TCO's First Semi-Weekly St. John's Fog Devils NHL Prospect Report
OK, so this year I'm going to try and see a Fog Devils game at least once every two weeks, maybe more, sometimes less depending on my work schedule, but anyway, now that we actually have some decent potential future NHL guys on our roster, I figured I'll do a little report of how they faired during the game. I'll also pinch in with thoughts on any of the oppositions players that have already been drafted into the NHL.
P.S. Being a Sabres fan, this is more so I can comment on Brennan and Allard, but I'll pitch in with other guys as well. Obviously the focus of this topic and future editions will be the guys I care about, but I'll try my best to offer insight on other guys that you might want to hear about as well.
So, Game #1...
Saturday, September 22nd vs. PEI Rocket
Where I sat: Front row, corner to the left of goal in the visitor's end.
Outcome: Excellent game overall. Coming off a horrible 6-1 loss the previous night, St. John's redeemed itself by winning 6-3 to get its first win of the season. Lots of penalties throughout the game. Brennan and Allard arrived back in St. John's pretty early in the morning of the same day and didn't have much time to prepare for the game.
Prospect Report
T.J. Brennan (Sabres)
Game score: B-
Offensively he did solid. Got a few good shots towards the net, worked the powerplay pretty good, and got 1 assist. Best part of his game was his physical play. Really out-muscled guys for the puck a few times and absolutely crushed a guy once with a stiff-arm (probably should have got a penalty for it, but whatever).
Defensively he was ok, but made two brutal plays leading to goals against both times. Once on the PK he tried to skate the puck out of the zone and waited a little too long before making the pass, causing a turnover and a quick goal. Another time he made a really bad pass trying to clear the zone which lead to another goal. Poor judgement on both of those plays for Brennan, but maybe we can just chalk that up to the flight back to town? Doubtful.
Jean-Simon Allard (Sabres)
Game score: A+
What can I say, he was the game's 1st star and played amazingly. He scored a goal (on a beautiful give and go play) and notched 2 assists. He could have had another 2 goals but Lafleur made some amazing stops on him in close. He was buzzing all night and seemed to be full of energy, so the flight back didn't hurt him at all. Was excellent on the powerplay (one assist came this way) cycling down low and finding the open man for a pass.
Another big plus this game was, like Brennan, his physical play. He showed a lot of grit and at one point hit a guy slightly from behind (got a 4 minute minor for it I believe, deservedly) and then a melee broke out with a Rocket player jumping him. He pushed back and looked like he was capable of picking up for himself before one of the Fog Devils' tough guys came in to help out.
Looks like the Sabres have 2 guys they really need for the future, IMO. Brennan needs to work on his defense and Allard needs more consistency I'm told, but neither shys away from the physical aspect of the game and are more than willing to dish it out.
Timo Pielmeier (Sharks)
Game Score: B+
Timo was solid in net, as opposed to the previous night where he was pulled (although I'm told that he didn't allow any bad goals that night either and it was more to do with the team being horrible).
Anyway, gave up 1 PP goal he had no chance on, 1 goal due to a bad Brennan turnover, and the other was off a rebound the defense should have cleared away before PEI banged it in. Timo made some great saves and was excellent in the 3rd period to preserve the victory.
Only downside seems to be his puck handling. Messed up behind the net once and another time trying to make a pass out of the zone. However, he also made a very nice long pass later in the game, so he seems to be hit or miss here and just needs more practice.
Mario Kempe (Flyers)
Game Score: A
Excellent game. Like Allard, also had a goal and 2 assists. Worked very well on the PP also, getting both assists with the man advantage. He's very quick on his feet and doesn't mind charging the net at all, displaying both qualities very often in this game. Only drawback I noticed was he didn't do much defensively and supposedly needs to work on that anyway, but still, I really like this guy and he could be a perfect fit in the "new" NHL for Philly.
Matt Fillier (Kings)
Game Score: B
Not much to say about Fillier honestly, as he's a defensive forward and I didn't have a very good view of the PK work for 2 periods. However, PEI only managed 1 goal on two PK opportunities and positionally the Fog Devils looked great on the PK and he's a major part of that, so he could turn into an alright 4th liner or PK specialist someday.
Non-Fog Devils Players
Pierre-Luc Lassard (Senators)
Game Score: B-
Was solid in his own end and makes great passes, but didn't show as much offensive flair as I had expected. Still, appears to be a fine two-way player and just needs to maybe bulk up and refine his game more for the NHL level. Ottawa doesn't have a wealth of great defense prospects anyway, so he'll get a shot eventually if he works his way up I suspect.
