OHL: London Calling

The London Knights recently traveled to the Hershey Center to take on the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors, in a 4-2 Knights win. Five NHL, draft-eligible players suited up for London along with players already drafted in Maroon, Montgomery, and Aliu. This was a different looking Knights club, however, with GM Mark Hunter making a couple of deals, sending captain Adam Perry to Bellville and shipping the IIHF World Junior Championship Gold Medal winning goaltender for Canada, Steve Mason, to the Kitchener Rangers while the goaltender still competed in the tournament. McKeen's correspondent Gus Katsaros was on hand and has notes on several Knights.

Phil McRae (2008), C, London Knights

Not fast, nor physical, McRae just skates along the wing not doing much - barely noticeable .. attempts at physical work are not suited for what looks like a skilled winger .. skating keeps him from getting to open spots .. questionable decision-making, as he just shot the puck out of his own zone to avoid being hit, instead of placing a pass to a nearby outlet .. can try to do too much on his own with the puck and does not pass it very much .. gained the zone on the powerplay and skated the puck into the corner - could use his teammates better .. he did the same thing in the second period (a constant this game), doing too much on his own .. let his man get a stride ahead and then tried to stickcheck/hook the Majors forward on the first goal-against London .. can be a little too predictable with the puck, making defenders play him closely, knowing his arsenal does not include much passing .. can seemingly frustrate teammates that attempt to get into open spots or get to the net, with what becomes a wasted effort on their parts.

Vladimir Roth (2008), D, London Knights

Average skater, a defensive rearguard .. does not display much outlet-passing creativity, but makes sure the puck clears the zone .. jumped into the play early in the third period and went to the net to score London's third goal of the game .. not very fast or speedy with no flashy dynamic, just workable speed .. carried the puck into the zone himself in the third, when there were two teammates waiting at the blueline as outlets to head man the pass, but taking an ineffective wristshot putting the puck on net, where Majors goaltender covered up and the play was whistled dead .. turned out to be a wasted effort on a promising rush with support .. watches the puck not the man in 1-on-1 situations and could be occasionally burned .. could improve his lateral movement and use his size more effectively .. at 6-foot-2, he should use his long reach better in lieu of limited lateral mobility.

Kale Kerbashian (2008), C, London Knights

Invisible in the first period .. average skater, with a wide stance, horseshoe-legs stride .. stops skating in defensive zone coverage and only looks interested on the offensive side of the puck .. scored London's second goal of the game when he pounced on a rebound in close, worked his way around the Majors defenseman and deked the goaltender for an easy chip into the open side, using the backhand .. shows good hands in most touches of the puck, but less desire without it .. displayed very little physical work, but did attempt an open-ice hit late in the game, indicating there is a physical game somewhere in there .. had spurts of activity, with glimpses of decent hands and offensive creativity, only not enough desire to maintain that intensity the entire game.

Matt Ashman (2008), D, London Knights

Not very physical, doesn't use his 6-foot, 189-pound body very well at all while checking, preferring to use ineffective stickchecks .. balance is suspect, as he is knocked around too much, taken advantage of along the boards and in the corners .. knocked off his feet more often than any London player this game .. too easily knocked off the puck even if he remains upright .. can take too much time to make a play, and does not hide his intentions very well when he is rushing, or has it at the point .. could be looked over as a draft pick in 2008.

Garett Hunter (2008), LW, London Knights

Does a lot of skating but does not target energy, just skates around .. lower roster pivot was used sparingly .. did not have any impact on any second period shifts with very few first period shifts .. rare shift, hustling on offense, while lax defensively .. bad drop pass, suspect vision .. almost non-existent defensive game .. could use his 6-foot, 183-pound frame more effectively, but does not.

Philip Varone (2009), C, London Knights

Good skater, fluid and gets good speed with short, quick strides .. good on faceoffs .. covers his man and the zone well .. used as a first-unit, penalty killer and often playing two shifts on each penalty with short breaks in between .. sees the ice well, finding the open man and goes to the net without the puck .. undersized rookie (5-9, 178) that has gained strides with the Knights .. could have used his teammates a bit better on a 3-on-1 rush, where he lugged the puck and took a shot, not using his wingers as an option, instead skating the puck in close, deking out the goalie to just miss the yawning cage .. good patience drawing the opposition to him before sending a pass the other way to an open man .. sneaky pivot with good hands and feet, but needs to use his teammates as outlets better, and realize he cannot do everything himself.

