Training camp

[chopper]

I finally got out to a scrimmage this afternoon and it was like most I've witnessed over the years. It was spotty and you could see the vets took advantage of the rookies pretty good but there were some interesting things.

Jacob Elmer looked good most every shift even though he didn't score. I may have been the only one but Webb from the blue team was a very effective player and pretty big. Sillinger for the red squad is always around the puck and his last goal was slick. Westerling was pretty effective player as well. I feel for Hollett as he was left out to dry a lot. Poteau struggled a fair bit.

Some of the vets on the blue squad failed to impress me much. I'm not sure what I think about Ortynsky on the red team. Outside of Steel I wonder aloud how much real talent there is available. Today nobody pulled me out of my seat.

[patsdude114]

I finally got out to a scrimmage this afternoon and it was like most I've witnessed over the years. It was spotty and you could see the vets took advantage of the rookies pretty good but there were some interesting things.

Last years camp I think was way more intense as we had a few more chippy type players like Hand, Ouellette, McCoy, Christoffer, Stevenson to name a few, this years camp has been pretty cool and calm. Sometimes I feel there is too many younger guys in the mix who really have no shot but on the flip side when having basically every player who attended camp who's on your 50man roster it lets each player see where they are truly at in terms of their development and where they need to get to to have a legit shot.

Jacob Elmer looked good most every shift even though he didn't score. I may have been the only one but Webb from the blue team was a very effective player and pretty big. Sillinger for the red squad is always around the puck and his last goal was slick. Westerling was pretty effective player as well. I feel for Hollett as he was left out to dry a lot. Poteau struggled a fair bit.

Elmer I think has picked up his game since rookie camp which I think is just a result of playing with better players all around and knowing he has to do things quicker then against his peers.

As for Webb I am a big fan of this guy, does anyone know how old he is? Hes a big guy who is hard to move off the puck, Schacher even struggled with him down low in the morning scrimmage. Would love to see a line of Webb/Wagner/Hunt all 3 of those guys are very strong down low. I was talking to Paddock this evening about Webb and from how he was talking about him it wont surprise me one bit if he gets a chance in a exhibition game or 2

Sillinger was good again this evening too, him and Woods have definitely turned a few heads at camp. If I recall correctly Woods had 3 assists in the afternoon skate (2 forsure)

Pouteau reminds me a lot of Reagan at least years camp, alittle bit of a project but a lot of upside in his game. Looking at how far Hilsendager game has came along I think putting Pouteau in midget like they did with Hilsendager is going to further his development even more. We have some quality younger Dmen at age 17 in Kallis & Hilsendager who id much rather see on the roster... I think Hilsendager most definitely has the inside track on a roster spot.

Some of the vets on the blue squad failed to impress me much. I'm not sure what I think about Ortynsky on the red team. Outside of Steel I wonder aloud how much real talent there is available. Today nobody pulled me out of my seat.

I for one have been very impressed with Ortynski game at camp, I really thought he was a right off but he has really impressed me a lot especially in tonight's scrimmage. As of right now I'd take Ortynski over Brooks.

Gay had a really good evening scrimmage I think some of the vets just needed to find their legs alittle more, him and Steel really worked well together. I could see them being part of our 2nd line

As for tonight's scrimmage some players who really stood out to me were....
Jared McAmmond he has great puck pursuit and the speed to go along with it
Colton Kroeker him Wagner and (I believe) Woods had a lot of puck cycling time... Colton really controlled the play well, displayed what his potential well tonight I belive.
Bryar Ortynski by far the best I have ever seen him play, he is a completely different player after a year in Jr. A... when he played as a 16yr old he was afraid to have the puck on his stick and never really progressed at all under Conacher
Rykr Cole had a few very good chances to score this evening, used his speed well
Adam Berg really thought he found his legs for the evening scrimmage, he was abit invisible during the morning scrimmage but this evening he seemed to be everywhere
Riley Woods was as effective as this this afternoon's scrimmage but was still all over the ice and always seems to be creating something when on the ice. I really hope they give him a game or 2 during the pre-season tournament

[crashnbang]

Last years camp I think was way more intense as we had a few more chippy type players like Hand, Ouellette, McCoy, Christoffer, Stevenson to name a few, this years camp has been pretty cool and calm. Sometimes I feel there is too many younger guys in the mix who really have no shot but on the flip side when having basically every player who attended camp who's on your 50man roster it lets each player see where they are truly at in terms of their development and where they need to get to to have a legit shot.




