Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Canada's Roster for the Ivan Hlinka

First here's the game recap of today's scrimmage.

Here's the roster.

Goalies

Bryce O'Hagan L/G 6'3.5" 193 12/27/91 Burlington, ON Sault Ste. Marie (OHL) 2010 Dft/Rep.
Nathan Lieuwen L/G 6'5.5" 180 08/08/91 Abbotsford, BC Westside (BCHL) 2009 Dft/Rep.

My Take: Out of the entire roster, the goalies surprised me. I don't know know how you can't take Olivier Roy as on of the goalies. Have they seen him play outside of Hockey Canada's events? Out of all the goalies at the camp, he played a full season at the highest level. He stole wins for the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles for a team that was suppose to do nothing last season. I know I am biased because I have seen him play. At the same time, he's one of the best goalies for his age I've seen, in the five years I've been following the QMJHL. Lieuwen was Pacific number one goalie at the World Under 17 Challenge last season.

Defenseman

Jared Cowen
L/G 6'6" 218 01/25/91 Allan, SK Spokane (WHL) 2009 Dft/Rep.*
Brayden McNabb L/G 6'4" 195 01/21/91 Davidson, SK Kootenay (WHL) 2009 Dft/Rep.
Simon Després L/G 6'4" 210 07/27/91 Laval, QC Saint John (QMJHL) 2009 Dft/Rep.*
Hubert Labrie L/G 5'11.5" 179 07/12/91 Victoriaville, QC Gatineau (QMJHL) 2009 Dft/Rep.*
Stefan Elliott R/D 6'1" 186 01/30/91 North Vancouver, BC Saskatoon (WHL) 2009 Dft/Rep.*
Ryan Ellis R/D 5'9.5" 176 01/03/91 Hamilton, ON Windsor (OHL) 2009 Dft/Rep.*
Taylor Doherty R/D 6'6.5" 220 03/02/91 Cambridge, ON Kingston (OHL) 2009 Dft/Rep.*

My Take: This is a strong defensive core for the Canadians. I think they did a great job picking the defenseman. There's a mix of offensive defenseman and stay at home defenseman. Cowen and Ellis will be the ones to watch. Despres could also have a big tournament.

Forwards

Carter Ashton L/G 6'3.5" 206 04/01/91 Saskatoon, SK Lethbridge (WHL) 2009 Dft/Rep.*
Zack Kassian R/D 6'3" 208 01/24/91 LaSalle, ON Peterborough (OHL) 2009 Dft/Rep.
Taylor Hall L/G 6'1" 181 11/14/91 Calgary, AB Windsor (OHL) 2010 Dft/Rep.*
Garrett Mitchell R/D 5'11" 181 09/02/91 Regina, SK Regina (WHL) 2009 Dft/Rep.
Ryan O'Reilly L/G 6'2" 201 02/07/91 Seaforth, ON Erie (OHL) 2009 Dft/Rep.*
Louis Leblanc R/D 6'0" 171 01/26/91 Kirkland, QC Lac St-Louis, QC MAAA 2009 Dft/Rep.*
Jimmy Bubnick R/D 6'1" 187 01/19/91 Saskatoon, SK Kamloops (WHL) 2009 Dft/Rep.*
Brayden Schenn L/G 6'0.5" 199 08/22/91 Saskatoon, SK Brandon (WHL) 2009 Dft/Rep.*
Cody Eakin L/G 6'0" 176 05/24/91 Winnipeg, MB Swift Current (WHL) 2009 Dft/Rep.
Casey Cizikas L/G 5'11" 191 02/27/91 Mississauga, ON Mississauga (OHL) 2009 Dft/Rep.*
Scott Glennie R/D 6'1.5" 179 02/22/91 Winnipeg, MB Brandon (WHL) 2009 Dft/Rep.*
Evander Kane L/G 6'1" 180 08/01/91 Vancouver, BC Vancouver (WHL) 2009 Dft/Rep.*
Matthew Duchene L/G 5'11" 201 01/16/91 Haliburton, ON Brampton (OHL) 2009 Dft/Rep.*

My Take: Nothing to surprising here. They got the big three in Hall, Schenn, and Duchene. Glennie, Cizikas, Bubnick, and O'Reilly should have a great tournament also. I like to see how LeBlanc does because he played at the Midget AAA level to maintain his NCAA eligiblity. It will be interesting to see if he can dominate against stronger competition.

*-Denotes my selections when the Selection Camp was released. I had 17 of 22 correct.

That's My Take

(Nathan also is a writer for MVN.com. He's the writer for the Asylum which covers the Lewiston Maineiacs of the QMJHL. He's also a regular contributor to the NHL Source also at MVN.com. He can be reached at fbbhgfan@aol.com)

2 comments:

wrap around curl said...

Ahw, yay for Jared Cow Cow!

Anonymous said...

Interesting that Leblanc is the only Quebec forward chosen and he played Midget.What does that say about QMJHL and player development?