Game One in Lake Placid at the US National Junior Team Evaluation Camp between Team White and Team Blue was a slow starter as guys were falling and sending errant passes like it was their day job. I'm chalking it up to nerves and summer legs because things definitely picked up later on as Team White won 5-2 with goals by Reid Boucher (lazy wrister), Alex Broadhurst (attacking the net off the rush), Travis Boyd (picking up the garbage in the slot), Tyler Biggs (deflection from the point) and Jake McCabe (uncontested drive to the crease).
When things weren't so great in the beginning, I liked that many of the guys turned their focus to the defensive side of things to get things going the right way offensively with some really great poke checks. The transition game looked really promising as the d-men were quick to clear the zone and pass the puck up ice, but then there were too many passes in the neutral zone that led to a plethora of turnovers at the opposite blueline. For that reason, it's hard to say the defense didn't create a lot of offense because it wasn't for a lack of trying.
There were very few situations where they could cycle and set up any shots from the blueline either and I attribute that to the physical nature of the game. Bodies were flying every where. You definitely had to be willing to take a beating if you wanted to get the puck, keep the puck or make a play with the puck. It was great to see how aggressive some guys were in their pursuit of the puck and how irritated guys got as the game progressed.
Not many shots on goal in general so I give credit the the goalies for staying focused. Since I had never seen three of the four invitees play I was eager to see them and was most impressed by Garret Sparks (Guelph - TOR). He's got great extension in his splits and made some great toe saves, but more importantly he's got this really great passive-aggressive attitude towards attacking the puck. He plays high in the crease with very little movement and almost stares the puck down. It's like he's saying, "Come at me bro…I dare you…"
Another guy who caught my attention was Pat Sieloff (NTDP - CGY). I tweeted that he put his PITA pants on and was wearing them well because he seemed to get in the grill and under the skin of just about everyone on Team White, including two guys in particular that he played with in Ann Arbor. Check out the video blog from Day 1 to see what he had to say about that...
The line of Colin Blackwell (Harvard - SJS), Sean Kuraly (Indiana - SJS) and Nic Kerdiles (NTDP - ANA) carried the flag for Team Blue as they scored both goals in the loss - Blackwell (wide open shot from the slot with the goalie sprawled on the ice) and Kuraly (snipe from the circle). I've never seen a line come together so quickly, especially in a situation like this. Typically, the lines are changed every day at this camp to determine versatility, but I wouldn't be surprised to see this one stick or at least make a return appearance.
I expected to notice the line of Stefan Noesen (Plymouth - OTT), Alex Galchenyuk (Sarnia - MTL) and John Gaudreau (BC - CGY) a lot more and when I realized I hadn't and started paying closer attention to their shifts to see what was holding them back from exploding offensively, I saw that they all gave up the puck too easily. It was like they were on a wild goose chase and you can't make any pretty plays - or score - if you don't have possession. They have two options - make the commitment to play more physical or hope the coaches change their linemates to include a legit mucker to do the dirty work and feed them the puck.
With eight defensemen on each team (Jacob Trouba sat out this game) it was hard to get a good read on them because you didn't see them as much as you normally would, but I was a big fan of what Matt Grzelcyk (NTDP - BOS) and Brady Skjei (NTDP - NYR) were bringing to the blueline. They had great puck movement, played with confidence and made smart decisions. They have an advantage because they played together last year and already have chemistry, but if it ain't broke….
They'll play again today at 4pm at Herb Brooks Arena on the 1980 Rink. Tickets are $7 or you can watch a live feed on
FastHockey.com.
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Julie
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