Ryan Yessie's Thoughts on the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds from November 7

Ryan Yessie returns with his thoughts from a game on November 7, between the Greyhounds and the Sarnia Sting. Sault Ste. Marie won the game 3-2 on a late third period goal by 2009 draft eligible Michael Fine.

Anthony Peluso (NHL: St. Louis 6th rd./160th Overall in 2007)
Report: Nov/7/08: Peluso looks like a completely different player, I didn’t have his number down as someone to watch, but I remembered #14, and eventually read Peluso. The reason why I remembered #14 is becaue he was skating with some very fluid speed. I’ve seen Peluso play atleast once a year, and I can certainly say his skating didn’t stand out before, but it did this time. He has gone from being an enforcer to a real hockey player and the potential to be a power forward one day. One of the reasons his skating was weak before would have been because he was a defenceman and only had to cover ¾ of the ice. Since being converted to forward he looks like he has committed himself to becoming a better player. He also looks like he has lost about 15 lbs. Peluso displayed a solid shot, as well as a player who still utilizes his strength along the boards, Peluso shows signs of having some decent hockey instincts. Don’t expect this guy to ever be a top 6, but he has an intriguing hockey future.

James Livingston (NHL: St. Louis 3rd Rd./70th Overall in 2008)
Report: Nov/7/08: Livingston looks like a very improved player in all aspects, he played well in the defensive zone, and skated much better than last year. He showed a willingness to use the body, and put a few very good shots on net. Livingston looks like he’s progressing into a legtimate NHL Power Forward and I will be having a close eye on him this year to see how he progresses. (Livingston had 1G)

Michael Quesnele (NHL: Eligible in 2009)
Report: Nov/7/08: Quesnele was definitely the tale of two defencemen. On one side he was very good positionally and did a great job of moving the puck as well as using the angles on the boards to place the puck to the rushing forward. On the other hand he was completely reckless with his stick, as well committing blatent meaningless, and selfish penalties for no real reason at all, he got nailed with one roughing penalty and two holding penalties, and it could have been another 3 or 4 atleast ontop of that if the referee’s would have caught him the other times, just appeared to have no reguard for the team concept but his positives alone could have been enough to warrant that of a borderline prospect, but his mind just doesn’t seem to be in the game enough for someone to want to take a shot at him.

Bryce O’Hagan (NHL: Eligible in 2010)
Report: Nov/7/08: Because of his late birthday O’Hagan won’t be drafted untill next year, but he looks like a raw yet legitimate prospect. His positioning was very good, he always was in position minus one or two times which didn’t really cost him, he made some huge saves to keep his team in the game and got in front of every shot on net and made sure it hit him. On the negative side O’Hagan may have stopped every shot at him, but unless it went into his glove, he gave out a huge rebound every time, if Sarnia had a stronger net presence they would have buried the goaltender. O’Hagan could turn into a solid NHL goaltender prospect, but before that happens he needs to learn how to control his rebounds better and if he can’t control them then clear them out from the front of the net better, his skill set is good, his only weakness is his rebound control, which happens to be a fairly glaring one, but it’s one that he can improve on over time. (O’Hagan stopped 32 of 34 shots)

Ryan is a great contributor to this blog and we should feel lucky enough to have him share his thoughts with us when he has the time to. Thanks Ryan!