Thoughts on the forwards....

Through Saturday night....

Clark Breitkreuz (91) - has come into camp with wha appears to be a different style of play.... he's gotten physical, appears to have an edge about him, looks like he is wanting a spot on the team....

Thomas Cardinal (92) - has had a good camp.... has really good speed and seems to have a bunch of grit.... seems more of a defensive style player.

Justin Christian (91) - looks like he played midget AA.... does have a good nose for the net.

Mitch Czibere (89) - has come into camp competing for the overage spot and compete he has.... out of the three 89 forwards they have I think he is #2.

Jordan Daniels (92) - not a great skater and seemed to have lost his edge that he has last year in camp.

Jordan Eberle (90) - has been Jordan Eberle.... just seems to lack "compete" right at the moment but has shown signs of total domination (a couple times).... I thought he would have come into camp and lit it up; the "wow" factor I was expecting just isn't there (could that be due to the skill of the players out there.... maybe).

Dominick Favreau (92) - it seems to me that he has gotten somewhat faster this year but the skill set appears to be where it was late last year.... I look for an improvement from him this year.

Lucas Froese (92) - good skater but I think there are just a couple players ahead of him on the depth chart and being 17 keeps him on the radar for a while.

Jason Gardiner (91) - good skater with "wheels" until he hurt his leg. Hopefully he has a quick recovery.

Colton Graf (90) - wide body forward that I figured would be a crazy pounding checker but seemed to lack grit.... although he is good along the boards.... that pretty much ends it there.

Graham Hood (92) - hasn't improved much since the end of last year but is a big body that isn't afraid to take the body.... he skates with his head down and he was cracked a couple times but kept on ticking.

Tomas Hricina (90) - I don't think his skating has improved much but I do know this his shot is crazy and man can he dangle.... I am looking forward to some good things from him this year.

Brett Leffler (89) - best of our 89 forwards.... hitting and sniping.... good old crash and bang hockey.

Dylan MacNab (92) & Devan McLean (92) - I'm sorry but I never got any notes about either guy but never noticed anything bad from them.... they will do good with their midget/junior A teams.

Brayden Metz (90) - back home with the Pats.... great faceoff guy, amazing stickhandler and has decent speed.... I really hope he gets a shot with the team this year.... maybe he will prove that they shouldn't have dealt him.

Shaq Mirasty (91) - has good speed for his size and has some touch around the net.... man does this kid have some skinny legs!

Garrett Mitchell (91) - has had a good camp.... just like last year and the year before.... he really needs to step up his game offensively and I think 20+ goals are attainable.

Kyle Mulder (91) - I really don't think this guy got a fair shake last year and has come into camp and looked good.... he looks like he has filled out a bit and has added a bit more speed.

Michal Poletin (91) - I have mixed feelings about him.... he's looked decent, has good size and decent speed for his size.... looked tentative for the first couple of scrimmages but he is new to the N/A game.... he's got the potential.... I just hope he's not another Snellman.

Andrew Rieder (92) - started where he left off last year.... lots of speed, gritty, good on faceoffs and hits a lot.

Matt Strueby (89) - I hate saying bad things about any players but has no impressed me throughout camp.... he doesn't seem like he has improved much (or at all).... that's all I'll say about that.

Roger Tagoona (92) - I really like his zip and play Friday night but like I said in an earlier post I think he tuckered out or something but I lost track of his play by the end of the 2nd scrimmage.

Jordan Weal (92) - looks like he's going to be deadly this year.... I think he has grown up a little bit and seems harder to push off the puck.... I'm expecting BIG things from him this year.

Zach Wildman (91) - crasher and banger didn't stand out much.

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I just listened to Rod's interview of Curtis Hunt and I can say I'm glad he's back.

Trust: Everybody Achieves More

KS