USHL: Eddy Flowing Past Obstacles

Sioux Falls Stampede right-winger and California native David Eddy was out of high-level organized hockey in seventh, eighth, and ninth grade. It flat out became too expensive. His family moved to Minnesota in the middle of his ninth-grade year and, despite having not played highly competitive hockey for three years, Eddy went on to lead Woodbury High School to levels of success the school had never seen. He also earned numerous personal accolades his junior and senior seasons from the Minnesota press and was given a scholarship from St. Cloud State University. Overcoming obstacles that would have stopped many, now Eddy can lay claim to being a member of the USHL All-Rookie Team after an impressive 2008-09 and a potential late-round pick for the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.

McKeen's correspondent Kevin Wey was able to catch the Sioux Falls Stampede late in the regular season and once in the playoffs and enters notes on several players. David Eddy (pictured), an improving Sean Escobedo, an emerging Clay Witt, and a few other Stampede prospects are featured.

David Eddy (2009), RW, Sioux Falls

Three seasons after having been out of high-level organized hockey, Eddy has some USHL hardware at the end of 2008-09 .. offensive awareness saw him placed at the left point on Sioux Falls' first powerplay unit .. distributes the puck well from the point and on the rush .. makes crisp, accurate passes .. has good cruising speed with the puck .. demonstrates presence with the puck, on one occasion hoping over an opponent sliding to block his pass or shot and then continuing toward the net .. utilizes a coasting swivel in the neutral zone to protect the puck now and again .. puts in a decent effort on the forecheck and the backcheck .. plays on the penalty kill .. aside from presence with the puck, isn't amazing at anything, but is pretty solid at most aspects .. will need more speed for higher levels, and will need to fill out his 5-foot-11, 174-pound frame .. worth consideration as a late-round pick in 2009 NHL Entry Draft .. a late 1989 DOB with only two years of draft eligibility .. played for Team Reebok (West) at USHL Prospects/All-Star Game and was named Team Reebok MVP for the game .. named to USHL All-Rookie Team .. finished regular season with 21 goals and 35 assists in 60 games, 18th in USHL scoring .. injured in first game of the playoffs, did not return that game, and missed the next game .. finished the playoffs with 0 goals and 2 assists in 3 games .. committed to St. Cloud State for 2009-10. Click the link for a recent interview with David Eddy

Sean Escobedo (2009), D, Sioux Falls

Finished the season strong and received significant icetime as Sioux Falls' number two defenseman .. displayed good poise with the puck .. doesn't panic when pressured .. heads-up stickhandler able to assess his options on the breakout, through the neutral zone, or into the attack zone .. passing is slightly inconsistent .. makes crisp, accurate passes at times, and at other times his passes have a bit of wobble or are slightly off the mark .. has decent speed with the puck .. able to execute switchbacks to evade checks .. fairly strong defensively, too .. adept at angling opponents and rubbing them out along the boards .. lets his gaps close and engages near the blueline or has his angle set to do so by the blueline .. executes timely pokechecks, but does play the body .. also makes timely leg drags .. played on both the powerplay and the penalty kill .. isn't big by NHL standards at 6-foot-0, 189 pounds, but isn't too undersized, either .. worthy of late round selection due to his effective defensive play and his poise with the puck .. slated to return to Sioux Falls next season, and could be one of the better defensemen in the USHL in 2009-10 .. finished the regular season with 13 assists in 38 games for Sioux Falls and 4 assists in 21 games for Tri-City .. finished the playoffs with 0 goals and 1 assist in 4 games .. committed to Boston University for 2010-11.

Clay Witt (2009), G, Sioux Falls

Finally got a good viewing of Witt, and he was impressive .. stays calm in his net .. active in tracking the puck and staying square .. able to go down quickly and keeps his butterfly compact .. adept at hugging the post with one pad and keeping the trailing pad on the ice when the play is in the corner .. smooth pad slides across the crease .. does a good job of kicking leg-pad saves into the corners .. 6-foot-1, 196-pound goaltender pretty good about keeping an upright posture .. plays a technically sound game .. if a goalie from the USHL besides Mike Lee is taken in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, it should be Clay Witt .. finished the regular season with an 8-6-2 record, 1 shutout, a 2.99 G.AA, and a .911 save percentage in over 18 games .. finished the playoffs with a 1-1 record, a 2.49 G.AA, and a .935 save percentage in over 3 games (2 starts, 1 relief appearance) .. no college commitment of yet.

