Tonight
I was in St. Catharines to watch two Central division teams battle it out for
last place. The Steelheads won 3-1 but were out chanced 21-13 and 16-11 at even
strength, by my count. I was there was to watch potential top-10 pick Brendan Perlini from the Ice Dogs and exceptional status defencemen Sean Day from the
Steelheads. I was also interested in Niagara draft eligible players Aaron Haydon (28 on Central Scouting’s list of NA skaters), Blake Siebenaler (47),
Alexander Mikulovich (108), Alexander Protapovich (166) and 2015 draft eligible
player, Vince Dunn. Mississauga has only one draft eligible player on Central
Scouting’s list and it was Stefan LeBlanc ranked 131.
I knew
heading into the game there was no chance I could watch all of these guys so I focused
on two guys per team. For Mississauga this worked out nicely as there were only
two guys I wanted to see. On Niagara I decided to focus on Perlini and Dunn*.
Perlini was obvious, but Dunn wasn't and I chose him as I guy to follow because
of what he has done this season to date. He has put up 0.48 points per game
this season (5G, 21A), which is tops among players I originally targeted.
* I would have followed Haydon but he was scratched for
this game
Perlini
was the most impressive player on the ice, and he showed why he is likely going
in the top 10 of this year’s draft. He created five of the 21 scoring chances
for the Ice Dogs and when he was on the ice he did a great job of getting the
puck in the Steelheads end and controlling the play. Much like with Nick
Ritchie and Peterborough, the Ice Dogs do not have good depth past Perlini, so
it really showed that much more when he was on the ice. Niagara started the
game very slowly getting out chanced in the first period 7-3(5-3 EV). I
suggested to my friend I was with that to create more offense the Ice Dogs
should play Perlini with the team leading scorer and Toronto Maple Leafs prospect
Carter Verhaeghe. The Ice Dogs head coach Marty Williamson, must have been
listening as the two played together for the duration of the second period. It’s
funny what happens when your best players play together, Verhaeghe and Perlini
went out and dominated the second period. Their line (which also consisted of Anthony
DiFruscia) combined for 6 of the 11 chances in the period, versus just three
from the Steelheads. Despite the domination Williamson split the two up for the
third period when the Ice Dogs were down and needed goals. A very odd decision I
thought.
Perlini has great size and was
able to use that size to protect the puck and keep it away from the defenders.
He has a great shot and was the go to
shooter in Niagara’s 1-3-1 power play system (For those who don’t know the
1-3-1 power play, it is the one famously used by the Washington Capitals; Tyler
Dellow has an excellent piece on it). He will not fill this role at the NHL level
however because of his left shot. Perlini has 64 points (30G, 34A) in 50 games
this season. That point total puts him 30th in the OHL in scoring which is a
little low but he has missed some time this season due to injury.
Vince
Dunn as mentioned above was someone I was focused on because of his point per
game production this season. I wanted to watch him to get a feel if he could
add more offense to his game and hopefully get over the 0.6 hump in his draft
season next year. His offensive game was good; he created two of the three
scoring chances by Ice Dog defencemen. He was not on the top power play unit
with Perlini and Verhaeghe which hurts his chances to get more points. If he is
able to get on the top PP unit next season he could have a really good shot at
getting that 0.6ppg.
Stephen LaBlanc and Sean Day were conveniently
defense partners in this game. The duo combined for two chances (one each) but I
would have liked to have seen more considering how sheltered they were. What I gathered
from this admittedly small sample size of one game is that Steelheads head
coach James Boyd does not want to see Day in defensive zone, which is totally
understandable for a 15yr old kid. LaBlanc on the other hand appeared to have
the complete trust of his coach. LaBlanc played on the top penalty kill unit,
and when Niagara pulled their goalie with about 1:30 left in the game I don’t think
LaBlanc left the ice. He was out there for the initial 6-5 then when a time-out
was called he was back out there again. In retrospect he makes the perfect pair
with Day, because the coach knows that if Day makes a mistake he has a solid
guy with him who he trusts to make plays in the defensive zone. LaBlanc is
someone I would consider gambling on in draft in the latter half of the 4th
round or early 5th. I could see as Day gets better in the defensive zone, LaBlanc
could start to take more chances offensively and get his scoring up to the 0.6.
Day as mentioned was very sheltered
in terms of zone starts and competition. For someone who is just 15 he has good
size (6’2, 216) and could potentially add another 1-2 inches. He used his size
throwing a few very good hits; of which one was a big hit from behind that was
missed by the refs. That drew the ire of the crowd. He played on shift against
Perlini when he was stuck out on the ice after an icing. He did not look good
covering Perlini as he chased him around the ice as Perlini got a beauty chance
in the slot, a big save by Spencer Martin bailed out Day. Other than that one
miscue he was fine in his own end keeping players to the outside and breaking
up the play with an active stick. Keep in mind again he was playing against
weak opponents on weak team. He played on the top PP unit for the Steelheads
but it hasn’t led to many points this season. He only has 14 points (4G, 10A)
in 51 games this season. Comparing that to Aaron Ekblad in his age 15 season (10G,
19A in 63G), Day lags behind but still the upside is there and I believe he can
take a big step forward next season.
To conclude I definitely feel much
better only watching two players per team as it gives me a more in-depth look
into the players. I hope as I do more of this I am able to follow more players
and get multiple in-depth looks at guys. I am also looking forward to seeing
these players again as the more times you can watch a player the better understanding
you will have of him.
Comments are appreciated and encouraged. Let me know how I'm doing. Thanks.
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