Indiana Ice Fall Classic Part I

The depth of the Indiana Ice's forward lines proved to be too much for USHL opponents in 2008-09, particularly after the team acquired offensive force Mike Cichy from Tri-City, and the team skated to the league championship Clark Cup to end the season. Indiana doesn't have the high-end talent that Cichy and Stanislav Galiev (now with the Saint John Sea Dogs of the QMJHL) provided the team last year, but it still has significant line depth at forward heading into 2009-10 thanks to an impressive crop of young forwards. The Ice have no prospects who are guaranteed to go in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, but it's hard to fathom not one of Brian Ferlin, John Parker, Alex Wideman, Kevin Goumas, or David Johnstone having a year worthy of selection. It's very possible more than one of them will, and it's also very possible offensive defenseman Nick Mattson could join them.

McKeen's correspondent Kevin Wey was able to catch the Indina Ice in action at the 2009 USHL Fall Classic. In part 1 of his report, Wey enters notes on Brian Ferlin, Nick Mattson, John Parker, Alex Wideman, Kevin Goumas, and David Johnstone, Indiana prospects in their first year of NHL draft eligibility all.

Brian Ferlin (2010), RW, Indiana

Good combination of size and skill .. 6-foot-1, 192-pound right-winger demonstrates scoring prowess and a quick set of hands around the net .. able to execute some nifty stickhandling maneuvers to weave through traffic .. makes crisp, accurate passes .. able to use quickness to separate from opponents .. has good top speed, too, and can be shifty in the use of his speed .. keeps a fairly low stance and has a fairly powerful stride .. does get a bit upright in his crossovers and utilizes quick feet instead of power .. would like to see him utilize power in crossovers more than quick feet to help maintain a power position and lower center of gravity .. puts in a good effort on the forecheck and finishes his checks .. Indiana's solid line depth could mean Ferlin plays most of 2009-10 on the third line .. if Ferlin can establish himself as a top-six forward, he has a solid shot at selection in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft .. committed to Cornell for the 2011-12 season .. played for the Jacksonville Ice Dogs of the Metropolitan Hockey League (MET) in 2008-09 and scored 34 goals and 36 assists in 34 games .. played for Team USA's Under-18 Select Team at the 2009 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament .. scored 1 goal in 2 games at the 2009 USHL Fall Classic .. scored 2 goals in 4 games for the entire preseason.

John Parker (2010), C, Indiana

Textbook skater needs to put up points .. able to pour on considerable speed to beat opponents wide and can also execute a tight turn at speed to ditch checkers.. maintains good knee bend and has a powerful stride .. powers out of his crossovers and builds a lot of speed doing so .. heads-up stickhandler who can assess his options and find teammates with crisp, accurate passes .. able to execute some nice moves at top speed .. adept saucer passer can put some mustard on it and connect right on the tape .. has a hard snapshot .. displays poise with the puck and doesn't rush the play .. able to create plays around the net or off the half boards or end boards .. conscientious defensively .. uses his speed on the forecheck and the backcheck .. strong penalty killer due to skating and defensive awareness and pressures his points well .. has all the tools, the numbers just haven't fallen yet .. with Nic Dowd and Max Cook likely ahead of him on the depth chart at center, he may only serve as a third-line center for most of 2008-09, and potentially the fourth line .. certainly has the talent to be a top-six USHL forward .. committed to UMass .. played for Indiana in 2008-09 and scored 1 goal and 9 assists in 34 games .. went without a point 3 games at the 2009 USHL Fall Classic .. went without a point in 5 games for the entire preseason.

