The Chicago Wolves played the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks in Cincy on Saturday, January 18th. Thrashers editor Matt Gunning and I went on the road and bring you our report on how our guys are doing. This summary will cover all the players who are property of the Thrashers, whether they are true prospects or not. Players are listed by position, in rough order of how they performed.
This was the fourth Wolves game we saw this year. Overall, not much changed as far as my opinion of players goes. To find out more about particular players, please see their individual profiles.
FORWARDS
Dan Snyder, 24: He was the best player on the ice for the Wolves. They say the puck finds good players. This was true for Snyder, he seemed to always have the puck. If there was a loose puck, he was in the right place to scoop it up immediately. Snyder had the game tying goal and an assist on the night. Made some really great passes. Had three takeaways and not a single giveaway. Last time I watched him with the Wolves, I said he needed to work on his faceoffs-he won 41% on Saturday. He seems to be the heart of the Wolves team, at least on the ice. He talked to the refs more than anyone. His speed is a notch above most of the guys playing in the AHL. Overall it doesn’t look like he really belongs in the AHL. In a scoring role and not as physical at this level, had no hits in the game. This is particularly noteworthy given the more physical nature of the league. There seems to be a real disconnect between the role Snyder plays in Chicago and the role he plays in Atlanta. He was called up yesterday due to injuries and will play his 8th game of the year for the Thrashers tonight.
Mark Hartigan, 25: He struggled with the transition from college to the pros early this season. He was called up to Atlanta earlier this year and did not play terribly well, but that recall seemed to get his season going anyway. He more than doubled his point production per game with the Wolves after being returned to Chicago (6 points in 13 games before, and 21 points in 20 games after). He was much more effective on Saturday than I’d ever seen him before. He was very involved with the play. Won 50% of his faceoffs, the highest percentage on the team for the evening. He took a lot of shots, officially five. Hartigan was also very responsible covering back on defense. Played much more physical than he did in his time with Atlanta.
Derek MacKenzie, 21: He played better this time than when I’ve seen him before. MacKenzie showed very good puck control, it was hard to strip him of it. Won 47% of his faceoffs. His 9 goals and 17 points from the third line is impressive production. His +8 rating is also among the team best.
JP Vigier, 26: This was the second game back with the Wolves after an unsuccessful 13 game stint in Atlanta. He looked very quick here compared to Atlanta. Had several good takeaways. He was not as polished in this game as I’ve seen him for the Wolves. He did have a goal, but also made a bad pass that led to a 3 on 2 and second goal against.
Simon Gamache, 22: Gamache was someone I wanted to watch closely since he has really turned on the scoring lately. He has posted 11 points in his last nine games and leads all Thrashers AHL prospects in points with 32. He did not score in this game, however. He went to the net and created havoc on just about every shift, he is definately willing to pay the price to get a sniff at the net. Other than that I don’t think he did very much that was productive. In contrast to Snyder, Gamache almost never seemed to have the puck. Once when he did get it, it was taken from him along the boards. He played mostly wing on the top line but some center as well. Took seven faceoffs and won two (29%). I look for NHL potential every time I watch him, but I’m still not seeing it. I caught him reaching for the puck a few times–his footspeed is one thing holding him back.
Ben Simon, 24: He played wing on MacKenzie’s line, the third line. He was OK, made a few mistakes. Lost all three of his faceoffs. Had 5 hits. Didn’t look as effective in this game as when I saw him last.
Chris Herperger, 28: This was Herperger’s 4th game back for the Wolves after spending most of the season in Chicago. He was fairly invisible. He was defensively responsible, but not offensively creative at all. He didn’t look any different at this level than he did in the NHL. Since this game he has been traded with Nielsen to Vancouver for Jeff Farkas.
Francis Lessard, 24: He is getting very little icetime per game, which will make it hard for him to improve. He did not get into any skirmishes. He was on the fourth line with Tobler and whichever center was double-shifting. Made a few good passes.
