WHL Prospects

[habmeister]

I'll try to keep this updated, but for now here are the stats links. I really like ben maxwell, saw him play 3-4 times last season and he was always impressive.

WHL top scorers
whl.ca/stats/statdisplay.php?type=top_scorers
i know it's early, but this kid could be a real sleeper in 2-3 years.


WHL top goaltenders
whl.ca/stats/statdisplay.php?type=top_goalies
Price with respectable numbers through the first week, i expect him to move into the top 5. i don't think his team is good enough to do much better. dustin slade for the giants is good, but usually the giants outshoot the opposition 2-1 and his shots aren't of the high quality grade.

[NWTHabsFan]

Ben Maxwell snags CHL player of the week honours with 8 points in three games last week. Nice start Little Ben.

www.chl.ca/CHLNews0607/1011a.html

[Bob]

I was at the Kootenay- Saskatoon game last night and watched Ben Maxwell.

He played center and point on the PP. The guy looks like the total package. He can skate, shoot and pass. Some of his stickhandling reminded me of Kovalev and he was clearly the best puck handler on the ice. He also sees the ice well, works the corners, looks for the open man and when he doesn't have the puck he finds openings himself.

Not blazing speed like Russ Courtnall but he is fast and smooth on his skates... even when he has to skate backwards when playing the point. He also looks much bigger than 175 lbs. I think he is listed at 6-1 190 on the Kootenay website and that seems more accurate.

Although he didn't get any points he created a lot of chances. Saskatoon was obviously keying on him on the PP... and that opened the ice up for the rest of the team.

Kootenay dominated the game but Braden Holtby stoned them... that is another name to keep an eye on.

[seventeen]

Thanks Bob. Good to see that Ben is improving as he should.

[seventeen]

Ryan White had 2 goals in a 3-2 loss to Kamloops and was 2nd star of the game tonight.

Ben Maxwell had a goal and assist in a 4-2 win over Saskatoon and was also 2nd star. Our scouts continue to perform.

[habmeister]

Ben Maxwell back on top of the dub scoring leaders. after getting only 3 points in 4 games he exploded for 7 points in the last 2 games. last night he had a goal, 2 assists, +2 and 6 PIM. talk about getting involved!

Carey Price
2.42 GAA 8th in WHL
.921 Save % 5th in WHL

I don't know if its really possible to beat goalies like Slade for the giants as the quality/quantity of shots that the giants give up is very low compared to tri cities. he has good #'s though.


Shots against per game for top 10 goalies

1 Leland Irving Everett Silvertips 23.7
2 Dustin Slade Vancouver Giants 20.5
3 Kyle Moir Swift Current Broncos 34
4 Travis Yonkman Swift Current Broncos 30.3
5 Carey Price Tri-City Americans 31.8
6 Taylor Dakers Kootenay Ice 21.6
7 * Dustin Tokarski Spokane Chiefs 31
8 Dan Spence Calgary Hitmen 29.5
9 Tyson Sexsmith Vancouver Giants 17.2
10 * Braden Holtby Saskatoon Blades 34.4

[seventeen]

Ryan White with 3 assists last night and 1st star

www.whl.ca/stats/game-summary.php?game_id=1002040

Maxwell and White are coming along well. Hopefully Price can make the move to a next level as well.

[seventeen]

Calgary in a shootout win over the Vancouver Giants (top team in CHL) and White gets 2 assists, the shootout winner and 3rd star. Our scouts continue to look good.

www.whl.ca/stats/game-summary.php?game_id=1002084

[habmeister]

Ben back on top again where he belongs.
20 GP 10 G 22 A

playmaker stats


Carey Price had a few off games, but i'm actually suprised that tri-cities are where they are in the standings.

GAA 2.49 9th in dub
Sv % .915 7th in dub

[drkcloud]

Went and saw Price against the Chilliwack Bruins and wasn't that impressed with him as a first rounder. He has good size and as a butterfly goalie he covers the net well, particularly the lower half. On the other side, he seemed disinterested and almost a little sullen?? Chilliwack scored early and on a weak goal that he seemed to be sleeping on. he did make a couple of outstanding saves in OT to allow his team to win but he did seem disinterested or unhappy.

