Everett at Vancouver, Jan 20, 2012

 Prospects Breakdown:

VAN#27 Jackson Houck Physical forward who is eligible to be drafted in 2013. Big forward, who loves to dish out hits and play a physical game. Gets into high traffic areas and battles hard for pucks. Opponents bounce off of him when they try to hit him. Offensively, does not have…

a good skill set, but uses his body very effectively to create room for his teammates. Defensively, battles hard, but ability to read the play can be improved to get to the puck a step faster. A good skater. Does not take shifts off.

VAN#31 Payton Lee 15 year old goaltender who is draft eligible in 2014 made his WHL debut and looked good. Has very good reflexes and tracks the puck to his hands very well. Looked calm and collected given that it was his first game in the league. Must improve his recovery to be able to go down in a butterfly, and get to the other side by pushing off. Got burned on their goals because he would make a save, and not be able to recover to make the next one. Also has to improve covering the puck. A few times he would make the save and have no idea where the puck is. Created golden opportunities for Everett.

EVE#3 Nick Walters Defenseman had a very good game in both ends. Showed good confidence with the puck. Was on the first unit PP with Ryan Murray. A physical defenseman with very good skating abilities. Very strong along the boards and in the slot. Tied up his checks easily and did not allow them to get loose more often than not. Reads the play well, and is quick to jump on opportunities to get pucks out of the zone. Makes a very good first pass to start the attack. Keeps it simple. If his first few options are not there, just simply goes glass and out.

EVE#15 Kohl Bauml 2013 draft eligible forward who had a very impressive game. Played top 6 minutes and by the second period was on their top line. Played the game at an extremely high pace. Always had his feet moving to try to beat opponents with his speed. Scored a very nice PP goal on a give and go. Quick hands to finish the play off. Received a puck in traffic and took a quick one timer snap shot to score. Has good vision. Issue is his size. Listed as 5’7. Compete level is definitely there, but will be a question mark to see if he can carry it into the pro game. Defensively, is in the right positions consistently and reads the play very well. Picked off a few passes by anticipating the play. Board battles are difficult for him to win. Takes hits, bounces right back, and hits them right back at the right opportunities.

EVE#27 Ryan Murray Had an excellent game. His ability to read the game really set him apart from the rest of the players. For example, on the PP, faked a pass along the boards, got the opposing forward to bite on it and quickly moved in to the face off dot and got off a very good shot. Such a good puck mover, either by passing it or skating it up himself. Very methodical. Takes a look and takes an open seem to start the attack. Defensively, had a bit of an edge to his game. Showed a high level of willingness to battle for pucks and really showed off some good strength. Read the play very well. On so many occasions he picked off passes and covered for his partner’s mistakes.

FINAL SCORE: 4-3 Vancouver