Fans at Prospera Place expecting a high scoring affair were surely disappointed in Kelowna tonight, as the Home Hardware Top Prospects game turned into a pure defensive battle.
Team Orr pulled out a nail-biter, 2-1, thanks to a goal by Branden Troock with only 25 seconds left in the third.
Griffin Reinhart scored the other goal for Team Orr, while Rouyn-Noranda defenseman Dillon Fournier replied with the only goal for Team Cherry.
Here’s a quick run down of the players from the QMJHL in the game:
Team Cherry:
Dillon Fournier- Fournier looked very nervous early on, causing a couple turnovers. Fourniers’ weak upper body strength was exploited, after he was unable to move Troock from in front of the net, which caused a screen, leading to Reinhart’s goal from the point. He soon snapped out of it, and showed great hockey sense and poise, following a rebound in front of the net for his goal.
Martin Frk- Frk showed great creativity in this game, a big part of the reason he is ranked 25th overall in the most recent CSS rankings. He battled very hard in front of the net, and never gave up. That kind of determination should do him well as he transitions to the NHL. All through the game, he showed just how strong he was, isolating the puck from his opponent. The one part of his game I could critique was his weak shot from the point on the powerplay.
Andrew Ryan- Ryan was virtually invisible throughout the entire game. His one big moment was a breakaway with 13 minutes left in the third, a nice backhand, which was denied by Francois Tremblay.
Brandon Whitney- The 6-5 Whitney reminded me so much of Nashville Predators goalie Pekka Rinne in this one. He started off out of position, but had a series of very key saves early on. Whitney did great to take away his opponents angles. In his only goal against, he had zero chance, as he was screened by two players. Whitney made 10 saves in 30 minutes of play.
Team Orr:
Francois Beauvillier- Beauvillier was relentless on both ends of the ice. He was a big reason for the low score in this one. Beauvillier showed no fear in the corners, something scouts should have been very impressed with. He also used his speed very well.
Raphael Bussieres- Bussieres had an extremely strong game, maybe the strongest of all Q players in the game. He showed very solid stick handling skills, he picked his spots to pass. His shots were all very accurate, and his chemistry with Derrick Pouliot was special, given thy had never played together before. His best chance of the game was a breakaway but he was taken down by Matthew Dumba. Most (including I) thought that should have been a penalty. Bussieres got his retribution on Dumba in the third, stepping up to fight Dumba after a hit on Radek Faksa. He did have a couple bad decisions leading to turnovers as well, so he was not perfect.
Mikhail Grigorenko- It is common knowledge that Patrick Roy was not pleased with Grigorenko playing in this game, but I wonder if they had come to a mutual agreement. It did not seem like Grigorenko played as much as you’d expect the number two ranked prospect to play. When Grigorenko was on the ice though, it was magic. Grigorenko showed great vision and patience with the puck. When he was on the ice, he was heads above the rest of the competition.
Tomas Hyka- Hyka impressed me a lot too. He had very nice speed, conserving it as needed as well. Showed a lot of chemistry with Beauvillier, His vision set him apart in my opinion, seeing the game better than anyone. This did get him in trouble a couple times, as he seemed to see too far ahead, leading to a couple turnovers. Hyka showed great ability to lead an effective breakout, and had a couple very nice one-timers.
Francois Tremblay- Tremblay was thrown to the wolves seconds in to him coming into the game. He made a huge save against Danill Zharkov, and then denied Ryan with an even better save. Tremblay isn’t as big as Whitney, but he played just as big.
