Rookie Camp Initial Response

by Hardshell_Taco_del_Lowayne on Sep 8, 2007 4:20 PM MDT

I am being lazy and ripping from my Rookie Camp report on the AdventuraCompany.com forums.

I took lots of pictures and video, and I will start with Kyle Cumiskey, surprise MVP of the day for me. He didn't seem to make any mistakes and was always in a good position to be a part of the play defensively. Good use of stick and body, for a smallish defender. The only thing he didn't do was score a goal, although he managed to set his team in a good position to do so a few times with excellent passing, skating and puck control skills. He was partnered with Nigel Williams who had a nice physical presence and looked pretty decent and should be worth keeping an eye on. They worked well together.

TJ Hensick and Chris Stewart were the most skilled forwards despite seeming to lack consistant focus. When they decided to take over play they stood head and shoulders above. David Jones was all over the ice but I wanted to see some more skill from him. Could be a great 'roll player' (I hate that term in a way) at the NHL level.

Here is some of the video I caught of Cumiskey. Look for the quick poke check in the second clip of the video. He made other plays as well I missed on tape. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wG710...

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re: camp

i just wanted to give my impressions from rookie camp day 1 as well (i was there with lowayne):

It's really hard to evaluate individuals without missing everything else going on. Mostly I tried to just watch the entire ice, and when I noticed something well done, check their number. eventually the same numbers kept coming up and i recognized them on the fly. those people were

TJ Hensick (most talented player on the ice, had some great playmaker moments, and zomg is he fast, but guilty of watching the play too often and - - coasting around. he's also tiny, if you didn't already know.)
Chris Stewart (great hands, and a lot faster than i was expecting. laid some big hits down early, then appeared to tire.)
Kyle Cumisky (looked awesome -- solid positioning, great offensive talent. I'd love to see him and liles play side by side for a comparison.)
Nigel Williams (stay at home type, meshed well with cumisky. consistently made defensive plays. didn't look so hot offensively.)
TJ Galiardi (had a good sense of where to be on the ice, if that makes sense.)
David Jones (made good plays that made me check his number...and bad ones too. could be solid a PK / 3rd / 4th line type.)
Oreskovich (dogged it some, and looked lost at times but clearly has a lot of offensive talent.)

People I was expecting to see their number more:

Ray Macias (can't skate, did nothing else really jumped out at me)
Wes O'Neill (again, didn't do much)

Goalies: I really didn't watch them, but i did see that Penner really struggled. Wall, Cann, and Weiman were much better.

Obviously I'm no hockey god, and I might have missed a lot out there, but it was extremely obvious that hensick, stewart and cumisky were the cream of the camp. Stewart was really exciting with his offensive talent and still obvious raw-ness. He's going to continue to get better.

by thedoctor on Sep 9, 2007 4:37 PM MDT reply actions