Czech Junior Profiles: Kometa Brno

HC Kometa Brno Juniors

Ondrej Hubacka (2007), G

Scouting: a pint-sized goaltender .. plays a butterfly style .. a solid skater with a fast movement in the crease .. quick side-to-side movement .. decent lateral movement .. quick to recover after dropping to a butterfly .. doesn't cover lots of the net with his size and needs to make up for this drawback with his quickness .. goes down early and relies on his athleticism to make the saves .. okay footspeed .. above-average dexterity .. tough to beat on the initial shot, but lets the odd goal in through his five-hole .. could upgrade on his handling of rebounds .. solid reflexes .. tends to be wild at times .. should further work on his fundamentals .. anticipation of the developing plays could see upgrading .. okay glove hand .. willing to move the puck and pass it to the defensemen, but needs to show progress on his stickhandling .. a late '88 born goaltender .. a solid prospect for Europe, but not NHL material.

Jakub Vejvar (2006), D

Scouting: the most glaring area of concern is his skating .. possesses an adequate straightaway speed but acceleration is an issue .. above-average balance .. shows trouble when moving laterally and is relatively slow on turns .. faster opponents who can make him moving cause him some trouble .. a competitive defenseman who plays a dependable game in his own end .. adequate in one-on-one situations .. possesses enough size and strength to handle most junior opponents well but doesn't always make his size to his advantage .. a decent stickhandler, but still could improve on his hands especially on using of the backhand .. doesn't make glaring mistakes with the puck and is a reliable passer on a short distance .. doesn't move the puck out of his own end often .. doesn't have the offensive vision for long outlet passes .. useful on penalty killing units .. too bad skater for NHL consideration.

Jan Kudlacek (2006), D

Scouting: a smallish blueliner .. blessed with adequate skating skills .. possesses a decent acceleration and straightaway speed .. adequate lateral movement and top-end speed .. needs to upgrade on balance and add more bulk to lower-body .. should be faster on his turns .. doesn't have sufficient puckhandling skills and this factor is holding him back in his offensive upside .. doesn't have a vision good enough to make quality outlet passes on a regular basis but is a precise passer on a short distance .. fires an average shot from the point which needs to be upgraded in both accuracy and hardness .. adequate in filling his defensive duties .. marks his man quickly and is a decent worker in his own end but is prone to occasional brain cramps .. average positional play .. adding more strength would make him more effective against bigger opponents .. needs to upgrade on mean streak and finish his checks .. not talented enough to be worth draft consideration.

Michal Dufek (2006), D

Scouting: a decent skater, but a smallish blueliner like him still could use better wheels .. uses a short quick stride which can make him move fast, but top-end speed doesn't stand out .. okay agility and lateral movement .. solid turns .. sub-par balance and lower-body strength .. gets knocked off his feet too often in traffic .. average puckhandling ability .. doesn't move the puck out of his own end very often .. solid passer on a short distance, but misses long passing lanes in order to make the safe play .. shot from the point needs to be harder .. prone to fuzzy positional play in his own end .. should stay with his man and take him out of the play instead of thinking about the beautiful play .. gets outpowered because of his lack of size and shows trouble when battling sized opponents .. plays more of a finesse style .. a late '87 born defenseman .. too limited in size and talent for selecting in the NHL draft.

Tomas Sommer (2006), D

Scouting: an adequate skater .. decent straightaway speed .. okay on turns .. could use a better lateral movement .. average balance on his skates .. adequate hands .. doesn't impress with his puckhandling ability .. suspect when moving the puck .. prone to mistakes when pressed by an opponent .. sub-par vision and hockey sense .. average passing skills...fires his shot from the point with solid accuracy, but his attempts have to be more hard .. not very reliable in the defensive zone .. prone to odd breakdowns and brain cramps .. average positional play .. lacks strength to handle the big forwards effectively and gets outmuscled .. relies more on finesse than on toughness .. a right-shooting defenseman .. emerges only as an ordinary junior Extraleague player.

