Hitmen intrasquad

Took in the Hitmen's intrasquad game today.....here's the summary. This is from my own notes and is in no way official, but I'm pretty sure I got the goalscorer and at least the first assist right on all the goals.

First Period:
1. Black, Mackenzie Royer (Garrett Taylor) 0:35
2. Black, Justin Rose (Rigby Burgart) 2:26

Second Period:
3. White, Brett Sonne (Tyler Fiddler) 5:18

Third Period:
4. White, Justin Moir (Brett Sonne, Tyler Fiddler) 0:51 (PP)
5. White, Brett Sonne (Tyler Fiddler, Jason MacDonald) 14:49
6. Black, Justin Rose (Ian Schultz) 15:12
7. White, Brett Sonne (Tyler Fiddler) 18:33

Starting goaltenders were Martin Jones for Black and David Aime for White. They were both switched at 10:06 of the 2nd period for Chase Komistek (Black) and Michael Snider (White).

My own thoughts....well, Sonne and Fiddler had four points each so they obviously have some chemistry already. I thought Golicic was flying as well, at least early in the game, but as we so often saw with him last year, it's a lot of flash and not much finish. Jones, Kozun, Schultz, Stone, and Rowinski all stood out too, as veterans should.

In net, I thought Snider was the best of the three trying to make the team. Aime had a weak start and while he did get better, I'm still not convinced he is a WHL-calibre goalie right now and at 19, he needs to be a reliable WHL goalie if he's going to be in the league. Snider and Komistek have the luxury of having some room to improve age-wise. Komistek wasn't bad today, he got beat mostly by Sonne-Fiddler collaborations so it's not like he was giving up softies to guys who scored two goals last year in midget. But Snider was the best of the lot apart from Jones.

On defence, I really, really liked Frank (didn't his name use to be Otis?) Rabbit. He played Jr A last year and you can see he is used to this pace of play, something some of the other good prospects on defence who played midget last year are still struggling with. Yes, Rabbit made a couple mistakes but for the most part I was really impressed with his composure out there and he made good smart decisions moving the puck. I also really like Erik Bonsor, a guy who is never going to be the flashiest guy on the team but he's just a real smart hockey player who does the job in his own end. I also saw some things I liked from Zach Sweet and Ben Wilson although they were a cut below Rabbit and Bonsor. Austin Madaisky was OK but was invisible for long periods of the game too, did he sit out for a chunk of the game or was he just not noticeable? Scott Maetche was OK but he's in the same boat as Aime in my opinion - he's a 19 year old who needs to be more than a 5th/6th defenceman if he's going to make your team.

Up front, I liked the new Euro, Ulescenko, until he got hurt and didn't play the 2nd half of the game. Also really liked Rose....even if he doesn't make the team this year he should be worth a spot on the protected list to keep an eye on. Jessi Hilton was another guy I liked, he might not score a lot of points but he looked to have the perfect "energy" style for the 4th line role that some rookie forwards need to play. Same with Cody Beach although I still wish Beach was more noticeable more consistently....needs to be at 100% every shift and I don't think he is. He should watch Ian Schultz, he could be that kind of player in a year if he wants to be. Also like Mackenzie Royer and Torey Stott, a guy I hadn't seriously considered for the team but who might be worming his way in.