WHL: Durand Spreads Wings

Chris Durand plays with the kind of poise that is usually reserved for players that are 19 or 20, not a fresh faced center that just turned 18 in January. In the second part of our look at Seattle, we focus on undrafted players. We have scouting notes from a recent regular season game featuring Durand and a number of his fellow Thunderbirds.

Scott Jackson (2005), D

Might not have best wheels, however, he is more than capable of turning quickly and eluding the first forechecker .. solid on his skates and likes to stand guys up at the blue line .. plays the one-on-one effectively using a combination of strength and tenacity to hold the player at bay .. retrieved a dump in behind his net and displayed strength and surprising mobility easily fending off a speedy checker, while at the same time being able to lead a breakout .. crisp outlet pass to clear the zone .. very dependable keeping the puck from being chipped by him a the point .. played on the powerplay .. many scouts have questioned his skating, yet, he still can lead the rush and rarely loses the puck thanks to his ability to shield the puck and keep his feet moving on contact .. stood up a puck carrier with a stiff, perfectly timed body check near the Seattle' blue line.

Bretton Stamler (2005), D

Has good overall speed and mobility, however, doesn't overpower on his skates .. made a poor decision by trying to force a point shot through traffic .. was able to retrieve a loose puck in the corner scrum and create some space between himself and the checker as he went around the net, where he was able to deliver a smooth outlet pass .. played on both the PK and PP .. tried to pressure a forward in the high slot, but gave him too much room to get the puck by, eventually leading to a goal .. should eventually turn out to be a quality offensive defenseman at the junior level and with hard work may take it to the next level .. kind of a poor man's Brendan Mikkelson.

Chris Durand (2005), C

Centered an effective line of Ryan Gibbons and Denis Tolpeko .. not a blazing skater, but because he skates with purpose and has good mobility he is fairly effective on the forecheck .. takes the body .. uses an active stick to close passing lanes on the penalty-kill .. created a turnover at the point by pressuring the defender .. quite talented in the face-off circle and wins his fair share of draws .. plays a regular role on the penalty-kill and powerplay .. an extra gear would make him a top five pick, however, even without it, his elite vision and overall package should see him selected somewhere in the middle of the first round .. drove fearlessly to the net and knocked home a rebound.

Denis Tolpeko (2005), C

Speedy forward displays a willingness to take a hit to make a play .. listed as a center, but played left side on a line with Chris Durand and Ryan Gibbons .. uses his elite speed and mobility to get in quickly on the forecheck .. thanks to exceptional top speed he can even win the odd race to the puck on a well executed dump in .. must consistently play with urgency in his own end when he doesn't have the puck .. usually finishes his checks, although he rarely ever punishes anyone .. will have trouble making the step to the next level if he doesn't get stronger.

Bryan Bridges (2005), G

Doesn't hesitate to come well out of the net to play the puck .. steered most rebounds in to the corner .. needs to stay on his feet more as he leaves to much space high when he drops to his knees .. very agile and displays a terrific ability to recover once he goes down .. is the beneficiary of great defensive support and rarely has to face a quality second scoring chance .. his mediocre puck control ability could be construed as a knock against him come draft day .. has a tendency to play a bit too deep in his crease .. was scored on after he made the first stop by sliding across, but had taken himself out of position to stop the rebound.

George Holloway (2006), C

Listed as a center, but played the right side with Nate Thompson and Tyler Metcalfe .. supported the puck carrier and showed a willingness to drive hard to the net .. fired a shot on goal from a poor angle .. took a pass in the slot and shielded the puck as he drove in on goal for a scoring chance .. skated hard on the forecheck and leveled a defender with a stiff open ice body check .. doesn't have the strength to be overly effective in traffic yet, although he has shown improvement in this area .. keeps his head up while skating with the puck and uses his linemates well.

Mitch Fadden (2006), C

Smallish forward is blessed with terrific mobility and acceleration .. centered a fairly effective energy line of Yashar Farmanara and David Linsley .. uses his superior skating ability to get in quickly on the forecheck .. takes the body, but lacks the strength to punish .. iced the puck unnecessarily as there was enough room to get past center first .. will have to get stronger, but has most of the other attributes to become a quality player at the Junior level and with a growth spurt may challenge for a shot at being drafted.