Well, after two solid games I can report that Team Canada will have yet another great team and some solid goalies. As for the Sabres prospects, they were all solid and few made mistakes. With the exception of one..
Jerome Gauthier-Leduc: I never caught much of this guy. He kinda slipped under my radar at times but I did notice that he looks a bit small on the ice. When I looked at the card I was expecting to see 5' 11'' next to his name but I was surprised to see 6' 1''. I did see some great breakout passing from Gauthier-Leduc and a pretty good wrist shot. Other than these small observations I have nothing else to say of him.
Mark Pysyk: Unfortunately Pysyk only played in game one and was scratched from last nights roster (don't know the reason). From what I saw, Pysyk is a good skater and he made some good defensive plays in his own zone. One play that really stood out to me was when he stopped a two on one by sliding at the puck carrier and made a nifty stick swing to knock the puck into the corner. Looks like Pysyk has a good two way game but he does shy away from using his 6 foot frame in the corners.
Brayden McNabb: McNabb displayed some good defensive skills in his own zone and he wasn't afraid to drop a few bods along the way. There was one scenario where Jeff Skinner was waltzing into the zone doing the famous Brian Campbell spinorama when McNabb stepped up to deliver a solid hit. I did see some minor mistakes in his own zone where he was loosing the puck in his feet but maybe he's just getting used to his big size.
Zack Kassian: Last but not least I had the pleasure of watching our 1st round pick of the 2009 draft. Frankly, I wish he was our 5th round pick. When I first seen Kassain step onto the ice with the other guys I suddenly knew what scouts meant when they said that Kassain was NHL ready. He was HUGE. Now you guys are probably loving this size difference but honestly, Kassain is just too slow
. I think I'm going to call him, Zack "I've eaten too many turkey dinners and drank too many beers so now I can't keep up with other junior players" Kassian. Not only was Kassain slower than a Christmas parade, but he showed no drive or determination to compete at this level. I know you guys might think that it's only a development camp and he probably wasn't going balls out but every other player was so he should have too. I went to the game with a Leafs fan and even he was burying his face in his hands when Kassain knocked the net off (x3), or when he marked the wrong player on a backcheck. Through the bullshit and Drew Staffordesque play I did see some positives. He was definitely showing signs of being a good agitator. My favourite Kassian play was when he jabbed Gudbranson in the back of the knee behind the play. Gudbranson crumbled to the ice in pain while Kassian skated away. About 10 seconds later Kassian skated behind the net where he was crushed by Gudbranson. Naturally the two exchanged words and had a fight with their gloves on. My favourite part of this fight was when they were heading to the penalty box and Gudbranson said something like, 'what are you doing man?'...and Kassian responded with 'don't be a bitch'. I luh dat!Well all in all the games were good but I never saw much of the Sabres d prospects. Each team had 8 defence so you can see how much of a shit show that might have been. On another note that may please you guys and Leafs fans...Seguin was invisible.
That is all.