Daniel Erlich (2009), RW, London Knights

Good skater and gets involved on the inner periphery, more for preservation sake, as his 5-foot-7, 155-pound frame would get bounced around in high traffic areas, and killed in scrums .. smart play to identify the man down low and get back to snag a pass across, but he skated the puck to the Mississauga blueline where he lost it and turned it over .. pumps his short legs gaining speed but does not do a good job with efficient physical work .. hits for the sake of hitting, not for a good play, or to create a turnover, but just to seem like he is involved physically .. was moved on to a line with Maroon and Varone after Mississauga scored their first goal .. feisty, considering his size, taking a roughing penalty, but goaded the Majors player into the box with him, not leaving his team shorthanded –a smart play on his part .. auditioned on the second powerplay unit with the game out of reach for the Majors, and could play a bigger role with the Knights next season.

Patrick Maroon (Phi), LW, London Knights

Excellent defensive play using his long reach to block the pass across .. took the puck 1-on-1, trying to beat the defender using an outside/inside move and got a shot off as well as capitalizing on the rebound, to just miss an open corner .. aware enough to stick a leg out of the zone to keep the play onside, good sense of his positioning on the ice relative to the position of the puck/play .. could use his 6-foot-4, 218-pound frame more effectively, considering he towers over his opponents .. average skating keeps him from reaching that top gear and dominating defenseman in one-on-one situations similar to Oshawa's Brett MacLean .. fits the mold of typical Flyers forwards, tall, bulky, with decent hands and a nose for the net .. has the making of a decent power forward if he can improve his skating, including stop/starts and cuts .. average breakaway speed forces him to use his body strength, something he will need to work on to make it to the NHL .. double-shifted a lot by coach Hunter .. awkward skater .. almost exclusively favors the right side .. does not look he is pushing for a top gear, and not a defensive stalwart .. potential diamond in the rough if he improves his skating and upgrades the use of his frame.

Kevin Montgomery (Col), D, London Knights

First-unit-powerplay QB .. likes to pinch off the point on powerplay .. did not show a burst of speed in this game, but seems rock-solid on his skates, well balanced with a smooth, hunched-over, low-center-of-gravity-skating stride, generating decent speed .. was not taken off after the powerplay units changed and plays more minutes along the blueline .. watches the puck a lot in his own zone .. jumped right into the play spotting the opportunity to make a 2-on-1 into a 3-on-1 .. gets in deep in offensive forays and takes his time assessing the play .. got over quick to head off pass across late in the second period, thwarting an in-close chance and a good scoring opportunity .. uses his body well to protect the puck along the wall and uses his body instead of stickchecks .. likes to rush the puck with his head up looking for an outlet and reading the play/positioning, but almost lost it being tied up with the linesman .. finds seams in the opposition defense to become a good passing outlet, although his teammates inability to get the puck to him often wastes a goof visionary effort .. impressive showing, speedy and smart.

Akim Aliu (Chi), RW, London Knights

Second-unit penalty-killer, average to good skater .. used on the point with the man-advantage .. at a speed where most would lose the puck, instead, he uses quick hands to dazzle defenders and get by them, or to get off a quick shot .. gets good positioning to the net, but does not cut into openings very well, almost preferring the perimeter .. can stop moving his feet on both sides of the puck, gliding on occasion .. scored on a bullet shot from the far side that went through the mesh so fast, the play had to be reviewed to ensure it was a goal, although all the scouts in the attendance made visible movements to help influence the on-ice officials to go upstairs (very strange play) .. great burst of speed on occasion, not used enough on all shifts .. has to keep his feet moving to be effective, although he has decent ability to stop/start-up quickly .. could improve on taking faceoffs, as he had a horrible winning percentage tonight .. deceptive second gear once he punches it a little higher than coasting speed .. good pass spotting the pinching defenseman, with a higher degree of difficulty getting the puck over through sticks and traffic, almost leading to another Knights goal .. developing on a winning team.

Tony Romano (NJ), RW, London Knights

Not very physical .. suspect skating .. was used very little throughout the game .. good break getting the puck and using a deceptive second gear (something he should be utilizing more often) early in the third period .. can show brief bursts of speed when inclined .. decent skills, with suspect desire and motivation to use them more regularly, which proves why he was not used very much in the game .. had a good defensive approach and showed responsibility without the puck .. not a very convincing effort from the sixth round draft pick of the Devils.

Justin Taylor (Wsh), C, London Knights

Used with Varone as a penalty-killer, forming a formidable unit .. good defensive awareness, used a lot on the penalty kill .. almost broke away with a quick blueline-to-blueline pass that was just out of his reach .. limited second effort on the follow up to that play .. enthusiastic getting back into his own zone, backchecking and covering his man in the defensive zone .. not afraid to use his body to block shots and gets involved physically along the boards .. uses his 6-foot, 192-pound frame effectively when checking, and does not poke aimlessly with his stick at opponents.