Midget Buc Bowl: Division B Prospect Notes

Des Moines, Iowa, sees plenty of prospects come through town in the American Hockey League at Iowa Chops games and in the United States Hockey League at Des Moines Buccaneers games, but the Bucs organization brought some of the top U-18 talent in the United States to the area in October for the 2008 Midget Buc Bowl. Twenty midget major AAA teams from around the country competed at the tournament and were able to showcase their players to scouts from a number of USHL teams and a few NAHL teams as well.

McKeen's was also at the tournament and scouted the top prospects eligible for the 2010 and 2011 NHL Entry Drafts and enters notes on prospects from Detroit Honeybaked, the Chicago Young Americans, the Green Bay Jr. Gamblers, and the Colorado Thunderbirds, all members of Division B at the tournament, in Part II of a four-part series.

Andrew Sinelli (2010), C, Honeybaked

One of the top scorers in the MWEHL .. has good offensive vision and connects on crisp accurate passes to teammates with creative saucer and drop passes .. could potentially be accused of looking for the pass too much, but he does have a hard wristshot and snapshot to score his fair share of goals .. has good speed with the puck and can drive wide to the net .. despite getting a bit vertical accelerating, he has good separation .. stride is a bit galloping at times .. has noteworthy agility .. a major presence on the powerplay, but also a regular on the penalty kill .. willing to engage physically and can finish his checks with some force .. does have some areas in his skating to improve, but his offensive presence is undeniable .. in 2007-08, he played midget minor AAA for Honeybaked and scored 16 goals and 31 assists in 31 MWEHL regular season games .. drafted by the Sioux City Musketeers in the 4th round, 41st overall pick, of the 2008 USHL Futures Draft .. committed to Michigan State University.

William Kessel (2010), RW, Honeybaked

Consistent presence around the net who scores a lot but whose effort resembles Benoit Pouliot's early in his AHL career .. relies on fairly powerful strides for his speed and does have good speed, but is often seen coasting .. has quick lateral steps, which gives him some agility with the puck, but his crossovers are more of a hop-step and need the power his forward strides have .. big forward is around the net a lot, puts home rebounds and loose pucks and has great hands around the net but also has a hard, dangerous snapshot for scoring from the perimeter.. also has a quick wristshot .. does have some playmaking in him and makes hard, crisp passes, but typically looks for the shot before the pass .. effort is inconsistent and comes across as lazy at times .. in 2007-08, he played midget minor AAA for Honeybaked and scored 15 goals and 18 assists in 31 MWEHL regular season games .. selected by the Green Bay Gamblers in the 4th round , 44th overall pick, of the 2008 USHL Futures Draft.

Eric Preston (2010), D, Honeybaked

Good two-way defenseman lacks flash but is reliable .. has good all-compass mobility with and without the puck .. keeps a wide stance skating backwards and keeps crossovers to a minimum .. makes crisp, accurate passes .. has a crisp snapshot from the point that he keeps low .. doesn't stand out that much and can go unnoticed, but that's more a reflection that he's doing his job .. in 2007-08, he played midget minor AAA for Little Caesars and scored 3 goals and 8 assists in 31 MWEHL regular season games .. played for the USA U-17 Select team at the Five Nations Tournament in August 2008.

Andrew Huff (2010), C/LW, Honeybaked

Big forward with decent speed and acceleration with the puck .. has quick hands and can stickhandle quickly, although with his head down at times .. able to use his size to protect the puck, both in open ice and along the boards .. has a fairly hard wristshot .. shows some skill, but not a high level of offensive awareness and may end up more of a checking-line forward with underlying skill at higher levels .. in 2007-08, he played midget minor AAA for Honeybaked and scored 7 goals and 8 assists in 28 MWEHL regular season games.

Jake Goldberg (2010), D, Honeybaked

Small defenseman with exceptional mobility .. has excellent lateral mobility and can execute tight switchbacks with the puck .. has a fairly powerful stride and good speed, and shows it often by joining the rush .. pinches regularly, but has the speed to recover if he gets caught deep .. even though he pinches often and can finish some chances, he often looks for the pass first .. an adept puckmover who makes quick, crisp passes and is a regular on the powerplay .. has a decent slapper that he keeps low .. plays with some physicality and will go for open-ice hits .. 5-foot-10, 170-pound defenseman undersized at this point, but combination of skating and skill makes him a prospect to watch .. in 2007-08, he played midget minor AAA for Little Caesars and scored 1 goal and 14 assists in 30 MWEHL regular season games .. not to be confused with a forward who plays for Berkshire Prep.

Alex Sandora (2010), RW, Honeybaked

Small forward plays bigger than his size .. finishes his checks and is not afraid to engage bigger opponents .. has good speed with the puck down the wing and in races for the puck .. has quick feet and good acceleration .. combination of speed and sandpaper allows him to create offensive opportunities for himself and teammates .. in 2007-08, he played midget minor for Honeybaked and scored 14 goals and 15 assists in 30 MWEHL regular season games.

