Sova Munching Major Minutes in Waterloo

Waterloo's Dan Sova made his mark in 2008-09 as the USHL's fiercest competitor around his own net, playing in a way that'd make Chris Pronger proud, and by putting up a respectable 28 points in 55 games as Waterloo's third or fourth defenseman most nights. In 2009-10, Sova is the Black Hawks' number one defenseman, and it's not uncommon to see him approaching 30 minutes a game, seemingly out every other shift. At the halfway point of 2009-10, Sova was second among Waterloo defensemen in points with 4 goals and 13 assists (behind Zach Palmquist's 6 goals and 14 assists in 23 games) and had a plus-12 rating on a losing team while matching up against the opponent's top players (and everybody else, given his icetime) night-in and night-out. Sova might not be the prettiest player to watch, given some of his skating flaws, but he gets the job done and provides a lot of size, character, and leadership, making him someone for NHL teams to consider in the late rounds for the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.

McKeen's correspondent Kevin Wey was able to catch the Waterloo Black Hawks three times during the first half of the regular season and enters notes on Dan Sova, Blake Thompson, the 2011-eligible Cody Von Rueden, the 2012-eligible Nick Ebert, goaltender C.J. Motte, and a couple other prospects of notes who received looks with the Black Hawks.

Daniel Sova (2010), D, Waterloo Black Hawks

Isn't always the prettiest to watch, but he gets the job done .. still an upright skater .. upright accelerating with the puck, skating back for the puck, in turns, laterally, and oftentimes backwards .. lets his gaps shrink and engages physically near the blueline .. can be overwhelmed with significant speed bursts .. not as physical in his defensive zone as he was last season, but is now receiving significant icetime and just can't play that way 30-plus minutes a games .. makes some nice passes, but breakout passes are sometimes a bit off the mark .. communicates with his various d-partners in his defensive zone and takes a leadership role in that way .. has excellent size at 6-foot-4, 230 pounds and throws some opponents around like rag dolls in fights .. very similar to AHLer Dan Jancevski in terms of getting the job done despite skating deficiencies and in terms of leadership and character, but brings a strong fighting component, too .. if Michael Sdao is selected in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, there's a chance Dan Sova goes in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft .. committed to Michigan Tech .. as of the halfway point, he had 4 goals and 13 assists in 30 games .. had 1 assists in the first 12 games of the season and an 11-game pointless streak after opening night .. had 4 goals and 10 assists in 12 games prior to the Christmas Break.

2010 Draft Grade: C- (Possible pick)

Blake Thompson (2010), D, Waterloo Black Hawks

Significant improvement since last season, but still has room for improvement .. gets low backwards, maintains a wide base, and reduces crossovers .. can angle opponents into the boards, but sometimes loses his angle or gives the opponent way too much respect and backs in .. able to rub opponents out with some force when he does .. able to fire some hard passes, but accuracy needs improvement .. has a fairly hard wristshot that he keeps low and gets on net .. has a quick snapshot, too .. able to quickly take the puck off the boards .. does a decent job of stickhandling with his head up .. in his forward skating, he occasionally gets an odd vertical motion that makes his skating akin to running, but this isn't the norm .. has good size at 6-foot-3, 218 pounds .. closer to an extreme long shot for the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, but he's made some progress since 2008-09, when he was vastly overrated by CSS .. no college commitment of yet .. as of the halfway point, he had 1 goal and 1 assists in 29 games .. was on an 11-game pointless streak heading into the Christmas Break.

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

Cody VonRueden (2011), D, Waterloo Black Hawks

Needs more speed .. consistently gets very low backwards, putting him in a power position, but he's slow and can be beaten wide by opponents at far less than full speed .. gets a bit upright accelerating backwards, but then gets very low .. low stance gives him fair reach for poke checks despite average size (6-foot-0, 190 pounds) .. lacks quickness into the corners .. low skating stance forward, too, but not particularly fast or quick .. a little awkward in his crossovers regrouping with the puck .. is often doing what he should be doing, just needs more speed and explosiveness to do it well in the USHL .. no college commitment of yet .. as of the halfway point, he had 3 assists in 8 games, playing six games between Nov. 20 and Dec. 4 and two more Jan. 9 and 10 .. playing midget major for the Chicago Young Americans and had 1 goal and 4 assists in 24 Tier 1 Elite League games .. played midget major for CYA in 2008-09 and scored 4 goals and 9 assists in 45 Tier 1 Elite League games.

