At the moment I am watching the U15 Finals tournament featuring 6 teams (Köln, Mannheim, Berlin, Landshut, Augsburg and Dresden).
The tournament was played in Düsseldorf as a single round robin, so each team played 5 games. They were played over the course of 3 days with each team playing twice on the first two days and once on the last day. They only played 16 minute periods for 48 minutes total per game, and had a shortened break between the 1st and 2nd periods (5 minutes instead of 15).
I have only watched 5 games out of 15 so far, so I haven't even seen each team twice, but I thought I'll share some thoughts about each team and the players that have stood out for me so far:
Augsburg (only watched 1 game): 0W 1L
They weren't good in the game I have seen, and nobody really stood out, but among the skaters Valentin Maier (2010, late birthday) looked most promising. And I also liked their goalie Samuel Lutz (2010) despite giving up 3 goals on 26 shots.
Berlin: 2W 0L
Compared to rest of the teams they may have leaned most heavily on their top line and top pair which were both very good so far. And they were also the team that looked the most like they had a game plan. Most of the games were pretty free wheeling stuff. Despite facing few shots, I have liked the goalie Sam Kuklok (2010) in both of their games. My favourite skaters have been Sander Menzel (2010, late birthday) who has just been all over the ice and made things happen pretty much every shift and Thore Bröckert (2011), who is listed as a D on EP, but played on the wing in the two games I watched. He is a big kid, can be a bit non-chalant at times, but mostly plays a smart and patient game. He also has a decent shot he is not afraid to use. Leo Ginzburg (2010) another player who is on the slightly bigger side. He plays LD and was pretty strong so far, both defensively and offensively. At times it looked a little awkward, though once he gets moving his skating isn't bad at all. Finally I want to mention Anton Lucius (2012), who has shown some real promise as one of the youngest players in the tournament. He is a bit overshadowed by the top line, but I was impressed how well rounded (considering his age) his game has been.
Dresden: 0W 2L
The team was better than the results up to this point, but they are lacking depth probably more than any team except Augsburg.
A few players on the team did alright despite the results, but only one player really stood out for me and that was Anton Hänsel (2010). His line was the only one that could keep up with the other teams so far. To be fair I watched them against Landshut and Berlin who would go on to finish 1st and 2nd in the tournament respectively. And while his linemates contributed to their lines success, Hänsel was the one that made things happen.
Köln: 0W 2L
They started with two losses to Mannheim and Berlin, but the games were pretty even. They have pretty decent depth, but a few kids did stand out. First and foremost Tim Pischoff (2010) who was consistently driving the play forward and tilting the ice in favour of his team. Several of his teammates would chip in and even take over at times, but not as consistently as Pischoff. Most notably Dimitri Martin (2010), Carlos Bethka (2010) and Timo Vajs (2010).
Landshut: 2W 0L
I could probably name half the team as notable players in these first couple of games. Where to begin? Lukas Cinibulk (2010) would probably have been a standout on any other team, but on this Landshut team he is just another kid who played well. Loved his skating, his skill with the puck, his backchecking. A really good all around player. Jakob Steffen (2011) similarily showed some nice flashes and certainly has some potential, and Ben Feistl (2010, late birthday) caught my eye on defense. Not flashy but calm, solid and mature. However, the real standouts were the Haak twins Benjamin and Maximilian (like the Kose twins one plays defense the other at forward). Both are big, but still decent skaters, who use their size quite well and mostly manage to protect the puck and create time and space for themselves to make plays. Luis Spornraft wasn't actually that noticeable but in the end he scored quite a bit so far. He seems to have a knack for getting lost in the shuffle out there and then either pounce on loose pucks or get himself in a great scoring position where his teammates can find him. That leaves the most exciting and most infuriating player in this tournament up to this point. Tim Dietzinger (2010) oozes skill. He can skate very well (kind of, but I'll get to that later), honestly at times it seemed he glides faster than others skate. Let's start with the positives which is a long list. He is fast, quick, agile, often has the puck on a string just carrying it through everybody, his passing is pretty good, his shot is not too shabby either (though it lacks a bit in power). But despite all his skill, his game also has a few warts, at least in those two games I watched. Kind of like Tim Stützle he his extremely light on his feet. This allows him to quickly change direction even at high speed, but it also causes him to fall down A LOT (also like Tim Stützle). If he manages to build up his core strength to the point where he can absorb at least regular contact, he could become a very interesting prospect.
Mannheim: 1W 0L
Mannheim had some solid performers in their first game like Gleb Klimov (2010), Jonas Winkelmann (2011), Nick Rabinowicz (2010) or Leo Serafin (2010).
Danny Penkin (2012) did ok for a younger player, but did not wow me in that game. Another youngster in Henry Szymanski (2012) did better in my opinion. Szymanski is not some physical freak who can play well against older kids simply because he is as big and strong as them, but he is big and strong enough to keep up. This combined with his high skill level and ability to play a very mature, almost cerebral game makes him very intriguing. Obviously, those are a lot of assumptions based on one game, but unlike most of the other skilled players, Szymanski never seemed to rush anything or get in over his head. If the play wasn't there, he would pull back, let the play develop and look for new options. No panic, just calm control. If this is how he normally plays, I like it a lot.
But one guys was more noticeable and flat out better and that was Arsen Maksymenko (2010). He is another fairly impressive Ukrainian prospect, and at times he just ran roughshod over everybody. He is big, strong and a very good skater. He also has something I rarely see in German junior hockey, namely a heck of shot. I think his shot may already be good enough to beat older and better goalies. Maksymenko absolutely benefits from his physical gifts, and I need to watch him more at the U17 level, to really get a better picture of his potential, but in this tournament in that one game I have seen so far, he was fantastic.
I hope to finish watching all 15 tournament games by the end of next week, and then I plan to revisit this topic.
