Intrasquad game 1

[Jack Bauer]

I didn't get to see the entire game, only the last few minutes of the 2nd and the 3rd.

-What was with the line changes? I get the point of trying to control ice time a bit to make sure everyone gets some time but a few times there were key rushes or situations broke up by a friggin buzzer for a line change. If these are major junior calibre players then i'm sure they can manage to get off the ice after 30-40 seconds. There are enough stoppages throughout a game to make that really slow down the pace imo.

Anyways.....some player thoughts, as limited as they may be:

Piskacek looked decent. A couple nice passes and a nice hip check. Never hurts to have a Euro who is not afraid of physical play.

Dame-Malka looked good. A really nice goal towards the end of the 2nd.

Benda was good in the limited action he seen. He seemed much more poised then the younger goalies and was not flopping around as much imo.

Ceccanese had a nice performance.

Corcoran's hit seemed to wake up both squads. Whoever he nailed I can't remember but it was a really nice hit.

Gouchie scored a nice one on a penalty shot on Bellavance Roy who put in a nice performance himself.

Speaking of rookies, look out for Samuel Finn. This guy is gonna be a rock on our blueline for the next few years. Absolutely loved what I seen from him.

Hard trying to remember a lot when I was looking down at a piece of paper half the time to see who was doing what. The vets who played seemed to stand out a bit, mainly due to the calibre of talent obviously but it was still nice to see guys like Slaney, Quesnel, Corcoran out there making things happen this early as it should force some bubble guys to raise their level of play rather quickly.

[brec7]

As Jack said, the first game of intersquad is tough to nail in terms of player thoughts as you're always looking down at your sheet to find out who the players are. But some thoughts based on what I saw:

- I HATE this buzzer business! I think the biggest losers are the goalies- it's hard to evaluate them because just as a unit starts to move around the zone, they're hurried off the ice. There is no sustained pressure under this system.

- It's a disappointment that that system is in place because otherwise I thought it was the most intense opening intersquad game we've seen in a few years. I don't know if it was the presence of the vets, or what, but in spite of a bit of a lull in the middle of the game there was some good physical play.

- Very hard to read on the goalies, as I said, with them getting as tested and constantly changing on the fly.

- For the black defense... I thought Gervais had a quiet, solid game. If Breton is in trouble he certainly didn't look like it tonight- very poised and played well at both ends of the ice. Mariani plays a lot like he did last year- basically a 4th forward on the ice, and he rarely got caught tonight, played great for the most part. However I'd think like last year that would eventually catch up to him.

- I LOVE what Piskacek brings to the table based on what we saw tonight- he's not really an eye catching player per say but he had a few nice hits (more physical than I expected) and looked to move the puck well at the point.

- Quesnel has bulked up during the off-season and it seems as though he didn't sacrafise any speed to do so. He was throwing the body around tonight... this could be a big year for him. JC Gauthier was also flying all night.

- Chouinard was all over the ice, good in all facets, and I thought vastly outperformed his 06 draft counterpart Gouchie (who certainly didn't play bad, just didn't notice him so much, although he did seem to get better as the game went.) Chouinard looked like a returning player. Along those lines MacDonald and Ceccanese's chemistry was evident and Ceccanese often looked like a man among boys out there.

- Aside from getting turned inside out by Malka I thought Mathieu Brodeur had a good all around game (although not so much as the game went on). I was very impressed by Finn's skating- you can see the raw skills. Amadio is a good skater also but I thought he lost a lot of battles tonight. I was also disappointed with Rolland who I thought was on the wrong end of a lot of battles, and it seemed like Watts gave the puck up a bit too much, although got stronger as the game wore on. Meilleur seems to bring a bit of everything to the table.

- Edge coasted at times but you can see he has the hands and I liked what I saw when he threw his weight around.

- Loved the buzz in the crowd when Roland & Meilleur decided to drop the gloves. It was essentially a non-fight but props to the two of them for stepping up the intensity.

- Patry showcased some good skills as advertised, surprised he didn't get drafted based on tonight.


Overall, I was impressed with the intensity for an opening game in camp. I'm assuming it'll be the same drill tomorrow so it will be interesting to see what the players can bring in a "real" game Sunday. As I said it was hard to evaluate the goaltenders. My one disappointment is that I thought on the first night none of the plethora of "high profile" dmen brought in really stood out, but of course we have a long way to go.

Should be a very interesting camp.

[Deer]

Intensity from the players- thumbs up. Definite improvement from last year's intrasquad intensity, and tons more hitting.

But a big thumbs down to that awful "buzzer system" they have in place that interrupts the game every 40 seconds or so. As you said, QUITE often it would occur during a two-on-one rush, or a nice breakout, or a scramble around the net. It almost totally ruined the game, and on a few occasions kept a young kid from showing his stuff.

My question- where the "F" was this "off the ice after 40 seconds" buzzer system last year when certain players were receiving three minute shifts or being kept on for the full 2:00 of a powerplay? We sure could have used this "buzzer system" during that powerplay we had in OT of Game 5 against Val d'or when a couple of guys stayed on far too long.

As well, what was up with the changing of the goalies every five minutes or so? It made it extremely difficult to figure out what goalie was doing what, and made it hard to really evaluate any goalies because none of them could see much sustained pressure only playing in five-minute snippets!

As hard as it was to form player thoughts under these conditions, here goes:

Alex Quesnel = the most improved returnee. Added lots of size, playing with tons of confidence, extremely physical, and as hard-working as ever. Could he replace what we thought we lost when Scott Brannon was traded to Moncton? He can be just as physical, and arguably sees the ice better. These issues were brought up to me by a friend at the rink tonight and I have to say he may have a point.

