Calgary Hitmen vs Prince Albert Raiders October 5, 2012

Calgary Hitmen vs Prince Albert Raiders

Harrison Ruopp (PA 2) – Good skating ability paired with plus size and aggressive play. Worked well in a shutdown role. Not going to win any stickhandling competitions but used his stick effectively to block shooting and passing lanes. For the type of role he played, Ruopp could be a little stronger on his skates. Challenged 16 year-old Jake Virtanen to a fight after being checked hard by the youngster and instead ended up fighting Jaynen Rissling.

[sociallocker]Mackenzie Stewart (PA 3) – 2013-eligible
Limited ice-time

Josh Morissey (PA 10) – A bit undersized, but an extremely mobile skater. Loves having the puck on his stick and is able to make long tape-to-tape passes. Used in all situations. Excellent powerplay quarterback as he has a powerful shot with a quick release, great puck moving skills and tremendous vision from the backend. Assisted on a powerplay goal after getting an excellent shot on net and having the rebound banged in. Content to find outlets and move the puck up ice with a pass rather than skate the puck when he didn’t need to. Liked to saucer his passes when possible. Will chase a bit too much in own zone. Had an exceptional game garnering a goal and a couple assists. The Calgary native also rang a shot off the post in overtime in front of a large contingent of family and friends.

Tim Vanstone (PA 16) – 2014-eligible
Played some center tonight. Played a pretty simple game and he didn’t attempt to do much with the puck.

Reid Gardiner (PA 19) – 2014-eligible
A heady young player that was entrusted to play in all situations. The left winger has a choppy stride, but the strides seemed to have good length. Top end speed is okay and skating should improve once he gets stronger allowing him to push off more powerfully.

Chance Braid (PA 22) – 2013-eligible
– did not play

Leon Draisaitl (PA 29) – 2014-eligible (late ’95).
Thinks the game at a high level. Good anticipation and is already developing good chemistry with Mark McNeil. Skating is above average and despite still only being 16, he already has the size of a man. Firm and accurate passes on the PP. Showed tremendous vision and accurate passing ability. Likes to play one on one with the puck and doesn’t always use his teammates well off the rush.
Supported the puck well as it moved along the wall and out the zone. Roamed a little too freely in own zone early on the game, but his own zone positioning improve as the game wore on. On the forecheck, he didn’t come at opponents with appropriate speed or angle to effectively force a player to move the puck, instead making a weak stick check effort to swipe at the puck.

Josh Thrower (Cal 2) – 2014 eligible
Rookie defenseman introduced himself to the home crowd in the first period with a massive open ice hit in the neutral zone. He had looked rather timid up until that point. Noticably still adjusting to the speed of the WHL as he wasn’t always able to think the game fast enough especially early on when he threw away the puck a couple times. His poise and decision-making improved greatly as the game wore on. Had excellent control of his body. Turned his hips well for pivoting and providing his defensive partner with an outlet while being able to face up ice. Showed good mobility. First couple steps could improve.

Colby Harmsworth (Cal 6) – 2013-eligible
– did not play

Chase Lang (Cal 10) – Sept. 13, 1996 – 2014-eligible
– did not play

Jake Virtanen (Cal 18) – 2014-eligible
Arguably his best game as a Hitman. Showcased strong speed to stretch defense wide. Calm with puck on his stick. Will need to learn to play a little simpler game at the WHL level as he’d make nice moves around defenders to get in close for a scoring chance but would often try one move too many instead of shooting. Especially for the quality of shot he possesess. Hard, accurate and quickly released, Virtanen used it to score his first WHL goal tonight. Had his head on a swivel finding players to move the puck to with crisp passes. Continued to play physical and on one shift, ran over both Josh Morrissey and Harrison Ruopp. Already fun to watch for his high skill level, Virtanen loves to launch himself into players and we can expect to see some sensational hits once he gets a little bigger and stronger.

Greg Chase (Cal 25) – 2013-eligible
Showed nice hands in tight dragging the puck away from an opponent as he came out of a corner. Worked hard at both ends of the rink and was efficient at creating offensive zone turnovers with his hustle and then setting up teammates for scoring chances with accurate passes. Has good size and is strong on the puck, but he could benefit from getting stronger in order to fend off bigger players and win (more) puck battles. Another exceptional game from Chase is showing that this kid needs to be seriously considered as a potential 1st round pick this season.

Elliot Petersson (Cal 28) – 2013-eligible
Another game where Petersson worked hard. A grinder that doesn’t have high end skill. Needs to be more physical and explosive skater if hopes to get drafted.

Mack Shields (Cal 31) – 2013-eligible
1st ever WHL game. Looked comfortable in the net. Bardaro scored on him in the first with a laser beam shot top shelf, but Shields was guilty of dropping a little early on the shot. Showed a good glovehand. Generally stayed square to the shooter. Could be a little more assertive during puck scrambles as he allowed a few extra chances that he could have smothered, but didn’t give up any soft goals. Shields played very well when it mattered most and made an unbelievable save on Draisaitl short-handed in overtime to help preserve the game going into the shootout. Tripped on a loose pad buckle on McNeil’s shootout goal. He had a solid first game in the WHL.

Game Notes: A very entertaining game, both Prince Albert and Calgary were able to push the pace at times leading to some high quality chances in transition. Both teams entered (and left) the game unbeaten in regulation as Greg Chase scored on a goal mouth scramble with a minute to go in the game. Chris Driedger was given the night off to rest allowing for 2013-eligible prospect Mack Shields to get his first WHL start.

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