Brett Morrison (Ducks)
Game Score: A
Scored twice, once shorthanded on that brutal turnover by Brennan (hate to rag on him constantly...) and played well defensively. He's a small, fast player and seems to have an ok two-way game, but due to his size he's going to have to turn in impressive games like this on a nightly basis to get a good long look from a team built like the Ducks.
Antoine Lafleur (Rangers)
Game Score: C+
At times Lafleur looked outstanding, making some brilliant saves, while at other times his rebound control was absolutely horrible. Most of the goals against weren't bad goals, but a few were and if it wasn't for the defense clearing and/or covering up the puck sometimes, he might have got pulled. Still, he shows a lot of potential and definitely has a game face (he glared at me a few times, scary!), so if he can just fine tune that rebound control I'd say the Rangers have another solid goaltending prospect.
Martin Latal (Coyotes)
Game Score: C-
Wasn't impressed. Managed an assist on the PP, but aside from that he wasn't much of a factor. Just another fast, small guy that doesn't hit and needs to learn the North American game a little more before he can truly be judged.
FACT OF THE GAME
OK, so this isn't really related to the game, but whatever. So I was sitting in the front row with my fiance and these two teenagers came and sat in the seats directly right of me. During the entire 1st period they kept saying "Buffalo sucks" and "Man, I hate Buffalo" and so on and so forth (me and my fiance were both wearing Sabres caps to the game). Anyway, I just ignored it because it didn't bother me, however, it was starting to piss off my fiance a lot. During the intermission they left and while they were gone my fiance told me I should just say something to them such that they'll shutup. I said I would if they kept it up.
Well, they come back during the 2nd period, but they sit farther away with a few friends and we can hear them talking about how they can't believe Buffalo beat Ottawa back in '06. Anyway, one of the guys comes back over and sits next to me again. After a while he finally taps me on the shoulder and says "Man, I really do hate Buffalo", to which I reply with a sneer
"Yeah, well I really do hate you. What's the difference?"
...and the kid doesn't know what to say. He manages to mutter "I dunno" to which I say, "Exactly, so what's your point?". Then he just gets up and leaves. Hahahahaha. His friends then tease him for pissing me off and yet another victory over the dumbass fans is mine. The guys didn't sit in their seats near me for the rest of the game. LOL
I never cared for Allard at all last season, largely due to his lack of any defensive responsibility whatsoever (mini-Kovalchuk with less talent, obviously), but supposedly he worked on that a lot in the Sabres camps and I didn't notice him make any key mistakes or slack off at all in his first game back. But yeah, he really impressed me and if he can improve on that dreadful minus rating from last year, his stock should go back up a lot. He's still got the potential to be a 2nd line forward in the NHL, IMO.
As for Brennan, still my favorite and hopefully he'll improve that defensive side of his game like he wants to. He knows that's his weakness right now and he's got the talent to turn it around. Just needs to make better decisions really.
As for a future Sabres pick maybe, of the new guys I was most impressed by Alex Wall. He's not a big defenseman (5'11", 185 lbs), but he plays big. He's a solid stay at home guy that hits a lot and he's a great penalty killer. He stood out the most to me, but I have no idea if he's on anyone's radar or even ranked by central scouting or what not.
I did watch bits and pieces of that game on the internet...
Hey TCO, question for you... What caused the big fight in the second period? I came back inside from mowing the lawn to see sticks and gloves all over the ice...
The big fight was caused by Jean-Simon Allard hitting one of the PEI players from behind (although I was very close up in seeing this and it was pretty borderline IMO, more from the side). Anyway, another one of the PEI guys immediately jumped Allard, who pushed him into another St. John's player that proceeded to pummel him. Pretty much everyone went to the corner and pushed each other around a little until one of the refs lost it (it was pretty funny) and was yelling at them to back off or everyone was getting tossed.
I was also impressed with Allard at camp. Was very solid at both ends of the ice. I remember reading that the knock on himmlast year was consistentcy and physical play but thought he was quite physical in camp. Hopefully this is the beginning of a breakout season for him!!
Offensively he did solid. Got a few good shots towards the net, worked the powerplay pretty good, and got 1 assist. Best part of his game was his physical play. Really out-muscled guys for the puck a few times and absolutely crushed a guy once with a stiff-arm (probably should have got a penalty for it, but whatever).
Defensively he was ok, but made two brutal plays leading to goals against both times. Once on the PK he tried to skate the puck out of the zone and waited a little too long before making the pass, causing a turnover and a quick goal. Another time he made a really bad pass trying to clear the zone which lead to another goal. Poor judgement on both of those plays for Brennan, but maybe we can just chalk that up to the flight back to town? Doubtful.
