WHL: Nick of Time

Blair Jones (2005), C, Red Deer

Industrious late 86-born forward has impressed with a productive start to the season (22-4-14-18), leading the Rebels in scoring .. confident and crafty; playmaking skill is his best quality .. slick puck handling skills and a good eye for his linemates .. knows what to do when the puck is on his stick; does not panic, making the smart play without hesitation .. nice fluid strides .. mostly plays the wing, but will take faceoffs; did several times on the pk .. gave the puck away on a weak clearing attempt at his own blueline on the pk .. played the point on the pp (with Phaneuf out of the lineup); unleashed hard, accurate wrist shots – one of which slipped in for a goal .. commanded the pp for the full two minutes on more than one occasion .. patrols the point with excellent poise and makes sharp, accurate feeds .. a quick pinch from the point led to a scoring chance .. lacks polish defensively and does not show the same kind of confidence with the puck in his own territory .. gets involved in scrums and uses his size in traffic situations .. a quality forward for day one of the upcoming draft, but does not possess the necessary explosiveness and pure finishing qualities to be considered as part of the elite clique.

Kris Russell (2005), D, Medicine Hat

Tiny, but hugely productive (20-8-8-16) point man is paired up with Cam Barker .. looks and plays larger than listed .. quick, agile and loves to pinch on the power play .. drives the net on the pp; excellent vision .. completely on the same page with Barker; they feed off each other instinctively .. what he lacks in physical punch he makes up in quickness, agility and soft hands .. needs to get thicker and respond better in high traffic areas .. knows his teammates very well; perfectly anticipates the location of the teammate before threading the needle with a deadly feed .. used his quickness to get behind a defender and screen the goalie .. impressive poise; never gives away precious space to opposition attackers .. a fixture on the powerplay.

Nicholas Drazenovic (2005), C, Prince George

Quick, crafty pivot does not accomplish enough in high-traffic areas .. excellent passer, good vision, effortlessly finds the open man .. agile and has good drive to the net .. good vision, quick feet and slippery moves .. in the defensive end he tends to try too hard and was overwhelmed physically, resulting in several ill-placed giveaways .. gets knocked off the puck too easily; does not get his way along the boards .. had an excellent scoring chance in the open slot but stickhandled himself out of a good opportunity .. missed a feed on a two-on-one that would have resulted in a shot at a yawning net .. fed the puck into the slot leading to a goal .. tried to stickhandle through two opposition players to break out of his own zone and was easily stood up .. made a weak pass down the middle on a three-on-two break, resulting in the breakup of the rush.

Ray Macias (2005), D, Kamloops

Raw forward/rearguard has been adjusting to life on the blueline, but despite his impressive pure offensive skills he is a long way from figuring it all out .. an excellent skater; agile with quick feet and laterally sound .. has moments of inexplicable brain cramps; there are situations where he has no idea what to do with the puck .. numerous times he tries to stickhandle through the entire opposing team in an effort to gain the offensive blueline only to have the puck stripped from him, resulting in an odd-man rush the other way .. physical game needs improvement; checks lack timing and the willingness to use his frame is not where it should be .. confidence has been down all season; he does not seem to have the requisite patience with the puck as the point man .. struggled to corral a key feed on the PP, at the blueline .. had a successful end-to-end rush when he sped by the opposition but let out a very weak shot on goal .. did not stick to a position for a long time and is now paying for it.

Paul Kurceba (2005), D, Red Deer

Solid, sturdy stay-at-home rearguard is an aggressive, intimidating pest .. a pk mainstay .. positionally raw and needs to move his feet quicker .. above-average overall speed; agility is good, but needs to think quicker .. charged with five minor penalties and twice with four minutes in the game .. needs to discipline himself better in scrums and when battling for the puck.