This game was played on December 5, 2017 in Whitby, Ontario. The game itself ended with a 3-2 final score in favor of the home team, and had a light-tempo sort of feel for the majority of it as if neither team was quite on their game. For the most part the play went back and forth with each team getting their fair share of chances, and Whitby was able to hold on in the third period for the win. The players included in this report were born during the years from 1997-2000.
Jesse Tucker – #19 (F, L, 2000, Rangers) – Jesse has a knack of finding the loose pucks and getting his stick on it first. He has a quick and soft set of hands and is an excellent passer. His awareness on the ice is high as he continuously shows off the ability to find open teammates and hit them with a pass. Jesse is a smooth skater with average straight line speed but an explosive first few steps allowing him to get in on opposing players quickly and in some instances force turnovers. On two occasions in this game, Jesse was able to use his quickness to force turnovers near the blue line in his own end, and in both scenarios the result was a 2-on-1 in the other direction. He certainly seems like a pass first player and it would be nice to see him challenge the opposing goaltender more often with his shot, but he still creates plenty of offense with his skill-set and smarts on the ice. Grade: B+
Liam Robertson – #92 (F, R, 2000, Fury) – Liam keeps himself in good positioning when he is on the ice. He makes sure to keep himself on the defensive side of the net in all three zones, which helps him prevent odd man rushes against his team when he is on the ice. He anticipates the opposition and gets himself in the right places to force turnovers at a consistent rate. The North York players in this game didn’t seem to get much of any offense going when Liam’s line was out on the ice, largely in part due to Liam’s steady play. In the offensive zone, Liam is a steady presence on the ice and is strong on the puck and in the cycle. That being said, he could improve working the puck towards the net and his puck control when put under pressure. Liam had a goal in this game that turned out to be the game winner. Grade: B+
Ross Krieger – #27 (F, L, 1998, Rangers) – Ross is an above average straight-line skater with a quick first few steps. He played an aggressive game and was able to use his skating to get in on the defenders quickly on the fore-check and to push them pack off the rush making their gap control difficult to maintain. He is a strong puck handler while skating and can beat opponents 1-on-1 using his speed and agility. When he found himself in traffic or under pressure on the ice, Ross always kept his feet moving with his head up and searching for the open ice. Grade: B
Kyle Clarke – #12 (F, R, 1997, Rangers) – Kyle has a quick first few steps and average straight-line speed. He plays a physical game and uses his body-positioning well to separate the puck from opponents. On the penalty kill he was aggressive and forcing the opposition to make quick plays. He is strong on the puck and continues to move his feet through contact. In this game, he was strong on face-offs winning several key defensive zone draws. Grade: B
Nick Sirizzotti – #26 (D, L, 1999, Fury) – Nick is calm with the puck is his own zone helping him consistently make a strong first pass. He is a strong puck handler displaying soft hands giving him the ability to stick handle his way through oncoming pressure. He is a smooth skater with strong lateral movement, and was good on the rush in this game carrying the puck out of his team’s zone. On one rush, Nick carried the puck from his own zone all the way behind the opponents net and he threw the puck out into the slot where his teammate skated into the puck and one-timed the shot into the net. Grade: B-
Jason Stachelbeck – #34 (F, R, 1999, Fury) – Jason is a powerful forward and plays a physical game. He has strong straight-line speed and gets himself in on the fore-check quickly where he can throw his weight around. While being a strong body-checker, he can also utilize his stick in the puck battles along the boards allowing him to pry the puck loose and come out of it with control. Jason is strong on his edges and uses his large frame to shield the puck, which made him difficult to compete with 1-on-1 down low for opposing defenders. Grade: C+
Davis Park – #9 (F, L, 1999, Rangers) – Davis was a steady presence in this game for his team and helped on a consistent basis move the puck forward and play in the offensive end. He was aggressive on the loose pucks and showed off an ability to win a lot of the battles using a quick stick and strong body positioning. He has a quick first few strides that helped to put separation between the puck and his opponents after he dug out the loose pucks from the battles. He was rarely caught out of position on the ice and displayed a high sense of awareness for the play going on around him. While he wasn’t able to help his team on the score-sheet on the night, Davis was a steady presence on the ice applying pressure on the opposing defenders and playing in the offensive end. Grade: C+
