OHL Report: Curcuruto and Findlay

McKeen's has notes on Gianluca Curcuruto and Brett Findlay of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds - two players trying to make an impact for their team and the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.

Gianluca Curcuruto (2012), D, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds

Curcuruto has good size for a defender at 6-foot-1 and 198 pounds, however there is room to bulk up a bit .. a left-handed shot who likes to play the left side .. is the Greyhounds' go-to defenceman for shutting down the opposition's top forwards .. always makes it hard for players who want to gain position in front of his netminder .. very calm under pressure and rarely makes mistakes in his own zone .. he's a great penalty-killer and will always get his stick or body in the passing and shooting lanes .. plays very aggressively on the puckhandler when shorthanded, especially down low, and will sometimes force a bad play .. possesses a good first pass he uses to get the puck out of his own zone and start the offence .. generally doesn't stray away from the point when his team is cycling in the offensive end .. he has good vision of the ice, so the Greyhounds rely on him to distribute the puck on the powerplay .. has an accurate and hard slapshot that he needs to use a lot more .. will often ignore opportunities to shoot at even strength and on the powerplay .. doesn't win loose puck battles often, as he pays more attention to the opposing player's stick instead of the body .. will sometimes over-commit to a player while being the lone defender on an odd-man rush, leading to scoring chances for the other team .. needs to work on his speed, as he takes a few steps to get to his full stride.

Brett Findlay (2012), C/LW, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds

Went undrafted last year after putting up 20 goals and 44 points in 57 games as a rookie .. at 6-foot and 174 pounds he's a natural centre who can play the wing .. his weight is generally not a big concern, as he seemingly always manages to avoid being hit .. has a cannon of a wrister he likes to use on the rush .. will almost always choose to shoot instead of pass .. not afraid to go into high-traffic areas if it means he could earn a scoring chance, and has a knack for finding open ice in the offensive zone .. has an ability to draw defenders toward himself, and then hit an open linemate with a tape-to-tape pass .. possesses good first-step quickness that he uses to go end-to-end and start the cycle .. needs to do a better job of following his shots and looking for rebounds .. can be guilty of floating around in the neutral zone, making himself unprepared to handle passes or effectively backcheck .. will sometimes chase the puckhandler too much in his own zone, leaving other opposing players open.