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View Full Version : Justin Falk...a request for information.



MVNWriter23
07-14-2007, 01:55 PM
Greetings. Let me introduce myself. My name is Derek Felska and I write for a website called Most Valuable Network (MVN). I cover the Minnesota Wild and I was wondering what you could tell me about Justin Falk. I could read the little paragraphs places like McKeen's and The Hockey News kick out, but I want a 100% honest assessment from the fans. I think fans are keen observers who have little reason to glorify a player the way a paid scout does. I have written articles about other Wild prospects using fan information. Here is an example...

James Sheppard article (http://mvn.com/nhl-wild/2007/03/30/wild-prospect-preview-james-sheppard/)

The article is about another Wild 1st rounder, James Sheppard - and virtually all of the information I got from Cape Breton fans. I am not after learning dirt on Justin Falk or writing a scathing editorial; I just want the most in-depth analysis of this guy from those who watch him a lot (you guys / gals).

For anyone who gives me information I am more than willing to cite you as a contributing source, afterall its YOUR information. So...what would I like to know?

Strengths: What are the best parts of Falk's game? What does he do well on a consistant basis?

Weaknesses: What are his weakest parts of Falk's game? What does he struggle with?

Work Ethic: I know you may not be privy to this; but what is he like at practices? Does he work his tail off at practices? Is his work ethic consistent during games? Does he work as hard in the offensive end as he does back in the defensive end?

Character & Leadership: What would you say Falk's attitude is like? Is he a team player? Is a he a player exudes leadership on & off the ice?

Any help you could provide would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a ton!

(By the way) the Tri-City Logo is because the Wild have drafted more from the Americans than any other in the WHL.

Jimmypop316
07-14-2007, 03:54 PM
I posted this over on HFboards so I'll just copy and paste it to you:


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Falk was hands down one of the most improved players on the team this year.

He went from being that defenceman that all the fans liked to blame everything bad on to being one of the most dependable and very responsible in the defensive end.

As pointed out as above he's not overly physical with his weight/height and rarely fights but will if hes put in the situation. Nice kid who definitely doesn't take any stupid penalties.

Not too much of an offensive game, but I think he was gitting a little powerplay time on the second unit towards the end of the year. If he continues to make strides like he did last year (I think a lot of it had to do with Steve Pleau in charge of the d-corp) he can be a pretty solid bottom pairing defenceman. If he works on his offensive game a bit he could be putting up a bit more points this year, but I see him more defensively minded regardless.



he did break his wrist towards the end of the season and played with a cast after missing about two weeks for the rest of the season and in the playoffs.

MVNWriter23
07-14-2007, 06:18 PM
What about his skating...how about his first pass out of the zone. Is handling the puck like a guy playing hot potato with a hand grenade or is he poised and makes that good first pass? Did he get a lot of penalty kill time for being so solid defensively? Is he not overly physical because he's weak or because he's not overly aggressive? Would you say he's a stick checker?

chiefs20167
07-17-2007, 02:52 PM
I would love to read your story when you're done with it. Here is somethings I posted on the Wild HF Board on draft day and some answers to some of your questions. I hope it helps to give you an idea about Justin.

I've watched him play for the Spokane Chiefs here in the WHL since he was acquired from the Calgary Hitmen.

Justin has improved greatly since the 05-06 season. He's gotten to be one of the Chiefs top defensemen. He's gone up against the top lines/players in the league. He can play on the PP and PK. He doesn't have a great scoring touch but his defense has saved the Chiefs a few times.

One of his strengths is possibly connected with his work ethic. He plays and gives it his all every shift on the ice every night. Another strength has to be his defensive skills in his own zone. He will work extremely hard to move people from in front of the net and helps to clear the puck out.

I would say that for a majority of the time his passes that are the 1st out of the zone are crisp and not rushed or like playing hot potato. He has good eyes up ice and with outlet passes.

Justin doesn't seem to be the type to start things but is always there to finish things and protects his goalie and other players when they are pushed around. He's real good off ice with fans, especially kids. He will talk with people when he's not playing or during community outings by the team.

I work at the arena and have seen practices. I can say that he gives it his all during practices just like during games. I've seen other players take it down a notch during practices but not Justin. He will go all out all the time.

His work ethic in the offensive and defensive zones don't change. He will jump at the puck to keep it in the offensive zone. When he can get to it, he will back up to stop the fast break.

I've been very impressed with Justin since he came to Spokane. He has improved greatly and has become one of the Chiefs' top defensemen. He will turn into a great asset for the Wild in the future.

MVNWriter23
07-17-2007, 06:51 PM
do you mean like he's not afraid to lay down and block a shot. How about his skating? Does he move well? How about his quickness; does he struggle with smaller, quicker players causing him to hook, clutch & grab or does he stay with them well without resorting to obstruction?