Not quite how each goal happened. On the first goal the puck came out of the corner in a weird way Brennan had to skate after it in front of his own net, he reached for it and tried to pull it too his forehand to get it out of the zone, but the PEI player was circling in front of the net and pick the puck up as soon as TJ tried to move it from his back hand. Brennan was concentrating on picking up the puck and never seen the PEI player circle back. His give away but defiantly not a brutal goal. It was a goal caused by bad bounce.
The second goal also not his fault. He took his man to the corner and the puck got worked to the back of the net. A forward moved to behind the net so Brennan went to cover the front of the net. The forward got beet and Morrison stepped out to the side of the net and put the puck up high on a really bad angel and it went in not Brennans fault at all and it had nothing to do with a bad pass.
Not quite how each goal happened. On the first goal the puck came out of the corner in a weird way Brennan had to skate after it in front of his own net, he reached for it and tried to pull it too his forehand to get it out of the zone, but the PEI player was circling in front of the net and pick the puck up as soon as TJ tried to move it from his back hand. Brennan was concentrating on picking up the puck and never seen the PEI player circle back. His give away but defiantly not a brutal goal. It was a goal caused by bad bounce.
The second goal also not his fault. He took his man to the corner and the puck got worked to the back of the net. A forward moved to behind the net so Brennan went to cover the front of the net. The forward got beet and Morrison stepped out to the side of the net and put the puck up high on a really bad angel and it went in not Brennans fault at all and it had nothing to do with a bad pass.
Yeah, I had a bad view of the 1st goal, as it was at the opposite end of the rink, but still, bad bounce or not, it's his responsibility to obtain control of the puck better than that. Bad bounces happen all the time but most go unnoticed due to the players settling the puck down quickly and/or clearing it away quickly.
As for the 2nd goal, your description is accurate, but isn't that what happened after the failed clearing attempt? I didn't mean to imply that the goal was scored soon after that, but I'm pretty sure it was an initial failed passout that lead to PEI maintaining the zone pressure and eventually getting the goal. Again, not all Brennan's fault I guess, as this also happens all the time, but it's small things like this that eventually lead to goals quite often.
P.S. Did you tape this or something? lol, my memory isn't nearly up to par with yours. =)
Yeah, I had a bad view of the 1st goal, as it was at the opposite end of the rink, but still, bad bounce or not, it's his responsibility to obtain control of the puck better than that. Bad bounces happen all the time but most go unnoticed due to the players settling the puck down quickly and/or clearing it away quickly.
As for the 2nd goal, your description is accurate, but isn't that what happened after the failed clearing attempt? I didn't mean to imply that the goal was scored soon after that, but I'm pretty sure it was an initial failed passout that lead to PEI maintaining the zone pressure and eventually getting the goal. Again, not all Brennan's fault I guess, as this also happens all the time, but it's small things like this that eventually lead to goals quite often.
P.S. Did you tape this or something? lol, my memory isn't nearly up to par with yours. =)
Nope I knew exactly what happened on the first one, I kept a close eye on Brennan the whole night trying to see how he has progressed after spending soo much time in camps over the summer. When it happened I said to my buddy "well not much he could have done on that one" and really there wasn't.
On the second one my memory apparently was a bit shaky as well. After going back and looking at the archived game on the telus site to see if it was a bad clearing attempt (it wasn't it was because of a long lead pass from the PEI defense that lead to a two on one where the puck ended up in the corner.) I noticed that the PEI player never stepped out from behind the net but instead passed it out to the side of the net where the player who was being covered coincidently enough by Allard the PEI player then put the puck in as previously described.
Nope I knew exactly what happened on the first one, I kept a close eye on Brennan the whole night trying to see how he has progressed after spending soo much time in camps over the summer. When it happened I said to my buddy "well not much he could have done on that one" and really there wasn't.
On the second one my memory apparently was a bit shaky as well. After going back and looking at the archived game on the telus site to see if it was a bad clearing attempt (it wasn't it was because of a long lead pass from the PEI defense that lead to a two on one where the puck ended up in the corner.) I noticed that the PEI player never stepped out from behind the net but instead passed it out to the side of the net where the player who was being covered coincidently enough by Allard the PEI player then put the puck in as previously described.
Man, what am I mistaking that bad lead out pass for then? Maybe I'm confusing that for the other goal? Or maybe a goal against PEI? Argh! See, this is what happens when you take a woman to the game with you and you're paying attention to her sometimes. =P
Also, thanks for that site! Doesn't work at the office, but when I get home I'm gonna check it out and see if I can find where I'm getting confused about that goal.
