Omaha Has Helluva Player in Haula

The Omaha Lancers not only had the best record in the USHL entering the Christmas Break (21-5-1), they also had the best overall player in the USHL - Erik Haula. A smooth skater with excellent speed, great stick skills, and strong offensive vision, Haula was third in USHL scoring with 12 goals and 27 assists in 25 games entering the Christmas break, behind only teammate Matt White (47 points) and Des Moines' T.J. Tynan (42 points), more than establishing himself as an offensive force. But Haula's production, skating, and skill weren't the only things that made him best player in the USHL in the first half of the season, his physical and defensive play pushed him into the lead. Haula was a staple on Omaha's first penalty killing unit, to match his presence on the first scoring line and the first powerplay unit, and the 6-foot-0, 175-pounder rattled the boards on the forecheck crashing into opponents with force and frequency. The fantastic Finn was even one of the better faceoff men in the USHL the first three months of 2009-10. Put it all together and Haula was indeed the best overall player in the USHL as the league approached the New Year, giving the Lancers reason to rejoice and both the Minnesota Golden Gophers and the Minnesota Wild reason for optimism.

McKeen's correspondent Kevin Wey was able to catch the Omaha Lancers in action six times between November and December and enters notes on Erik Haula,fellow Minnesota Wild draft pick Anthony Hamburg, Blackhawks' prospect Joe Lavin, the 2011-eligible Seth Ambroz and John Keeney, and the 2009-eligible Tyler Lapic, who'll be getting a new opportunity in 2010.

Erik Haula (Min), C, Omaha Lancers

Best overall forward in the USHL, at least during the first half of the season .. a smooth skater with excellent speed who can drive wide or split the defense .. has superior separation thanks to explosive speed bursts .. also quite agile .. able to make smooth swivels and turns, which he combines with smooth stickhandling to protect the puck very well .. a heads-up stickhandler with great poise with the puck .. a playmaker off the half boards .. doesn't panic when pressured or even when tripped, he'll make the play falling or on the ice all the same .. does a very good job of controlling difficult pucks .. has strong offensive vision and can connect to teammates through traffic .. makes hard, crisp, accurate passes and is a great puck distributor from the half boards .. passes are very hard, but also smooth .. able to serve up some nice saucer passes .. does a great job of carrying the puck and not stickhandling, putting him in a position to shoot or pass far more often than the average player .. has a hard wristshot and a booming slapper in stride .. also has a heavy one-timer .. plays on Omaha's first line and first powerplay unit .. uses his speed on the forecheck and will throw his body around for some hard hits .. comes crashing in on opposing defensemen for hard hits .. also uses his speed on the backcheck, where he's also a threat to put the opponent on his behind .. a regular on the penalty kill, where he uses his speed, quickness, and hustle in manning the points .. does a good job of angling opponents defensively .. wins his share of faceoffs and particularly big faceoffs when protecting leads late .. no other USHLer combines speed, skating, skill, physicality, two-way hockey sense, and hustle like Haula, and he has decent size at 6-foot-0, 175 pounds .. favorite player is Valteri Filppula, and he's a lot like the fellow Finn .. only concern at this point is that Haula appears to be wearing down a bit .. committed to Minnesota .. as of the Christmas Break, he had 12 goals and 27 assists in 25 games .. third in USHL scoring heading into the Christmas Break (39 points) had a six-point game (4-2-6) against Waterloo Nov. 6 .. has also had two four-point games and three three-point games as of Christmas.

Anthony Hamburg (Min), C, Omaha Lancers

Budding playmaking center with a little size (6-foot-1, 190) .. has generally been Omaha's third-line center on a deep team .. has decent cruising speed with the puck, but lacks acceleration .. able to protect the puck well with swivels .. swivels can be quite quick .. able to make some tight turns .. can get well out on his edges for some powerful stops .. heads-up stickhandler who can assess his options .. a playmaker off the half boards .. uses Gretzky circles high in the offensive zone or even when regrouping .. has strong offensive vision and can find teammates through traffic and thread the pass on the tape .. dangerous with the centering passes .. has good poise with the puck and will quickly abuse an opponent who makes a mistake and then make a play .. able to execute some nice lateral stickhandling maneuvers, which help him along the boards .. spots his options clear across the ice and utilizes his defensemen at the point often .. has a hard, crisp wristshot .. able to get off a hard slapper with a quick wind-up .. finishes his checks on the forecheck and can do so with some force, but isn't considered a big hitter .. despite playmaking prowess, he isn't a regular on the Omaha powerplay yet .. would likely put up impressive numbers if he were to return to the USHL in 2010-11, but the Wild would lose his rights if he doesn't become a full-time student (unless they tender him a bona fide offer) .. committed to Colgate .. as of the Christmas Break, he had 2 goals and 9 assists in 24 games .. had a five-game pointless streak Nov. 21 through Dec. 11 .. has had three two-assist games as of Christmas.

