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.

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Prospect Watch 2008: Defensive Wrap-Up

Here's what weird about the Aeros. As a group, we had (and probably will have again) the best defense in the league. Individually, though, when the Wild were in a severe pinch for d-men at the end of last season, Reitz was the only one deemed good enough for a call up.

So it's understandable that the list of defensive prospects is relatively short, but I still think it's wrong. Scott shouldn't be on there, nor do I think Scandella should be on there. I can't really justify the Scandella decision as I haven't seen him play, but as I've said, I'm skeptical.

Who should be there? I think you can make a case for both Brandon Rogers and Clayton Stoner.

Brandon played 4 years in college and has 3 years of AHL hockey under his belt, where this season he had a career year and secured his first NHL contract with the Wild for the next 3 years. Brandon has great hockey sense and I think his 4 goals/24 assists and +17 (the team-leading +/-) speak to his gifts.

He actually reminds me a lot of Nick Schultz, both on the ice and in the room (allegedly). They both play a pretty low key game but are effective and calm and good leaders.

Stoner had a tough year last year, playing only 56 games due to injury after injury, but he obviously also saw some benefit from the new coaching regime as his numbers went up significantly in 9 fewer games than last season. But like many defensemen, numbers don't really tell Stoner's story. His bread and butter is his gritty game. He's like Reitz without the offensive touch and, IMO, more hustle and self-sacrifice. Plus, he just seems like a really nice, earnest guy. What can I say? I've seen enough aloof, selfish players and I think it matters to have guys like this.

Tomorrow: Dimples!

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Prospect Watch 2008: Marco "Polo" Scandella

NHL.com sez:

Marco Scandella -- The converted forward was grabbed by the Wild in the second round in the 2008 Draft. The Montreal native has grown remarkably over the past few years -- he's now 6-2 and 190 pounds -- and the Wild are excited about his potential to be a stay-at-home defenseman. Scandella had 14 points and 35 penalty minutes for Val-d'Or in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League this season.

"Our doctors said he had as athletic a body as any of the prospects he'd seen," Thompson said. "This guy is one of these late developers. Three years ago, he was undrafted in the Quebec League as a 5-foot-9, 140-pound center."

Ms. Conduct sez:
Aww, he has ReitzHair! Cute! (Not the best picture though. He looks like he's in some kinda Wild-branded prison.)

Beyond that, I got nothing on this kid. There's no video. There's no nothing. So, why is he listed so high? Maybe these lists aren't meant to be in order, but it seems the forwards were. Of course, just because I don't know boo about him doesn't mean he's not better than every other defensive prospect except Cuma. *skeptical face*

But since I haven't seen him play, I'm just gonna focus on what I know: He has the very cute ReitzHair, a great "wing span," was drafted way higher than anyone expected (too high?), he's too young to play in the AHL for 2 more years (but he's already almost big enough to go pro... how huge will he be in 2010-11?), and he's fluent in English, French, and Italian.

It's not often in hockey that we are blessed with our very own:

Ciao infermiera!

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