WHL: The Real Deal

Real Cyr was given a vote of confidence by Prince George management when they felt comfortable enough in his abilities to trade away Justin Pogge. We have notes on Cyr and a few of his teammates from a recent game.

Real Cyr (2005), G

Talented young netminder has a great opportunity to take the starting job after the much more aggressive Justin Pogge was traded to Calgary in a blockbuster deal at the deadline .. froze the puck efficiently .. stays square to the shooter .. was beaten on a bad angled shot that was redirected through his legs .. came across the crease quickly and was in position to stop a one-timer .. was a tad slow to react to a wraparound, however, once he did respond he was able to recover and close the hole just in the nick of time .. reacts effectively to deflections .. appears to lack some confidence handling the puck and tends to stay in the net .. made an excellent save putting his paddle of his stick down to stop a sure goal after an incredible deke by the opposition player .. rarely comes out past the paint .. was beaten by a howitzer on a one-timer that he simply had little chance to get across for .. looked very indecisive on a long shoot-in/shot that just went wide of the goal.

Nicholas Drazenovic (2005), C

Extremely mobile keeps his feet moving in the defensive zone .. appears to be improving his defensive awareness .. lost the faceoff cleanly .. centered the line of Myles Zimmer and Lee Zalasky .. uses his elite speed to jump in to the holes as well as darting in and out of traffic .. made a flat-footed poke check that wasn't even close to being successful at stopping a puckcarrier .. played on the powerplay, but rarely if ever sees time on the penalty-kill .. played the four-on-four and really displayed his terrific speed and stickhandling, especially on the periphery .. shows decent puck pursuit on the forecheck, although, he should be able to do even more if he was more willing to play the body .. will quarterback the powerplay from the point on occasion and is able to move the puck crisply and accurately .. can be guilty of not playing with enough aggression and intensity away from the puck .. at his most dangerous when he keeps his feet moving on contact .. kept his head up through center and eluded a hit.

Matej Trojovsky (Car), D

Traded to the Cougars on deadline day and the coaches had him paired up with equally massive Andy Rogers .. communicates with his defensive partner .. very good defensive awareness .. doesn't force low percentage passes .. extremely solid on the boards and in the dirty areas .. might not be the most gifted skater, but he is strong on his skates and uses his amazing size to its fullest effect .. went in to the corner and surprisingly got knocked off his feet .. fought the other team's heavyweight to a memorable and very entertaining draw that saw each player land their share of thunderous haymakers.