Joseph Lavin (Chi), D, Omaha Lancers

Candidate for USHL Defenseman of the Year before leaving for Notre Dame in mid-December, when he became eligible a year after leaving Providence College .. solid defensively .. maintains a wide base backwards, minimizes crossovers, and has good lateral mobility to angle opponents to the boards .. has some size at 6-foot-3, 200 pounds, and plays with some physicality .. able to build impressive speed with the puck and will skate it into the zone and drive the net himself from time to time .. able to make tight turns to spin away from forecheckers in his defensive zone .. makes hard, crisp, accurate breakout passes .. passing game is generally pro-caliber .. makes smooth, hard d-to-d passes when transitioning the puck .. quarterback on the powerplay and distributed the puck well at the top of the umbrella thanks to his strong offensive vision .. also displays his offensive vision on the attack to catch forwards with smooth passes .. able to execute some nice one-touch passes .. has a nice wristshot that he can keep low .. able to unleash some one-timer bombs and keep them low and on net .. does a good job of reading when opposing wingers are "sleeping" and will pinch in from the boards and intercept the breakout pass along the boards or level them if he can't get there fast enough to take the puck .. brought a lot of experience to the Omaha blueline and was their number one defenseman .. hard to imagine Lavin not at least playing in the AHL someday .. should be a good two-way defenseman at the pro level .. when he left the team for Notre Dame, he had 5 goals and 12 assists in 24 games.

Seth Ambroz (2011), RW, Omaha Lancers

Omnipresent around the opponent's net .. 6-foot-3, 210-pound power forward is difficult to move out from around the net and scores most of his goals only a few feet from the net .. drives the net without the puck, sets screens, knocks in rebounds, or takes passes at the backdoor .. does have a very hard wristshot and a hard, crisp slapper .. able to build decent speed with the puck, but still has very little acceleration with the puck .. heavy-footed with the puck, but actually shows a little first-step quickness and quick footwork on the penalty kill .. also shows a little jump in his "step" on the backcheck .. is a regular on both the powerplay and the penalty kill .. puts in a good effort on the forecheck, particularly on the penalty kill .. finishes his checks on the forecheck and makes an open-ice hit now and then, too .. still needs to improve his skating, particularly his explosiveness and top speed, but is very effective around the net and has complemented Erik Haula and Matt White well .. hasn't improved as much from last season, though .. committed to Minnesota .. as of the Christmas Break, he had 10 goals and 11 assists in 24 games.

John Keeney (2011), G, Omaha Lancers

Added to the roster Dec. 7 and impressed in his first start .. able to go down and up quickly and maintains a compact butterfly .. keeps his angles and takes a lot of pucks to the chest, allowing no rebound .. active in tracking the puck and able to stay in a ready stance .. executes quick pad slides in his crease .. able to go down, up, and over in one smooth motion .. able to load up on one leg and get across the crease quickly .. maintains his poise with the play collapsing in on him or in scrums around the net, which allows him to make a lot of key saves .. does a good job of kicking rebounds into the corners on his pad saves .. at 6-foot-1, 170 pounds, he has a frame to gain NHL consideration for the 2011 NHL Entry Draft .. plays a solid technical game and appears to have the athletic base for success, judging by his quick crease movements .. is on the Kamloops Blazers' protected list, and he definitely appears to be of Michael Houser caliber and a threat to jump to major juniors for his draft year .. no college commitment of yet .. in his one game of USHL action he earned the victory, gave up two goals, and made 15 saves on 17 shots .. played midget majors for the LA Selects prior to coming to Omaha and had played 732 minutes in 16 Tier 1 Elite League games and had a 1-9-3 record, 0 shutouts, a 4.20 G.AA, and a .872 save percentage, which doesn't reflect his talent whatsoever.

Tyler Lapic (2010), RW/LW, Omaha Lancers

Traded to Des Moines Dec. 28 for defenseman Austin Handley .. with Omaha, he was a healthy scratch for a number of games, but certainly a USHL-caliber player .. has good speed and decent stride extension .. has good cruising speed with the puck and can drive wide .. has some quickness to get to loose pucks or to adjust for passes that are a bit off target .. displays good poise and patience with the puck, which allows him to set-up teammates with plays or protect the puck along the boards .. 6-foot-1, 185-pounder has good reach and uses it to corral passes that are slightly off target .. puts in a good effort down low in his offensive zone and off of faceoffs .. should be a regular in the Des Moines lineup and has a real potential to become a top-nine forward for the Bucs if he gels with the right players .. committed to Wisconsin .. as of the Christmas Break, he had 1 goal and 6 assists in 15 games .. no points in his first 5 USHL games, but scored 7 points in 9 games from Nov. 6 through Dec. 12.

2010 Draft Grade: D+/D (Long shot to extreme long shot)