Alex Frere (2011), RW, Honeybaked

Small forward who puts in an excellent effort .. never gives up on getting the puck .. on his defensive assignments quickly .. forechecks and backchecks hard .. has good speed and speed bursts .. has a quick first three strides and good acceleration overall .. also has good agility .. has a quick wristshot .. defensive effort is superb, but also has some offensive awareness in circling the offensive zone when set up and then striking when the puck comes to him or when a puck comes loose .. at worst, has a future as a smaller, pesky defensive forward .. in 2007-08, he played midget minor for Belle Tire and scored 5 goals and 6 assists in 31 MWEHL regular season games.

Robbie Hall (2010), D, Chicago Young Americans

Smaller defenseman intrigues with some of his strengths .. stays low accelerating backwards, but tracking backwards is narrow and utilizes crossovers too much .. needs more power backwards and less crossovers .. does have good lateral mobility for stepping-up on opponents and will step-up on hits as early as the center line .. offensively, appears to have some offensive vision for finding open teammates and making plays .. has a crisp snapshot from the point .. a regular on the penalty kill and is adept at clearing the zone off the glass .. 5-foot-10, 175-pound defenseman appears to have the potential to become a good two-way defenseman, but needs to work on skating mechanics a bit and hopefully grow at least a couple of inches .. in 2007-08, he played midget minor for the Chicago Mission and scored 4 goals and 9 assists in 31 MWEHL regular season games .. selected by the Sarnia Sting in the 6th round, 107th overall pick, of the 2008 OHL Priority Selection.

Brett Curran (2011), D, Chicago Young Americans

Skipped over midget minor and went straight to midget major and his game still has a lot of maturing to do .. has some underlying skill, but does not give even a sub-maximal effort all shift and sometimes makes lazy plays .. has good speed, but gets fairly upright both forward and backward .. will skate in hard from the point to join the offense .. makes crisp passes on the tape, but can set up other teams when he gets lazy .. defensive awareness is still a work in progress, as he does not always play the right man and takes a man already covered .. even tripped over his own goalie once when seemingly unaware of his positioning on the ice .. already has decent size at 6-foot-0, 195 pounds .. shows glimpses of talent, but must improve his skating mechanics, awareness, and effort .. in 2007-08, he played for Chicago Mission 93's and scored 6 goals and 11 assists in 26 MWEHL regular season games.

Cody VonRueden (2011), D, Chicago Young Americans

Young defenseman already fairly stout at 6-foot-0, 190 pounds .. has some work to do on his skating .. somewhat slow both backwards and forward .. hunches forward a bit forward and backwards and needs to make sure not to lunge on pokechecks to take his body out of position .. however, he does a good job of staying low backwards and minimizing crossovers .. gets upright laterally and takes really small steps .. gets upright on pivots and takes too many steps .. decent snapshot from the point .. makes fairly crisp, accurate passes .. despite all the above-noted criticisms, he still played in all situations and was relied upon in the final minute of the game .. not even 16 during the tournament, but still played major minutes, so there's a little something here .. in 2007-08, he played midget minor AAA for the Chicago Young Americans and scored 3 goals and 6 assists in 27 MWEHL regular season games.

Kyle Huson (2010), D, Colorado Thunderbirds

Towering defenseman that is still growing into his body .. 6-foot-4, 174-pound defenseman covers a lot of ground with his strides, but is still a bit slow .. an upright skater when accelerating forwards and backwards, as well as moving laterally .. after initial acceleration to gain momentum, he does a good job of getting low and maintaining a wide base backwards .. although a bit upright, pivots are good in that they only require one step .. needs additional polish to his puck game .. can make crisp, accurate passes, but also makes errant passes .. appears to need more shot power .. despite being fairly thin, he is already adept at eliminating opponents from the play in the corners by pinning them and can angle opponents and rub them out despite being a bit slow backwards .. intriguing in what he could become once he grows into his body, which is a highly effective defensive defenseman .. in 2007-08, he played midget major AA for the Littleton Hawks.

Cole Huggins (2010), G, Colorado Thunderbirds

Smaller goaltender with advanced technical game .. butterfly goaltender that can pad slide from the butterfly easily, smoothly, and quickly .. able to load up and push off one leg across the crease well .. able to go down and up quickly and resets quickly .. active in tracking the puck .. one curious thing about his game was that he sometimes would move his pads as if he had a twitch, which did cause him not to be set for the shot on one occasion .. if the nervous twitch is not a common thing, the only other noted concern for the 5-foot-10, 170-pound goalie is size .. in 2007-08, he played midget major AAA for the Colorado Thunderbirds.

C.J. Eick (2010), C, Green Bay Jr. Gamblers

The standout player on the Green Bay Jr. Gamblers .. has quick feet, good acceleration, agility, and he can fly .. has quick first three strides for separation and very good speed with the puck .. stops and starts quickly .. very agile and shifty .. puts in a great effort all shift and seems to have a battery that never drains .. buzzes on the forecheck and engages physically for the puck .. supports his defensemen down low and, again, engages physically for the puck .. battles through checks if he doesn't beat opponent with outright speed and also has quick hands and can make nice moves .. only real drawback is size at 5-foot-10 and 165 pounds, but it does not appear that size will be much of an issue for Eick at the midget major or the junior hockey level.