London Knights at Sarnia Sting September 3, 2012

 

LON #3 LD Liberati, Miles (2013) – Liberati displayed a quick reaction time and moves the puck very well on the power play a large majority of the time. He was very average in the other areas of the game today and looks a little undersized at the defense position.

LON #28 LC Elie, Remi (2013) – Elie generates good speed when rushing up the ice, and shows the ability to evage checkers. Remi displays an unpredictably

[sociallocker]powerful shot with a quick release. He has great decision making ability and knows when to make the simple play, and when to try something a little more risky. Very smart with the puck and always seems to be making the right play with it. Made a great play at one point behind the net on the power play, to set up a huge scoring chance. Hurries back defensively and contributes positively in his own zone. Good overall hockey sense and will only get better as he gets used to the OHL.

LON #39 LD Zadorov, Nikita (2013) – Nikita is a pretty good skater for his size. He showed patience with the puck when he needed to, but moved it very quickly and effectively on the power play. Physical play was inconsistent at best, but when he did apply himself he crushed the opposition. Can sometimes drift too much waiting for the play to advance up ice, he was caught out of position on a turnover for a big scoring chance against. At the offensive line he’s very safe. Unless he knows he has a play, he will get back and be the further defenseman back to defend the rush.

LON #53 LC Horvat, Bo (2013) – Worked hard when he was on the ice and got some time on the point for the power play. However he didn’t really see too much ice and wasn’t much of a factor today.

LON #71 LC Tierney, Chris (San Jose) – Showed great skating and was effective in small areas. He battled and played an effective, typical bottom six kind of role. Got a goal finishing on a scoring chance.

LON #74 RD Subban, Marselis (2014) – Subban shows good skating ability and likes to rush the puck up ice, where he was usually effective. Marselis lost too many battles along the boards, and in the defensive zone. At times looked like he was having trouble keeping up with the play. He shows some potential but it will take some work and adjustment for him at this level.

LON #77 RW Anderson, Josh (Columbus) – Looks very good skating up ice with the puck. He’s quick and has a good power forward type of frame to build onto. He played a little more physical than he did in the past, but really needs to keep applying himself. Anderson has left me wanting more after seeing him in camp and in pre-season. He will need to answer concerns about his offensive potential this season with increased ice time for the contending Knights. Anderson’s night ended early after beating up Anthony DeAngelo.

LON #86 RC MacDonald, Owen (2014) – Works very hard and he isn’t afraid to battle and go at anyone in the corners despite the size difference. However, he really looks like he could use some seasoning at a lower level.

LON #92 LW Pawley, Corey (2013) – Shows a good work ethic, and likes to pass a lot at this level. It is interesting because at every other level Pawley tended to do a lot on his own and challenge defensemen. However with London he is giving up potential chance to wait and hope for a second player to create a 2 on 1 scenario. He showed good passing ability in these situations, but would likely be more successful using his blazing speed, and challenging defensemen.

LON #97 RW Platzer, Kyle (2013) – Shows good work ethic and a decent skater. He drives the wing and challenges defenders. Set up London’s first goal of the game putting the puck on the net in such a way that it created a rebound and was followed up on.

LON #35 G Patterson, Jake (2013*) – Patterson looked very good today, especially under pressure. He made several saves from point blank range showing good reflexes, and reacting quickly to second chance opportunies from rebounds. Patterson looked good in limited viewing last year and could turn out to be a surprise for the Knights this year.

SAR #14 LW Boucher, Reid (New Jersey) – Showed off his excellent shot scoring two goals in this game. He showed the physical side he had been developing late last season. It appears Reid is putting in the effort to play a more complete game. Boucher is well known for his shot, as he has one of the best in the entire OHL. It was the other areas of the game he was lacking. This new gritty attitude is right along the lines of what the Sting and the New Jersey Devils must have been hoping to see out of Boucher.

SAR #21 LC Nikandrov, Daniel (2013) – Looked really good for a few shifts, but average the rest of the game. He is at his best when he’s battling as he has enough size that he is effective and quick hands to come out of the battle with the puck. Daniel got sucker punched by Matt Rupert in the middle of a scrum and subsequently received a game misconduct for fighting eventhough he was unable to actually participate in the fight and never threw a punch.

SAR #23 LW Hargrave, Brett (2014) – Landed a nice hit early, but was fairly quiet until the third period where his great net presense lead to a goal. Still adjusting to the OHL level, hasn’t had the breakout pre-season that some may have expected out of him.

SAR #44 LD Nemecek, David (2013) – Nemecek looks good with the puck in his own zone. He moves it up ice well, but also shows great puck protection ability using his big frame if he chooses to skate with it. A fairly good skater for his size and seems to be improving slightly since first coming over. Nemecek is susceptible to mental lapses in his own zone, and had one throwing the puck away in his own zone which immediately resulted in a big scoring chance.

SAR #55 RD Murphy, Connor (Phoenix) – Moved the puck fairly well minus a few errors. Has a great shot from the point and could put up good numbers this year as he times it perfectly in most cases. He still is not aggressive enough and the question of how strong he really is comes into play atleast for a player of his size. He has been seen backing down from physical confrontation when he should be the indimidator, not the one being intimidated.

SAR #77 RD DeAngelo, Anthony (2014) – DeAngelo continues to show how slick he is with the puck. He stepped up to land a huge hit, however DeAngelo leaving his position to make the hit directly created a 2 on 1 situation for the opposition. Anthony ejected fairly early in this game after getting beat up in a fight with Josh Anderson.

SAR #79 RD Chapman, Joshua (2013) – Consistently lost positioning in the defensive and neutral zone. There were times where he seemed to read the play but simply didn’t react quick enough to effect the play.

SAR #94 LC Galchenyuk, Alex (Montreal) – Galchenyuk was just a level above everyone else today. Rushes the puck so smoothly and sees the ice extremely well. Has excellent decision making and seems to be able to dictate the pace of the play. He is extremely unpredictable due to his passing and shooting abilities, and executed in a split second. He took a step back in his physical play compared to how he played in the playoffs, but this will hopefully be an area in which he develops over the course of this season. He did however push back and didn’t back down when opposing players got in his face.

 

Scouts Notes: This was a bit of a show of the goaltenders for the first half. Both J.P. Anderson (San Jose) and Jake Patterson (2013*) put together solid performances. However when it came time for the back-up’s in the second half of the game that’s when things opened up and Sarnia took over. Both teams had a few key players missing, London slightly more than Sarnia and the Sting walked away with a 6-2 win.[/sociallocke]