Maple Leafs Win Rookie Tournament
Yesterday the Toronto Maple Leaf rookies defeated the Montreal Canadian rookies 3-2 in the finals of a weekend rookie tournament that included rookies from the Florida Panthers, the Leafs, Habs and a team from York University who filled in for last minute drop-out from the Ottawa Senators.
All in all the tournament, played at the Ricoh Collisium over the last five days, was quite entertaining. Having watched all of the teams play, along with a number of GM's and NHL scouts, it became pretty obvious early on that the Lions from York U were a definite weak link, but props to the guys for playing hard through there first week of school and filling at the last moment.
It was interesting watching the future of Florida, Toronto and Montreal evolve through these games, which a bit to my surprise were played at quite a fast pace. As the tournament unfolded it became quite evident that the evolution of NHL players, or in this case potential NHL'ers was changed and seemingly here to stay. Gone it seems are the days of the goon, fighting and big strapping players who tower over almost everyone else on the ice. The model player is beginning to morph into a refreshing new breed of speed, skill and real hockey smarts .
Almost every team's entire roster was made up of fast skaters, strong stickhandlers, defensively responsible players, who all featured above average skills rather than just size and strength. The result, was quite an entertaining brand of hockey, that not only had no fights in large part due to a tournament rule against it, but there were hardly even any scrurmishes to speak of, which I must say was quite a nice change.
I could over analyze the whole tournament and give you detailed breakdowns of players, their points totals =/- and ice time over the 4 games, but I want to deviate from being like those other analysts and bloggers out there. Instead I have decided that below I will just give you my assessments of players to watch over the next three years in the Montreal, Florida and Toronto organizations.
Florida - Top player:
David Booth (LW)
Booth was a strong skater for the Panthers throughout the tournament and is a young up n comer to watch because of his tireless work ethic. He finishes his checks, hustles back on his wing to cover defensively and is always creating chances around the net.
Other notables:
Although he didn't have the greatest tournament, Kendall McCardle (LW) certainly has wheels to burn and can definitely dangle when he puts his mind to it. Others who played well are Michel Frolik (C), who you can see has skills but is young at only 18 and needs grooming. Other players who played well were Dan Collins (RW), Martin Lojek (D) and David Tuma (D). There one big weakness moving forward might be goaltending though.
Montreal - Top player:
Mikhail Grabovsky (LW)
Grabovsky has all the skills, you name it. He has a great shot, a real nose for the net, is a great skater and is a real offensive explosion waiting to happen. In fact, Grabovsky was perhaps the player of the tournament, but he has an on again, off again relationship with hard work, making his overall performance suffer. His talent can amaze, but he will too often take a shift or two off and not fulfill his defensive responsibility. Fortunately or unfortunately for the Habs he may be the second coming of Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Kovalev, it just depends on the night.
Other notables:
Strong performances were turned in from Guillaume Latendresse (RW), Kyle Chipchura (C), Matt D'Agostini (RW) & Carey Price (G) who had to stop pucks in a bigger net than usual, which the NHL is experimenting with this year using the AHL as a test market. There biggest weakness may be on defence were Ryan O'Byrne (D) played well but was a top D in a less than stellar performance from Montreal's back-end.
Toronto - Top player:
John Mitchell (C)
Some may criticize this pick as being one who was obvious because he led the team in scoring. However Mitchell did far more to warrent my top player pick as throughout the tourny he won face-offs, knew his defensive duties well, was on the PP, the PK, is a smooth skater and showed some great leadership mentoring along a talented but young Jiri Tlutsy (C). Mitchell looks like he's well suited player for a fresher & faster NHL.
Other notables:
As I mentioned, Tlutsy definitely has top notch skills but needs to acclimatize to life in Canada and the game here. Others who played quite well, also contending with the ridiculous sized net experiment was Justin Pogge (G), while solid enough performances by Brent Aubin (W), Robbie Earl (LW). Two solid tournament efforts were turned in, especially in the final from Tyson Marsh (D) and Chris Harrington (D), which should warrant them AHL contracts with the Marlies. Over-all weakness in the D was the teams biggest issue, but with rookies slated to be cut from the Leafs, who as long as they all clear waivers, should round out the Marlies D ok.
