Fall Classic - Sioux Falls Report

The Sioux Falls Stampede are famous as the junior team of NHL All-Star Thomas Vanek, but the team hasn't produced an NHL Draft pick in the past two drafts after producing three each in 2006 and 2007. Once again, Sioux Falls starts 2009-10 with no prospects on its roster that are a sure thing to go in the 2010 Draft, but the team isn't without candidates. Blueliner Richard Coyne's defensive game, mobility, and reliable puck moving caught McKeen's eye at the 2009 USHL Fall Classic, and if he doesn't get the icetime as a rookie, then he just may be the Matt Bartkowski-type who goes in his third year of draft eligibility and after his second year in the USHL. The Stampede have a number of prospects who are in their second year of draft eligibility that could breakout and follow in the footsteps of former Sioux Falls players Andreas Nodl and Alex Kangas, who both went in their second year of draft eligibility.

McKeen's correspondent Kevin Wey had the opportunity to catch the Sioux Falls Stampede (The Herd) in action at the 2009 USHL Fall Classic and enters notes on Richard Coyne and a few other second-year-eligible prospects, as well as first-year-eligible prospects Brett Darnell, Lino Chimienti, and Clark Cristofoli.

Richie Coyne (2010), D, Sioux Falls

Unheralded defenseman is a potential diamond in the rough .. defensive game is solid .. consistently has his gap reduced by the blueline and angles opponents toward the boards well .. likes to angle opponents for hard hip checks along the boards .. maintains a wide base backwards and eliminates crossovers .. executes smooth pivots and does not take extra steps .. has good speed and utilizes a powerful stride .. handles the puck with confidence .. makes hard, crisp, accurate breakout passes .. receives passes smoothly at the point .. has a hard, crisp wristshot from the point, with the occasional exceptionally hard wristshot .. also sports a hard snapshot from the point .. keeps his head on a swivel skating back for the puck .. rookie USHLer may find himself behind Sioux Falls' numerous veteran defenseman, but Coyne is the most talented .. second year of draft eligibility, and is probably a long shot due to the fact he probably won't get the icetime his talent warrants, but he's certainly worthy .. no college commitment of yet .. played midget major for P.F. Chang's in 2008-09 and scored 4 goals and 11 assists in 46 games .. went without a point in 2 games at the 2009 USHL Fall Classic.

Brent Darnell (2010), C, Sioux Falls

Budding all-around player .. has a little dangle to his game, but stickhandles with his head down too much .. has decent speed with the puck, but does need to improve it .. able to make quick lateral steps with the puck .. has a decent wristshot .. will battle around the net and set screens .. displayed a little puck protection prowess down low .. plays with a little physicality and can step up for open-ice hits in the neutral zone .. made some good reads on the forecheck with his linemates on when to release and re-circle .. also made some good reads playing back for pinching defensemen .. Sioux Falls' top first-year eligible prospect for the 2010 Draft, but still only a possible pick at this point .. committed to Michigan State .. played Michigan high school hockey for Detroit Catholic Central in 2008-09 and scored 20 goals and 26 assists in 30 games .. named to the Michigan High School Hockey Coaches Association's Dream Team (six players) .. named to the MHSHCA All-State First Team .. named the Michigan Interscholastic Hockey League Co-MVP .. named to the MIHL First Team .. scored 1 goal in 3 games at the 2009 USHL Fall Classic.

Marcus Perrier (2010), D, Sioux Falls

Poised to be Sioux Falls' first or second defenseman in 2009-10 .. performance at Fall Classic was mixed .. fought too often in 2008-09 and dropped with Waterloo's Tony Turgeon at the Fall Classic and got his jersey pulled over his head .. made crisp, hard, accurate breakout passes .. displayed his crisp, hard wristshot .. lone goal was a breakaway out of the penalty box that he scored top-shelf after luckily getting back the attempted pass he put right into the skate of the opponent .. displayed some heads-up stickhandling .. still plays with physicality .. communicated with teammates .. has all of the tools to be a good all-around defenseman, but needs to eliminate the one or two major gaffs he made per game at the Fall Classic .. no college commitment of yet .. played for Sioux Falls in 2008-09 and scored 1 goal and 6 assists in 48 games .. scored 1 goal and 1 assist in 3 games at the 2009 USHL Fall Classic.