[habmeister]

wetcoasthabfan said:

Went and saw Price against the Chilliwack Bruins and wasn't that impressed with him as a first rounder. He has good size and as a butterfly goalie he covers the net well, particularly the lower half. On the other side, he seemed disinterested and almost a little sullen?? Chilliwack scored early and on a weak goal that he seemed to be sleeping on. he did make a couple of outstanding saves in OT to allow his team to win but he did seem disinterested or unhappy.

he looked that way at the canada jr. camp last december, you have to keep in mind that goalies are a bit "different" if you know what i mean. i'm sure he has a good head on his shoulders as it is the first thing that gainey looks at. i really wanted to see him come to the giants, but sexsmith and slade are i think 2nd and 3rd in the dub in stats so price isn't needed. only time will tell.

[duster]

wetcoasthabfan said:

Went and saw Price against the Chilliwack Bruins and wasn't that impressed with him as a first rounder. He has good size and as a butterfly goalie he covers the net well, particularly the lower half. On the other side, he seemed disinterested and almost a little sullen?? Chilliwack scored early and on a weak goal that he seemed to be sleeping on. he did make a couple of outstanding saves in OT to allow his team to win but he did seem disinterested or unhappy.

Saw the same game and had the opportunity to see him up close. Clearly, we saw a different game.

The first goal he let in was one he wanted back and you saw that he was wasn't happy at all about it. He was beaten by a rebound shot high under his armpit glove side on the second goal after making the first save. He got a piece of it though. On the third goal, he had no chance. In all three goals, I think you'll agree that Tri City's defense left him to his own devices. As my buddy sitting next me was saying "He is Tri City's defense". He does appear disinterested but it seems to be his way. I've seen him play several times and I think he's just one of those calm, seemingly unemotional types. A lot like Dryden in that way.

He robbed Chilliwack a few times. One was a lightning quick pad save in the first period where he took away a sure goal. I was sitting next to some rather enthusiastic Bruins fans and you could hear them expressing their, um, "admiration". Along with "Go Bruins!", you heard a lot of "That %$&* Price!" throughout the game. He moves very quickly for a big man and, as you said, he covers well the lower part of the net. Later in the second, he made an excellent glove save on a shot from up close destined for the lower corner. Both glove and pad saves were highlight reel stuff, imo.

I'm not sure what you qualify as a first rounder but there no doubting his abilities.

[habmeister]

duster said:

wetcoasthabfan said:

Went and saw Price against the Chilliwack Bruins and wasn't that impressed with him as a first rounder. He has good size and as a butterfly goalie he covers the net well, particularly the lower half. On the other side, he seemed disinterested and almost a little sullen?? Chilliwack scored early and on a weak goal that he seemed to be sleeping on. he did make a couple of outstanding saves in OT to allow his team to win but he did seem disinterested or unhappy.

Saw the same game and had the opportunity to see him up close. Clearly, we saw a different game.

The first goal he let in was one he wanted back and you saw that he was wasn't happy at all about it. He was beaten by a rebound shot high under his armpit glove side on the second goal after making the first save. He got a piece of it though. On the third goal, he had no chance. In all three goals, I think you'll agree that Tri City's defense left him to his own devices. As my buddy sitting next me was saying "He is Tri City's defense". He does appear disinterested but it seems to be his way. I've seen him play several times and I think he's just one of those calm, seemingly unemotional types. A lot like Dryden in that way.

He robbed Chilliwack a few times. One was a lightning quick pad save in the first period where he took away a sure goal. I was sitting next to some rather enthusiastic Bruins fans and you could hear them expressing their, um, "admiration". Along with "Go Bruins!", you heard a lot of "That %$&* Price!" throughout the game. He moves very quickly for a big man and, as you said, he covers well the lower part of the net. Later in the second, he made an excellent glove save on a shot from up close destined for the lower corner. Both glove and pad saves were highlight reel stuff, imo.

