WHL: Ryans Hope

If bloodlines count for anything then Ryan Reaves of the Brandon Wheat Kings should catch the interest of many a team in the NHL. Reaves is the son of Willard Reaves who ate up yardage during the 1980's as a member of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the CFL. Truth be told Ryan tends to dish out punishment than take it. This is our second of a two-part look at Brandon, we have scouting notes from a playoff game involving Reaves and fellow Wheat Kings' Codey Burki, Mark Louis, Tyler Plante and Steven Later.

Codey Burki (2006), C

Drove hard to the net and shows the necessary amount of fearlessness that it takes to score .. very effective when he keeps his feet moving on the forcheck .. centered a line of Sami Sandell and Jeff Topilko .. tried to carry the puck through center, but was stripped easily when he did a poor job protecting the puck .. displays nice puck pursuit .. got open in the slot and beat the goaltender low to the far corner with a perfectly placed shot .. played on the powerplay.

Ryan Reaves (2005), RW

Son of Willard Reaves, a former star runningback of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the Canadian Football League .. stood a puckcarrier straight up with a bone crunching hit in the neutral zone .. played on a line with Tyler Strautman and Cole Hunter .. extremely solid on his skates .. received a penalty due to a terrible lack of judgment when he delivered a late hit to a defenseless player in a scrum who didn't even have the puck .. must work on keeping his feet moving without the puck, especially in his own zone .. most effective when he is finishing his checks as he has the ability to punish puck carriers .. dished out a devastating bodycheck along the boards to help force a turnover .. appears to lack some mobility and doesn't always get much of a boost from his first few steps .. doesn't show much upside offensively.

Mark Louis (2005), D

Played the one on one very well, keeping the puck carrier to the outside .. partnered with Jonathan Webb .. displayed varying degrees of concentration in his own zone without puck .. was forced in to taking a crosschecking penalty after having some problems (lost positioning) near his crease .. was caught napping in his own zone as the pass beat him to the front of the net for a quality scoring chance .. has the ability to carry the puck and beat a player one-on-one .. very good straight ahead speed and has the strength to fend off checkers .. dished out a crisp, cross ice past to lead to a breakout.

Tyler Plante (2005), G

After giving up a rebound from a quick shot from the slot, he came across squarely to face the shooter on the rebound .. did a nice job swallowing up a shot with a ton of traffic around him .. was easily beater top corner and over his glove hand .. doesn't give up much down low, partly due to his proclivity to go down and stay down much longer than most .. must work on not only not going down so quickly, but as mentioned has a nasty habit of staying down .. made a wonderful save sliding side to side and kicking out a one timer .. at his best holding his shape as he comes across .. not unusual to see him playing without his stick as he seems to lose it more than many of his brethren.

Steven Later (tor), D

Recently signed to a minor league contract by the Toronto Maple Leafs .. large bodied defenseman isn't overly quick .. displays a nice degree of grit to this game .. has the confidence to rush with the puck .. not hesitant to drive towards the goal and even park himself in front .. handles the puck well .. not overly quick, although is still fairly confident carrying the puck .. seems to be a steadying influence on the back end .. sometimes holds on to the puck too long .. delivers a crisp breakout pass .. is at his best playing with a blend of grit and a patient two-way style of game .. doesn't get enough credit for his vision in the offensive zone.