DEFENSEMEN
Joe DiPenta, 23: He was probably the best defensemen on the ice for the Wolves for this game. He played in every situation and by my estimate, he led defensemen in icetime. He was solid in all aspects of the game. Had 5 hits. Last time I saw him play I wrote that “One area for improvement is for him to take a moment in the defensive zone to look for a pass instead of merely ringing the puck out of the zone around the boards. This too often leads to possession by the other team.” I thought he did a much better job in this area this time, and made some surprisingly nice breakout passes. He is +11 on the year, tied for the lead on the team (with Exelby and Gamache).
Kurtis Foster, 21: Foster looked OK, similar to earlier this season. He was again unlucky in that his mistakes led to goals, while others’ mistakes did not. He didn’t have a whole lot of icetime, partially because he was in the penalty box for a good bit. He was called for delay of game for shooting the puck into the crowd out of the defensive zone, and got four minutes for roughing and two for unsportsmanlike for what looked like a clean hit. Last time I saw him play I said “Foster should also use his size a bit more. For a big guy he doesn’t put a body on the opposition near enough.” While still true, after getting called for roughing, the hesitation to use his size is more understandable. Foster takes his fair share of unnecessary penalties, he is 2nd on the team in penalty minutes with 102, behind only Exelby with 107. This is a bit troubling for a player who is not very physical. He needs to figure out how to stay out of the penalty box.
Luke Sellars, 21: He had been struggling to get icetime, but the injuries to both Exelby and Eakins meant that both Sellars and Ustrnul were in the lineup. Sellars played a fine game and got a lot of shifts, mostly paired with DiPenta. Sellars made some nice passes. He chose his spots wisely and did not get caught pinching into offensive zone. Last time I saw him I said “he needs practice on coverage in his own end, especially when other teams cycle the puck.” He got running around a bit in the defensive zone once on Saturday, but that was it. Otherwise he did well positionally. This was the first game Sellars played for the Wolves in a month (16 games). He missed four while playing for Canada in the Spengler Cup, but the rest were scratches. If Sellars continues to play as well as he did in Cincinnati, he should be able to stay in the lineup.
Libor Ustrnul, 20: He did not play in November when we last scouted the Wolves, so this was the first opportunity we had to see him play in the AHL. His skating and defensive positioning were fine, but he appeared to panic with the puck. He would try to clear the puck blindly out of the zone when a safer play or a pass was available. Given how little icetime he has been getting though, it’s not surprising that his game decision-making is a little off. He has played only 20 of the Wolves 46 games, mostly a healthy scratch. Ustrnul struggled mightily at the blue lines in this game, failing to both clear and keep when he should. He and his partner got stuck in the defensive zone at times and simply could not get out. He had 6 hits in the game, which led the team by my count. The only time his supposed mean streak was evident was when he clipped someone early in the game in the neutral zone. He was paired with Safronov the first half of the game, and Nardella the second half.
Kirill Safronov, 21: Was the worst of the defensemen. Safronov got beat at least four times. He made a couple nice passes, but just as many bad passes as well. He could have been called for hooking and roughing. It is very disappointing to see him struggle as badly in the AHL as he did with Atlanta this year. Last time I saw him play I noticed that he failed to clear the zone a lot. I didn’t notice that as a problem this time, but he has enough other problems that perhaps I overlooked it. No hits. He was paired with Ustrnul the first half of the game, and rotated the rest of the time.
Exelby did not play due to a broken finger. Piros, Blatny and Nielsen were healthy scratches. Nielsen has since been traded to Vancouver.
Lines: (not very rigid)
Gamache–Hartigan–Maltais
Brown/Herperger–Snyder–Vigier
Simon–MacKenzie–Herperger
Lessard and Tobler
Defensive Pairings:
DiPenta–Sellars
Safronov–Ustrnul
Foster–Nardella
Comments and questions are welcomed on the Thrashers HFBoards.