I'm not sure what you qualify as a first rounder but there no doubting his abilities.

its unfortunate that he's in the us division, the wasteland of the dub. he'll be under the microscope in the world juniors assuming he gets the starters job.

he'd better.

[habmeister]

ben still 2nd in scoring, this despite basically doing it all by himself on the ice. most players in the top 20 are on a really skilled line, ben doesn't have that luxury and carries his linemates.

carey price 8th in GAA and 9th in Save %, i can't see him getting much higher than that playing on tri cities, not a strong team.

[seventeen]

I realize his GAA won't be good, but nothing stopping him for having a good save percentage, no matter what his team's like. He'll just have more shots.

[duster]

I think the quality of the shots taken on him is not helping. In the two games I saw, Tri-City's defense allowed opposing players to take rebounds with relative impunity, for example.

[habmeister]

seventeen said:

I realize his GAA won't be good, but nothing stopping him for having a good save percentage, no matter what his team's like. He'll just have more shots.

quality of shots is not factored in on save percentage. a goalie that is facing 30+/night will have a worse save percentage than the vancouver giants goalies who give up less than 20. of the giants 20 shots against the opposition is lucky to get 4 quality ones so they end up taking lots of long range ones which are easy stops.

if your defencemen suck then they're walking right in close and hammering away, or they're not clearing the net or rebounds. leland irving is on the most defensive team in junior hockey, he's good, but lets see how he does facing some real rubber.

luongo is a goalie that plays better as he gets more shots, so is huet i think, but not all are like that.

[habmeister]

Ben Maxwell still in 3rd in WHL scoring, but coming on his heels another pick by the habs Ryan White is now in 4th in dub scoring. Great picks by our WHL scouts.

[duster]

Watched the WHL vs the Russian Select team last night. Maxwell, White and Price were playing. The Russian squad was utterly dominated. A few personal non-expert impressions:

Maxwell - This kid can really skate and has a lot of skill. Too bad he took the night off. Except for the very occasional burst of speed, he wasn't much of a threat. It seems he didn't do much all tournament and his performance may have cost him an invite from Team Canada. You certainly couldn't tell that he's one of the WHL's top scorers. Kind of reminded me a little of what I saw from him last year.

White - It was my first time seeing him play and I was quite impressed. Good skater and good two way player. Very dynamic, and very smart offensively and defensively. He was one of the team's better players last night and the commentators said that only his age will likely prevent him from being considered for the WJC this year. High praise indeed. At first glance, I can see now why the Habs traded up to get him.

Price - Cool, calm and collected. Made some terrific saves despite the one sided nature of the game. In their few quality chances, the Russians could not beat him down low or up close due to his quickness and agility. His puck handling a la Brodeur kept the visiting team off guard (yes, it is that good). Sportsnet interviewed his father (a former Philly pick) during the game and you can see where the son got that calm attitude.

Perhaps others saw the game?



Edits : grammer grammar

[buzz]

White will turn out to be a better than Maxwell. that's no knock against Maxwell. Just that White got some bad press about his physical condition, great that habs scouts didn't buy that
bs and made a move and snag this guy.

[M. Beaux-Eaux]

Observations of Ben Maxwell from another board:

I went to see Ben Maxwell play against Seattle last night and I thought I would give you my impressions of what I've seen.

First off, it was a fairly boring game. This is the second WHL games I've attend and I've been disappointed by the skill level of the players in general. They're all drones out there, no creativity, dump and chase with only one forechecker, way too many missed passes and shots. Lots of nice bodychecks though.

In those circumstances, Ben Maxwell really stood out. He was easily the most talented player out there. He has good hands, he's a very smart players who makes some nice passes right on the tape and possess a great vision. He also have a hard accurate shot. He's a deceptive skater with above average speed but with some good acceleration. He's also very agile on his skates and have good balance, he wasn't knocked on the ice on single time.

He's not very physical, he didn't threw a single bodycheck of the game, but he's not scared of traffic and plays well in the corners.

