WHL: A case of the Lammers

These are notes from a regular season game featuring the Lethbridge Hurricanes that include comments on John Lammers, who is likely to hear his name in the first few rounds at the upcoming 2004 NHL Entry Draft in Carolina.

Brent Seabrook, D, Lethbridge (Chi)

Wears the C .. tremendous hand-eye coordination .. versatile and can shift over and play either point .. very strong on his skates .. hard accurate wrist shot .. tried to stickhandle right up the middle and got his pocket picked .. lost the handle on the puck a number of times .. played a lot and in every situation especially killing penalties.

Kris Versteeg, RW, Lethbridge (2004)

Smart player .. tied up the center when he took a face off .. good skater .. needs to add some muscles as he got knocked down a lot .. let go a slap shot that was quick but didn’t have much behind it .. has good acceleration and overall speed .. played on the powerplay.

John Lammers, LW, Lethbridge (2004)

Has a tremendous first step, overall mobility as well as quickness .. finds the holes .. howitzer slapshot, almost seems to explode off his stick .. gets in fast on the forecheck to force the defense into turnovers .. solid on his skates .. willing to take a hit to make a play .. uses his body effectively .. moves the puck to the open man .. displays good imagination .. used in every situation and is a mainstay on both the PK and PP.

DJ King, LW, Lethbridge (StL)

Starter .. wears an A .. efficient skater, but not overly quick .. digs hard for loose pucks .. forechecks well.

Patrik Valcak, LW, Lethbridge (Bos)

Displays good closing speed on puck carrier .. on the pk and did get on very late during a powerplay .. doesn’t display much imagination with the puck .. uses an active stick to cut down the passing lanes .. goes to the net.

Michal Gulasi, D, Lethbridge (2004)

Communicates with his defensive partner .. plays the body effectively .. will jump up in to the rush when the opportunity presents itself .. fluid skater and very mobile .. takes the body .. on the pk.

Nick Tarnasky, RW, Lethbridge (TB)

Starter .. excellent speed and quickness .. generally makes the safe/smart play .. soft hands as proven by his ability to use the touch pass .. picks up the trailing forward .. great mobility .. works hard all over the ice .. patient stickhandler .. solid on his skates .. on the penalty kill.

Andy Thompson, D, Lethbridge (2004)

Starter .. wears an “A” .. on both specialty team units .. uses the boards effectively to clear the zone .. receives a lot of quality ice time .. moves the puck efficiently .. excellent slap shot .. doesn’t over handle the puck .. has average speed .. very well built and uses his size.

Ryan Cyr, G, Lethbridge (2004)

Started in net .. had little chance on the first two goals to get by him .. nice glove hand .. good down low .. has quick feet .. uses good puck management.