Blake Thompson (2009), D, Sioux Falls

Central Scouting has him ranked 76th amongst North American skaters, which is puzzling .. 6-foot-3, 209-pound blueliner has size, but has considerable work to do and didn't seem to improve much over the course of the season .. still displayed the lateral mobility that he displayed early in the season by being quick into the corners or off of faceoffs .. upright accelerating backwards and loses a lot of energy in vertical motion that could be applied to the ice through his blades .. lack of power accelerating backwards carries over to give him insufficient speed backwards .. can have the angle backwards but then loses it due to lack of speed .. is smooth backwards once he gets going, keeps a wide track .. stopping backward with the puck is awkward, without the puck is fairly smooth .. shows some glimpses of a bit of speed forward, but is often slow .. hands are suspect .. mishandles simple passes and passing game leaves you wondering .. shot from the point hasn't impressed either .. wristshot isn't real crisp and slapper is average .. does keep his slapper low .. in his defensive zone, he has a habit of chasing assignments up high and not releasing, taking himself out of position if the other team can quickly move the puck back down .. other Sioux Falls defensemen did not do this, so it was not a systems thing .. a real project player if an NHL team takes him in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft .. 2009-10 season would be a better indicator for his development/potential before being drafted .. finished the regular season with 1 goal and 0 assists in 53 games .. finished the playoffs with no points in 2 games .. no college commitment of yet.

Marcus Perrier (2009), D, Sioux Falls

Impressed at the Fall Classic, and was finally getting decent icetime at the end of the season .. impresses with his hockey skills .. makes smooth breakout passes on the tape .. also executes crisp point-to-point passes .. fairly smooth backwards and lets his gaps shrink .. plays with some physicality .. is almost too aggressive in terms of getting in fights and other skirmishes after the whistle .. would like to see him play hockey more and pick up penalty minutes in skirmishes less, because he's a reasonably skilled player that can contribute a lot more than just toughness .. 6-foot-0, 208-pounder is very stout .. fourth defenseman for Sioux Falls late in the season, but also took some shifts at forward if needed .. an extreme long shot to be taken in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, but is a candidate to go in his second year of eligibility .. finished the regular season with 1 goal and 6 assists in 48 games and a team-leading 128 penalty minutes .. finished the playoffs with 0 goals and 1 assist in 4 games .. no college commitment of yet.

Luke Greiner (2009), LW, Sioux Falls

Didn't put up the numbers one would have expected at the beginning of the season, but still had a decent year .. powerful stride with good speed .. has fairly powerful acceleration for impressive speed bursts .. only 5-foot-9, but a stout 200 pounds and uses that mass to drive the net or establish himself around the net, fend off checks, and make plays .. makes quick, crisp, accurate passes .. able to connect on some nice saucer passes .. played on the powerplay .. no real chance of being selected in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, but should have a decent college career .. finished the regular season with 17 goals and 22 assists in 59 games .. finished the playoffs with 1 goal and 0 assists in 4 games .. possibly playing for Harvard for 2009-10.

Victor Anilane (2009), LW, Sioux Falls

Started 2008-09 as one of the hot hands offensively in the USHL, but completely trailed off .. playing with more physicality than he started the season with .. finished his checks, with moderate success .. putting in a decent effort on the forecheck and backcheck .. offensive skills seems to have disappeared .. passing has become horrid and/or sloppy .. still showing some ability to protect the puck along the boards, but passes are off the make or intercepted .. doing a better job at trying to play at a higher pace more often and being more involved each shift, just hope he can find the offense again in college .. time will tell if 2008-09 was a growth year that pays off or if it was a year where Anilane was trying to be something he's not .. absolutely no chance Anilane is drafted in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, his final year of draft eligibility .. finished the regular season with 9 goals and 17 assists in 57 games .. finished the playoffs with no points in 4 games .. committed to Bemidji State for 2009-10.