WHL: Price is Right

Carey Price returned from a successful Under-18 World Junior Cup overseas, where he helped Canada win Gold. We have notes on the Tri-City goalies as well as a number of other American' prospects from the recent Everett exhibition tournament.

Carey Price (2005), G

Talented young goalie was forced to stop a player on the first save of the game .. displays complete confidence in the way he handles himself .. comfortable out of the net and handling the puck .. swallowed up a point shot .. consistently plays very deep in the goal .. steers shots in to the corners .. quick feet allow him to be especially strong down low .. gave up a juicy rebound and was down and out as the opposition scored .. sprawled out and stacked the pads on a hard rushing forward .. communicates with his defense .. cat-like reflexes and recovers quickly when he goes down .. flashed the glove to rob a player late in a time game .. stands his ground tight to the post when a forward comes off the wing.

Clayton Stoner (Minnesota Wild), D

Feisty blueliner passed up a good chance to take the puck to the net .. ties up the man and is very adept at playing the one-on-one using a nice mix of speed and excellent positioning .. played on the powerplay .. delivered a nasty elbow to put his team down a man .. doesn't shy away from taking out even the toughest player with a stiff check .. received an undisciplined cross-checking penalty late in the game .. took a low percentage shot from a bad angle and missed the net by a foot or more .. elite speed and mobility .. has equal success with any style of game.

Joel Broda (2008), C

Blessed with nice size for a center that won't be eligible to be selected until 2008 for the NHL Entry Draft .. still needs to add some muscle to his slender frame .. appears to be out of his element at this level, at least at this stage in his young career .. made a nice to gain the zone .. picks up his man defensively, although does seem to be lost at times in his own zone.

Marcus Jonasen (New York Rangers), LW

Swedish winger might finally becoming in to his own as he was wearing the C for the Americans .. while in the slot he knocked home a terrific pass .. very mobile on the penalty-kill and has very good puck pursuit .. needs to use his deadly accurate “explode off the stick” wrist shot more often .. has good vision and does use it to find his teammates .. would benefit from adding some sandpaper to his game.

Matt Schneider (Calgary Flames), C

Massive Flames draftee bulled his way to the net and got a scoring chance, however, he lost the puck off his stick .. sneaky fast wrist shot, but not deadly .. played on the PP .. lacks an elite first step .. overall speed and mobility is adequate .. solid on his skates, which allows him to be able to win the battles in high traffic areas .. does have a long stride that assists him in keeping up with the play .. good hand-eye coordination .. not a very effective forechecker given his aforementioned mobility issues, yet he can throw a pretty decent body check when he gets the opportunity.

Juraj Gracik (Atlanta Thrashers), RW

Smooth skating Slovak has a heavy wrist shot .. played on the powerplay .. got out muscled fighting for the puck in the corner, however, he does show a willingness to compete .. drove hard to the goal and snuck a deflection through the wickets of the startled goaltender .. looks for the holes in the offensive zone .. will pay the price to make a play .. heavy-hitting Mitch Bartley delivered a bone crunching hit in open ice, but Gracik stayed on his feet as Bartley went down .. nice zip on his wrist shot .. superb vision and can really finesse the puck in high traffic areas to create scoring chances.

Aaron Boogaard (Minnesota Wild), RW

Rugged winger is blessed with a tremendous wrist shot and can pick the corners .. lacks elite first step acceleration and top end speed .. took an ill-timed slashing penalty .. strong on the puck .. hits with authority .. on the powerplay .. jumped on a loose puck at the side of the crease and made no mistake .. definitely knows how to throw’em as he manhandled a player in a fight and received an extra two for instigating to go along with a fighting major, 10 minute misconduct and an automatic game misconduct.

Brett Festerling (2005), D

Smooth skating rearguard wears the A for Tri-City .. excellent anticipation and acceleration .. quick feet and very mobile .. pinched in from the point looking for the pass .. will rush the puck when open ice presents itself .. displayed great intelligence on the powerplay by taking something off a low point shot so that the forward in front was able to capitalize on a scoring chance .. uses his superior mobility to avoid the forecheck .. communicates with not only his defensive partner, but the forwards as well .. lacks the strength to dominate physically .. has difficulties making plays at top speed .. stood a puck carrier up at the blue line with a decent body check.

Logan Stephenson (Phoenix Coyotes), D

Intimidating Coyote pick in the last NHL Entry Draft makes a smooth outlet pass .. on the PP .. smart crisp passer .. plays the body exceptionally well .. doesn’t get enough credit for his vision and offensive awareness .. uses the boards to clear the zone if no breakout pass presents itself .. pinched in from the point and created a quality scoring chance by moving the puck to the open point man .. has a bit of pop to his wrist shot .. stickhandles fairly well for a rugged type of defender and has the ability to rush with the puck, however, is generally better suited to allowing the Shawn Belle’s of the world to do that .. maintains excellent positional coverage on a one-on-one .. came all the way in on the forecheck to deliver a glass rattling body check behind the oppositions net .. makes forwards think twice about parking themselves in front of the Tri-City crease.

Shawn Belle (Dallas Stars), D

Massive frames blueliner and recent acquisition by the Stars courtesy of a trade with the St. Louis Blues .. has sizzling wheels and will jump in on the rush and even lead it when appropriate .. gets quality minutes on both special teams .. takes a hit to make a play, although given his size it must be like hitting a truck .. used his elite top end speed to get a long, partial breakaway, but his mediocre wrist shot was easily turned aside .. lacks a certain finesse around the net and should have more points given the opportunities his breakaway speed and superior strength allow him .. simply amazing jets, yet lacks elite vision .. got in a fight with J.D. Watt and landed a few good ones and won the decision.