St. Louis Blues Prospect Camp Live Blog (Day 2)

Back at the Ice Zone for the second day of the St. Louis Blues prospect camp. Refresh often if you’re reading this during the live portion.

Welcome back to the Ice Zone. It’s day two of the St. Louis Blues prospect camp. I got here a little later than yesterday, but nothing much has happened.

It is Team MacInnis’ turn on the ice for drills today. So far it’s a handful of skaters, including Tage Thompson and Samuel Blais taking some drills against all four goaltenders again.

I have to say, I am a little bit underwhelmed by Even Fitzpatrick so far over the last couple days. He looks fine in scrimmage action, but during drills he lets goals in on the short side quite a bit and he becomes visibly frustrated at times.

That is not to say that he will not develop into a fine goaltender. There is obviously a reason the Blues picked him in the second round of the 2016 draft. For now though, it’s a good thing that the Blues have so many goaltenders in front of him because he’s got to develop in the lower levels quite a bit before he’s ready right now.

1:55

Goaltender drills are done and the zamboni is out. The entirety of Team MacInnis will likely be out in a few minutes to run through their drills.

I’m very interested to see the scrimmage today though. Team MacInnis had a ton more speed than Team Tkachuk yesterday. I’m wondering if that is true flat out, or if it is because Team Walt was more fatigued due to having gone through their workout and Team Al only having the scrimmage. We’ll see.

Side note – Thompson continues to impress. I’m not trying to build him up too much because I sincerely doubt there is any way he does not return to UConn for at least another season. However, he’s got a decent amount of skill and as of now it seems like a well spent pick.

2:00

The players are out and it’s drill time. Jordan Kyrou has a Go-Pro strapped to his chest. Props to the people that can watch that video. Seems likely to make me sick. I kid, but sorta not really.

I really hope that Nolan Stevens gets to develop and do so quickly. The fifth round draft pick looks sharp on his edges and has a decent shot as well. As with everything, these are all just drills and you’re not seeing them go up against opponents, but that’s what we’ve got to go off so far.

Off the cuff remark here, but I’d like to know what is on Ryan Ruck’s mask. It reminds me of a black and white version of the mask that Felix Potvin used to wear with the Maple Leafs.

Fitzpatrick, down to the left at the moment, has been covering his posts better. Good to see him rebound a little bit, because he was becoming more frustrated if he felt the goal was a little soft. Typical goaltender though as we are always our own worst critic.

2:20

Lot’s of posts being hit right now in all the drills. These guys will fit in very well with the Blues.

Switching up the drills now as Thompson comes to center ice. Saw a bit of a flaw for the first time in practice. His passes in the prior drill left a little bit to be desired. Interesting since he isn’t known for scoring goals, but so far his shot seems ahead of his pass.

Saying that though, he’s been good at picking out the corners on the shots. If he keeps that up, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him make a transition more to the wing than center.

2:30

A bit of a surprise the last couple days has been Liam Dunda. He was a bit underwhelming last season in the OHL with only 14 points in 64 games, but he’s looked good during yesterday’s scrimmage and today’s drills.

The zambonis are out and we’ll have the scrimmage coming up here in a few. In the odd chance that the blog ends, it’s because of the zamboni fumes. I really hope the Ice Zone has good ventilation or we’re all going to be high as kites by the end of the week.

2:45

Scrimmage time. Time to see if Team MacInnis is actually as fast compared to their opponents as they looked yesterday.

Looks like Ruck and Vogler are starting in the pipes today.

Hopefully the scorekeeper does a better job today. I swear he put a goal on the woong side yesterday, but can’t prove it. Ah well.

Good start for Team MacInnis. Not even a full minute in and Thompson has his third goal in two days.

Not sure about the speed, but Team MacInnis (gold) is definitely still looking like the more skilled of the two squads.

Not sure if it’s a trick of the 4v4 or not, but they almost seem to be playing Kyrou in a defensive role. Likely he will stay a forward, but still intriguing.

Bleackley had a breakaway but couldn’t get it over the pad of Vogler on the backhand. Still 1-0 with about 16 minutes left in the first of two periods.

