Ollas blanked Providence. A day after Providence smoked Merrimack 8-3. Ollas only played towards the end of last game as he subbed in. Berard and Chmelar were fine in this one. But the real story was Ollas. As his name fortells, he is HUGE in net. A really big dude. Plays a butterfly style and eats up a lot of the net. Was very calm and solid in this one. Seems to be a goalie that benefits from being good positionally. And aside from that, his mere size seems to eat up a lot of pucks. Makes a lot of players shoot wide. That said, I thought Merrimack played really well defensively in front of him. I don't know if he'll have the quick twitch or athleticism to play at higher levels. That's not a criticism, that's legit a question I can't answer because he wasn't terribly exposed. Still, a good game from him.
PS. Chmelar doesn't lose too many board battles.
PSS. It feels like -- and I may be wrong here -- but it feels like Berard's game was a bit more effective when he wasn't one of the go to offensive players on the team. He's still effective out there. And noticeable. And you really do see his skill at this level. He has good hands, decent wheels and better vision than most of his teammates. But his offensive strengths lie in his speed and fearlessly taking pucks to the net. He seems like the kind of guy who gets 10-20 goals in a bottom 6 role as opposed to a 30 goal scorer in a top 6 role.
Insightful post, thank you. The Ollas athleticism comment is typically the biggest question mark for 6’8 goalies, look at the way Ben Bishop’s career fizzled out largely due to his frame. It’s tough to stay nimble.
On Chmelar, enormous leap for him this year even if he isnt dominating at the NCAA level. His production is good and his physicality is great, and we bought time by sending him to Providence, he may yet make himself relevant if he can continue to grow there.
On Bedard, that is good news for us, a player that is MOST effective on a third or fourth line role is exactly what we need and who we drafted there. The goal with him (and Sykora) is to make our bottom 6 a true pain in the ass to play against. Glad to hear that the top line doesnt seem to be his strongsuit, role players are needed more than swiss army knives at the moment, especially with a coach that thinks Barclay Goodrow can be slotted into the top 6 at any time.