OHL: New Plan of Attack

Despite high draft selections in recent years, the Owen Sound Attack are still many years away from being contenders. Their backend and lack of forward depth are immediate concerns. GM DeGray successfully managed to bring over Garrett Wilson in an off-season trade and he is already situated on the top line. Joey Hishon continues to develop and is slowly becoming one of the more dominant players in the league. In goal, they are set with a one-two punch in Tyler Beskorowany and Scott Stajcer, however keeping the shots low will be a difficult exercise, as the backend is the weakest component of the team. McKeen's correspondent David Burstyn looks at several key performers for the Attack this season.

Scott Stajcer (2009), G, Owen Sound

After spending a year with the worst Jr. B team in the Mid-West division - the Owen Sound Greys - Stajcer is no stranger to rubber and won't be this year either .. has not performed up to his potential allowing 13 goals in his first two starts .. an aggressive goalie who thrives in challenging the opposition .. he is a hybrid goalie and actually prefers to make saves on his feet .. at times, he plays on his heels and his balance at this point is an issue, as he constantly falls back into his net in down-low situations .. his confidence was rattled early in this contest, however coach Reeds let him figure it out on his own .. he tends to over commit to the shot and therefore is out of position once the opposition gets him moving side to side .. his lateral quickness could also be improved upon .. susceptible to rebounds, as he usually kicks them back into play .. his positioning when defending wrap-arounds is also very suspect .. needs to use his stick more to pokecheck as he allows players to walk in from behind his goal to the front .. not an overly strong player and his balance also cripples his game when his crease is crashed .. has many positive attributes, however he is the victim of having to make successive stops due to the weak defensive core in front of him .. this will be a long year for him but can only be viewed as a learning curve.

Garrett Wilson (2009), LW, Owen Sound

A major coup for GM DeGray, as he was able to pry the services of Wilson from the Spitfires .. a catalyst and key offensive producer in the Tecumseh Chiefs first ever Sutherland Cup victory last year (Top Jr. B team) .. a rangy skater whose first-step quickness and overall acceleration needs upgrading .. never shies away from throwing his weight around, he crushes guys along the boards with minimal effort .. he has presence down low and is at his best when driving down low, keeping the puck close to his body .. still needs to position himself better in breakouts, although to his credit he always has his stick down and like any good power forward, he went hard to the net .. he has soft hands and a powerful shot that often stings goalies .. needs to commit himself early in his defensive duties and use his frame to get into better lanes, as he tends to skate with little purpose while defending .. his play and style is very reminiscent of a young Steve Bernier .. was recently handed a 15-game suspension for slew-footing Kitchener Rangers defenseman Dan Kelly, subsequently breaking his ankle in the accidental hit.

Keevin Cutting (2010), D, Owen Sound

Cutting's stock may have dropped last season due to a leg injury that kept him out for the majority of his draft year with the North Central Predators minor hockey program .. an excellent skater with outstanding mobility, the injury has not slowed down Cutting's performance, in fact, he appears much stronger as a result .. has the speed and lateral quickness to keep up with players, however his decision-making in the defensive zone is commonplace for a rookie .. he guesses wrong and tries to stand guys up only to be skated around .. he tends to put himself into bad spots when handling the puck and still appears very overwhelmed by the pace of the league .. he has been partnered with Michael D'Orazio but given his woes this season it has not been much of a saving grace .. he does possess maturing-offensive skills and shows promise when handling the puck .. his vision marries well with his passing skills .. needs to work on his mental toughness .. once he starts to develop more confidence away from the puck and understand how much he can gamble, he should be able to develop into a top-four defender and given the lack of talented blueliners this may happen as early as this season.

Steven Shipley (2010), RW, Owen Sound

Third overall pick has started the season playing on the wing instead of his natural centre position .. silky smooth skater with great change of direction and acceleration .. he is not a flashy player but he is an extremely effective one in all areas of the ice .. his high hockey IQ allows him to work from the centre of the ice , the circles and although not very physical, he does use his size in loose puck battle pursuits .. appeared to be too passive and needs to gain confidence with the puck and the play .. needs to move into traffic more and be more selfish .. he has the presence of mind to stay with a play as he anticipates well .. once he learns how to dictate a play, which should come sooner rather than later, he should be a very dominate player in this league, as he is able to set the tempo of the game in both zones, offensively and defensively .. coach Reeds will give him every opportunity to shine, however it will be up to Shipley to decide just how good of a player he wants to be.

Joey Hishon (2010), C, Owen Sound

Established new franchise scoring records last year for a rookie surpassing that of Bobby Ryan (22-17-39) with 20 goals and 27 assists .. first line player since October of last year, Hishon's rise to OHL prominence is even more remarkable when one considers the linemates he has had since joining the league .. he is the constant attention of the opposition's top checkers and teams know to stop him is to halt the entire Owen Sound offence .. he uses this 'unwanted attention' to his advantage drawing guys to him and making sensational back/forehand passes with pinpoint accuracy to open linemates .. however, for all his hand skills and offensive ability it is his understanding of the game that is key to his success .. he is a bit of a choppy skater who gets to where he needs to be with a minimum amount of style .. his play reading skills allow him to converge on loose pucks .. due to the weak backend, he constantly has to come back deep into his own zone, however when he focuses on the defensive side of the game he has the vision to come out of a scramble into an attacking rush .. he anticipates passes, blocks shots then springs an odd-man breakout with a smart play .. not hesitant to shoot, he fires the puck from any angle, as he believes a shot on goal is better than none at all .. considering the lack of quality players surrounding him, he sometimes knows he has to do it all by himself and can single handily carry this team on his shoulders, as has been evidenced in recent contests .. Hishon has many tools to be successful and while his size has raised some concerns, the way he approaches the game have put them to rest, as he is never caught with his head down nor physically eliminated from the play with a big hit .. should continue to dominate and has a great chance of playing in the Under 18 in April should the Attack fail to make the playoffs.