Ryan Yessie's Thoughts on Plymouth and Sarnia from February 21

Ryan returns with thoughts on the late February blowout between Plymouth and Sarnia.

"This game for the most part was over after the 1st period. Tyler Seguin leads the Whalers to an 11-3 win over Sarnia.







Colin MacDonald - #3 - D - YOB: 1992 - 6’3” - 184lbs.
NHL: Eligible in 2010
Report: Feb/21/10: MacDonald seems to always have a rough time in Sarnia, going head first into the boards last time he played in Sarnia. MacDonald got a little extra attention from me tonight, and again I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to see much of him. He took another hit from behind in his second shift. Then after returning he spent some time on the penalty kill, where he blocked a shot and was sent limping off after the puck had cleared. It was about another period before I saw MacDonald again. MacDonald appeared to be a smooth skater, looks very relaxed and composed, moves the puck up the ice well, and looks like a low risk defenceman, that has got good size, as well as decent skating.
(MacDonald was -1)

Austin Levi - #7 - D - YOB: 1992 - 6’4” - 195lbs.
NHL: Eligible in 2010
Report: Feb/21/10: Levi was the least noticeable than he’s been all season. He looks as if he has lost his spot on the top four with MacDonald’s seemingly improved play, as well as the addition of Gilbert. Levi appeared to have limited ice time, some of which was reserved to the penalty kill. Levi has got progressively less physical in Sarnia, although he is still hitting, he’s not only becoming a safer checker, but he’s hitting less, which occasionally works against him, but is also better than the out of position hits he was throwing closer to the start of the season. I’ve liked Levi’s play, but he is most likely a depth defenecman (3^rd pairing on a healthy NHL defence) that could be a penalty killer as well, but he could get drafted very close to teammate Colim MacDonald as the two are at similar points in terms of projectable future.
(Levi had +1, 2 PIM)

Tyler Seguin - #9 - C - YOB: 1992 - 6’1” - 186lbs.
NHL: Eligible in 2010
Report: Feb/21/10: While many of the Plymouth players let up, after taking an 8-2 lead mid-way through the game, Tyler Seguin was not one of those. Seguin who had already scored two very nice goals, kept playing full steam ahead obviously with a scoring race in mind. He was not able to pad his stats, but still played full tilt evenw hen the score was 10-2, and 11-3 so take that for what it’s worth. Seguin who hasn’t really showed up at the games in Sarnia after he ripped them apart in the 2009 playoffs, but that changed tonight. Seguin made some nice plays with and without the puck, he was willing to back check while Sarnia was in transition. He made some nice moves on the defencemen displaying top level puck handling. The first goal Seguin scored he put a great move on and used his stick handling ability to deke out Campbell and bury it. The second goal he absolutely releases a rocket of a wrist shot, an exhibition of how quick his release is, as well as his accuracy, as you could hear it just touch the post and/or crossbar as he picks the corner. Very few goaltenders CHL or NHL could have stopped that shot. Seguin is very much the Duchene of this draft behind Taylor Hall’s Tavares for this year. That should be taken as a compliment, because although he’s being regarded by some to be a potential 1^st overall pick, I don’t think there’s any question on draft day, Taylor Hall is the guy who gets picked 1^st overall. But Seguin may very well be in his last OHL season.
(Seguin had 2G, 1A, +3)

Beau Schmitz - #17 - D - YOB: 1991 - 5‘11” - 190lbs.
NHL: Eligible in 2010
Report: Feb/21/10: Schmitz has not been much of an impact player this year for Plymouth after standing out last year with his puck handling and offensive abilities, he has been very quiet at both ends of the ice. Schmitz played decent tonight, displaying a bit of a surprising physical game as he always has despite his slight stature. If he wants to shot at becoming a legitimate prospect he needs to enhance his skating ability a little based on his size as well as becoming stronger in all 3 zones. Schmitz is a valuable defenceman in the OHL, and would likely be capable of earning an AHL contract, but he needs to add more to his game, particularly better breakout speed in order to raise himself to an NHL level potential defenceman.
(Schmitz had 1G)