The bad part is that he's a lazy player when he doesn't have the puck. He floats back in position and waits for a teammates to get the puck for him to start racing down the ice. His positioning is alright but he just doesn't play very hard on the puck to get it. In fact, he didn't have a single takeaway the whole game. He didn't have a giveaway either so that's good. My feeling is that he's just too talented for the league so he doesn't have to work very hard.

He quaterback the first unit powerplay on the right side at the blue line and he does a fairly good job at it.

He doesn't kill penalties.

Overall he had a quiet game, was fairly invisible in the first, then turned it up a notch in the second to nicely set up the tying goal. And finally he scored on a really nice move in the shootout. Kootenay won 3-2 in SO.

I can say his stats for the game would look something like this :

0G 1A 1PTS +/- 0 0TA 0GA 0HT about 17 min of icetime with at least 5 on the PP.

I can understand the comparison with Brad Richards, he looks like him, especially on offense, both from the way he skates and the way he handles and pass the puck, they're also about the same size and they both wear #19. But really Richards is a more complete player, especially defensively and for the work ethic.

Although I was disappointed by his work ethic and defensive play, I'm convinced that he'll work harder and play better as he plays and faces against better players. Unfortunately for him, there is not a lot of talent on his team. Their goaltender Taylor Dakers was fairly good, he was the only reason this game went to overtime. Diminutive Dustin Sylvester was also decent.

For the Tbirds there is really nothing there although they have more drafted players then the Ice. Aaron Gagnon is their best player as a 20 years old and they have a couple of nice defensemen, with Scott Jackson leading the way. Thomas Hickey is also fairly good and will probably get a long look from a team for the upcoming draft.

So there it is people, feel free to ask me any questions if you want.

[habmeister]

tonight i'll be watching/scouting carey price. its only one game, and at home against the high octane giants, he should get lots of action.

[habmeister]

wow! what can i say. i saw price at every canada jr. scrimmage last year and a couple of times in regular season action but tonight's performance was stepping up to another level. he made everything look sooooo easy. he was always square to every shooter, he challenged, he scrambled, he stopped almost everything. the only goal the giants got on him was a loose puck that he almost grabbed but it was poked loose before he could.

he made a few spectacular saves. i've seen a lot of junior goalies in my time, but none of them took up as much of the net and were so good positionally as price was. my buddies said he wasn't really tested but then on further discussion realized that it was more that he was always in great position. he was the 1st star of the game and i went out with a huge smile on my face. if this is any indication of the kind of goalie he will be we've got another solid prospect, i will go further and say i think i just saw our future tonight, and the future was very good.

[seventeen]

A goal and an assist for Ryan White tonight, as well as first star of the game.

www.whl.ca/stats/game-summary.php?game_id=1002244

[habmeister]

here comes ryan white in the scoring race. its amazing how similar ben maxwell and ryan white's stats are:


GP maxwell 33 white 34
Goals max/white 14
Assists max/white 28
Pts max/white 42
PIM's max 36 white 30

scoring race
maxwell/white tied for 6th in the dub



Carey Price slipping statistically but from what i saw in vancouver he's a future stud.

13th in GAA 2.75
13th in Save % .904
1 shutout

[seventeen]

Bob McKenzie, at the juniour camp today, said he thought Price was the best of the goalies and Leland Irving played well too. One highlight had Price snagging a pretty hard shot from the face off circle with his glove. Nice save.

[duster]

According to TSN, Price made the team along with Irving.

[drkcloud]

I hope Price gets the majority of the starts and sets the tourney on it's ear!! Let's go Carey!!

[seventeen]

McKenzie also said that while Price and Leland were Canada's best, they really didn't stand out as being terrific and would have to be better in the WJC.

[habmeister]

wetcoasthabfan said:

Went and saw Price against the Chilliwack Bruins and wasn't that impressed with him as a first rounder. He has good size and as a butterfly goalie he covers the net well, particularly the lower half. On the other side, he seemed disinterested and almost a little sullen??

sullen, you mean like huet?