AHL: Williams Sweetens Marlies

The inconsistent Toronto Marlies sit fifth in their division, below the .500 mark (11-12-0-0), but one bright spot has been the emergence of former WHL goal-scoring champ Jeremy Williams. Correspondent David Burstyn provides recent game notes from the Ricoh Coliseum on the budding sophomore as well as fellow Baby Leafs' Brendan Bell, Jay Harrison, Ian White, John Mitchell and Martin Sagat.

Jeremy Williams (Tor), C

After impressing at times in his rookie pro campaign, Williams has emerged as a consistent presence in his sophomore season .. second on the Marlies with 21 points after 19 games (7-14) .. distinguished himself this season with some strong performances on the powerplay .. boasts a howitzer shot and is always looking to throw the puck at the net .. very creative, displays exceptional patience and will make an extra move to open up a clearer shooting lane .. shifty puckhandler with quite an arsenal of dekes and moves .. opposing defenders have difficulty reading him as he possesses an air of unpredictability .. will fakes shots or make nice shoulder drops to disguise his intentions .. the knock against him has always been his subpar strength and conditioning, however he appears to have made gains in these areas .. appears more effective now along the boards as he is quick to settle down and recover pucks .. he also shows better attention to defense, though will likely never be counted on as a checking stalwart.

Brendan Bell (Tor), D

Third-year pro is quietly making progress and proving to be a reliable defender .. blessed with solid mobility and decent size .. appears much thicker and stronger across the chest .. style is very conservative - always first man back and is ever vigilant about protecting his net .. demonstrates impressive smarts and composure defending one-on-one - doesn't get intimidated by flashy opponents .. showed off some nifty stickhandling on one play as he managed to break into the zone by beating three guys, however lost control and created a quick 2-on-1 the opposite way and wound up costing his team a goal .. this was the only blemish on an otherwise consistent performance however .. continued improvement should at least get him an NHL audition at some point.

Jay Harrison (Tor), D

Tallest defender on the team but does not play with the kind of aggression or nastiness his size might suggest .. primarily a defensive-oriented blueliner who will only occasionally rush the puck as he possesses limited offensive imagination .. skates well enough and shows good mobility for his size, though his first step is still on the weakish side and continues to hinder his NHL passage .. the opposition try and test his skating ability, particularly when he's defending the PK .. however, he showed solid recovery powers and didn't get suckered into overcommitting .. communicates effectively with his defensive partner and is quick to identify and adjust to changes occurring in his zone .. sees the ice fairly well as he made several competent passes out of the zone .. he still needs to show much more confidence with the puck and take some chances offensively .. his top speed is actually very good but he seldom drives ahead to create scoring chances.

Ian White (Tor), D

Smallest defender on the team gets by on his excellent skating and up-tempo puckmoving abilities .. earned the game's first star with a goal and an assist .. maturing into a dangerous powerplay QB even at this level in spite of his size deficiencies .. packs terrific shooting skills from the point .. very creative with the puck is very adept at opening shooting lanes and delivering his shots on target .. his confidence really spikes on the PP as he is able to skate freely with the puck given the extra ice .. strong and well-balanced on his skates, albeit he does take a bit of abuse and, at times, is easily manhandled and knocked off the puck .. size will likely continue to be a factor even though the new NHL plays more to his strengths .. promises to be an interesting career to track as he has some intriguing weapons to offer.

John Mitchell (Tor), C

Still eligible for junior as an overager, however his development is better suited for the AHL at this stage .. though he looked shaky to start the game, he settled down after the first period and made decent offensive contributions .. tentative with the puck, doesn't stickhandle for long and prefers to release it as soon as possible .. generated some shots at goal, however they generally lacked accuracy and were directly at the goalie .. a good, upright skater with decent speed, certainly has no problems keeping up with the pace of the game at this level .. lacks a quick first step however, which may prohibit him from putting up the same numbers he did in junior .. displayed excellent hand-eye coordination as he expertly batted down a number of airborne pucks .. saw his minutes increase in the third stanza and should continue to make headway over the second half and perhaps follow up with a breakout sophomore effort.

Martin Sagat (Tor), LW

The Leafs third-round pick from '03 was injured to start his first pro campaign .. the lack of playing time certainly showed in this viewing as he seemed lost at times .. struggled to keep up with the play and anticipated poorly in all three zones .. showed brief bursts of energy, but his intensity was inconsistent as he skated hard one shift and coasted another .. when he moves his feet with some purpose, he displays good acceleration, however most of the time he is content to lumber behind a play - and was actually rewarded with a lucky bounce that led to a goal .. still feeling his way at this level and has yet to display much of anything at this point .. he's a longer-term project so will have to monitor his progress.