USHL: Hjelle Rising

The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders are once again one of the top teams in the USHL's East Division. The RoughRiders young goaltender Brady Hjelle, looks to be draft worthy at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft and the team also boasts considerable young talent on the blueline, headlined by 2008-eligible Matt Donovan and 2009-eligible Paul Phillips. McKeen's correspondent Kevin Wey files this report on several RoughRiders.

Brady Hjelle (2008), G, Cedar Rapids

Next Cedar Rapids Roughriders' goalie in line to be drafted .. is quick with his pads and can go down and up quickly .. displays a strong push off with his legs while pads are on the ice - especially after being in the butterfly.. has a quick glove hand .. demonstrated flexibility with some impressive splits saves .. very good first-save goalie that will stop almost everything he sees .. active in making sure he can track the puck .. controls his rebounds well by letting the puck hit him in the chest or redirecting them into the corners, or covering them quickly .. puckhandling is inconsistent, but seemed to improve as he gained rhythm as the game went on .. played for Team USA at the World Junior A Challenge.

Matt Donovan (2008), D, Cedar Rapids

Strong two-way defenseman .. accurate in his outlet passing .. moves the puck well on the powerplay and is intelligent in knowing when to pinch low on the powerplay .. has good agility with or without the puck .. has good backward acceleration and power to enable him to maintain a short gap .. able to play the physical game and will drop the gloves, too .. blocks shots regularly, does so while standing, and has the toughness to take them in the foot and keep playing .. must work on ensuring he maintains position and is not beaten out of the corner or along the boards.

Chris Wideman (2008), D, Cedar Rapids

Smaller puckmoving defenseman .. moves the puck well on the powerplay and has an impressive pointshot .. demonstrated good agility when handling the puck and was able to walk the blueline with the puck with ease .. does not shy away from the physical game, but was more effective with pokechecks and intercepting passes by the reading the play .. must work on not getting beat out of the corner.

Garrett Vermeersch (2008), RW, Cedar Rapids

Was not on Central Scouting's "Players to Watch" list, but is on this scout's list .. shows good speed with the puck down the alley through the neutral zone and into the offensive zone .. able to shoot the puck well while in stride .. good speed and hustle on the forecheck, which allows him to create some turnovers .. finishes his checks .. also hustles on the backcheck .. could end up the type of USHLer who goes undrafted his first year of eligibility but gains some notice in his second season, assuming he plays two years of USHL hockey .. hoping to see improvements in his ability to finish or create plays on the chances he creates, which should help his team-worst plus/minus rating .. poor statistics after the team's 10-game mark (7-1-0-1, -4) belie what he could be by the end of the season or what he could be next season.

Bryce Aneloski (2008), D, Cedar Rapids

Did not have a good showing on this weekend .. showed decent passing at the Fall Classic, but nearly all of his outlet passes were off the mark on this weekend and many were not even close to crisp .. was consistently beaten wide with speed by a number of forwards on the opposing teams .. beaten regularly in one-on-one battles down low and played smaller than his size .. lost position too often while defending around his net .. was a bit slow when skating forward with the puck and did not demonstrate the power one would hope to see out of a 6-foot-2, 200-pound defenseman and skates a bit upright.

Paul Phillips (2009), D, Cedar Rapids

USHL teams could only wish all their defensemen battled this hard .. plays a physical game down low and already wins his share of battles as a 16-year-old .. stood up a few opponents over this weekend and leveled a couple more that got too cozy around the net .. absolutely refused to allow Chicago forward Andy Miele (one of the league's top scorers) to get to a loose puck in a battle behind and along the net, which a teammate picked up and broke out .. is not a developed offensive defenseman, but showed decent outlet passing, a good pointshot, and almost scored pinching on a drop pass from Tyler Thompson .. looked a bit awkward moving laterally with the puck .. does well to play a physical game but still avoids penalties.

Tyler Thompson (Undrafted), LW, Cedar Rapids

Second-year USHLer is leading Cedar Rapids in scoring after 10 games with six goals and seven assists .. shows good speed and power most of the time, but his stride is still short and choppy .. typically shows good hustle on the forecheck and the backcheck and finishes his checks, sometimes with authority .. shows a willingness to play the physical game and will drop the gloves to stand up for himself or teammates .. could probably be very fast if he had a complete stride.