Jamie Devane - #23 - LW - YOB: 1991 - 6’5” - 217lbs.
NHL: 3^rd Round - 68^th Overall by Toronto in 2009
Report: Feb/21/10: Devane continues to be reliable but not spectacular for Plymouth. Along the boards yet again Devane was important, however again he didn’t really create much offense, but he did benefit from the great deal of goal scoring his team did today. Devane is a decent skater, I wouldn’t consider it a strength just yet, but it is pretty good for someone at his size. Devane continues to prove how good he is in the defensive zone, and how good his positioning as well as his willingness to block shots. Devane gets the majority of his ice time. Devane appears to be benefiting from the addition of James Livingston and Robbie Czarnik with Livingston joining him on the 3^rd line he has scored over half his points all season since the acquisition of Livingston at the trade deadline. Still he’ll be hard pressed to gain 20 points this season.
(Devane had 1G, 1A, +3)

Robbie Czarnik - #27 - C - YOB: 1990 - 6’0” - 175lbs.
NHL: 3^rd Round - 63^rd Overall by Los Angeles in 2008
Report: Feb/21/10: This game was the very different from the game Czarnik played in December. He played with a lot of energy, and drive, but tonight even though he put up 3 points, Czarnik looked very off. Czarnik has legitimate speed, but didn’t look anything special, he showed some physicality, but really it looked like a very big off night for him. Czarnik seems engaged in the play offensively, and seems to want to create offense, and do what needs to be done, he also has a solid shot with a good release.. But defensively, and when I say defensively, I mean outside the oppositions blueline there was A LOT of floating being done by Czarnik. I only saw him skating hard back twice, the others he was either floating or very slowly gliding back to his defensive zone, it would have been very discouraging watching this from a Plymouth point of view, because unless the team was in a position to offense, Czarnik really didn’t look like he cared what happened in this game. This is a little more understandable when the team is in a blowout, but this was also occurring far before this game was over.
(Czarnik had 1G, 2A, +3)

Phil McRae - #38 - C - YOB: 1990 - 6‘3” - 195lbs.
NHL: 2^nd Round - 33^rd Overall by St. Louis in 2008
Report: Feb/21/10: McRae is a player who I was pretty impressed with tonight, although the stats don’t show it, McRae skated hard every shift, he was going into the corners, he drove to the net, it just didn’t add up to a lot of points for him. He showed a pretty quick release, and good play along the boards. Defensively McRae looked very aware and was playing smart. At the same time, once this game was over McRae was smart and respectful not going out of the way to hit, and not forcing the puck at the net instead he dumped the puck in deep and did what he could to kill the clock, instead of trying to run up the score, and was a very good part in helping this game advance rather than getting out of control.
(McRae had 1A, -1)

Nathan Chiarlitti - #5 - D - YOB: 1991 - 6‘0” - 185lbs.
NHL: Eligible in 2010
Report: Feb/21/10: The majority of the Sarnia Sting quit midway through this game. Nathan Chiarlitti was one of the few that did not. He was still trying to block shots, made a great play on Seguin near the end of the second period even though this game was essentially over. Chiarlitti is starting to show his hidden offensive side, now 2^nd in scoring among defenceman for Sarnia despite the fact he is known for his defensive reliability, and leadership more than offensive skill. Due to Sarnia playing with 4 or 5 forwards on the power play, Chiarlitti is the 2^nd defenceman used, so he doesn’t gain a lot of time or experience, so it has taken him much longer to develop his offensive tools, than it would have otherwise if he was given more time on the power play. Chiarlitti is starting to rush the puck up the ice more, displaying the improvement in his skating, although still floating around average for a 17 year old his age. Still the knock on his game is the physical side of the game. He is starting to produce well for the amount of offense he’s allowed to engage in, but physically, his hitting is still to far between, and could really benefit from gaining some upper body mass along with a bit more of an edge to his game. In the 3^rd period Chiarlitti joined the rush on a short handed opportunity, and scored a very nice goal as he gained the rebound and displayed nice hands to go backhand, forehand and roof. Chiarlitti at this point looks like a safe pick between 5^th-7^th, but the development of his physical game may be the biggest part in determining how far he goes in his career. His -33 on the season may scare a few teams, but it’s more of a tribute to the excessive amount of ice time he receives on a bad team, rather than his ability defensively, as he is constantly hung out to dry to try to defend 2 on 1’s.
(Chiarlitti had 1G, -1)"