Martin Zabransky (2006), C

Scouting: blessed with a big frame .. an average skater .. lacks the extra gear and falls behind the play on occasions .. could use a better first-step quickness .. stride lacks crispness .. average balance and lower-body strength .. gets knocked off the puck too easily .. skinny lower-body .. okay puckhandling skills .. able to move the puck in traffic but tends to loose possession of the puck in tight spaces .. adequate passing skills, but lacks the needed vision for a quality playmaker .. average variety of shots .. uses primarily his snap shot over the slap shot .. a decent defensive awareness .. returns to his own end quickly and stays with his man .. doesn't use his size to his advantage .. a friendly giant along the boards who throws only the occasional hit .. a late '87 born player .. brother of former NHLer Libor Zabransky .. won't follow his brother's footsteps to the NHL.

Roman Stasa (2006), RW

Scouting: an offensive winger .. blessed with solid skating skills .. possesses a fluid stride and decent bursts of speed .. shows an okay first-step quickness .. still could upgrade on his top-end speed .. possesses an okay agility .. could use more balance on his skates as he is still gets knocked down too easily .. a tricky puckhandler with a solid hand-eye coordination .. handles the puck smoothly and is an okay force in one-on-one situations .. progresses in his passing ability but still occasionally plays as more of a selfish player who needs to learn how to use his linemates more often .. unleashes primarily a quick accurate wrist shot, but possesses a solid variety of shots .. shows noticeable reserves in his defensive play as he doesn't show a commitment to the defensive play and needs to mark his man faster in the defensive zone .. doesn't have visible problems with the opponents playing his body, but isn't a player who would throw hits every shift .. prone to games where he shows a very low interest in the game and refuses to work hard .. not worth selecting in the draft.

Marek Kundratek (2006), LW

Scouting: a diminutive forward .. a decent skater .. shows an okay acceleration and footspeed .. possesses decent agility on his skates .. essential for him is to add more bulk to his lower-body to be more balanced and upgrade on the power of his stride .. gets knocked off his feet too easily .. more of a playmaker than goalscorer .. decent passing skills .. aware of the linemates, but can be caught with his head down .. doesn't play effectively in traffic, floating on periphery instead of battling for the pucks .. is hesitant to perform in the opposing slot .. doesn't score many goals off rebounds .. uses primarily his wrist or snap shot .. needs to show more zip on his attempts .. returns back to defense but is average in his defensive commitment .. needs to show more intensity when pushing the opponents off the scoring chances .. adequate defensive positioning .. hesitates to use his body .. adequately involved in the games .. lacks size and aggressiveness for NHL draft consideration.

Tomas Vincour (2009), C

Scouting: an adequate skater for a player of his size .. decent agility .. stride of average crispness .. needs to develop more explosiveness and upgrade on his footspeed and separation gear .. blessed with above-average leg strength for a kid of his age .. absorbs open-ice hits well thanks to his strong balance .. a big and aggressive player .. often initiates physical contact and thrives in heavy traffic .. shows a solid defensive awareness and shuts down the passing lanes of the opposition with a strong prowess for a player of his age .. strongest assets are his soft hands and an ability to think the games faster than the opposition .. sets up smart scoring chances for his winger and is a powerplay threat .. dangerous when maneuvering close to the opposing net as he boasts strong in-close finishing skills especially a quick forehand deke .. fires hard blasts .. should further upgrade on the accuracy of the slap shot .. an above-average factor in the faceoff circle .. solid at taking the draws and is able to win important faceoffs in key game situations .. a late '90 born forward .. a legitimate NHL prospect who could develop into a blue-chipper.

Igor Cikl (2006), C

Scouting: an average skate .. possesses a decent first-step quickness, but needs to develop an extra gear to outskate the opposing players .. decent agility .. light on his feet .. can get knocked off the puck too easily .. adequate stickhandling skills, but won't impress with his hands .. more of a playmaker than sniper .. shows trouble with penetrating into scoring lanes occasionally .. average variety of shots, uses primarily his wrist shot .. a dependable forward who works hard at both ends of the ice but lacks strength to be fully effective .. solid defensive awareness .. doesn't play the body very often and isn't a noticeable force in heavy traffic .. isn't really effective during the games .. doesn't have either the offensive instincts to be lethal in scoring situations or the defensive awareness to be a good defensive forward, so the draft is out of contention.