Prospect Tourney: Third Place Game

Ahhh, that was fun. Nice to see the youngsters head into big camp with a nice victory under their belts. Hey, at least someone in the Wild org can beat someone in the Red Wings org!

A few things that stood out to me:

• Cal is still the cat's pajamas. Love the look of the C on my guy there. Great intermission interview, too. He's 007-cool. And he was the top scorer for Minnesota in the tournament.
• Kassian looks like a lumberjack when he skates. Won't someone tell him to get those arms swinging more front to back than side to side when he's skating? Augh. Still love ya though, Kass. WTF was up with the way they were pronouncing his name: Kay-shun? Yeesh.
• Dimples was fan-fucking-tastic, particularly in the shootout. Talk about a guy who is patient and cool. Not quite 007 cool, but certainly Batman-cool.
• I haven't read much about him in the coverage of the games, but I noticed Kevin King quite a bit. Seemed to be doing the right things most of the time. And he's only 18.
  
• I found Madsen frustrating me in the way Pouliot frustrates me. Very graceful skater, big guy, creates great chances for himself, but can't finish.
• Cuma is very very good. Just brimming with confidence and maturity on the ice. Wow. Definitely looked like a guy who could play very well in the AHL right now. Will be interesting to hear reports from big-boy camp about how he looks compared to NHLers. Liked that he showed some emotion, too. You sometimes expect these goody-two-shoes (and he is SUCH a GTS by all accounts), to be sort of hockeybots, but he was jawing and pissed off at one point. I love emotional players who can still play wicked smart.
• Not so impressed by Scandella or Schmidt.
• Hodgman and Almond looked good.
• McMillan didn't make much of an impression. Culligan only slightly more. They were fine but didn't really get my attention.
• Noreau looked good, but I'm still not seeing why everyone has such a hard-on for him. But then, my judgement around defensemen is notoriously lame.
• If I did not call your name, you may leave the runway because you're out.

Man, I was so screwed up by all the goofy numbers. That 78 on Cal was too heavy for him. He needs a lighter number. And 54 on Kassian? Ick. Wrong.

Anyway, that wet my whistle big time. If I was jonesing for hockey before, I've absolutely got the DTs now, man. Time to strap me to the bed until Oct. 3 when I get to see real hockey in person again.