What a busy weekend! Now that the awesomeness of Louis Leblanc has shifted away from the stupid to more wonderful tales of awesome, we now have the rest of our Class of 2009 all settled in.
I didn't get to watch or read anything about the kids since we were out playing ball hockey (wonder if I made hockey history by being the first goalie to score the game winner in a shootout) and hung around the Olde Orchard pub (I'm still stunned I won a cap signed by all the 2009 Islanders...OKPOSO!!!). At the moment I'm half awake, thanks McGill for heating your gym in the summer! I think I sweated out my body weight. That cheeseburger at the Pub felt like a gift from god.
The Tweetup also raised $400 for Hockey Fights Cancer in a paid raffle for some signed gear. Not bad for our small group! Good work everyone! Especially the AllHabs gang!
Now I finally got a chance to check out the kids, and let me tell you I am STOKED about these youngins Timmins and his staff found. Though he mentioned there were a few from Sweden he would have loved to get, but they were taken before he could get to them, the ones he did get have every potential to be a cog on this team in the future to come. And that's what the Draft is all about: the future. I remember the days when our farm team was rather thin on everything before Gainey came in to take charge. His 5 year plan really rebuilt the team from the foundations up, and the prospects have made an impact or are in the process of making one.
Since we've already been inundated with stuff about Louis Leblanc, I went digging around for our other presents to see what I can find.
C - Joonas Nattinen (65th, 3rd round)
He was forced to the 2nd line in the WJC Under 18 because of another player they put on the top line. However he was their most consistent centerman, and the best faceoff man in the tournament. They even gave his line a nickname, the "cage" line. He says he thinks of himself as a cross between Mikko Koivu and Jason Spezza, which is like WOOOOO and, uh, woo, too me but I think he's smarter and probably less lazy than Spezza. Anyway, any kid excited to be following the steps of Saku is OK by me! While he may not be pretty, he's 6'2" and is listed to be a "Jordan Staal" type, which leaves me with this, "when can you start?"
D - Mac Bennett (79th, 3rd round)
I'll probably be calling him Mac the Knife. He's so slick! Timmins calls him a new breed of defensemen. What is that? One who is an offensive defenseman quarterback. One the Gatineau Olympiques want on their team so badly they've been buzzing around him like crazy. The Habs won't force him to go to the Q, since that's up to him. Not a bad tradeoff though, because he wants to go to Michigan. That's where Pacioretty went, where he'll also be under the watchful eye of Red Berenson. He says he thinks of himself as a Mike Green, and that couldn't be more accurate. He zips down the ice like there's no tomorrow. Once he sees an opening, he just takes it. Watch this little featurette on him, and you'll see why I'm pretty damn happy with this pick.
RW - Alexander Avtsin (109th, 4th round)
He says he's like Ovechkin. They even list him as an Ovechkin style player. I mean check this out: in 76 games, he scored 56 goals, had 54 assists, and a 110 penalty minutes, and he's only 17 in a league that's right under the KHL. Moscow Dynamo is no stranger to having players go to the Canadiens either (Kovy, Markov). Everything I hear about him makes me think of Ovie, but with the humble more down to earth sense of Kovy and Markov. Apparently he was labeled a 1st rounder, but the fact he's Russian probably scared people away. Or maybe it's because he wasn't hyped up from the WJC crowd, since he was cut for some bizarre reason. Is there a fear of him being stuck in Russia? If he stays it won't be by his own accord. He came to the draft, he knows of the team and how traditionally rich it is, he wants to come here. And when he says this, "I play a physical style with lots of speed and a hard shot but I need to work on my game away from the puck. I will work hard to do it"--I'm a happy fan to hear someone eager to work on his weaknesses to better his game. He's too young for the AHL, but Timmins said he'd put him in Hamilton tomorrow if he could.
C - Gabriel Dumont (139th, 5th round)
Here's a guy who knows what he has to do to get to where he wants to go. He knows he has to improve his skating, but despite that still managed 28 goals and a team-high of 4 shorties and 3 game winners. He knows he'll be a 3rd or 4th liner, used to shutdown and grind. Heart, soul, passion, skill, he may be small by some standards but plays every part. Timmin's praise for Dumont was touching, as the kid went through the Memorial Cup playoffs with one shoulder. The Voltigeurs won the Q and were the best team in the League, but that battle hurt them in the march through the Memorial Cup (the entire team was injured but still stood up to play). He's a Max Talbot in pretty much every sense, and after the Pens win you know how all the fans want one of those guys...
C - Dustin Walsh (169th, 6th round)
If Dustin Walsh had more exposure he probably wouldn't be sitting there in the 6th round... This guy tore up the OJHL, with a team high 63 points in 44 games (32 goals). A bit foreshadowing maybe? He plays for the Kingston Voyageurs... The Vees have a very lovely uniform, if I do say so myself.
There's also some video on him. He wears #8. I still can't get over how freaky coincidental his uniform is. I love how he flies though.
C - Micheal Cichy (199th, 7th round)
I don't know much about him, but there's another Danny Kristo Connection! Apparently Cichy is Kristo's roommate. (EDIT!) Found some info on Cichy. He earned MVP honors in the Ice's march to a 2009 Clark Cup championship with a league-best 25 points (6G, 14A) to cap off a 76-point season (34G, 42A). How does Timmins find these guys?! Some video here of Cichy talking playoffs, an old one of him with Tri-City scoring an empty netter with a hilarious commentator. He was also somewhere in here...
G - Petteri Simila (211th, 7th round)
The Habs traded with the Pens for this last pick in the draft (traded next year's 6th round pick) just so they could cap it off in their court. The Pens agreed, which was very kind of them. So who is Simila? He's another one of those giant goalies Timmins is finding ever since he picked up Price. While he's between Price and Missiaen in size, he hails from the same team and goalie coach that produced Pekka Rinne.
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