Tuesday, August 16, 2005
The Kids Are Gonna Be Alright
Saw the Canucks no. 1 draft pick, defenseman Luc Bourdon play live for the first time last night.
The kid's alright. A fluid skater and a big guy (he's 6' 2"), Luc's also very solid positionally and didn't stick out on the ice too much, which is exactly what you want in a defenseman. He wasn't afraid of physical contact and even threw some big hits out there. Offensively, he didn't take a lot of chances. He pitched in and joined the rush a few times, but very conservatively. On his team's winning goal, he hustled to keep the puck in his zone and essentially started the play that led to the winning goal. Luc ended up with one assist for the night and if I remember correctly, wasn't on the ice for any of the opposing team's goals. His play, in fact, backs up the pre-draft comparisons to Mattias Ohlund. Looking like a very good draft pick for the Canucks. One more year in junior should do wonders for his confidence.
The Canucks' other draft pick, goalie Julian Ellis-Plante played the first half of the game. He's a small-ish goalie, but very quick. A couple of times he went down too early and got caught out of position, but used his quickness to get back in the play. Overall, he played a solid game. He wasn't really tested too much so it's hard to get a better evaluation of him. He did allow two goals, but at least one of them (Latendresse's) was unstoppable. One thing I can tell you, he's definitely not the worst goalie in camp - Dubnyk was horrible - and he has a realistic chance of making the team.
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