AHL: Moose Tracks Lead to Vancouver

Manitoba has been the Canucks' AHL affiliate since the Moose moved to the AHL in 2001, and many Moose have made tracks to Vancouver in the past six seasons. The 2007-08 season is no different, as a number of Manitoba Moose have skated in Vancouver this season. McKeen's recently had the opportunity to catch a number of Canucks prospects in action for the Moose, including first round draft picks Luc Bourdon and Michael Grabner and second round pick Mason Raymond currently with the big club.

Luc Bourdon (Van), D, Manitoba Moose

Skating is his game, as he has good all-compass mobility .. does not rely on crossovers when skating backwards and maintains a wide base .. able to adjust his speed skating backwards, which helps his gap control .. moves well laterally with the puck and has some power doing so .. has a fairly long stride but can also use quick feet and demonstrates good acceleration with the puck .. very adept at transitioning with the puck .. has a fairly accurate first pass and generally makes the simple play .. has a decent pointshot, but it is not overpowering .. relied more upon skating, positioning, and pokechecks than physical play in these outings.

Mason Raymond (Van), LW, Manitoba Moose

Was somewhat invisible in these two viewings, although he was recalled shortly thereafter .. often the first man on the forecheck and shows a good effort down low .. skates similar to David Spina, as he leans forward and is not in a power position when skating .. able to get a hard slapshot off with very little wind-up .. at 6-foot-0, 182 pounds, Raymond has gained about 25 pounds since he was drafted.

Michael Grabner (Van), RW, Manitoba Moose

If it comes off Grabner's stick, the odds are very high that it is quick .. makes crisp, quick passes and moves the puck well on the powerplay .. has patience with the puck, but his passes often have considerable speed .. wristshot has a quick release and is quite hard .. has a long stride and good power and speed to go with it .. is dangerous around the net with the puck, but has the shot to be dangerous on the perimeter.

Jannik Hansen (Van), LW, Manitoba Moose

Was a regular on the penalty kill .. showed some speed with the puck and uses it on the forecheck .. demonstrates good offensive awareness in positioning himself for chances and in his use of swivels and spins to protect and maintain control of the puck along and near the boards .. has a quick snapshot .. finishes his checks, but definitely needs additional size at 6-foot-0, 176 pounds, as he bounced off his checks at times .. has some wasted movement in his acceleration (too much vertical motion).

Nathan McIver (Van), D, Manitoba Moose

Tale of two outings .. coughed the puck up, fanned on shots, and was easily beaten the first night .. the second night, McIver got into a fight, made crisp, accurate passes, angled opponents into the boards, made heady defensive plays, and showed good backwards skating mechanics in not relying on crossovers and in maintaining a wide base backwards .. was also on the ice in the final minute to protect the lead .. if McIver can be consistent in bringing his "A game" every night, he's worthy of NHL consideration.

Colby Genoway (Van), RW, Manitoba Moose

Has decent speed with the puck, but has an interesting tendency to do three crossovers in one direction, then three in the other direction with the puck, a classic practice drill that Genoway does now and again down the alleys during games .. likes to try head jukes, which are only moderately effective in the AHL and would be even less effective in the NHL .. is conscientious in attempting to shield the puck, but has it taken away more than one would like.

Juraj Simek (Van), RW, Manitoba Moose

Did not receive a great deal of icetime, but showed good quickness and acceleration with the puck in both the neutral zone and the offensive zone .. uses his quickness coming out of the corners or the trapezoid and can handle the puck confidently when doing so .. did well in battling for the puck in the corners and along the boards.

Jim Sharrow (Van), D, Manitoba Moose

Has good all-compass mobility .. does not rely on crossovers backwards and keeps a wide base and has decent speed backwards .. has good agility with the puck, but can get too fancy in his own zone .. defensive awareness is somewhat suspect, as he can misplay a two-on-one but then later make a textbook drop at the hash marks to prevent the forward from passing or shooting .. has a hard shot, be it a slapshot, snapshot, one-timer, or wristshot .. does need to improve shot accuracy, as his shots tend to rise .. likes to collapse low on the powerplay, but is not irresponsible in doing so.

Alexandre Bolduc (Free Agent), C, Manitoba Moose

Has a long, powerful stride with very good speed .. also has good quickness and can change directions quickly .. also able to stop quickly with the puck .. uses speed on the forecheck and is able to utilize his reach to create turnovers down low .. fairly confident puckhandler .. looked worthy of a two-way NHL contract.

Shaun Heshka (Van), D, Manitoba Moose

Did not have the strongest showings .. was beaten regularly wide and in one-on-one battles .. pointshot appeared weak in these two viewings and he also mishandled the puck too often .. did show some quickness skating backwards with the puck, especially at the point.