Nick Ebert (2012), D, Waterloo Black Hawks

Playing with less offensive flash that in early preseason, but is solidifying his game.. skating is still impressive .. has a smooth stride with good extension .. efficiency of his stride makes him look lazy at times, but his speed becomes apparent in races to pucks .. has a wide skating stance .. makes very smooth pivots and swivels .. has hovercraft lateral mobility on its way to equaling John Moore .. engages physically and can rub opponents out along the half boards, including some of the USHL's best .. seems to raise his game a little bit when one-on-one against the best, but will play down to opponent's level at times .. plays with some physicality down low .. able to make hip checks and can really swivel into them .. makes crisp, accurate passes .. still has a lot of confidence with the puck at the USHL level, particularly for a 15-year-old, but isn't skating it for long distances as much .. has a quick release for his shots form the point, be it a wrister, slapper, or snapper .. all shots in his arsenal are crisp and reasonably hard, most especially for his age .. started the season with Dan Sova, but is now playing some with Zach Palmquist and is being relied on to provide some of the size and defense to that pairing .. good development year to help make Ebert a good two-way defenseman in 2010-11 and to have a solid defensive base when he again works on becoming a high-end offensive defenseman, likely in his draft year .. very possible that the U.S. National Team Development Program will go after Ebert, and Ebert is fair game (as is Brady Vail) .. no college commitment of yet .. as of the halfway point, he had 4 goals and 7 assists in 26 games .. missed four games in November due to a minor ankle injury .. scored 5 points in first 5 games after returning from the ankle injury .. had a six-game pointless streak Dec. 4 through Dec. 18.

C.J. Motte (2010), G, Waterloo Black Hawks

Fairly solid netminder .. does a very good job of actively tracking the puck and is adept at seeing the puck through traffic .. stays calm tracking the puck and on dangerous scoring chances .. does a good job of directing pad saves into the corners .. calm with his rebounds, covering them fairly quickly or sticking them away .. a decent puckhandler .. does a good job of stopping dumped pucks with his paddle in front of the goal line and can spring forwards for breakaways with a long pass .. has a little quickness in his crease, but not elite quickness .. able to direct blocker saves into the corner .. has a good glove hand and can make some calm but big glove saves .. can spread out for big splits saves and such when necessary .. generally stays square to the puck, since he tracks it so well .. will put trailing pad down when along the post, but does need to make sure that his other pad really is hugging the post .. not a big goalie at 6-foot-0, 190 pounds, but not small, either .. a long shot for the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, but is having a respectable rookie USHL season .. no college commitment of yet .. as of the halfway point, he had played 1152:20 min over 22 games, had a 9-11-0 record, 2 shutouts, a 3.80 G.AA, and a .885 SvP .. won four straight games Nov. 21 through Nov. 28.

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

Steve Racine (2010), G, Lincoln Stars/Waterloo Black Hawks

Traded from Lincoln to Waterloo Nov. 6 but battled a nagging injury he first suffered Nov. 7 during his shutout .. when he's on his game, he's very good .. able to make smooth, quick, and composed pad slides in his crease .. really able to butterfly his legs out, both in pad slides and in dropping into butterfly .. able to go down, across, and up in one smooth motion .. has good extension to his kick saves .. has good size at 6-foot-2, 180 pounds .. hopefully he can rebound in the EJHL and re-establish himself after being ranked in CSS's Top 30 amongst North American goalies last year .. no college commitment of yet .. played 97:43 min over two games for Lincoln with a record of 0-1-0, 0 shutouts, a 4.30 G.AA, and a .863 SvP .. played 185:58 min over 5 games for Waterloo and had a 2-1-0 record, 1 shutout, a 3.87 G.AA, and a .870 SvP before being traded to the St. Louis Bandits of the NAHL Dec. 15 .. has actually landed with the Jersey Hitmen of the EJHL and gave up one goal on 25 shots in his lone EJHL game, a win, as of Jan. 11.

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

Danill Tarasov (2010), LW, Free Agent

Russian impressed some in lone viewing, but wasn't picked up by the Black Hawks as an import .. has powerful strides and good speed .. has nice cruising speed with the puck .. gets a little upright under acceleration, but his acceleration is pretty good all the same .. smooth stickhandler who can make some fancy moves .. needs to make sure not to reduce his own angle too much, though .. able to make some nice feeds thanks to his offensive awareness .. has a hard wristshot .. 6-foot-0, 170-pounder will engage physically going for the puck and has a little power doing so .. certainly USHL caliber, but Waterloo decided to pass, most likely because the Black Hawks' troubles aren't rooted at forward, top-six or otherwise .. was ranked 168th amongst European skaters by CSS for 2009 NHL Entry Draft .. signed training camp agreement with the IHL's Dayton Gems to start the season but was cut .. no college commitment .. played two games for Waterloo Nov. 6 and 7 and went without a point before being released.