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 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. |