Training Camp One Liners

 The Rampage will wrap up training camp after back to back preseason games with the Stars tonight in Cedar Park and tomorrow afternoon at Northwoods. I had the opportunity to attend a couple of practices as well as the Black/Silver scrimmage yesterday. Following are my observations of each and every player in camp. (I know the title says "one liners", so bear with me when some of these have 3 or 4)

Goalies:


#30 Jacob Markstrom: #1 goalie, without debate. Struggled with rebound control, but looks as quick as ever.

#1 Dov Grumet-Morris: The perfect backup. Good enough to start in case of injury or call up and good enough to push Markstrom to be as good as he can be. Has had a rough camp from what I’ve seen.

#33 Brian Foster: In case of emergency, break glass. Not a bad guy to have in Cincinnati. Don’t want to have to rely on him for anything more though. Had a terrible first 30 minutes, followed by a very good second 30 in the scrimmage.

#?? Michael Houser: Reigning OHL Goalie of the Year. He has looked good, at times, in camp. Not sure what Nashville will be sending to Cinci, so I don’t know if Houser goes there or is “loaned” elsewhere.


Defense:

#2 Michael Caruso - Very good defensive player, showing great strength and leadership.

#3 Alex Petrovic - Relatively quiet camp. Looks solid.

#4 Josh McFadden - Shows some flashes of speed and has good vision. Made a couple of things happen in the scrimmage.

#5 Tyson Strachan - Just biding his time until the children (NHL/NHLPA) get things figured out. I feel really bad for him.

#6 Jason DeSantis - Looked pretty good moving the puck until he got destroyed by Lindstrom early in the scrimmage.

#7 John Lee - I haven’t seen anything from him that would make me believe he makes this team.

#20 David MacDonald - I thought David looked really good in the drills. Disappeared (along with most of the defense) in the scrimmage.

#25 Colby Robak - Could have a huge season. Last year of ELC, playing for his first legit contract.

#34 Rasmus Bengtsson - Fluid skater. Didn’t appear to be overly physical. He’ll head back to Muskegon.

#38 Brian O’Hanley - Front runner for the last defenseman roster spot. Small and compact, but plays smart. Scored on a nice wrister from the blue line in the scrimmage.

#43 Nolan Yonkman - Team captain. Appears to be a bit faster to the naked eye. Move along, nothing to see here.


Forwards:

#8 David Pacan - Looks overwhelmed more times than not. Has okay speed for his size. Could be a decent 3rd/4th liner in a couple years.

#9 Jonathan Hazen - Looks great offensively. Still floats at times and doesn’t back check enough. I think he makes it.

#10 Josh Birkholz - Works hard and has good speed. Not enough skill and grit. No spot on this team, right now.

#11 Anthony Luciani - Tenacious player with offensive skill. Unfortunately, he is way too small. Didn’t play much (if at all) in the scrimmage, which hurts his chances.

#12 Jared Gomes - Smaller playmaker type with excellent skating ability. Should be a good player for the Cyclones.

#14 Jean-Francois Jacques - Top 6 forward with good size. Scored a goal in the scrimmage doing what I think he’ll do a lot of this season; going to the net and crashing the net.

#15 Eric Selleck - Showed surprising burst and skill this week. If he can get 15-20 points and still do his job as enforcer, he’ll be a big help to the Rampage.

#16 Andre Deveaux - This guy is huge. Watch out for some big hits along the boards. Oh, he’ll probably put 20 in the back of the net too.

#17 Casey Wellman - Showed all kinds of skill in camp. Great speed, good vision, and a nice shot. He is the top line center.

#18 John McFarland - Boom or Bust player. Good wheels, nice size, and an ability to finish. McFarland will need to adjust to the physicality, though. There will be some growing pains, but I think he’ll be a good player at this level.

#19 Garrett Wilson - Tweener ECHL/AHL guy. Another year in Cinci won’t kill him.

#21 Mattias Lindstrom - Dial it back a bit, big fella. He’s a grinder, pure and simple. He will fight in the corners, pester the goalie, and block shots all day long. Just don’t expect any offense whatsoever. Secretly, I hope he makes the team. I am openly aware that he probably won’t though.

#23 Francois Bouchard - In my opinion, Francois is having a terrific camp. Playing a well rounded game at both ends and making good things happen

#24 Quinton Howden - Be excited Rampage fans. Be very excited. This kid is the real deal.

#26 Jon Rheault - Looked good in drills. Didn’t really notice him in the scrimmage.

#27 Greg Rallo - Still has that deadly sniper shot. Put him on a line with a playmaker, he scores 25-30 this year.

#28 James Wright - Nice asset to have as a 3rd line Center. Plays solid D and can contribute offensively.

#32 Scott Timmins - See above. Timmins and Wright will be the PK specialists, and they are good at what they do.

#36 Drew Shore - This kid has one speed: GO! Fun to watch. He and Howden will do good things if they are kept together.

#39 Justin Vaive - Showed some nice skills in front of the net in drills. Is currently injured and for a bubble guy, that’s not good news.



Again, please remember, I am a fan that writes a blog. I have no scouting experience so what I see is very elementary. There could be so much more I'm not seeing. So, in 3 days, when the roster is announced, and guys I say won't make the team do (and vice versa), let's keep the pointing and laughing to a minimum? Sound good?

Projected openining night lineup:
Jacques/Wellman/Rallo
Howden/Shore/Deveaux
McFarland/Timmins/Rheault
Selleck/Wright/Bouchard
Hazen
Lindstrom (What the hell, I'm winging it anyway!)

Yonkman/Robak
Petrovic/Caruso
Desantis/Strachan
O'Hanley

Markstrom
DGM


Remember, minimum laughing please. Thanks, that would be great...yeah...