As far as his personality goes, that's great to hear...its very important; especially to an organization that is all about class like the Wild are. Thanks a lot for your report. I haven't started the Justin Falk one yet, I want more information. Anything you wish to add?

chiefs20167
07-21-2007, 02:53 PM
do you mean like he's not afraid to lay down and block a shot. How about his skating? Does he move well? How about his quickness; does he struggle with smaller, quicker players causing him to hook, clutch & grab or does he stay with them well without resorting to obstruction?

As far as his personality goes, that's great to hear...its very important; especially to an organization that is all about class like the Wild are. Thanks a lot for your report. I haven't started the Justin Falk one yet, I want more information. Anything you wish to add?


I've seen him lay down to block shots a few times, more than some others have. His skating is good and quick for a big guy. He keeps up with the smaller guys for the most part without having to clutch or grab.

Jimmypop316
07-22-2007, 04:03 AM
do you mean like he's not afraid to lay down and block a shot. How about his skating? Does he move well? How about his quickness; does he struggle with smaller, quicker players causing him to hook, clutch & grab or does he stay with them well without resorting to obstruction?

As far as his personality goes, that's great to hear...its very important; especially to an organization that is all about class like the Wild are. Thanks a lot for your report. I haven't started the Justin Falk one yet, I want more information. Anything you wish to add?

he will definitely lay out the body to block shots... I remember in the 05-06 campaign when it was in the middle of the third or so and we were absolutely out of the game by at least 5 goals or so.. and that kid layed out and blocked a shot... whatever team you root for that is damn impressive to have that sort of dedication.

MVNWriter23
08-08-2007, 08:26 PM
Wild Prospect Report: Justin Falk (http://mvn.com/nhl-wild/2007/08/08/wild-prospect-report-justin-falk/)

Wild Prospect Report: Justin Falk

By Derek Felska | August 8th, 2007

Name / Team: Justin Falk / Spokane Chiefs (WHL)

Position: Defenseman

Shoots: Left

Height: 6′5″

Weight: 211lbs

2006-07 Stats: 62GP 3G 12A = 15pts 88 PIM’s +11

Strengths: The first attribute that jumps out about Justin Falk is his big 6′5″ frame. Yet, to only dwell on that is taking a very myopic view of what he brings to the table. Falk is a tireless worker, who is calm and poised in his own zone. Despite his large frame, he is a decent skater and can stay with the quicker, smaller forwards without having to resort to obstruction. He can quickly assess the situation and make a crisp 1st pass out of the zone. Another aspect of Falk’s game which is at a premium is his ability to effectively move opposition forwards out of the crease. While not an ‘enforcer’ he will stand up for his teamates, especially his goalies. The Snowflake, Alberta-native may not have great offensive skills but he does well at keeping the puck in the offensive zone to maximize his team’s offensive opportunities. The excellent work ethic he demonstrates in games is also there in practices. His willingness to do the extra little things is personified in the way he rather fearlessly drops down to block shots.

Weaknesses: Falk’s lack of offensive skills make him a clear “stay-at-home” type. The big defenseman also needs to get significantly stronger if he wishes to continue to push opposition forwards from camping out in the area around the crease. He is still considered a very raw prospect who will need lots of time to refine his game which is a fairly common trait among young defenseman. Even though he has great physical attributes he does not use his big body to punish the opposition.

Bottom Line: Justin Falk might be considered a bit of a “project” but that is what most would expect to find when the team drafted him this summer in the fourth round (110th Overall). Yet, the raw talents are intriguing. A steady, stay-at-home defenseman with a massive frame. With the Wild finding out the hard way against Anaheim that physicality in the post-season is still very important, Falk’s lack of initiative to use his big frame to punish might disappoint some Wild fans. The team will no doubt encourage him to work on that aspect of his game, while staying true to his stay-at-home roots. With the Wild’s prospect pool of defenseman nearly empty, they will give Falk every opportunity to prove he should be a part of the organization. One other aspect of Falk’s personality that really does not show up in your typical scouting report is that he is a kind and generous person who loves kids. The Wild have always been a team that at least from the outside likes to make its players seem approachable and “fan-friendly” and Falk is already a natural in that category.

*members of the whlfans.ca message board helped contribute to this article

chiefs20167
08-12-2007, 09:05 PM
Nice article, thanks for sharing. :clap:

MVNWriter23
09-13-2007, 08:34 AM
I am fairly certain he'll be back with you guys this season. I'll definately be lurking around to check up on his progress. He played in a prospect tournament just recently; and didn't register a point. I am not sure how you interpret that. We'll see what happens I guess; but I have no doubt Falk was signed as a long-term project so to speak so he'll have the time and like Derek Boogaard did when we drafted him...hopefully he'll make the most of it.