Nick Mattson (2010), D, Indiana

Displayed some talent as an offensive defenseman and also some embarrassing gaffs considering his background .. has good cruising speed with the puck and likes to skate it .. fairly poised with the puck down low and can execute hard, crisp breakout passes .. has a hard, crisp wristshot from the point, but it can rise a bit .. has a very hard wristshot in stride .. needs to work to keep his slapshot from the point low and deflectable .. fanned on too many shots, made a couple bad passes, and fell down for no apparent reason once .. defensively, he stands up his fair share of opponents at or near the blueline .. allows his gaps to shrink near the blueline .. also makes timely stick checks .. has a frame to work with at 6-foot-1, 177 pounds .. Fall Classic was a bit underwhelming for this for former USNTDP player, but certainly has tools to work with .. decent odds at being selected by at least in the late rounds of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft .. committed to North Dakota .. played for the U.S. National Developmental Program Under-18 Team in 2008-09 and scored 4 goals and 19 assists in 63 games .. had 1 assist in 3 games at the 2009 USHL Fall Classic and 1 assist in 4 games for the entire preseason.

Alex Wideman (2010), LW/C, Indiana

Very impressive Fall Classic showing .. excellent two-way hockey sense .. always seems to be in the right place at the right time to pounce on loose pucks in the offensive zone .. does a nice job filling holes offensively and picking up assignments defensively .. reads the play well defensively and intercepts passes accordingly .. conscientious and intelligent backchecker who finds his assignment early .. quickly on his man on the backcheck to force them to move the puck or do something .. F1 on the forecheck with some regularity and finishes his checks .. wins his fair share of faceoffs .. heads-up stickhandler who can assess his options .. good quickness to separate from opponents to emerge out of crowds along the boards or to make the breakout pass .. has good top speed with the puck, too .. makes crisp, accurate passes .. has some dangle to his game .. strong skater has a quick release, as he's able to position himself quickly to get shots off .. maintains calm with the puck when pressured .. only real drawback is he's 5-foot-9, 150 pounds .. brother Chris, a defenseman, overcame small size to be drafted out of college .. hopefully Indiana rolls through its talented four forward lines and Wideman gets the icetime as a rookie his skill and hockey sense warrant .. may be a long shot to be drafted this year, but certainly worthy of monitoring for the 2010 NHL Entry Draft .. committed to Miami University .. played midget major for the St. Louis Jr. Blues in 2008-09 and scored 16 goals and 17 assists in 46 Tier 1 regular-season games .. had 1 assist in 2 games at the 2009 USHL Fall Classic .. scored 1 goal and 1 assist in 4 games for the entire preseason.

Kevin Goumas (2010), C, Indiana

Another talented small forward .. able to use his quickness to separate from opponents or to get to loose pucks .. has noteworthy agility and can protect the puck with tight turns or sidestep opponents .. heads-up stickhandler able to make some plays down low .. makes crisp, accurate centering passes off the boards .. 5-foot-9, 150-pound center willing to engage in 50/50 battles for the puck, doesn't shy away from being first into the corner, and is willing and able to fight through checks along the boards .. communicates with his linemates on the ice .. has good offensive awareness, including recognizing early how he'll need to position himself to receive passes .. nifty drop-passer .. good commitment to defense and helps out around his net to prevent opponents from receiving centering passes or getting off shots .. identifies when to hang back for a pinching defenseman and skates backwards fairly well .. like Wideman, his only real drawback is that he's 5-foot-9, 150 pounds .. has a real chance of establishing himself as a top-six forward with Max Cook out injured to start the season .. a long shot to be drafted due to size, but certainly not impossible .. committed to New Hampshire .. played prep hockey for Canterbury in 2008-09 .. scored 1 goal and 1 assist in 3 games at the 2009 USHL Fall Classic .. scored 1 goal and 2 assists in 5 games for the entire preseason, first in Indiana preseason scoring.

David Johnstone (2010), C, Indiana

Limited icetime at Fall Classic, but still showed some strengths .. displayed good cruising speed on the forecheck and some impressive tight circles at speed defending in the neutral zone .. did a good job helping his defensemen down low .. finished his checks at the point if he was playing the wing .. able to fire a decent wristshot in stride .. decent prospect who risks getting lost on deep Indiana roster, but proved he can be a contributor even with limited icetime .. long shot to be drafted, but can't count him out yet .. committed to Michigan State .. played for the Traverse City North Stars of the NAHL in 2008-09 and scored 8 goals and 8 assists in 44 games .. had 1 assist in 2 games at the 2009 USHL Fall Classic .. and 2 assists in 4 games for the entire preseason.