Alec Rush (2010), D, Sioux Falls

Didn't make the jump over the summer that I had hoped to see .. speed and acceleration with the puck are still a tad slow by USHL standards .. has a hard, crisp wristshot from the point .. also has a fairly hard slapshot from the point that he keeps low .. able to draw the puck off the boards at the point and get a shot off quickly .. makes crisp point-to-point passes .. upright skating leaves him susceptible to being knocked off the puck in 50/50 battles by opponents with a lower center of gravity, even ones much smaller .. would hope to see Rush establish himself as a top-four defenseman for Sioux Falls, but could drop to the third pairing if he doesn't pick it up .. a long shot to be selected in his second year of draft eligibility .. committed to Princeton .. played for Tri-City Storm in 2008-09 and scored 1 goal an 11 assists in 46 games .. went without a point in 2 games at the 2009 USHL Fall Classic.

Lino Chimienti (2010), G, Sioux Falls

Has a shot at contending for the starting spot if Clay Witt falters .. does a good job of staying square to the puck and keeping his angle .. tracks the puck well through traffic .. ends up turned around and facing the end boards too often when the puck goes over and behind the net .. able to load up and make a strong push-off to the opposite post when down, although this could be a bit quicker .. makes smooth pad slides across his crease and makes them quickly from the standing position .. generally does a good job of deflecting pucks into the corner .. similar to former Ohio Jr. Blue Jacket goaltender Pasquale Terrazzano, he will hug the post with one pad when play is to the side and put the other pad down on the ice .. a tad small at 5-foot-10, 161 pounds .. a long shot to be selected in the 2010 Draft due to size, but not impossible with a standout season .. no college commitment of yet .. played Quebec midget AAA for Lac St. Louis in 2008-09 and played 463 minutes over 10 games and went 3-4-0 with 0 shutouts, a 4.15 G.AA, and a .888 save percentage .. played 88:35 over 2 games for Sioux Falls at 2009 Fall Classic and went 2-0-0 with 0 shutouts, a 1.35 G.AA, and a .923 save percentage.

Clark Cristofoli (2010), D, Sioux Falls

Small defenseman not too short on ability .. maintains a wide base backwards, gets low, eliminates crossovers, and keeps a short gap .. smooth circling backwards to transitioning the puck .. displayed good quickness down low in the defensive zone .. make hard crisp breakout passes .. wristshot from the point appeared average .. at 5-foot-10, 159 pounds, he doesn't have the size NHL teams are generally looking for, and will also be an extreme long shot to be drafted because his icetime will probably be limited as a rookie .. worth monitoring, though .. committed to Ohio State starting with the 2011-12 season .. played midget major for the Ohio Jr. Blue Jackets in 2008-09 and scored 5 goals and 19 assists in 46 games .. went without a point in 2 games at the 2009 USHL Fall Classic.

Also on the Radar

Goaltender Clay Witt was very strong for Sioux Falls in limited action during the regular season and during the playoffs in 2008-09, and thus there is an expectation that he should be one of the top goalies in the USHL in 2009-10. However, his .850 save percentage in 91:25 over 2 games at the 2009 USHL Fall Classic wasn't the strongest of starts, even if his goals-against average was 1.97. McKeen's will be monitoring Witt to see if he can play with the form he showed late last season, when he displayed a strong technical game. Center Matt Bailey is another player McKeen's expects to take notes on during the season. Bailey was a tad slow with Tri-City in 2008-09, but he showed noteworthy two-way awareness and could be poised for a breakout USHL season. He didn't receive at the Fall Classic as much icetime as he'll see during the season, because Sioux Falls appeared to be giving the players on the bubble a lot of icetime to prove themselves, so McKeen's didn't have many notes on Bailey. If Bailey does have that breakout season, late-round selection in the 2010 Draft, his second year of eligibility, isn't out of the question. Another center on the radar is Matt Lindblad, who played with the Chicago Steel last season. Lindblad was a model third-line center with the Steel who did show a little offense. If Lindblad can put up some offense after proving himself defensively in 2008-09, he's another Stampede player who could earn late-round selection.