Jimmypop316
09-13-2007, 04:20 PM
I am fairly certain he'll be back with you guys this season. I'll definately be lurking around to check up on his progress. He played in a prospect tournament just recently; and didn't register a point. I am not sure how you interpret that. We'll see what happens I guess; but I have no doubt Falk was signed as a long-term project so to speak so he'll have the time and like Derek Boogaard did when we drafted him...hopefully he'll make the most of it.
definitely doesn't surprise me, hes not an offensive first defenceman. He is a big kid with very good defensive skills. He has a pretty good slapshot, but nothing too stellar.

I expect him to be with the team at least until his 20 year-old season, if we have a log jam OA for that age group he'll probably be with the AHL team if he continues to progress as well as he is.

MVNWriter23
10-02-2007, 07:41 AM
as I said earlier I'll be lurking about to check up on him every now and then. I really hope he does well because our defensive prospects have always been our weakest area. For whatever reason we haven't been able to develop many guys to help our big club out. In fact, we really only have 2 defenseman on our current roster that we drafted; Nick Schultz and Brent Burns. Other than that...we've had some guys show a little promise but none of them have made it yet.

Jimmypop316
10-04-2007, 11:38 PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEn6PPwfJkg

MVNWriter23
10-05-2007, 08:12 AM
Awesome...I hope he does that for the Wild someday. Thanks for sharing that!

MVNWriter23
12-11-2007, 02:06 PM
On Justin Falk's season to this point? He seems to be playing a pretty steady game, and chipping in a few points on occasion. Does he seem like an improved player over last-year's version? Love to hear any thoughts on that.

cranky
12-11-2007, 06:37 PM
playing very steadily, imo struggled early on.....was taking bad penalties, was making those mistakes in his own end that are costly but he straightened himself out and has rounded into the form expected of him....definitely looks after business in his own end as his first priority.

made tremendous strides last year over the prior year in spokane....that first year he looked as if he was totally out of place at this level...give him credit he came in last year a much improved player and was rewarded with being drafted...

MVNWriter23
05-06-2008, 01:43 PM
How would any of you summarize Falk's performance in the playoffs. Has he been better? Or is he still at times playing lazy and taking bad penalties. By what I can tell it doesn't seem that way. By the way, good luck against Lethbridge tonight!

HomerSimpson
05-07-2008, 08:42 AM
I think playing with Ulmer has benefitted Falk drastically. Ulmer is the perfect fit for the big man; good skater, puck mover, and keeps Falk on his toes by making the occasional glaring mistake. haha Just kidding...Ulmer has been fantastic, just like the rest of the Chiefs. I think the main problem with Falker now is that he just doesn't at times realize his true strength...some of the penalties I see him take are him just ragdolling opposing players into the boards.

MVNWriter23
05-09-2008, 10:47 AM
is he basically a 6'5" pylon that struggles to keep pace with speedy forwards? Is he just giving shoves or is he putting a shoulder into guys; by the sounds of it you make it appear its more pushing / shoving than hitting. Was he pretty physical in the playoffs? Did he play a key role or a supporting role in Spokane's great success. Congratulations by the way!

HomerSimpson
05-09-2008, 11:31 AM
Falk's actually really a good skater for a big guy. He has been instrumental in helping the Chiefs through their playoff run, been very rock solid for us. He just seems to get over-agressive in the corners pretty frequently...especially against the smaller forwards, and it tends to cost him. It's only been noticable since he was drafted, too; so I wonder if Minnesota told him they want to see him get more physical? Also seen him jumping into the play alot more.

MVNWriter23
05-11-2008, 08:12 PM
The Wild asked him to play a more physical game. Our entire draft basically looked at that aspect of us that we felt was exposed from our series with the Ducks. Colton Gillies in the 1st; Falk next...then banging forwards Carson McMillan and Cody Almond. I know in the prospect tournament Falk struggled and I am sure they felt he could take his game to another level if he modeled his development sort of in the same way Brent Burns did. Burns' is at his best when he's asserting himself in the play and being physical.

So do you think it has taken his game to another level or has the benefits from his increased aggressiveness been offset by mistakes he may make in his own zone?

LinkGaetzFan
05-12-2008, 09:30 PM
IMO his aggressiveness, when demonstrated, was a great. He makes a few mistakes whether he's being aggressive or not (I didn't notice any more when he played aggressively), but he's got that big body and doesn't use it as much as I think he should. The Chiefs focus on D so maybe Peters discourages it for fear of being burned.

