Laval vs Belleville, December 20th
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God I hate that Reinbachers missing all this
They'd be even better
They'd be even better
This is a very impressive team. So many of the impact players are legit prospects, unlike most AHL teams. It's a dirty league though... many that guy who jumped Tuch should have been tossed.
Wow is Belleville ever gooning things up. What a bunch of scrubs!
For a guy who never had to do it in his junior days, Condotta is turning into a willing and surprisingly OK fighter, always jumping to defend his teammates too. I guess being named captain has given him a new sense of what he can/should bring to the table.
How does Sebrango not get an instigator?
Those officials are primed for the NHL
Those officials are primed for the NHL
not really, that feed to Beck on the almost goal would have been a highlight reel assist for sure and he had a couple plays but was mostly invisible as I'm sure it will take him a bit to get back to 100%.
It was a very chippy game with a lot of penalties on both sides which made continuing assessment of our prospects difficulty. There was a significant line up change in that Mesar returned after a lengthy and both Kidney and Farrel sat.
Here is my very brief overview of the play of our prospects.
Even in this truncated game of skill, Beck was clearly the most dynamic player making several rushes that showed off his elite puck transporting speed, stick handling ability and NHL level shot. His dynamism was again commented by the opposing team's announcer (who had followed Beck when he played for the Quinte Red Devils in the OMHA) when he said that Beck's rushes "can lift fans out of their seats." Beck's skating created multiple scoring chances and allowed him to forecheck effectively and be the most dangerous Rocket player all game. Beck played with Mesar and almost scored a beautiful goal (he hit the crossbar) on a great feed. Beck was also strong on face-offs, winning more than he lost.
Roy was Roy: invisible for long periods of time and then he scores. His hand skills are elite but his pace and compete level remain a challenge. While Roy can be productive at the AHL level, I remain skeptical if he can repeat that production at the next level.
Davidson and Tuck both had quiet games. Davidson, who played with Beck and Mesar, was his usual industrious self and displayed his NHL shot on occasion while playing on the second power play unit (almost scoring on one shot) and forechecked with gusto. But the production wasn't there. Similarly, Tuch flashed the speed that makes him a prime NHL prospect, but did not produce offensively. I suspect that Tuch is still affected by the injury that recently sidelined him.
Mesar had an excellent game for his first game back after a lengthy absence from injury. He showed quickness and great playmaking ability by setting up his linemates for prime scoring chances including Beck who hit the cross bar and the pass/play that led to Laval's second goal. Mesar is a perfect linemate for Beck as he can read the play ( unlike so many other Laval forwards who can't see potential opportunities) and place the puck in areas that Beck can skate to. They will make a dynamic duo going forward.
Florian Xhekaj's game came back to earth after his 5 point game but still showed the elements, straightforward speed, playmaking and high compete level, that makes him an interesting prospect. This kid is awful on faceoffs and needs to gain quickness and agility in order to make the NHL.
Mailloux had a solid game. He make the right defensive reads, wasn't caught out of position, showed his great vision in the offensive zone, played physical and showed off his elite first pass. He made a critical mistake near the end of the second period when he made an awful pass into a Rocket player's skates that resulted in a turnover and a goal against. It was a complete brain-fart. But other than that, it was, as I said a solid game for Mailloux. Nothing too special, and other than that horrible mistake, nothing too bad. Mailloux still fails to display either the propensity or the ability to consistently transport the puck through three zones of the ice.
Engstrom was a marked man as the Belleville players took repeated runs at him. Notwithstanding, Engstrom played well displaying his superior mobility, defensive acumen and excellent vision in the offensive zone.
Trudeau , like Mailloux, had a fair game and continued to show his mobility, physicality and ability to support the offence. His continued progress is noticeable, at least to this observer.
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Wow that was nuts lol. Did Belleville just take runs at the boys on every play? They stuck up for themselves well enough.
Engstrom looks so dynamic. Mesar displaying his elite passing. Great to see him back. I think he’s gonna put up some impressive numbers with Beck. Insane goal from Roy. Frustrating that he’s not doing more. I did see him make numerous plays in this vid though
Game on RDS and not over-lapping a Habs game makes my day.
This is what I love about Owen Beck.
I've noticed even when he has a bad game he's still doing many good things for the team.
His normal game puts him at the top of the class and his A game is outstanding.
Slowly but surely, the prevailing, if not ingrained mischaracterization of Beck as being merely a bottom six, defence orientated forward will be dissipated. People have to stop just parroting what they read on forums like this ( including my own opinions) and come to there own conclusions.
For this observer, who has followed Beck's development closely since he was drafted, it became quickly apparent that we had drafted a player with superior hockey skills: explosive skating, high offensive vision and excellent shooting ability. It has come as no surprise (at least to this writer) that Beck is leading Laval in scoring as a 20 year rookie. Where this mantra that Beck projected as a mere bottom six forward came from was, and remains, a mystery.
As I said many times over the more than twenty years I have been posting on this forum, independent thought is a good thing. More should exercise it.
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