August 24, 2012, Victoriaville Tigres vs. Drummondville Voltigeurs

DRU #15 D Brouillard, Nikolas (2013) – Brouillard showed he was the best defenseman on the ice in this game with his strong puck-moving ability. He was always active in all three zones and made smart plays to help his team move

 down the ice. He didn’t generate high-end speed and didn’t make incredible plays, but they were effective that’s for sure. He demonstrated a good arsenal of tools on the power play, where he can pass and shoot the puck fairly well. On two occasions when his shooting lane was blocked he went with a fake shot to reach a teammate that was open beside the goal. It was hard to evaluate him on defense as he had very few one on one situation. He didn’t look bigger to the naked eye compared to last (which is still to be seen with official measurements) but he didn’t really have to engage physically either in this game because he was one step ahead of his opponents on the puck the whole time.

DRU #31 G Graham, Domenic (2013) – There’s not a whole lot to say on Graham in this game as he was tested very few times. He played well allowing 2 goals on 26 shots. The major thing I noticed from him was a change in his style. He used to move a lot in his crease and he would often get caught out of position. Now he seems more laid back and making the right movement at the right time, still with great reflexes.

VIC #3 D Diaby, Jonathan (2013) – Diaby struggled a bit with positioning and timing in this game. He had trouble timing his actions when engaging the attackers coming down the wing, with his stick or his body for instance. The same pattern emerged when he had the puck as he was nervous and made some sloppy plays. Overall he did a good job along the boards and in front of the net where he usually is at his best. Picked up a fight too, landing a couple good punches. He punches hard but not very dynamically.

VIC #19 RW Ayotte, Mathieu (2014) – Hard game to evaluate a forward as puck possession was almost inexistent. Didn’t demonstrate anything high end in term of speed but he seemed to have good hands and he takes good decisions with the puck for a young forward. His hockey sense allowed to make quick decision and help his team to keep moving forward.

VIC #57 LW Veilleux, Tommy  (2013) – Veilleux was a step behind the whole game in the neutral zone and didn’t generate anything offensively. He needs to take decision more quickly with the puck if he can’t keep up with the skating, instead of holding on to it. He didn’t display his usual physical game either. He seemed rather frustrated by it and took two penalties after the whistle.

Scouts Notes:

I thought this was a very hard game to scout as teams were playing ping-pong with the puck. The fact this was a pre-season game also showed a lot in the play of each team. Drummondville seemed to be one step ahead in terms of execution and it showed on the scoreboard with a 4-2 win. I was hoping to see more of Drummondville’s import Lukas Balmelli, but he barely played. Brouillard left a good impression with his puck-moving ability, where he was one step ahead of everyone. Jonathan Diaby and Tommy Veilleux didn’t leave a strong impression for second year veterans, but like mentioned before, this game is only early pre-season.