The Stars 2007 development camp is history. Here
are some quick thoughts on the players who attended the camp.
|
FORWARDS |
| Player |
Pos |
Comment |
|
Jamie Benn |
LW |
Fifth round pick from last
month's draft showed some good hands and an excellent shot. He displayed
some solid offensive potential. One of the nice surprises of the week.
|
|
Richard Clune |
LW |
Clune's an agitator, in
your face player. You don't get a chance to display much of that at
a camp like this, but Clune looked fine in some of the competitive
drills. |
|
B.J. Crombeen |
RW |
Crombeen did well in some
of the timed skating drills and he displayed a hard and accurate shot. He's shown improvement over the past year
and is trending up a bit. |
|
Aaron Gagnon |
C |
Gagnon got off to a slow
start, but he got his legs and showed some skill, a good shot and the
ability to make a slick pass. It will be interesting to see how he makes
the transition to pro. |
|
Luke Gazdic |
LW |
Gazdic, a 2007
pick, is a physical player and enforcer type. This was a chance to learn
and develop some practice habits to improve his skill set. |
|
John Lammers |
LW |
Lammers, who struggled last
season in his pro debut, showed a wicked shot at times during the
camp. He has excellent skills and it will be interesting to see what he
does in his second year of pro. He should be ready to move forward. |
|
David McIntyre |
C |
McIntyre had a strong development
camp last year and finished this one strong after a slow start.
Excellent skater and he potted some nice goals. |
|
Matt McKnight |
C/RW |
He didn't seem
to stand out one way or the other. He had a flash here or there. He
showed some good puckhandling and passing skills at times. He appears to
be a good two-way type. |
|
James Neal |
LW |
One of the best players at
the camp and one of the Stars' top prospects. He's just a good,
all-around player with a physical edge. Knows where to go to score and
has a good shot. |
|
Michael Neal |
LW |
James' younger brother is
still a project. He showed a pretty good wrist shot at times, especially
when big brother wasn't trying to line him up for a hit. |
|
Ondrej Roman |
C |
Fifth round pick in June's
draft was a pleasant surprise. He has a high skill level. He's known as a
playmaker, but he also showed a decent shot. |
|
Nico Sacchetti |
C |
The 2007 second round pick,
who is only 17, started off slow at the camp but he came strong. He showed some good
skill and a nice shot. There's a lot of potential there. |
|
Colton Sceviour |
RW |
Another pleasant surprise
among the
2007 picks. The third round pick was quietly solid. Ranked high in one
of the speed tests, displayed a good shot at times and showed some
smarts in the competitive drills. |
|
Marty Sertich |
C |
He's coming
off a knee injury that kept him out of action for the last part of the
regular season and playoffs in Iowa. He looked to be skating well, but
finishing his chances wasn't a strong suit. |
|
Austin Smith |
C |
The Dallas
native is quick,
creative, energetic, skilled and has some good hands. He had a
pretty good camp and scoring the winning goal in the skills shootout was
a great way to end the week.
|
|
Aaron Snow |
LW |
Snow didn't
stand out a lot of the time, but he had a couple good moments where he
showed a nice move here and a nice scoring touch there. |
|
Tom Wandell |
C/W |
Wandell, who
is under contract for this season, has a lot of skill. Sometimes he
showed it and
looked great and sometimes he looked so-so in the drills. |
|
DEFENSEMEN |
| Player |
Pos |
Comment |
|
Mark Fistric |
D |
He may have
been the best player in the camp. He really stood out in the more
competitive drills where he was allowed to showcase his defensive skills
and physical strength. |
|
Matt Nickerson |
D |
Nickerson is
Nickerson. He's a big, tough and physical. He showed that and
occasionally he showed a pretty hard shot too. |
|
Matt Niskanen |
D |
He's a smooth
player who skates well, passes well and has a very good shot. He shows a
lot of maturity for a player who is about to turn pro after just two
years of college. He's just a good player. |
|
Ivan Vishnevskiy |
D |
Vishnevskiy
displayed everything that makes him so highly regarded. He's a great
skater, an excellent passer and his ability to pick corners with his
shot was impressive. He's got great potential. |
|
GOALTENDERS |
|
Player |
Pos |
Comment |
|
Richard Bachman |
G |
This wasn't an ideal camp
for goalies, but Bachman looked very good at times. He makes the jump
from the USHL to Colorado College this season. |
|
FORWARDS |
| Player |
Pos |
Comment |
| Justin Soryal |
LW |
He's a
physical player who's attributes weren't likely to stand out in a camp
like this. |
| Paul Szczechura |
C |
He had some
good moments. Nothing flashy but he still looks like a player who might
work in Iowa or Idaho. |
| Ben Van Lare |
F |
Dallas native
showed some nice skill and a good shot. Might have been the most
impressive of the tryout players. |
|
DEFENSEMEN |
| Player |
Pos |
Comment |
| Eric Doyle |
D |
He showed some
offensive ability, but didn't stand out that much from the rest of the
group. |
| Keven Dupont |
D |
Dupont was OK.
He showed some decent skill and he also had a very good shot. |
| Tyler Ludwig |
D |
The son of
Craig Ludwig did OK. He showed some good defensive ability in the
competitive drills and displayed a nice shot. |
|
GOALTENDERS |
| Player |
Pos |
Comment |
| J-C Blanchard |
G |
Nothing
spectacular out of the goalie from QMJHL. |
| Adam Kraus |
G |
The Irving
native looked awkward at times, but he also showed good reflexes and
made some of the more memorable saves in camp. |
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