Super Series Review - The Bruins' Prospects

With temperatures constantly being below zero and our first snow storm of the season now behind us (had it yesterday - about 2 weeks later than normal) most people are unhappy but for me it means winter is here and thus hockey can not be far behind.

For us Canadian fans we had a preview of hockey with a meaningless 8 game series between our junior players and Russia's junior players. I had no interest in this series from the start and decided I would just watch bits and pieces of it. I ended up watching the 1st 7 games in their entirety and only a few minutes of the 8th game (my Cowboys were destroying The Giants on another channel).

The hockey was meaningless and Canada blew The Russians off the ice winning 7 games and tying one. I was not interested in the hockey so much as I was in seeing how 3 Bruins' draft picks did. Playing for Canada were 2006 picks Brad Marchand and Milan Lucic (who was named Team Canada captain for the series) and 2007 pick Zach Hamill.

This is my scouting report on these 3 players based on what I saw from this series:

Brad Marchand - he put on a great show at times and his individual skills are awesome. He was very good in one on one situations and showed a small amount of grit at times. However he seemed disinterested at times and took some shifts off. He also didn't use his team mates as often as he should have. I give him a 50/50 chance of making the NHL someday but will never be an impact player.

Zach Hamill - Not much good to say about poor Zach from this series. He was, in my humble opinion, Canada's worst player. He looked out of place most times he was on the ice. He did have some good passes (a true team player) but he is a very weak skater - watching him was painful as he reminded me of "Bambi On Ice". Unless he miraculously learns how to skate better, he will never lace up for Boston.

Milan Lucic - The "real deal". This kid has it all. Skills are descent but his true strength is in his heart and his love for the game. He was Canada's hardest working player in every game and lead by example. He had some big points and laid some monster hits at key times - he even got into a fight in game 8 and beat the living shit out of some poor Russian who was stupid enough to drop the gloves with him. He could be playing in Boston soon - he is ready for the bigs - a Cam Neely type player - the type of player that Boston should have more of.

Now that winter is here and hockey is just around the corner I will be posting again regularly as I anxiously await Boston's 2007/2008 run for the cup!