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Last night was a bit of a prospect palooza, where I had the chance to view Hawk prospects in at least 4 games in 3 separate leagues.

The first game I watched was a QMJHL matchup between Acadie-Bathurst and Victoriaville (Philip Danault, Brandon Whitney).

Danault assisted on the Tigres' lone regulation goal and also played a very solid right point on the power play. Having seen Danault play a bit previously, there was not much new to uncover in his game. However, one thing that really stood out last night was his passing. Virtually the second the puck touches his blade, Danault is sending it somewhere else, with pace and accuracy. At the junior level at least, he appears to be instinctively a step ahead of his competition.

Whitney is huge in the crease and looked very solid. He was beaten once in the shootout with a wide open five hole but held on to get the win.

The second game was Lethbridge versus Prince Albert (Mark McNeill).

Like Danault, McNeill also took the right point on the power play. McNeill finished a nice setup on the Raiders' second goal of the game. He uses his body very well to shield the puck down low. My only question would be how effectively he can do that at the pro level against bigger, stronger players.

I caught a few minutes of Dillon Fournier playing for Rouyn Noranda in the Q, but only enough to see him win a puck behind his net then accidentally flip it into the stands for a delay minor. No grade.

Finally, I took in most of the Ice Hogs' big win at Allstate Arena. I would call it a team win, with no big standouts for Rockford. Brandon Saad had two assists and clearly looks at times like an NHL player. Another player I was impressed with as a purely energy/physical player was Phillippe Paradis. Andrew Shaw had a nice game, but at the same time, he seems to be continuing a penchant for the selfish, retaliatory penalty, an aspect of his game that must be erased in the NHL.

Carter Hutton is a battler for sure, he will scrap and claw when the going gets rugged around his crease. My one criticism of him is that he gives up a lot of fat rebounds.

More to come.




JJ

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