With 18 games behind us, this already marks the ¼ mark of the 2007-2008 Wheat King season. I thought it would be a good time to share thoughts on how things have gone so far from where I sit. Below I’ve put a few comments for each player…
#2 Chad Erb – Really starting to come around. Current leads all team defencemen by a landslide with a +8 rating
#3 Brodie Melnychuk – Has very good ability to move the puck, especially for someone his age. Very good potential.
#4 Colby Robak – Its easy to forget he’s just 17 and in his draft year. Really starting to develop the offensive aspect of his game. Starting to play more physical.
#5 Theran Yeo – Has settled down after a bit of a rocky return from injury. Has shown more discipline, which is a must with how disciplined this team is as a whole. Emotional leader.
#6 Keith Aulie – Starting to come around physically. Gives opposing forwards fits at times with his superhuman reach. Has Pierre Maguire “Monster”-like potential if he can continue to up the ante physically.
#7 Tyler Dittmer – Patience is paying off in spades. IMO one of the best 20 year olds in the league. Isn’t big or overly physical, but is no longer afraid to be physically involved in the play and pay the price.
#9 Daryl Boyle – IMO an excellent captain. Carries himself with so much confidence. Has potential for even more offense than he’s shown so far.
#10 Brayden Schenn – I’m a bit hesitant in saying this this early in the season, but might just end up being the best 16-year old Wheat King forward I’ve seen in my time watching. Only thing keeping he and co-prodigy Glennie out of the league scoring leaders is more powerplay time, which probably won’t be available this year as long as the top line is playing as well as it is. Most important thing will be not letting it get to his head and to keep improving.. he has a chance to be a real special player.
#11 Matt Calvert – Not just “Along for the ride” with Schenn and Glennie. Very good combination of speed, strength and work ethic. Excellent penalty killer. The scary thing we were talking about yesterday is what that line will look like three years from now when it could still potentially be together.
#12 Sanfred King – Has good size and hockey sense, but needs to get more physically involved in the play to be effective at this level.
#14 Del Cowan – Really enjoy watching Cowan play. Always gives it his all. Is a good hitter. Held his own in the right last night to boot.
#15 Scott Glennie – Looked beyond his years as a 15 year old at camp last year and has continued that this year. Currently leads all league rookies in goal scoring. Is going to be one of the reasons the Keystone Centre is going to have to think about building an addition onto the “scout room” next year
#18 Cale Jeffries – If this was a week ago, I’d probably say something along the lines of “Great worker, ideal checking forward.” After the games this weekend, there might be potential for more. Fit in real well filling in on the line with Bartek and Fehr last night.
#19 Nathan Green – Has at times shown flashes of the player he has the potential to become. Haven’t heard what happened last night, but missed a good portion of the game.
#21 Matt Lowry – Has fit in well on the top line with Clark and Dittmer since day one. Absolute steal in the offseason trade that brought him here.
#22 Jordan Hale – Big, strong, hard worker. Will need to work on his skating a touch.
#24 Jay Fehr – Bit of an up and down start so far thanks to injury. Still not too concerned about his development. Has the ability to be a point-a-game player already.
#26 Alex Grill-Donovan – A part of the rookie defenceman rotation. Hasn’t looked out of place when in the lineup.
#27 Andrew Clark – Has made another big leap this year as expected. Disappointing the league didn’t put him on the WHL roster for the Russia challenge.. he belongs on it.
#28 Robert Brandis – Not your stereotypical European. Built like a truck and not afraid to hit. Personally not clear on where he fits in on this team at his age unless he develops a bit more offense.
#29 Daniel Bartek – After a real strong start to the season, struggled at times for a few weeks in October. Has come back on the last few games. When at the top of his game, has the potential to be an impact player.. especially with the matchups his line is going to start seeing more and more of.
Goaltenders..
#1 Joe Caligiuri – Has had a decent transition into a starting goaltender. Really like his quickness. Has shown the ability to make the big save at times. Will need to work on his consistency between now and March.
#35 Andrew Hayes – IMO it’s way too early for criticism. Have to remember he’s only played the equivalent of 3 1/2 games against WHL shooters. I really like his size and ability and look forward to seeing him progress.
On the whole, the identity of this team seems to be speed, hard work and discipline. Its those intangibles that I find so fun to watch, even compared to some of the contenders of the recent past. If some of the younger players can continue to progress over the course of the year we might just have a contender on our hands sooner than we expected… and then look out next year.
I’d be very interested to hear anyone else’s perspectives on some or all of the players so far..