WHL: Durand Durand

Clayton Barthel (2004), D

The big blueliner’s wrist shot has some zip .. moves the puck well, but doesn’t possess much offensive upside as he tends to be much more concerned about his own end .. very quick backwards skater .. has a high panic threshold .. can throw’em really well as he took on one of the tougher middle weights on the opposition and won a clear decision .. gets what amounts to second unit powerplay time .. he blasted a low, accurate slap shot from the point which created a dangerous rebound .. moves the puck quickly .. hit one of his own teammates in front of the net with a hard point shot that shook the player up .. solid on his feet .. doesn’t hesitate going behind the net to retrieve the puck even with knowing he’s going to get hit .. makes sure he clears the zone on the penalty kill by shooting it high and hard off the boards .. intercepted a pass that would have led to a breakaway .. although he isn’t a speedster, he doesn’t get beat wide very often as he is smart about using angles to force guys to the outside where he can rub them out along the wall .. was stripped in the slot for the OT goal.

Aaron Gagnon (2004), C

Won a faceoff cleanly in the offensive zone and got the puck to his winger who put it home from the slot .. on the powerplay and penalty-kill .. tends to react to the play instead of initiating it .. fairly skilled on the draw .. has an active stick on the PK to close down passing lanes .. has the speed to cut down time and space on the forecheck .. although he’s rather small he is effective when he does play the body .. Yeoman work on the penalty-kill .. dependable late in the game by keeping it simple and instead of trying to rush the puck out of his own end he would bang it off the boards.

Denis Tolpeko (2004), C

Crisp accurate wrist shot .. got knocked off his feet .. took a boarding penalty that ignited a couple of fights as well as a bunch of other pims .. didn’t see much ice after he returned from serving his penalties .. needs to take better advantage of his superior speed.

Chris Durand (2005), C

Early favorite to be selected in the first round of the 2005 NHL Entry Draft .. pucks explode off his stick .. excellent vision .. puts the pass right on the tape .. a regular on both special teams .. after the first few powerplays he played the point and didn’t look at all out of place .. played on a line with Dustin Johner & Tyler Metcalfe .. goes to the high traffic areas to make play .. stickhandled through traffic and had an excellent scoring chance .. more poised than most players 2-3 years older .. fought fellow 05’er Gilbert Brule to a draw .. Durand is not overly physical, but he does compete .. excellent in the faceoff circle .. worked hard on the backcheck and forced a turnover .. on the ice on the first shift of OT.