(Almost) First-Half season grades [Archive]

SectionNDeserter

12-05-2005, 09:48 PM

We are almost half-way through the regular season. 8-19-1-2 is a new experience after all those winning years.
How would you grade each players performance so far this season?

#9 Alex Poulter - He is just getting his feet wet, only see him for a few shifts a game, but he works pretty good while he is out there. Rating: C+

#10 Kris Versteeg - The Rebels picked up some much needed speed with this guy, and he has shown a pretty good offensive talent as well. Rating: A

#11 Justin Scott - a pretty good penalty killer, but is invisible when he isn't on the PK. Rating: C

#12 Brandon Sutter - What more can be said, he is 16 years old, and taking a regular shift on the top line (and carrying a good chunk of the scoring). Rating: A

#14 Jordan Knackstedt - He is coming along, but hasn't put up the numbers so far that I thought he would this season. Rating: B-

#17 Garret Klotz - If this guy improves his skating, he is going to punish a lot more people out there. However, he hasn't seen a lot of ice time. Rating: C

#18 Karey Pieper - Very hard working, energy player, but has spent a lot of time with us nursing various injuries. Rating: B

#19 Ted Vandermeer - Has looked good in the 7 or 8 games he has played for us between injuries. I don't think I can remember a player who has lost more games to getting cheap shotted than Teddy. Rating: B+

#22 Tanner Gillies - Has really improved his work ethic in the last month or so, but seems really soft for a player of his hulking stature. Rating: C+

#24 Devon LeBlanc - Has some pretty good hands, and a pretty good shot, but has anyone seen him pass the puck to a teammate past his own blueline? Rating: C+

#25 Matthew Cline - Great hands for a big kid, but could use some work on his skating. Rating: B

#26 Roman Wick - If they weren't already, I am sure the Ottawa Senators are scratching their heads, wondering why they drafted this guy. Gone are the rushes up the ice and the 30 foot toe-drags that this guy pulled off last year. Sutter has taken a broom to the rest of the bums that were on this team, but missed this one. Rating: F

#27 Brett Sutter - I can't say that I was ever impressed with his play when I watched the Rebels play Kootenay, and when we acquired him I thought "Oh, Brent traded for his nephew, how quaint!". Wow, has this guy ever proven me wrong. By far the hardest working player out there, power play, penalty kill, even strength, blocking shots. Rating: A+

#2 Brennan Chapman - A little on the small side, but works very hard out there, and really gets under the other team's skin. Rating B+

#3 Vladimir Mihalik - I am going to cut this guy some slack, because I would be a little awkward if I had grown a foot taller and gained like 30 pounds in the course of a year or so. He does make some rather questionable plays at times, especially getting the puck out of his own zone into the neutral zone. He has a cannon of a slapshot that he needs to use more, and it is damn near impossible to get the puck past him at the blueline. He is getting better every game though. Rating B-

#4 Luke Egener - This guy got off to a bad start (deflected the puck into his own net in each of his first 2 games as a Rebel). Has good overall speed, but could work on his positioning out there, seems to be out of position a lot. Rating: C+

#5 Pierre-Paul Lamoureaux - I think this guy was very close to getting traded/released this season, until he was moved up to forward. Wow! he is a much better forward. As a forward he is hitting everything that moves, and causing all sorts of havoc out there. Rating: B-

#6 Matthew Hansen - Missed the first month or so of the season, but has played enough since then to make Shaden Moore a distant memory. Would be nice if he had more of a mean streak in him, but I guess you can't have it all. Rating: A

#7 Mike Berube - Very mobile, and great at carrying the puck out of our zone. Great puck carrying skills as a whole. I think this guy may turn out to be one of the biggest steals in a while, when you consider what we gave up for him. He has even been playing with a chip on his shoulder the last couple of games. Rating: B+

#8 Eric Frere - He shone as a rookie with us last season, has tremendous agility and lateral movement out there. The instant this guy touches the puck, he a) falls down b) passes it to the other team c) ices the puck. Not really too sure what happened to this kid, maybe he trained a bit too much with Paul Kurceba over the summer, but he is far worse along in his development than he was a year ago. Rating: D-

#28 Jonathan Smith - As the year goes on, I am more and more impressed with this young man. He works hard out there and really keeps his game simple, and effective. He skates really well, and doesn't get beat one-on-one very often. I think he is just about ready to take on a bigger role on the team. Rating: A

#31 James Reimer - One of the bigger netminders we have had. Has played well enough to win in his games at home that I have seen, and has apparently played INCREDIBLE in his few road games. Rating: B-

#33 Andrew Leslie - VERY inconsistant, makes stunning, highlight-reel saves throughout the game, but usually allows at least 1-2 goals per game due to mistakes in positioning, or not having his stick down for some reason, resulting in many easy five-hole goals. Also allows at least 1 extremely weak wristshot from 60ft out in every game. When you see goals like this scored in games where 6 year olds are playing, it sort of brings a smile to your face, maybe even a chuckle. It loses its charm at this level of hockey however. I would much rather see a rookie in the starting role, making rookie mistakes every game, than watching a 19 year old do it, at least the rookie can learn from it and improve. Rating: F

There you have it!