Elmer I think has picked up his game since rookie camp which I think is just a result of playing with better players all around and knowing he has to do things quicker then against his peers.

As for Webb I am a big fan of this guy, does anyone know how old he is? Hes a big guy who is hard to move off the puck, Schacher even struggled with him down low in the morning scrimmage. Would love to see a line of Webb/Wagner/Hunt all 3 of those guys are very strong down low. I was talking to Paddock this evening about Webb and from how he was talking about him it wont surprise me one bit if he gets a chance in a exhibition game or 2

Sillinger was good again this evening too, him and Woods have definitely turned a few heads at camp. If I recall correctly Woods had 3 assists in the afternoon skate (2 forsure)

Pouteau reminds me a lot of Reagan at least years camp, alittle bit of a project but a lot of upside in his game. Looking at how far Hilsendager game has came along I think putting Pouteau in midget like they did with Hilsendager is going to further his development even more. We have some quality younger Dmen at age 17 in Kallis & Hilsendager who id much rather see on the roster... I think Hilsendager most definitely has the inside track on a roster spot.





I for one have been very impressed with Ortynski game at camp, I really thought he was a right off but he has really impressed me a lot especially in tonight's scrimmage. As of right now I'd take Ortynski over Brooks.

Gay had a really good evening scrimmage I think some of the vets just needed to find their legs alittle more, him and Steel really worked well together. I could see them being part of our 2nd line

As for tonight's scrimmage some players who really stood out to me were....
Jared McAmmond he has great puck pursuit and the speed to go along with it
Colton Kroeker him Wagner and (I believe) Woods had a lot of puck cycling time... Colton really controlled the play well, displayed what his potential well tonight I belive.
Bryar Ortynski by far the best I have ever seen him play, he is a completely different player after a year in Jr. A... when he played as a 16yr old he was afraid to have the puck on his stick and never really progressed at all under Conacher
Rykr Cole had a few very good chances to score this evening, used his speed well
Adam Berg really thought he found his legs for the evening scrimmage, he was abit invisible during the morning scrimmage but this evening he seemed to be everywhere
Riley Woods was as effective as this this afternoon's scrimmage but was still all over the ice and always seems to be creating something when on the ice. I really hope they give him a game or 2 during the pre-season tournament

Watched all games today - Christoffer was my pick for top forward although at 20 he should be a stand out. The next best player today was Cole who scored a nice goal, was hitting anything and everything in sight and made some nice plays. I would like to see Cole with a winger like Gay or Christoffer. Steel playing with proven veterans looks very good. Harrison was my top D man today, I could see him running a PP. If tomorrow is no different, the vets better not get too comfy.

Although Ortynski has looked good, his 6 points in AJHL are enough for me to pass on him. Although they may be better than Zimmer's 0 points last season with the Pats.

[chopper]

Listening to McMullin it almost seems they are still looking at Luc Smith as a possible 16 year old with Steel and I suspect maybe one more. The thing is that some 18 year olds have to show a lot more than some highly rated 17 year olds if they want to keep their spot. I would say any tie should go to the younger guy. McMullin talked about youth while playing on the road and being taken advantage of. That's why I have long said we should be trading for a couple of tougher guys to look after the youth on this team.

Some vets will be moved to make room for young talent. Not all of our talented kids will be able to play here, so if any 17 year old can't make it we should be looking at packaging up a couple to get what we need. We need some toughness for sure.

The returning roster is not loaded with talent and clearly our best chance at excellence lays with our younger players in a year or two. Even after regular season starts I still fully expect to see several moves.

[SectionNDeserter]

As for Webb I am a big fan of this guy, does anyone know how old he is?

