Former Montreal Canadien, TSN and NHL Network Analyst Mike Johnson joins Eric Engels and Steve Hindle to breakdown the Habs in depth. Update from Derek Wills--Voice of the Hamilton Bulldogs
Show was recorded Thursday, December 2nd, 2010, released Friday December 3rd.
Recorded and produced by Simon Petraki at Seratone Studio, located in the heart of downtown Montreal, just blocks south of the Bell Centre.
As you may or may not be aware, I am attempting to broaden the coverage of your Montreal Canadiens this season by continually checking in on the Habs prospects and draft picks that are playing across the globe.
I have already explored the Habs Russian Prospects with Alex Seren Rosso, and have now turned my attention to the team's prospects playing in the Canadian Hockey League.
The CHL comprises all the Major Junior leagues across Canada(OHL, WHL & QMJHL) and with Montreal boasting 6 quality prospects in the CHL, I thought it best to get a scouts opinion on how these young Habs-to-be are progressing.
In order to help us better understand what is going, I contacted Rick Springhetti a scout for McKeen's Hockey, who was kind enough to provide an in-depth review of Louis Leblanc, Philippe Lefebvre, Michael Bournival, Brendan Gallagher, Jarred Tinordi and Morgan Ellis.
Follow the links below to read my interviews with Rick Springhetti on all of the Canadiens prospects:
Today's installment takes a look at 2010 draft pick Morgan Ellis, hope you enjoy!
*My thanks to Rick for providing some excellent insight and for doing the interviews.
Name: Morgan Ellis
Current Team: Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, QMJHL
Drafted: 4th round, 117th overall, by Pierre Gauthier in 2010.
SH: Of all the Canadiens CHL prospects, Ellis happens to be the most unknown. What can you tell us about Morgan and his style of play?
RS: Morgan doesn’t real excel at one thing but does a lot of things well. He is a hard-working defensive defenseman with good skating ability, plays a smart game and is a very mature young man with some leadership ability. One scout I know compared a little bit to Josh Gorges.
SH: What made Ellis an attractive pick for the Canadiens?
RS: All of the things I mentioned earlier made him an attractive pick. I think that Montreal know that he is the type of player who may take a little longer to develop and will never be a flashy player, but they like the tools he possess.
SH: Is Morgan a stay-at-home defenseman, or does he possess an offensive game?
RS: He is a stay at home defenseman who teases you with some offensive ability, especially when he decides to move the puck up the ice which he does once in a while but he doesn’t possess the vision or imagination to be an offensive defenseman and to his credit, he knows that and plays within his limits.
SH: What type of player does Morgan resemble?
RS: As mentioned earlier, there is a lot of Josh Gorges in his play and, although Cape Breton is nowhere near ready to contend for the Memorial cup, he, like Gorges, is captain of his Junior hockey team and a real character player. The one thing he also possess is an element of toughness to his game. Off the ice, he comes across as a calm person who is very comfortable with himself.
SH: What will Morgan need to develop in order to become a capable defenseman in the pros?
RS:Has to continue to get stronger, continue to improve his defensive game and his on-ice vision. The road to the NHL will probably be a little longer in his case, and I don’t think he will see big minutes at the next level, but coaches will like him and his approach to the game.
Rick's Note: One thing that is noticeable when looking at the CHL players that are part of the Canadiens organisation is that so many of them are character players, young men that are already wearing a letter with their perspective teams (Ellis and Bournival are captains, Tinordi was a captain and Leblanc wears an A). I don’t think that it’s an accident.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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