Memorial Cup: Battochio Top-Notch
Ottawa's Memorial Cup dream died in the semi-final, but there were still several bright spots for the team on their report card from the tournament. Danny Battochio displayed some stellar netminding while both Brad Staubitz and James McGinn managed to secure an "A" as well.
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Goalie of the tournament who faced an average of 47 shots per game, including a 62-save performance in Game One .. provided timely saves and remained composed to ensure victory for his team .. extremely agile goalie, often had to make three or four saves in a row when his defence was unable to clear the zone or provide much needed support.
Anchored the PP and scored many goals with his hard blast from the point .. played with nastiness and physical edge unrivalled by any other 67's defenseman .. good offensive instincts and logged a substantial amount of minutes.
James McGinn A-
Rookie led his team in Memorial Cup scoring including a huge semi-final game where he notched two goals and an assist, factoring in all goals scored .. confidence and ice time grew throughout the tournament .. abilities are there now and it is just a matter of physical maturity.
Second only to Staubitz in minutes played on defence .. aggressive player who was beaten many times one-on-one but showed a willingness to rebound and come out hard for the next shift .. mentally strong as he refused to let a poor shift affect his future plays.
Brad Bonello B-
Prone to taking costly penalties, he provided grit and a physical edge on the top unit .. played hard and was not afraid to throw his weight around and dig into corners for teammates.
Has a hard shot but needs to work on accuracy since many shots did not hit the net or were blocked .. splendid offensive abilities .. shied away from the physical aspect of the game on some shifts.
Did not excel in any particular area and lacked intensity at times .. certainly did not play up to his potential .. needs to make vast improvements on his physical side of game if he is to compete at higher level.
Played a rather unimpressive game .. was not overly physical and has limited offensive abilities .. shoots with his head down and shots were often blocked.
Young player who showed flashes of great puck handling skills .. limited in his offensive role and ice time but impressed with minutes allotted to him .. should play a bigger role in the organization in the next few years.
Good penalty killer who has a great set of wheels .. speed creates many odd-man rushes .. stone hands don't let him convert on his chances.
Over-aged player was a virtual non-factor in many games .. decision-making was questionable at times as was his positioning on the ice.
Chris Hulit C-
Much more was expected from the second leading playoff scorer on the team coming into the Memorial Cup .. was unable to free himself from tight checking to score goals .. could not handle the pressure of being the go-to-guy and was often found on the ice faking injuries as opposed to competing.
Second line really struggled and he was no exception .. unable to provide any offence .. rarely worked for his chances and seemed overwhelmed at times from the pace of the game.
Size and potential but no desire .. never chased down loose pucks, was lazy defensively and provided no offensive spark whatsoever during the whole tournament.
Derek Joslin C-
Victimized by stronger and faster players throughout Memorial Cup .. experience from MC as well as Tier II champion with Aurora Tigers last season should only strengthen his mental game to compete in high stake games .. needs to add some much-needed size and strength.
Huge forward with a big shot .. no speed.
Played in a limited role and basically cleared pucks and attempted to play physical.
Similar role to Van Herpt .. nothing spectacular about his simple game.
Jakub Petruzalek N/A
Only played three shifts in the whole tournament before going down with an injury .. small sniper's goal scoring ability and scrappy play was deeply missed .. Kaspar was the most affected by his absence as the two developed wicked chemistry together throughout the year.