush or pick teams apart below the dots in tight areas. For an ’01 to make such a seamless transition to midget hockey says a lot about where his game is at. A shoe-in NTDP Camp Invite. College: Wisconsin  Grade: A

 

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Hitmen Classic U16 Division Top 25

Articles, Game/Tournament Reviews, Prospects, Scouting Reports

Neutral covered the U16 division at the Hitmen Classic. There was not a lot of parity and players listed below are generally on the teams that represented the upper echelon of the showcase. Players noted here had a nice weekend and grades are in relation to others on the list.

FORWARDS

A

Clark Kerner (R, 5’6”, 165lbs, ’00, Skipjacks)–hands down the best U16 forward here. Dynamic in every game …highly offensive player, good skater good acceleration, nice hands, sees the ice well, good accurate wrist shot.4 GP 5-7-12!  Not great size.

Joseph Baez (R, 5’8”, 158lbs, ’00, Skipjacks)-small guy, quick feet,. Good hands in tight. Opportunist, feet always moving, great work ethic.4 GP 4-6-10. Only kept off scoreboard one game.

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NAHL Showcase: Top 200

Articles, Feature Story, Game/Tournament Reviews, Prospects, Scouting Reports

Neutral Zone headed to Minnesota for the annual NAHL Showcase. The scouts gathered in flocks once again in Blaine, MN to see the North American Hockey League’s annual gathering. The country’s only Tier II hockey league has had a knack for producing many Division I and Division III players that shine in their collegiate careers. The showcase displays regular season games, but some teams are still in a preseason mode and trying to sort out their rosters as players are showing up from the USHL daily. It’s early in the year and things will change during the season, but here are the players that had good weekends for themselves in front of the scouts.

The list of 200 players is sorted by teams. Grades reflect performance only here at the showcase and are simply in relation to the other players listed below. For example, a “C-“ player here is not a “C-“ player in the NAHL, simply in this group of 200. All players below have a link to their player profile.

One note: We had very limited viewing of Coulee Region (just how the schedule worked out) and thus only one player is noted.

We were in Blaine for every game of the showcase. We will be attending more NAHL games all season and will have game reports for each one. These evaluations are just the beginning. It looks like it is going to be a good year for the NAHL and we will have it all covered.

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Toronto Titans Minor Midget Tournament: Top 64 Rankings

Articles, Feature Story, Game/Tournament Reviews, OHL, Prospects, Scouting Reports

The Toronto Titans Tournament is a kick off to the minor midget season and we had several scouts in attendance. Some players we got a chance to see more than others, so in this report we ranked the players on the top and then did an honorable mention section for players we had limited viewings of. Our Ontario team of 10 scouts will be on the road all season covering both tournaments and individual games and will release an OHL Draft Top 300 after the Toronto Marlies Tournament in late December. All 64 players listed below will have player profiles on our website. Some have already been in our database and others earned a spot on the site after their performance here.

Example:

Jack Hughes (L, 5-9/170, Toronto Marlies, 2001) Hughes has an impressive combination of speed, skill, playmaking ability, and overall ability to make decisions at a high pace. Very skilled offensive player – among the best offensive player in the tournament by points and scoring chances generated. Jack made things happen nearly every time he touched the ice. He is an average sized player but strong on the puck and able to win pucks from players much larger. Jack dictated the play when he was on the ice and if he decides to go the OHL route, he could very well be a top pick in the draft. Also on the NTDP radar. Grade: A

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Unlikely Beginnings: The Marcus Gretz Story

Articles, Commits, Feature Story, NCAA Commitments, Prospects, Scouting Reports, The Recruit Stories

Albuquerque, New Mexico isn’t exactly known as a hockey hot bed when it comes to breeding future Division 1 players, but it was home to talented Belle Tire defenseman Marcus Gretz. He is defying those odds and proving that hard work and determination is the remedy to success in hockey. Although he is recognized for being one of the top minor midget players in the nation; his hockey career began almost by accident.

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East-West Invitational U16 Division Top 50

Articles, Feature Story, Game/Tournament Reviews, Prospects, Scouting Reports

Neutral Zone headed to Springfield, MA to check out the Rifles East/West invite. We focused on the U16 division as it was a quick tournament and the U18 group was up the road in Amherst.

Games were two 22.5 minute halves on day one and one 30 minute half on day two. The River Rats took home the championship over Mid Fairfield 1-0. It was a good experience with a lot of talent. We felt comfortable writing something about 50 or so players. About 1/2 of those below are new additions to Neutral Zone.

We recognize that these guys are young and playing a possible 120 plus minutes of hockey in 36 hours is not easy. We account for that and as you will read, we have very little negative to say about this age group. If a player appears on this list, it means they had a good tournament overall and grades simply distinguish between those players this specific weekend.
A sample of the scouting reports mentioned below………..
Zachary Rehbaum (L, 5’10”/165lbs; Buffalo Regals, ‘00)-He was perhaps the best overall player in the invite. Zachary is strong on his skates and has terrific edges. He played a tough, skilled, fast game and created offense in a multitude of ways. He has a quick, accurate shot. He gets to the front of the net for rebounds and tips. The winger is good off the cycle and in transition. One play, he stole the puck vs. the Rifles. He used his speed to push the D into a bad gap. He then snapped a shot “bar down” short side. The 2000 also plays with just enough “nasty” to irritate and create even more space without taking bad penalties. He was excellent and committed to Brown very soon after this event. College: Brown Grade: A

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