Pete76
05-14-2008, 05:34 PM
IIRC ... Falk had a nice coast to coast assist vs tri cities ... and he did improve as the season went on ... until we got Trevor Glass, he was our best defender ... at this point I do not think Falk is as good as Kurt Sauer (with Colorado) was at this point ... which is the most recent NHL benchmark in spokane

MVNWriter23
05-23-2008, 11:00 AM
IIRC ... Falk had a nice coast to coast assist vs tri cities ... and he did improve as the season went on ... until we got Trevor Glass, he was our best defender ... at this point I do not think Falk is as good as Kurt Sauer (with Colorado) was at this point ... which is the most recent NHL benchmark in spokane

Excellent assessment. I definitely understand what you are saying. Very interesting. As far as his physicality does he tend to hit people or is more of him just stepping in the way and people hitting him? I saw the one "big hit" he had on that kid from Kelowna, but does he use his shoulders on his hits or is he more of a guy who likes to uses his arms and bring up the elbows? Does he hip check? I know that's rare nowadays but I'm just trying the best read I can on his physical game.

HomerSimpson
05-24-2008, 07:41 PM
Excellent assessment. I definitely understand what you are saying. Very interesting. As far as his physicality does he tend to hit people or is more of him just stepping in the way and people hitting him? I saw the one "big hit" he had on that kid from Kelowna, but does he use his shoulders on his hits or is he more of a guy who likes to uses his arms and bring up the elbows? Does he hip check? I know that's rare nowadays but I'm just trying the best read I can on his physical game.

Are you thinking of his hit on Zach Dailey from Everett that got him ejected at the start of the year?

He's stepped up his skating alot this season. He was always a decent skater for a big guy, but one thing that has improved about his game is his ability to handle the puck through traffic and use his skating to make plays. It's also helped him improve his hip checking - to answer your question, I have seen him lay the hips around and drive people into the boards with them. I've really been even-keel with him through the Memorial Cup so far. He's been wholly unspectacular - as usual - but not bad by any means. The commentators were raving on how good a defender he is and that our D-corps is so deep because he's used as the 5th defender.

He's been everything he was last year for us and maybe a little more. At this point, it's hard for me to project him as anything more than a #5-6 guy in the NHL who is nothing more than a shut-down type player. Really hard to compare him to anyone - maybe a much more scaled down version of Derian Hatcher?

LifelongChiefsFan
05-31-2008, 08:51 AM
I actually thought that Falk was Spokane's best D-man even after they got Glass from the Hat. I think he probably progressed more throughout the season than any other Chiefs on the team. I remember after Spokane beat Vancouver and they were getting ready to play the Americans in the WCF, there were some Ams' fans who were licking their chops at the prospect of having their guys skate circles around Falk. At the beginning of the year that was a very real possibility as he had some pretty poor games early on. But he learned and was able to get things straightened out as the year went along and became a very solid and reliable defenseman. From the 2nd half of the season on he was incredible for this team. Seeing him named to the Memorial Cup all star team was pretty cool and a testament to all the effort he gave to the Chiefs this season.

HomerSimpson
05-31-2008, 01:39 PM
Not that Falk played a bad tournament - I don't think there were any Chiefs that did - he was very good at both ends of the rink for us, and without him I guarantee we don't go 4-0...but I would have given the nod to Cowen or Glass for the all-star team. Cowen was quite literally unbeatable at times, it seemed like nobody could get by him - not the highly touted Giroux, not even Azevedo. And Glass and Reddington both seemed rock solid every time they were on the ice; the puck just seemed to get out of the zone every single time.

Falk would have been somewhere between 3-5 on my list for us in the tourny...did his point totals affect his selection?

MVNWriter23
06-21-2008, 04:29 PM
Are you thinking of his hit on Zach Dailey from Everett that got him ejected at the start of the year?

He's stepped up his skating alot this season. He was always a decent skater for a big guy, but one thing that has improved about his game is his ability to handle the puck through traffic and use his skating to make plays. It's also helped him improve his hip checking - to answer your question, I have seen him lay the hips around and drive people into the boards with them. I've really been even-keel with him through the Memorial Cup so far. He's been wholly unspectacular - as usual - but not bad by any means. The commentators were raving on how good a defender he is and that our D-corps is so deep because he's used as the 5th defender.

He's been everything he was last year for us and maybe a little more. At this point, it's hard for me to project him as anything more than a #5-6 guy in the NHL who is nothing more than a shut-down type player. Really hard to compare him to anyone - maybe a much more scaled down version of Derian Hatcher?

Well the Wild don't really have a real good shutdown player; so even having that would be a significant upgrade over what we currently have. Do you think he moves better than Hatcher? You're probably right on the hit though.

Good to hear about his improvement...I might write another article about him. Right now, with our defensive situation what it is; he figures into the team's plans because we don't have any other sort of players like him in our prospect pool.