Spiro, it's here

[Disgruntled70sHab]

Habs Prospects Report Part II

By Dan Linn

Back again for another look at what our future may hold. This time we get into the thick of things, with a look at the 5 prospects in the NCAA, and the 9 prospects in the CHL. I had to split these reports up, cause there are so many prospects, and I want to cover them all. You know what they say, leave no stone uncovered. Some of these guys I have seen, others I have not. The NCAA are the tough ones, but I researched their info from each teams website, also from hockeysfuture.com, some opinions from various sites, and some I have seen myself. And all height’s and weight’s are from each players team websites. Stay tuned for the next report on our AHL/ECHL prospects.


NCAA

Chris Higgins. C/LW 5’11 192 1st round 14th overall in ’02, he’s 19 years old.

Chris was just named to Team USA’s World Junior Championship roster, and it’s his 2nd and last trip. Last year’s performance, was one of the reasons he was drafted so high. Leading Team USA in scoring, with 4 goals 2 assist in 7 games, got his draft status pushed higher. He opted out of the ’01 draft, much like another Habs prospect and fellow New Yorker and friend, Mike Komisarek who opted out of the ’00 draft. Well it was a good move for Chris, as the Habs gave up an 8th round pick (’02) to the Oilers to move up one spot in order to solidify Higgins as a Hab. Why did Mr. Savard do this? Here are some reasons.

Chris is a speedy, hard working center that possesses great skating ability, along with good vision puckhandling and instincts. He’s also very patient with the puck, which is a skill that is something you just have, as it’s very very hard to learn, you must have a real feel for the game to be able to slow it down. Although he is on the small side, do not mistake him for a player easily knocked off the puck, or shy of physical contact. He is strong on his skates, and will throw the body from time to time, while not avoiding heavy traffic. We can also say he is intelligent, as that goes without saying, considering he attends one of the top Ivy league universities in the U.S. as Yale is well known for its academic standards.

Chris is in his sophomore year at Yale, and in his rookie season, he was named Ivy league rookie of the year, and 1st Team All Ivy (the only freshman named, unanimously). He has helped Yale get ranked nationally for the first time since November of 2000., as Yale is now ranked 15th in the Nation, while they are ranked 2nd in their conference (ECAC) with an outstanding 5.0 goals per game average. (highest in the ECAC) And he won the Martin Dwyer III Award for top rookie at Yale. While also making 2nd team All Conference.

So far this season in 10 games, he has 9 goals and 8 helpers for 17 points, which is a 1.78 ppg, average. (9-8-17) with 25 pims 2 PP 1 SH 1GW and a 1 game suspension to go with it. In his rookie year, he had 14 goals and 17 helpers for 31 points. And in his career of 38 games, he has scored 48 points and gotten 56 minutes in penalties. His Game Winning goal last season got Yale into the playoffs for the first time in a few years.

[MPLABBE]

The real question is how can Chris Higgins help the team in Montreal. With his skating, speed, and hard work, his talents should be useful for the Habs, even if he is lacking in size, as we could use some size down the middle, but Chris can also play the wing. It seems as though, Chris Higgins will be a fine asset for the Habs some day, perhaps sooner then later. It is unknown when he will sign with the Habs, but for now, he’s off to a good start, and hopefully has a successful time at the WJC’s, and the rest of this year at Yale. I listened to the first game of Team USA, and Higgins did not register a point, but his line got the only goal, and Chris did get 4 minutes in penalties, and he’s the assistant captain for Team USA, playing on the top line.

Matt Shasby. LD 6’3 200 5th round 150th overall in ’99, 22 years old.

Matt Shasby is now in his senior year at Alaska-Anchorage, after a very solid junior year, where he is now the team captain, on a young and inexperienced team. In ’02, he was named WCHA 2nd All Star Team. The first AAU defensemen to be named there. He was 2nd in the WCHA for defensemen scoring, behind hoby baker winner Jordan Leopold. He was the assistant captain of the team, playing 28 minutes a game, 2nd in team scoring, 1st in assist, 1st in +/- as well. He was also given WCHA All Academic honors. And in his freshmen year he was AAU’s rookie of the year. Before that he played in the USHL, and helped Des Moines win a championship while he was there.

