WHL: Taylor Made

The Kootenay Ice have an embarrassment of riches in goal with the WJC Gold Medal winning Jeff Glass and the very capable Taylor Dakers backing him up to combine to create one of the top goaltending tandems in the WHL. We have notes from a recent regular season game featuring Dakers and many of his teammates.

Roman Polak (StL), D

Skilled Euro defenseman is making solid progress towards moving to the next level .. partnered with James Cherewyk .. did well to move the shooting lane at the point, however, still had his shot deflected wide .. won't force a breakout pass through traffic if knocking it off the wall is safer, yet does deliver a crisp and accurate pass when there's room to do so .. awesome positioning on a one-on-one and after disturbing the flow of the puck carrier he then took him completely out of the play with the body .. not a punishing hitter, although he knows how and is willing to effectively take the body .. stickhandles effortlessly and when combined with his skating prowess, can elude the forecheck and carry the puck up the ice .. deceptively strong on his skates and rarely gets knock off the puck .. finished a nice rush with an imaginative and well executed behind the back pass to an open teammate driving to the net for a scoring chance .. very smart about when to pinch in to the play .. plays on both special teams.

Ben Maxwell (2006), C

Promising rookie for the Ice centered a line of Brett Sutter and Martin Sagat .. uses his superior speed and mobility to cut down time and space on the forecheck .. takes the body and doesn't shy away from traffic, but lacks the strength to punish larger opponents .. does an effective job of holding up the other center .. works hard on the back check and doesn't short change the team in his own zone .. skilled stickhandler in traffic and doesn't stop skating on contact .. only needs to get stronger as he is on the cusp of becoming a dominant WHL player and should be a threat to get drafted early in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.

Adam Cracknell (Cgy), RW

Effective two-way winger played on a line with Adam Taylor and Ryan Russell .. uses his body to protect the puck .. comes back to support the defense and is very conscientious defensively .. plays in traffic and will take a hit to make a play .. got some extra shifts with the fourth line .. not a devastating hitter, however, he can be counted on to finish all his checks .. takes the pass well and usually creates an outlet for the defense to use to clear the zone .. snuck in behind the defensive coverage and back handed home a rebound in to the yawning cage .. delivered a cross ice pass crisply and on the tape to a linemate that was getting in to the clear .. came back and maintained position on his check to help negate an odd man rush .. displayed imaginative stickhandling by pulling the puck in close and going around a defender and getting a scoring chance .. plays in all situations, including both the powerplay and penalty-kill.

Ryan Russell (2005), LW

Pint-sized center, played the wing on a line with Adam Taylor and Adam Cracknell .. comes back all the way to support the defense .. gets out muscled often and is easily bodied off the puck .. not very effective in traffic and lacks much sandpaper to his game .. generally is conscientious defensively .. displays good puck pursuit .. was slow to get up after receiving a devastating hit in open ice .. takes the pass well and has the hands and poise to make a play after he gets it .. played on the powerplay .. will be a long shot to hear his name called at the Draft.

Chad Greenan (2006), D

First year defender isn't Draft eligible until next season thanks to a late 87 birthday .. didn't show a lot of imagination when he carried the puck out of his zone, in fact, he rarely hung on to the puck much more than a couple of strides or any longer than he had to .. although his overall skating doesn't standout he appears to be a smooth skater, with decent mobility .. tried to force a breakout pass through traffic and had it intercepted and turned in to a quality scoring chance .. at this stage in his development is most successful when he keeps his game very simple .. must work on being more proactive without the puck .. used more as an extra defenseman, as his ice time was managed judiciously by the coaching staff.

Martin Sagat (Tor), LW

Lanky Maple Leaf pick played on a line with Ben Maxwell and Brett Sutter .. displays good puck pursuit and has deft hands to pick an opponents pocket .. gangly skater with surprising mobility and quickness .. takes the pass effortlessly .. wears an A .. took a hit in order to make the pass to breakout of the zone .. worked hard on the back check to pressure the trailing forward .. has an incredible wing span and usually makes full use of his long reach especially in regards to stripping opposition puck carriers .. created a gap in front of the net on the powerplay, but failed to get the blade on the pass .. more of a finesse player as he doesn't seem overly interested in using his size to punish opponents .. he can appear at times to lack urgency away without the puck .. plays in all situations.

Brett Sutter (2005), RW

Has some of the famed Sutter work ethic although lacks some of the sheer determination that made the elder Sutters so effective .. played on a line with Ben Maxwell and Martin Sagat .. good acceleration and overall speed .. works hard on the back check .. would like to see a bit more of a mean streak .. looks like he will need to add muscle to play at the next level .. had problems corralling a bouncing pass .. supports the puck carrier .. doesn't display a lot of imagination in the offensive zone .. plays on the powerplay .. his low shot on net created a rebound and was easily knocked home .. a darkhorse to be drafted, although does have some upside and given his bloodlines it wouldn't be inconceivable for a team to take a late flyer on him.

Taylor Dakers (2005), G

Skilled Kootenay backup would be starting for at least a few teams right now, but is stuck behind Jeff Glass .. stood up nicely on a two-on-one, however, kicked the rebound in to a dangerous area near the slot .. displays quick side-to-side movement and can quickly recover to his feet when he goes down .. gave the shooter at the side of the goal little to shoot at and was able to steer the rebound behind the net .. helps the defense by setting up the puck on dump ins .. tremendous glove save off a turnover in the slot .. stays square to the shooter .. reached out to poke a loose puck away from a hard rushing forward .. doesn't hesitate to swallow up anything that enters his crease .. made a turnover after being pressured .. once again looked extremely poised and positionally sound standing up to a shooter in the slot .. looked solid stopping a deflected point shot .. on occasion looks almost lackadaisical handling the puck .. doesn't get taken off his game if there's traffic in his crease .. stopped a difficult shot in tight and was unfortunate to cough up the rebound where it was easily knocked home .. communicates well with his defense .. very nice upside, although he has yet to be given an extended chance to prove he can carry a team on his own.