Green Bay Gamblers Fall Classic Part II

After a major turnaround, the Green Bay Gamblers continue to make upgrades.

In 2008-09, the team was looking to rebound from the worst record in the USHL and featured one NHL draft pick (Michael Forney), a prospect looking to resurrect his struggling and injury-plagued career by going from college hockey to junior hockey. In 2009-10, the team enters the season with expectations of excellence and two NHL draft picks, including one who played for the team last season and one who certainly had the talent to.

Unless you followed McKeen's coverage of USHL prospects last season, defenseman Nick Jensen was one of the best-kept secrets in the league. He typically played as the fourth or fifth defenseman on the team and behind blueliners with junior hockey experience, but it was still enough for the talented two-way defenseman to make an impact on some scouts and earn fifth-round selection from the Detroit Red Wings (look for Jensen to be one of those late-round diamonds the Wings always seem to nab). Jensen is joined by New York Islanders prospect Anders Lee, a seventh-round pick by the Gamblers in the 2007 USHL Futures Draft, a rookie to the USHL but a gifted athlete who looks poised to be Green Bay's top scorer, just as Forney was for the team in 2008-09.

In part two of his Fall Classic report on the Green Bay Gamblers, McKeen's correspondent Kevin Wey enters notes on 2009 NHL draft picks Nick Jensen and Anders Lee but also two prospects looking to prove themselves the second time around after going unselected in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.

Nick Jensen (Det), D, Green Bay

Red Wings prospect set to contend for USHL Defenseman of the Year honors .. poise with the puck is now superb .. no panic when pressured and is able to use his agility to make tight turns to circle away from forecheckers or backcheckers or at the point .. also able to stop quickly both forward and backward to ditch opponents .. confident stickhandler with the puck backwards and very smooth .. maintains a powerful stride forward by staying low and can get well out on his edges, allowing him significant reach with the puck .. has very good speed skating the puck to flat-out beat opponents, but can also throw in some stutter-steps and other body fakes .. slapper from the point has a quick wind-up and is fairly hard and he is adept doing such walking the blueline .. has a very heavy one-timer .. makes good offensive reads on the attack and knows when to pinch or stay back and also knows what he's going to do before he gets the puck .. able to hide his intentions with the puck and thus is difficult to anticipate on the breakout .. makes crisp, accurate passes, be it the breakout, d-to-d, point-to-point, etc .. uses his mobility to angle opponents and to engage them by the blueline, often rubbing them out along the boards .. does a good job of focusing on the opponent's chest and not falling for dekes .. plays a reasonably physical game and has sufficient size at 6-foot-1, 189 pounds .. also showed a little aggressiveness in challenging the opposition for one fight and then engaging in another at the Fall Classic .. offensive awareness is right around former Cedar Rapids RoughrRider Matt Donovan's but is superior to Donovan due to superior mobility and a physical game .. has NHL third-or-fourth-defenseman potential, and at the very least becomes a solid two-way AHL defenseman .. selected by Detroit in the 5th round, 150th overall, of 2009 NHL Entry Draft .. committed to St. Cloud State .. played for Green Bay in 2008-09 and scored 5 goals and 17 assists 52 games .. had 1 assist in 2 games at the 2009 USHL Fall Classic and 1 assist in 3 games for the entire preseason.

Anders Lee (NYI), C, Green Bay

Gifted athlete looks primed for a standout 2009 -10 .. has great size at 6-foot-2, 216 pounds, but plenty of skill to go with it .. heads-up stickhandler with good offensive vision to spot teammates for passes and is dangerous off the wing .. has a smooth, powerful stride and can employ some impressive speed bursts to win races for the puck or to separate from opponents .. has nice cruising speed with the puck and doesn't rush the play .. makes crisp, accurate passes and is particularly dangerous with centering passes .. adept at using his feet along the boards to maintain possession of the puck .. finishes his checks on the forecheck and is a threat to get the puck and transition quickly to an offensive opportunity .. big centers with skill and vision don't grow on trees, and Lee gives that to any team he plays for .. named finalist for Minnesota Mr. Hockey award .. named to Associated Press All-State First Team .. named to Star Tribune All-Metro First Team .. named to Pioneer Press All-State First Team .. named to Classic Lake All-Conference Team .. named Star Tribune Metro Player of the Year in football, throwing for 1982 yards, running for 1104 yards and 32 touchdowns (yes, running for 32 touchdowns) in 10 games .. selected by New York Islanders in 6th round, 152nd overall, of 2009 NHL Entry Draft .. committed to Notre Dame .. played Minnesota high school hockey for Edina in 2008-09 and scored 25 goals and 59 assists in 31 games .. also played for Team Southwest in the Upper Midwest High School Elite League prior to the high school season and scored 12 goals and 17 assists in 18 games .. scored 2 goals and 1 assist in 2 games at the 2009 USHL Fall Classic .. scored 3 goals and 3 assists in 4 games for the entire preseason, leading the Gamblers in preseason scoring.

Sam Alfieri (2010), RW, Green Bay

Second-year eligible prospect appears set to be a top-six forward for Green Bay .. heads-up stickhandler who has a little dangle to his game .. able to protect the puck with swivels and stickhandling prowess .. a playmaker who likes to open up to the play along the half boards and assess his options .. dangerous off the half boards and from behind the net .. has a decent snapshot .. puts in a good effort on the forecheck and makes some timely defensive plays in his own zone .. looking for Alfieri to be a prime contributor on Green Bay's powerplay .. not taken in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft and probably a long shot for the 2010 Draft, but it's certainly not out of the question if he proves himself at the USHL level .. no college commitment of yet .. played prep hockey for Shattuck St. Mary's in 2008-09 and scored 19 goals and 44 assists in 53 games .. had 1 assist in 3 games at the 2009 USHL Fall Classic .. scored 1 goal and 2 assists in 5 games for the entire preseason.

Ludwig Karlsson (2010), LW, Green Bay

Can be invisible for long periods of time and then suddenly strike .. quickly becomes visible when he takes a shot .. able to unleash an extremely hard slapshot .. able to build some speed with his long stride, but not particularly quick .. able to use his decent top speed and 6-foot-2, 200-pound frame to drive the net or smoothly work his way around opponents .. a bit upright in his turns skating with the puck and is slow in his crossovers in general .. would like to see him take a look more often going into the corner for loose pucks .. not particularly physical, but able to body over some opponents .. hope to see the big Swede improve his quickness and become more involved in the play at all times .. ranked 138th among European skaters heading into 2009 NHL Entry Draft but went unselected .. still a long shot to be taken in 2010 Draft, but not impossible if Karlsson shows necessary improvement .. no college commitment of yet .. played Swedish J20 in 2008-09 for Linkopings and scored 5 goals and 7 assists in 23 games .. went without a point in 3 games at the 2009 USHL Fall Classic .. scored 1 goal and 2 assists in 5 games for the entire preseason.