The Next Phenom - Steven Anthony

The Dartmouth Subways are going to be in the spotlight again this year with another Phenom to add to their list. The Major Midget hockey team that resides in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia has produced some highly touted prospects in hockey from Olaf Kolzig, Sidney Crosby, and top prospect James Sheppard. Steven Anthony of Halifax is going to be playing for the Subways next year; he could be one of the most talked about prospects in hockey.

At this time, Steven Anthony is considered by some the heir to Sidney Crosby, and he has done nothing to tarnish his ranking so far. The comparisons are very somewhat similar stat wise so far, in Bantam at the age of 13 Steven Anthony scored 145 points and Sidney Crosby scored 200 points. With Anthony, already sporting a man's body being at 6'2 was recognized as a special player by Hockey Nova Scotia. He was granted the right to play in the Major Midget league as a double underager like Sidney Crosby. He chose instead the USA Prep route playing for Holderness Varsity; he was the youngest member on the team by two to three years. He finished with almost a point a game ratio establishing himself as a major contributor to the team at such a young age.

Not even ranked for the QMJHL draft until 2007 and the NHL draft in 2009, Anthony is being talked about as the 1st overall pick in the QMJHL draft. He could possibly give OHL mega star John Tavares a run for the top spot in 2009. Anthony displays a multitude of skill on the ice, a fast skater with good agility and acceleration who knows when to use different gears to beat his man. His puck skills are beyond his age as he is a very slick puck handler and works well to create room for himself and others.

Considering his age Anthony exhibits very astute hockey sense, and is skilful at reading plays and anticipating his teammates. This anticipation applies of when to speed the game up and slow the game down as well. He is a great passer who is able to get the puck to his man in all situations; Anthony is poise and patient with puck and consistently makes smart decisions. The young prospect makes plays most people would only dream about, and that is a special ability to have.

However, moving the puck is not Anthony's only forte as he is no slacker in the scoring department either. He has a strong slap shot when time allows and it can be overpowering at times, he uses his deceptive wrist shot through crowds. For the most part, he has soft hands around the net and the only obvious weakness is his accuracy needs a little more work. Never the less at 15 years old, he has time to improve and develop.

Possibly the most impressive part of Anthony's game is his ability to adapt to the game around him, when playing against kids his own age. He realizes currently his size and strength is a tremendous benefit; however, he will adapt to the play by using his hockey IQ and tempo.

Aside from being one of the top 1991 born hockey players in the world, Anthony is also an established baseball player as well. Their has been talk about having the talent to go pro at ball, and this just shows everyone his all around impressive athletic ability.

By this time next year, Anthony might not be such a stranger on the hockey scene and his name could be bandy about the water cooler. His agreement to play with the heralded Dartmouth Subways is going to create a lot of hockey buzz in the Maritimes, which has become a booming hockey producer.

With his ability to put up ungodly stats next year and dominant the league, he is going to be closely watched and he should not be one to ignore. So remember this name, as he might be a player you might want to follow next year.

You will be able to follow his progress next year at subwayhockey.