2013 Blackhawks Prospect Camp

"Expendable Youth"

As I have for the past few years, I took the trek out to Johnny's Ice House West to see the Blackhawks Prospect camp. Deep down, I love this kind of stuff, and in another life I may have been a scout. Judging talent is definitely a guilty pleasure of mine.

I was disappointed that a few of the top Hawks prospects weren't in camp:

Teuvo Teravainen was excused to limit extensive traveling, as a result of his involvement, in August, with the Finland U-20 team in NY.

First round pick this year, Ryan Hartman, was out with a shoulder injury.

Newly signed goalie and prospective future Rockford starter, Antti Raanta was out with a minor leg injury.

Draft pick from last year, and Andrew Shaw clone, Garrett Ross was a no show.

Kevin Hayes, who was the Hawks first round pick three years ago, didn't show up until Friday.

Below is my list of notes from the two days I was in attendance, and also, be sure to check out the over 250 pictures I snapped: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.691178257575241.1073741826.163171723709233&type=1&l=09ae85676f

Players in Green are Blackhawks Draftees and/or players under contract.
Players in Orange are Free Agent invitees.

#	PLAYER	HT	WT	AGE	Notes
	Forwards
79	COHEN ADAIR	6'1"	200	21	Nothing of note
76	SAM BABINTSEV	5'11"	167	18	Nothing of note
75	JASON BAST	5'10"	196	24	Nothing of note.
52	ALEX BROADHURST	6'0"	170	20	One of the more talented forwards. Veteran of these camps. Nose for the net. Confident.
72	MILOS BUBELA	6'3"	186	20	Tall, lanky. Decent hands.
20	CHRIS CALNAN	6'1"	190	19	Worked well with Broadhurst on Tuesday. Gritty forward.
4	PHILLIP DANAULT	6'1"	198	20	Clear leader of the second group on Tuesday. Hawk for the puck. Does all the little things well, but nothing flashy. Certainly a defensive specialist.
63	GRAYSON DOWNING	6'1"	167	21	Every time I see this kid's name I think of KK Downing from Judas Priest. I know, this dates me. Nothing special on Tuesday, but made some really slick stick moves in the scrimmage on Thursday.
64	QUINN GOULD	6'2"	185	23	Nothing of note.
48	RYAN HARTMAN	5'11"	181	18	Hurt. Didn't play.
83	JOHN HAYDEN	6'3"	210	18	Big boy. Likes contact. Power forward type. Was flying around and sticking his nose into everything. Think of what Kyle Beach SHOULD have been. Click the text here to see his Blackhawks TV "Mic'd up" video
15	KEVIN HAYES	6'3"	205	21	Didn't show even though his Twitter said he was heading to Chicago Tuesday night. Eventually made it out Friday. Nice to see you could make it out, kid.
22	VINCENT HINOSTROZA	5'9"	165	19	No show on Tuesday, played on Thursday. Nothing of note.
68	MATT LORITO	5'9"	165	23	Scored the first goal of the scrimmage on Thursday after stealing the puck from Sam Jardine at the White team's blue line. Smallish, which will hold him back.
43	ANTHONY LOUIS	5'7"	145	18	Tiny. Quick feet. Bounces off defenders. Pro defenders would beat him to death, though. Once he puts on some weight, he may have a future.
58	CHRIS MCCARTHY	6'1"	190	21	Nothing of note.
11	MARK MCNEILL	6'1"	214	20	Clearly the leader of his group Tuesday. Really didn't show anything flashy. Growing into his body. He reminds me more of a Ryan Kesler type player.
39	TYLER MOTTE	5'9"	190	18	Saw him play, but nothing stood out.
60	PAT MULLANE	5'11"	190	22	Nothing special. Returning player
54	TIM O'BRIEN	5'11"	170	20	Quick hands. Nice shot. Scored a slick goal in Thursday's scrimmage
46	GARRET ROSS	6'0"	182	21	No show. A player I wanted to see more of since his freakish season in juniors this past year.
70	MAXIM SHALUNOV	6'3"	187	20	Got NHL size. Progressed from last year. His size could earn him time in Rockford within a year or two.
59	DARIO SIMION	6'1"	185	19	Skates well. May develop in time
73	GARRETT THOMPSON	6'2"	191	23	Nothing of note.
	Defense
37	TRAVIS BROWN	6'2"	186	19	Looked really good Tuesday. Improved from last year. Johnny Oduya type of player.