All in all the tournament, played at the Ricoh Collisium over the last five days, was quite entertaining. Having watched all of the teams play, along with a number of GM's and NHL scouts, it became pretty obvious early on that the Lions from York U were a definite weak link, but props to the guys for playing hard through there first week of school and filling at the last moment.
It was interesting watching the future of Florida, Toronto and Montreal evolve through these games, which a bit to my surprise were played at quite a fast pace. As the tournament unfolded it became quite evident that the evolution of NHL players, or in this case potential NHL'ers was changed and seemingly here to stay. Gone it seems are the days of the goon, fighting and big strapping players who tower over almost everyone else on the ice. The model player is beginning to morph into a refreshing new breed of speed, skill and real hockey smarts .
Almost every team's entire roster was made up of fast skaters, strong stickhandlers, defensively responsible players, who all featured above average skills rather than just size and strength. The result, was quite an entertaining brand of hockey, that not only had no fights in large part due to a tournament rule against it, but there were hardly even any scrurmishes to speak of, which I must say was quite a nice change.
I could over analyze the whole tournament and give you detailed breakdowns of players, their points totals =/- and ice time over the 4 games, but I want to deviate from being like those other analysts and bloggers out there. Instead I have decided that below I will just give you my assessments of players to watch over the next three years in the Montreal, Florida and Toronto organizations.
Florida - Top player:
David Booth (LW)
Booth was a strong skater for the Panthers throughout the tournament and is a young up n comer to watch because of his tireless work ethic. He finishes his checks, hustles back on his wing to cover defensively and is always creating chances around the net.
Other notables:
Although he didn't have the greatest tournament, Kendall McCardle (LW) certainly has wheels to burn and can definitely dangle when he puts his mind to it. Others who played well are Michel Frolik (C), who you can see has skills but is young at only 18 and needs grooming. Other players who played well were Dan Collins (RW), Martin Lojek (D) and David Tuma (D). There one big weakness moving forward might be goaltending though.
Montreal - Top player:
Mikhail Grabovsky (LW)
Grabovsky has all the skills, you name it. He has a great shot, a real nose for the net, is a great skater and is a real offensive explosion waiting to happen. In fact, Grabovsky was perhaps the player of the tournament, but he has an on again, off again relationship with hard work, making his overall performance suffer. His talent can amaze, but he will too often take a shift or two off and not fulfill his defensive responsibility. Fortunately or unfortunately for the Habs he may be the second coming of Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Kovalev, it just depends on the night.
Other notables:
Strong performances were turned in from Guillaume Latendresse (RW), Kyle Chipchura (C), Matt D'Agostini (RW) & Carey Price (G) who had to stop pucks in a bigger net than usual, which the NHL is experimenting with this year using the AHL as a test market. There biggest weakness may be on defence were Ryan O'Byrne (D) played well but was a top D in a less than stellar performance from Montreal's back-end.
Toronto - Top player:
John Mitchell (C)
Some may criticize this pick as being one who was obvious because he led the team in scoring. However Mitchell did far more to warrent my top player pick as throughout the tourny he won face-offs, knew his defensive duties well, was on the PP, the PK, is a smooth skater and showed some great leadership mentoring along a talented but young Jiri Tlutsy (C). Mitchell looks like he's well suited player for a fresher & faster NHL.
Other notables:
As I mentioned, Tlutsy definitely has top notch skills but needs to acclimatize to life in Canada and the game here. Others who played quite well, also contending with the ridiculous sized net experiment was Justin Pogge (G), while solid enough performances by Brent Aubin (W), Robbie Earl (LW). Two solid tournament efforts were turned in, especially in the final from Tyson Marsh (D) and Chris Harrington (D), which should warrant them AHL contracts with the Marlies. Over-all weakness in the D was the teams biggest issue, but with rookies slated to be cut from the Leafs, who as long as they all clear waivers, should round out the Marlies D ok.
posted by CBarnezz Blogs at
12:23 p.m.
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