Musil goes off the post on a close-in chance. Team Tkachuk is building a bit more of an attack now as they’ve settled in a bit. Apparently I missed a goal somewhere along the line as the board says 2-0 Team Mac.

3:00

Bleackley doesn’t fail to score this time. Another semi-break and he went to the forehand to pop it up over the glove. I believe that’s the first time Husso has been scored on during these scrimmages.

Back and forth we go. More physical play and stick work going on than yesterday. I think the guys are a little more comfortable actually playing hockey than just trying to show off now.

Husso has denied a couple chances from tight quarters, but it must be said that a couple of the Team Tkachuk players were getting a little cute with the puck as well. Still, the blue team (Tkachuk) has looked much better of late.

Thompson was getting physical in the corners. Good to see that’s part of his game at this stage.

Selman had a good wrister stopped by Husso, but the rebound went high into the air and Kaspick banged it home. 2-2 late in the first.

3:15

Swapping sides now. Team MacInnis is still the more talented of the two, but there is a little less speed due to them actually having a workout prior to the game. It should be noted that Husso being on Team MacInnis has also aided them a bit in the scorebook over the couple days so far.

Poganski rips one home from the low slot on a one-timer to make it 5-2. The Gold team is starting to run away with it like they did yesterday.

Make that 6-2. Kurker beat Fitzpatrick high to the glove side with a wrister on a 2v1 break.

It’s hard to tell for sure from where I am sitting and with the netting, but I believe Hitch is here today. Haven’t spotted Yeo, unless he is wearing a hat.

The scoreboard still says 5-2. Not sure if they didn’t count a goal or if I’m just better than the scoreboard guy again. We’ll go with his tally just for the sake of it.

Husso beat again to make it 5-3. Tough to tell, but I’m pretty sure Tschantz banged it in after a scramble play in front of the net.

Bleackley got denied after a great setup by McEachern. Bleackley couldn’t elevate with the backhand shot, but it would have been a tough one for anyone.

3:25

Goalies changing. Husso came out as well as Fitzpatrick after the Finn came across the net, left to right, and denied a chance in close.

Kurker goes five-hole to beat Ruck. Ruck wasn’t happy about it, but it was a good shot. 6-3 now (still think 7 but I digress).

7-3 after a one-timer is finished off from the left circle by Povorozniouk. Stevens with the assist as he got it across the ice from the right wall.

7-4. After stopping the initial shot by Armstrong, Vogler was beaten on the wraparound. Team Tkachuk trying to find some more answers with about five minutes to go. Just for clarification, Helt got the goal.

3v3 now. Vannelli rips one off the post. Bleackley sets up his own breakaway but can’t get a shot and then MacEachern fanned on a chance as well.

8-4 after Team MacInnis score another one. This time it was Kyrou.

Thompson goes left to right, cross-ice to Vannelli, who beats Ruck on the glove side. 9-4 Team MacInnis.

Thompson went through three defenders and kept the puck on his stick, but couldn’t score near the end. A spirited scrimmage ends with a 9-4 final.

Final Thoughts

Apparently Team Tkachuk is going to come out for a late practice and perhaps the opposite was true yesterday for Team MacInnis. I’m going to take off though since drills are harder to blog about.

That wraps up the second day of the prospect camp. Thompson continues to look good. Stevens as well, though he had a bit rougher of a day. Poganski is another name to perhaps watch as he has had a bit of a scoring touch during the scrimmages.

Team MacInnis was not quite as fast as in comparison to yesterday, but they are still the more skilled team. That is a bit surprising given that they have a couple AHL guys on their roster, but they’ve been looking to build play a lot more than their gold counterparts. Team MacInnis has been much more free flowing and using their speed to their advantage.

Husso showed a few cracks that will be smoothed out either in the ECHL or AHL, depending on how the team wants to play things. Still, he is clearly the best goaltender at this camp.

Jordan Kyrou showed much better today than yesterday. He’s another name that is going to need plenty of polishing up, but he had a chance to showcase his speed a bit more.

Next: Making the Case to Sign Radim Vrbata

It’s been a good couple days at this camp. I think each player has had opportunities to showcase themselves and each player has also shown some things they need to work on. Still two days left to impress the brass and see if they can work themselves into a minor league spot or perhaps get higher up the pecking order.

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