Clash of the Titans

The Acadie-Bathurst Titans are in a battle to not only make the playoffs but to establish themselves in the region. The team is not only in the process of rebuilding the product on the ice but they have recently announced that they have appointed a committee made up of local businessmen who will have the mandate of making improvements on the business side of things. McKeen's correspondent Rick Springhetti reports on several 2010 draft-eligible prospects from the Acadie-Bathurst Titans.

Vincent Arseneau (2010), LW, Acadie-Bathurst

Agitator with a strong work ethic .. will sacrifice his body to make a play or defend a teammate .. not intimidated by bigger players .. most penalized player on his team, he will drop the gloves if needed .. battles hard in his own zone to neutralize opponents but does not always make the right decision in terms of positioning .. can recover quickly though because he is always moving his feet .. has a very hard time corralling passes leading to trouble defensively or missed opportunities offensively .. average skater with fairly good anticipation to help him compensate .. not a very effective passer in terms of imagination and does not possess the vision to find open players that are further away from him .. however, he does seem to be aware of who could be near him and will generally try to get them the puck and go to the net hard.

Jeremie Blain (2010), D, Acadie-Bathurst

Offensive defenseman .. communicates often with his defense partner and very vocal in giving directions .. good passer when coming out of his own zone, not only making the right choices but getting the puck right on the stick .. able to make quick decisions with the puck, which helps the transition game .. not a bad skater when moving forward .. picks up speed quickly when handling the puck .. not especially physical but can do a good job along the boards or in the crease .. seems to understand proper gap control in one-on-one situations or when defending alone against multiples players .. however, he is not a great backward skater so he can lose his positioning against quicker opponents .. tries to be conscious of not hindering the view of his goaltender in front of the net .. has a hard shot but does not use it very often at the point preferring instead to distribute the puck .. gets frustrated when things are not going well for his team .. not used on the PK.

Jeremie Malouin (2010), C, Acadie-Bathurst

Average skater .. turns are a little labored and has trouble with his first few steps .. effective at cutting down passing options in the defensive zone using his stick well and positioning himself intelligently .. used in a defensive capacity on the first PK unit .. does well in the faceoff circle and is often used in important situations .. has no trouble doing the dirty work to get the puck from opponents if the situation calls for it, but usually prefers to not be very aggressive on the puckcarrier, preferring to angle opponents to the sides .. not a imaginative player with the puck .. shot is average so he usually scores garbage goals .. doesn't put his team in a vulnerable situation by doing more than he can.

Guillaume Nadeau (2010), G, Acadie-Bathurst

Goaltender who faces a lot of shots on a rebuilding Acadie-Bathurst team .. although he possess decent size at 6-foot-2, he has a tendency to go down too often making him seem smaller .. seems vulnerable on high shots and opponents are aware of this .. does not have great lateral movement so he is vulnerable when opponents can stretch him out, but he does compensate somewhat by cutting the angles well .. when he is in his zone mentally, he moves well and anticipates the play well and becomes difficult to beat .. not willing to go out of his net to play the puck, but should start doing so more often on a team that has trouble getting the puck out of their zone effectively.