17	JAKE CHELIOS	6'2"	185	22	Looks better than 12. Nothing spectacular. Played both wing and defense, but did neither exceptionally well.
71	LUKE CURADI	6'5"	247	22	Tall as hell, weighs almost 250 lbs, and moves well for big guy. Played wing in camp even though he's listed as a defenseman. Looks almost exactly like Bryan Bickell on the ice and plays that way too.
38	CARL DAHLSTROM	6'3"	211	18	Looks bigger than his size, and big shoulder pads make him look very broad shouldered. Lumbering. More slow and smooth. Would get walked at the pro level.
6	DILLON FOURNIER	6'2"	175	19	Really slick hands. Going to be good.
8	KIRILL GOTOVETS	5'11"	194	22	No show. I wanted to see this kid, who was acquired from Tampa for Philippe Paradis last season.
28	JUSTIN HOLL	6'2"	180	21	Returning player. Looks bigger than his stats say. Veteran of these camps. Click the text here to see his Blackhawks TV "Mic'd up" video.
56	SAM JARDINE	6'1"	195	19	Stocky. Physical. Looks to have recovered from a freak injury suffered at Ohio State, last year, where his leg was severely cut with a skate.
44	STEPHEN JOHNS	6'4"	220	21	Looked much better than 2 years ago. Still kind of slow when he gets out out position but a big body that likes contact. He is very intimidating, and can impose his will on others. Hawks want to sign him, but word is that he wants to finish another year at Notre Dame. It's time for him to go pro.
62	GLEB KORYAGIN	6'0"	181	18	Nothin of note
55	GUY LEBOEUF	6'5"	200	23	Large frame. Threw his body around a little bit at the scrimmage
49	ZACH LOESCH	6'5"	204	20	Another big guy. Hard shot
86	NICK MATTSON	6'1"	185	21	Expected to see something of note, and didn't.
41	ROBIN NORELL	5'11"	192	18	Smallish. Quick feet. Typical European d-man. Patient with the puck. Likes to shoot.
47	MICHAEL PALIOTTA	6'3"	198	20	Returning player that always seems to be around the puck. Kind od a defensive leader with Brown, and Holl.
42	ROBIN PRESS	6'4"	205	18	Nothing special of note. Decent size.
65	VIKTOR SVEDBERG	6'9"	223	22	Moves well like last year. Covers a ton of space with his wingspan alone. Going to be interesting to see how he handles AHL fowrads, this year. If he does well, it's not a stretch to say he'll end up in the NHL someday. He's no Zdeno Chara, but then again who is? Would be nice to see him put on 10 more lbs of muscle.
51	DAN WEISSENHOFER	6'2"	200	21	Nothing of note
45	NOLAN ZAJAC	5'10"	182	20	On the smaller side. Expected to see more after hearing that his brother Travis, in New Jersey, claims that Nolan is the best Zajac in the family. If he is, he didn't show it.
	Goalies
85	MAC CARRUTH	6'4"	181	21	Seems to get down on himself when he lets a bad shot go by. Covers upper half very well for a butterfly goalie. Had a freakish season in Portland, playing in front of future first round draft pick of the Nashville Preds, Seth Jones. Didn't play in the scrimmage
33	MATTHEW O'CONNOR	6'5"	195	21	Covers a lot of net. Slightly slow recovering for rebounds. Did nothing to hurt his chances. His size alone could end up getting him signed somewhere.
31	ANTTI RAANTA	6'1"	189	24	Minor injury held out. I was VERY disappointed about this. This guy was the major reason I went to camp in the first place.
34	KENT SIMPSON	6'2"	190	21	Leader of the goalies with Carruth. Solid. More traditional butterfly. More Confident than Carruth. didn't play in the scrimmage
40	MATT TOMKINS	6'2"	190	21	Nothing flashy. Just stops pucks. May be a silver lining late 11 pick. Had a rough 7 minute stretch in the scrimmage on Thursday, but recovered.
30	JACKSON WHISTLE	6'1"	190	18	Awkward stance. Definitely developing. Held his own in the scrimmage. Shut the white team out for 30 minutes.
32	BRANDON WHITNEY	6'6"	198	19	Looked good. Covers a lot of net but relies on position and size more than reflexes. Confident. Could be that next development goalie, after Carruth and Simpson, in the Hawks system.