He is an 18 year old, he played 13 games for Red Deer last season. http://whl.ca/roster/show/id/10608

[chopper]

Ortynski has very little offensive upside and if it came to either he or Webb, I like Webb a lot more. The one thing we have to once again guard against is getting too freaking small. This has hurt us in the past and we are drifting there again; can't succeed like that.

Hunt, Christopher, Brooks, Williams, Burroughs and a few other vets are under 6'. Then rookies like Cole, Steel, Woods, Sillinger, McAmmond and others are all pretty small. In training camp scrimmages some of the quick smaller guys show well.

Adding in Steel and Cole in my mind tells me that Brooks and someone else may have to go. Especially if Freadrich and Woods are on the radar. If you look at the Edmonton model they are very big and they can skate. They are also Memorial Cup Champs.

In scrimmages it's easy to get bug eyed about little guys lighting it up. When the shooting starts for real and your playing against 6'4' D-men you need to be bigger and stronger. The mantra was to get bigger so I hope they don't forget. They still needs some components, and probably by trade.

ALSO; has anyone heard what the deal is with Mumby and why Holmes didn't come to truing camp. Are we looking at another NCAA wanna be?

[patsdude114]

Sillinger has been nice to watch since main camp has started but there is a huge difference between him and Woods.... Sillinger hasn't been facing many of the vet Dmen he seems to always be in the ice when there are walk on Dmen on the ice, Woods has been creating offence still when guys like Schacher, Reagan, Williams and the new Russian have all be in the ice. I would like to see Woods get in a couple exhibition games just to see how he truly stacks up against other teams defenses as for Sillinger he will be done after today.

I said a few good things about Ortynski cause they were needed to be said he had a very solid game last night. It doesn't matter how many points he had last season or what he done errr didn't do as a 16yr old here with the Pats.... His game has improved a lot, I still think his chances if making this team is slim to none but I'm giving the kid some credit as he was one of the better players last night.

[crashnbang]

Listening to McMullin it almost seems they are still looking at Luc Smith as a possible 16 year old with Steel and I suspect maybe one more. The thing is that some 18 year olds have to show a lot more than some highly rated 17 year olds if they want to keep their spot. I would say any tie should go to the younger guy. McMullin talked about youth while playing on the road and being taken advantage of. That's why I have long said we should be trading for a couple of tougher guys to look after the youth on this team.

Some vets will be moved to make room for young talent. Not all of our talented kids will be able to play here, so if any 17 year old can't make it we should be looking at packaging up a couple to get what we need. We need some toughness for sure.

The returning roster is not loaded with talent and clearly our best chance at excellence lays with our younger players in a year or two. Even after regular season starts I still fully expect to see several moves.

Smith isn't near ready for the WHL, unless we don't care about talent. 7 goals in a full season of AAA midget and I don't see much offensive upside or the grit required if you can't score in this league. Wait and see how he does in exhibition and maybe he will surprise me. It'd be nice if the Pats would update player size and weight on web site for guys in the system too, some guys have really put on some weight. 6'2 guys that can't score are a dime a dozen, talent is not, especially talent and grit together.

[patsdude114]

I see your (crashnbang) a stat guy and nothing more...... I feel sorry for you not being able to see Smith's talents. A lot of the so called 'point guys' are too afraid to get their nose dirty and go work for a puck. I'm sure your leaning towards keeping Sillinger over Smith just cause Sillinger is scoring goals against walk in Dmen who don't even belong to be the water boys in the WHL

Smith's case of mono may end up hurting him to make this roster but he is miles ahead of every other 16 year old not named Steel.

[nivek_wahs]

I said a few good things about Ortynski cause they were needed to be said he had a very solid game last night. It doesn't matter how many points he had last season or what he done errr didn't do as a 16yr old here with the Pats.... His game has improved a lot, I still think his chances if making this team is slim to none but I'm giving the kid some credit as he was one of the better players last night.

Sitting on the bench here as a 16 really killed his progress. There were at least 5 or 6 games that he dressed and never came off of the bench. How can anyone get better? I don't know too about his AJHL team but I'm guessing he had another limited roll. In camp he's been good in my opinion.

With new people in charge of hockey ops, who knows what will happen.