U18 Report: Slovakia Part 3

Performance reviews and scouting reports on Team Slovakia from the Under-18 Four Nations tournament in Slovakia.

Other Players

Marek Simko (2006), G

U18 4N Review: faced the heaviest workload from all tournament goaltenders .. finished fifth among tournament goalies in save percentage (.9142) and fourth in goals-against-average (2.25) .. held the Slovaks in the game against the Czech Republic with an above-average performance .. took advantage of his quickness and athleticism, and was tough to beat on the initial shot .. not as convincing in the second contest against Germany .. let in a pair of soft goals though his five-hole and displayed shaky orientation in the crease .. replaced by backup Tomas Hiadlovsky in the third period .. bounced back with a solid showing against Russia, tested by several quality chances .. demonstrated impressive patience against the lethal Russian shooters - none of the goals he allowed were his fault .. lack of size hurts his pro potential .. played a rollercoaster tournament.

Scouting: smallish in stature .. plays more of a butterfly style .. a quick skater with fast side-to-side movements .. shows adequate lateral agility .. quick to recover after dropping to a butterfly .. doesn't cover much net however due to his size .. goes down early and relies heavily on his quickness and athleticism to make unorthodox saves .. should learn how to stay up for an extra moment to cover the upper shelf more effectively .. solid leg quickness .. challenges the shooter .. above-average dexterity .. tough to beat on the initial shot, but lets the odd goal in through his five-hole .. could upgrade on his handling of rebounds .. solid reflexes, fast glove hand .. tends to be speculative and wild at times .. must continue to work on his fundamentals and game-reading abilities .. also needs to refine his stickhandling as he doesn't handle the puck much.

Tomas Hiadlovsky (2007), G

U18 4N Review: did not allow any goals during his one period of action .. replaced starter Marek Simko late in the second game against Germany .. looked poised and confident .. often played the puck and distributed accurate passes to his defensemen .. worth watching closely as a potential sleeper for the 2007 NHL Draft.

Scouting: a mid-sized goaltender who plays a mix of butterfly and standup styles .. doesn't leave many gaps in his stance .. blessed with acceptable skating skills and movement in the crease .. decent when moving side-to-side, okay footspeed .. could still be smoother when moving laterally .. his good flexibility and dexterity enable him to handle most rebounds well .. shows solid poise and confidence .. possesses decent fundamentals and reflexes, and an ability to stay square to the shooter .. doesn't flop around too much .. tough to beat on the initial shot .. solid orientation in the crease, plays his angles efficiently .. adequately fast glove hand .. anticipates developing plays fairly well .. willing to play the puck often .. a solid stickhandler who can distribute accurate passes to his defensemen .. a late '88-born goaltender.

Adam Bena (2006), D

U18 4N Review: made a bright start in the opener against the Czech Republic, impressing with his quick puck moves and tenacity although was inconsistent from shift to shift .. played bigger than his size, holding his own adequately well .. displayed his solid skating skills and mobility in the second game against Germany, but failed to generate offensive chances for the forwards .. only a limited factor on powerplay units .. failed to improve on his performance in the third contest against Russia .. plays a tenacious style on occasion, while fading physically on other shifts .. took on a more conservative defensive role at this event, even though more offense was expected from the smallish two-way defenseman.

Scouting: a solid skater with an effective stride and decent bursts of speed .. good agility and lateral movement .. adequate lower-body strength and balance .. difficult to outskate .. compensates for his severe size deficiency with his smarts and fearless approach .. decent stickhandling skills and hand-eye coordination .. possesses offensive flair and vision, shows good awareness of his teammates .. capable of delivering crisp accurate outlet passes .. creativity is inconsistent .. can maintain possession of the puck in traffic .. uses his body smartly and isn't afraid to play physical along the boards, but still gets run over by bigger opponents .. adequate pinching .. should stay with his man all the way .. boasts a hard slapshot though accuracy is an issue .. useful as a powerplay quarterback .. needs to upgrade on his consistency .. a right-shooting defenseman.

Marek Biro (2006), D

U18 4N Review: plagued all tournament by a lack of hockey sense .. paired alongside offensive-minded Adam Bena, however could not find a way to be useful as a defensive anchor .. conscientious in his own end during the opener against Czech Republic, however was a non-factor when supporting the offense .. hardly noticeable against Germany, and continued his downward spiral in the third game vs Russia .. kept plays simple and focused on defense, however still got burned in one-on-one situations .. prone to erratic decisions with the puck .. his stock keeps sliding after another unimpressive showing.

