SCTA Regular Season
Score: Niagara 2-3 Brampton
BRA G #1 Grebenc, Jack – Grebenc played well for the 45’s in this contest as he was square to the shooters all night and showed his explosiveness when pushing off the post. He made several nice saves where he had to get across the crease in a hurry. On the first goal against he had an opportunity to come out and play a puck to stop the breakaway but hesitated and was beat on the blocker side by a nice backhander. The second goal against was a shot from the point that was deflected in front of him which left him no chance to make the save. Grebenc has been consistent all year for the 45’s but we would like to see him come out and challenge shooters more since he doesn’t have the big frame like other goalies in this age group.
BRA D #27 Blacker, Ian – Blacker was a stand out in this game as he consistently got shots through from the point. He was able to walk the line and find openings to the net on a consistent basis all game. Blacker made a hard accurate slap pass through traffic on the powerplay that was mishandled by the receiver. Blacker’s best defensive play was on a 1 on 1 where he looked like he got beat but managed to use his quick feet to get back into position and over power the Niagara forward.
BRA D #65 Ali, Conor – Ali continues to show that he can make smart accurate passes in all 3 zones. He managed to get several quick snap shots through that allowed his teammates to get rebounds or get sticks on the puck. Ali also made several good defensive plays with his stick positioning.
BRA D #21 Holm, Noah – Holm is always looking to make an impact in the game by delivering a bone crunching hit. He took himself out of position twice in this game by going out of his way to try to deliver a big hit.
BRA D #67 Loft, Connor – Loft has really stepped up his game as of late. He rushed the puck well in this game and created offensive opportunities for his team. Although Loft is tough on his skates and has good speed while rushing. His footwork was sloppy at times especially while walking the line. Loft made a mistake that nearly led to a goal as he sent a pass to his D partner who was parked in front of his own net with a man on him.
BRA F #91 Digiacopo, Matthew – Digiacopo was Brampton’s best playmaker in this contest. He had a pass first attitude and made a fantastic backhand pass on an in tight 2 on 1 that allowed his teammate to have a wide open net to finish it off. If Digiacopo can become more involved in the play by battling for pucks and putting more pressure on the opposition he can become a significant force for Brampton going forward.
BRA F #97 Borgatti, Andrew – Borgatti does a lot of little things to help his team be successful. He is an excellent fore checker and puts in hard work on the end boards battling for pucks. Borgatti was hit with one really bad shift in this game where he made a bad drop pass into traffic and tried to walk out of the corner and beat 3 guys in his own zone when he had room to chip it off the boards to his teammate. Despite this one bad shift Andrew played a tough and effective game.
BRA F #89 Hippolyte-Smith, Noah – Noah was the best player on the ice for either team in this game. His hard work and physical play makes him very noticeable on the ice. On 3 occasions Noah gained the offensive blue line, drew the defenders towards him and made a drop pass that allowed his teammates to get a quality shot on goal. Noah’s positional plays and smarts were also on display as he was often the high guy in the offensive zone and made several nice plays on the back check.
BRA F #19 Ferguson, Braeden – Ferguson had a good quiet game where he made good reads to intercept passes and really clicked well on a line with Digiacopo. He has quick feet and a good shot; we would like to see him put games like this together more often.
BRA F #13 Capobianco, James – Capobianco scored a nice goal as he walked over the line and ripped a wrist shot into the top corner. He impresses game after game with his positional play as he seems to get multiple scoring chances every viewing we have of him. He doesn’t get involved in the physical play enough and plays with an offensive mindset.
NNS D #22 Swick, Perth – Swick a big defenseman was playing forward in this contest and didn’t adapt well to the position change. He struggled keeping up with the play as his weak skating didn’t allow him to be an effective forward. He did show what we’ve seen in previous viewings as he did land some hard body checks and got his hard shot off once.
NNS D #44 Rosts, Steven – Rosts’ best play of this game was a low hard shot from the point that was deflected to put his team within 1 goal late in the third. He was beat to the outside 3 times in this game as his gap control and slow footwork were exposed by Brampton forwards.
NNS F #97 Michaud, Sean – Michaud has good size and showed his hard shot. He had two opportunities for a quality scoring chance but both times ripped it over the net. Michaud needs to use his size more protecting the puck and putting in more of an effort when battling for pucks to become a force for his team.
NNS F #19 Hoggard, Bryce – Hoggard was quiet in this game but made a nice play to deflect a D to D pass from the opposition, he then won the race for the puck and made a nice move to the backhand for the goal. Hoggard was really inconsistent from shift to shift but did show that he has the capability to finish for his team.