Nicholas Chouinard - the most improved guy from last training camp to this training camp, period! Put on a good 25 lbs over the past year, and played very aggressive and with lots of confidence. Showed some nice hands, good speed, and Seemed to be in the middle of everything. He may be more in the mix for a roster spot than I had thought if he keeps that kind of play up.

Stephen Ceccanese - I said all offseason I hoped this guy would be back for another tryout and he looked very good out there tonight. Hands seem to have gotten better, and he still plays that feisty game that won him a first half roster spot last year. Looked better than some of the vets who were there all year last year.

Jan Piskacek - Good skater, good agility, and threw at least two VERY nice hits. A Euro who likes to throw the body? I love it. Now let's see if he can carry the puck, Lord knows we need a few of those.

Few goalie impressions at all (like I said, the silly format), although Benda was pretty good (small though) and I really liked Bellavance-Roy. He may be ready for the league this year even at 16.

Nick MacNeil- Still does not see the ice! Even as a vet playing in a rookie-laden game. He's a good player and all but this is a concern. The guy should be good for 20 goals this year, but like has been said, he finished last season with two assists for a reason.

Brandon Edge- Not a bad FA, worth a look. Didn't blow me away but had flashes.

Dame-Malka - Didn't notice him too too much but had one sweet goal.

Cody Roland - Kid thank you SO much for dropping those gloves (against Francis Meilleur). I don't know about anyone else but it was a big relief to see an intrasquad scrap for the first time in two years. Hopefully that opens the floodgates for a few more. Does this mean there is still a "no fighting" rule? If there is, well, they fought!

Jonathan Laberge- Didn't notice him too too much but he did win almost every draw he took. This alone is a big reason he could be important to next year's team if he's on it.

William Fradette - Huge kid, slow/awkward skater, gonna have to do some fighting if he's gonna be in the mix I think. I expect him to scrap in some exhibition games.

Olivier Patry- Showed some flashes, could be a decent FA.

Joey Haddad- Thought I'd notice him a bit more, although he did have one very nice backcheck on a penalty shot chase.

Kyle Mariani- A couple of very nice goals, including the goal of the night IMO in the post-game shootout. Showed some nice hands; with our lack of offensive defencemen, this guy should be given a long look.

JC Gauthier- I still love this guy! Same as last year's version but noticeably stronger and better. Great skating and stamina too.

Marco Desveaux- In the post-game skating drills his losing team had to do, this kid from Cheticamp finished first by a landslide the second time they went. It's only one drill, but it could say something about the shape he's in.

Lee Chuck Denny- Showed some very good flashes of hands, played physical, and had a sizeable cheering section! I liked his game.

Spencer Corcoran- Only noticed the one hit really, but what a hit....... and I thought someone was gonna take exception and drop the gloves for a second!

Jeff Deruelle- Brought a good physical game and had good chemistry with Denny.

James Sheppard/Chris Culligan/Dean Ouellet- What shitty games! They were invisible out there. ;D

That's really all I've got for now. Players, keep up the hitting and fast-paced play. Organizers - please eliminate the buzzers, they belong in Atom House.

[hfan]

Wow, I'm impressed guys because I didn't see the notepads out at all and you've remembered a lot of the highlights and shared them with us. Please, keep up the good work!

Prokopetz and Lamontagne were also invisible because none of them dressed but did do off ice training for quite a bit of the game. I think the Eagles staff wanted to try to keep the numbers down to make them a little more workable. It will be interesting to see if the same players sit out or play tomorrow night.

I agree with most of the comments although I thought the 4 on 4 2nd period and 3 on 3 3rd period brought a different look to the game. I really enjoyed the 3 on 3 play.

I loved Chouinard's skating and play as well as Ceccanese's. They might have been my first 2 stars. Like mentionned above Finn and Piskacek both showed the skills that you look for in those draft picks.

Although you don't want to see anybody hurt it was nice to see some big hits out there by Quesnel, Corcoran and Piskacek. I also thought that Laberge or Edge wanted to go back after Corcoran and watched for future shifts together which I don't think happened.

Laberge did make 1 very nice backhand pass to send Edge in alone for a nice goal. It's nice to see the puck moved like that when a teammate is open.

The Eagles staff have a very difficult job in front of them because there are a lot of quality hockey players who are well prepared and want to earn a roster spot at all 3 positions but that is really a good problem to be facing. The 1st cuts are going to be difficult enough after Sunday's Black and White Game because all the players are working hard to make it to the exhibition games.

[jasonmacisaac]

- Finn was amazing, granted I only seen the first two periods. He has excellent speed and takes away space really quick. He had a beauty of a goal.

- Brodeur really impressed me and I can see him getting a long look. He moves amazing for a guy who is 6`5 and just turned 17. I think we found outself a gem with him.

- Gauthier showed good speed and energy.

- Fradette didn't look good at all, he was pretty bad and didn't show effort.

- Not many up front impressed me at all, not a strong crew this year.

[Davey Boy Smith]

Thanks for the reports, guys. I couldn't make it to the first intrasquad!

[hal]

It's too early to get a real feel for these guys but I will say this that after the 4th or 5th time that Buzzer went off,I was getting pissed off.Talk about killing the flow !

[brec7]

A few notes about intersquad:

- I think the goalies changing on the fly, as ridiculous as it was, was so that they could each get an equal chance to play under the different conditions. I think the idea was each goalie would play 7 minutes of 5 on 5, 7 minutes of 4 on 4, and 7 minutes of 3 on 3.

- Not sure if everyone saw this in the Post today, but there IS fighting in this camp, with some provisions. Gallant is only allowed to fight in "extreme" situations, and 16 year olds aren't allowed to fight. Maybe we'll see some scraps tonight!