Scouting: an average skater .. needs to develop a smoother stride and bigger bursts of speed .. gets beaten on turns and when asked to move laterally .. decent balance and lower-body strength .. gets caught flat-footed and needs to keep his feet moving during shifts .. average puckhandler .. struggles when having to deal with difficult passes to his backhand .. at his best when playing a simple game with the puck .. can utilize his size to advantage and is willing to throw the occasional hit .. decent crease-clearer .. a solid force in his own zone with his reach .. should upgrade on his positional play in the defensive zone .. prone to mistakes on the offensive blueline and is ineffective on the power play as he lacks quarterbacking vision .. does possess a hard, accurate slapshot however and is making some progress as a pointman .. has upside as a conservative, stay-at-home defenseman as he lacks the hockey sense needed to emerge as a two-way force.

Michal Gazur (2006), D

U18 4N Review: delivered a defense-minded performance in the opener against the Czechs .. proved his skating limits him as a two-way player .. kept defensive gaffes to a minimum and held his own adequately well, but in general didn't impress .. played conscientious game against Germany .. punished the smaller German forwards adequately well using his solid size .. hesitant about joining the offense .. showed a lack of offensive vision in the third game against Russia .. left bigger gaps between him and the Russian forwards in order to keep them under control .. kept his shot from the point hidden .. needs to become a more physically intimidating presence and also upgrade his mobility as he couldn't hit the flashier Russian forwards.

Scouting: an adequate skater .. possesses average first-step quickness, decent agility and lateral movement .. could use a smoother stride and a better acceleration .. doesn't get knocked off his skates very often thanks to decent balance .. at his best when playing a defensive style .. needs to slow down when gaining possession of the puck .. lacks the offensive vision needed to contribute on attack effectively .. average stickhandling ability .. not the smoothest when controlling difficult passes .. must upgrade backhand passes .. keeps plays simple and doesn't panic under pressure .. adequately reliable in his own end and makes few positional mistakes .. works hard down low .. solid at breaking up passes with his stick .. decent crease-clearer, adequate hitter .. gets physically involved, though not regularly .. fires a hard shot from the point, but needs to learn how to get it through traffic more consistently .. a right-shooting defenseman.

Martin Burzik (2006), D

U18 4N Review: an average defense-minded showing in the opener against the Czech Republic .. proved that he is missing the required offensive vision to develop into a two-way force .. limited defensive gaffes and held his own adequately well .. repeated this performance in the second game against Germany .. used as a defensive specialist and powerplay pointman .. only marginally reliable defensively in the third game against Russia as he struggled to read the developing plays properly .. hampered by a lack of elite skating skills against the faster Russian forwards .. would benefit from developing a more physically intimidating presence in his own end .. didn't turn any heads at the tournament.

Scouting: just an adequate skater who doesn't impress with his agility and lateral movement .. could use faster acceleration and top speed .. solid balance and lower-body strength .. average stickhandling skills .. should learn to protect the puck better .. struggles handling backhand passes .. a defensive defenseman .. prone to puckmoving errors and will need to develop better offensive vision .. overlooks long passing lanes, though is an okay passer when distributing short distances .. fires a hard pointshot that lacks accuracy .. takes some dumb penalties when he refuses to use his size to advantage .. can be a decent force in corner battles and in front of the crease .. however, he isn't always involved physically and lacks a regular mean streak .. prone to the odd positional mistake .. gets overwhelmed by fast-paced games.

Martin Dulak (2007), D

U18 4N Review: registered an average showing in the opener against Czech Republic .. maintained a defensive style, aware of his limitations .. showed limited offensive ability and only average hockey sense .. battled problems with the faster Czech forwards .. sufficiently reliable in one-on-one situations against Germany .. displays a tendency to make erratic passes when pressed by opponents .. virtually a non-factor offensively during the third game against Russia, however did make use of his strength when battling in the corners .. played hard and determined every shift, though it wasn't enough to make up for limited talent.

Scouting: an average skater with a shorter stride .. occasionally gets beaten by quick opponents .. could use better lateral movement and acceleration .. solid balance and lower-body strength .. plays more of a stay-at-home style .. reliable in one-on-one situations .. gets overwhelmed when having to make quick decisions with the puck .. needs to upgrade on the timing and accuracy of his passes .. not the smoothest puckhandler and could also upgrade on his backhand passing .. works hard down low .. spots his man quickly .. willingly exhibits his mean streak in the corners, though not on a consistent basis .. decent crease-clearer .. tends to loose position when trying to initiate hits .. shooting abilities need work as well, doesn't shoot very often and his shots lack velocity .. a late '88-born defenseman.