Habs 2007 Development Camp Reports

[skunk]

Solid stuff from Whitesnake. He seems pretty serious about his hobby. . I'm curious why he is down on Mathieu Carle. He seems to admit it is more of a personal thing than logical.

Not having seen the players in camp, my picks wouldn't have been far from his. Maxwell and Pacioretty as the top forwards, Valentenko and Carle as the top defensemen, and Loverock as the only goalie with any potential. Doubtful they can sign Loverock, although they did sign Olivier Michaud a few years back under similar circumstances.

Happy to hear that Philippe Paquet is looking good. I really have high hopes for him. He could turn out to be the third best player out of that 2005 draft class behind Carey Price and Guillaume Latendresse. Which is saying a lot, since D'Agostini, S. Kostitsyn and Aubin have all performed really well since being drafted.

I'm not about to jump on the P.K. Subban bandwagon since there was never much question about his individual skills, but lots of doubt about his ability to play a complete game and be a good teammate. He wasn't given much love by the coaches of the U17 and U18 teams, or the coaches in the OHL. Hope he succeeds, but I'm not optomistic. Still they got Yannick Weber later in the draft and he seems like a really solid choice.

[NWTHabsFan]

skunk said:

Solid stuff from Whitesnake. He seems pretty serious about his hobby. . I'm curious why he is down on Mathieu Carle. He seems to admit it is more of a personal thing than logical.

Just guessing it is a skating thing. This is a group that can fly, and even being off pace one iota shows up. His strength is the puck moving game and he was a bit off from what folks have seen in the past. A little rink rust maybe, or this group has potential to pass down the road. Hard to say with 18-21 year olds mid-summer.

Not having seen the players in camp, my picks wouldn't have been far from his. Maxwell and Pacioretty as the top forwards, Valentenko and Carle as the top defensemen, and Loverock as the only goalie with any potential. Doubtful they can sign Loverock, although they did sign Olivier Michaud a few years back under similar circumstances.

Maxwell was on a tear before that long injury last season, so folks forgot about him.

Pacioretty is a complete package, let's hope it keeps moving upwards.

Happy to hear that Philippe Paquet is looking good. I really have high hopes for him. He could turn out to be the third best player out of that 2005 draft class behind Carey Price and Guillaume Latendresse. Which is saying a lot, since D'Agostini, S. Kostitsyn and Aubin have all performed really well since being drafted.

Most other than Dan (montreal) have forgotten about this kid. He has had a few seasons with too many penalties from defending in his own end and he has wheels. A QC born kid who went to US prep school and NCAA tends to fly under the radar for sure. A big solid horse is not bad in the stable. Comparisons to O'Byrne is not bad either. Both may amount to diddly, or we may have to solid gems who like to keep their +/- a wee bit higher than dearly departed Shelly's.

Don't count D'Agostini or Sergei out to crack the big lineup sooner rather than later. Two years from now they are flying first class not riding the bus IMO. Good to see another deep group of draft picks from TT, although lots can go right or wrong before the next stage is taken.

I'm not about to jump on the P.K. Subban bandwagon since there was never much question about his individual skills, but lots of doubt about his ability to play a complete game and be a good teammate. He wasn't given much love by the coaches of the U17 and U18 teams, or the coaches in the OHL. Hope he succeeds, but I'm not optomistic. Still they got Yannick Weber later in the draft and he seems like a really solid choice.

Good assessment. Show me the real goods, PK. Stop the puck going in the net and then wheel and deal with those unbelievable skating and puck skills you possess.

A true home run swing by Timmins.

[skunk]

Carle had the best skating results (overall) of all the defensemen at the CHL Prospects Match back in 2005. Ahead of players like Sanguinetti, Vishnevski, Shutron, Corrente, Wishart, etc. Mathieu aslo was quicker than a lot of the forwards tested. He was significantly heavier than most of the other players as well His skating may be deceptive, but I don't think it is a problem in any way.

In my opinion, Carle and Ben Maxwell are the two most naturally talented players among all of the Hab prospects, and eventually that will show.