He is known for his good size, and skating with very good lateral mobility. His instincts with the puck are his main weapon. He can make the all important first pass, and also take the puck end to end. (something we don’t have much of currently) But does need to improve on his positioning in his own end, and even though he has good size, he must get stronger, to be able to handle bigger forwards at the next level. What is the next level? Well after this year, I would hope he joins the Bulldogs in Hamilton, but that’s something for Andre Savard to decide. AAU is a bad team in a good conference (u Minnesota won frozen 4 last year from their conference) so Shasby gets little attention on the West coast. That may be good for him in a way, as he hasn’t had the pressures put on him that a high draft pick would playing under the spot light from scouts/management/fans. I really don’t see why Savard wouldn’t sign him, as it sounds like he could be an asset in Hamilton, and perhaps down the road, he may develop even more.

In 16 games this year, he has 0 goals, 10 helpers, for 10 points and 12 pims. In his 3 years at AAU, in 104 games, he has 12 goals, 42 assist, for 54 points and 140 pims.

Ryan Glenn. LD 6’2 207 5th round 145th overall in ’00, 22 years old.

Ryan is in his junior year at St. Lawrence University in New York. He is the assistant captain of his team, which plays in the ECAC conference. This season he is in the top half of his team in goals, points, and shots, but has the 2nd worst +/- at –11 on a team that is a –74 as a whole. In 16 games so far, he has 3 goals, 3 helpers and 6 points, 1PP, 1GW and 6 pims. His 38 shots leads the team, as he was told to work on his offence this year. He still has 1 more year of college egilibity left, and I would assume he stays there. Before his college years, he did play in the EJHL for Walpole where in his last year, in 42 games, 19 goals, 40 assist, 59 points.

He does possess, good size at 6’2, 207 lbs, and he also has the strength to go with it, plus good skating as well. But he lacks any real positives in his game, which would make him a longshot at best. But with this year and next, a lot can happen, and he seems to be off on the right foot. He did attend Habs rookie camp, and from what I gathered was told to work on his offence. In his 2 years at St.Lawerence, in 66 games, Ryan has 6 goals and 7 assist for 13 points. His 4 pts this year, equal all of his freshmen year production in one third of the time. I spoke with an alumni of St. Lawrence, who stated that Ryan has improved a lot over the last 2 years, which is good news indeed, as he will need a strong season this year and next, if he is to get himself a contract. Just recently, St. Lawrence’s coach has moved Ryan up to the forward position. The team is not winning, so he’s trying to shake up the team. From what a few fans of the team have told me, he looks good at forward, and may stay there (for how long is unknown) as he size, strength, and intelligence is really helping him create things on the ice.

[HFTO]

I'm very concerned about the number of give aways in our zone the more talented teams will bury us if we continue in this manner but we must give credit to the boys who kept working and got a gigantic 2 points.A win is a win and I think the boys can rally around winning ugly there definitely is a lot of work to be done.
HFTO

[MPLABBE]

HFTO said:

I'm very concerned about the number of give aways in our zone the more talented teams will bury us if we continue in this manner but we must give credit to the boys who kept working and got a gigantic 2 points.A win is a win and I think the boys can rally around winning ugly there definitely is a lot of work to be done.
HFTO

Are you talking about today's game.Aside from the first few minutes in the game,when SJ was forechecking with 2 and maybe 3 players,we didn't have that much trouble getting the puck out of our zone.

But,you have a point.We do have trouble breaking out quickly.That's why we need a guy like Hainsey who seems to be a great passer.You need 3-4 guys capable of starting the break out.It sucks having d-man who only shoot the puck out by the boards and the glass.