POST-scrimmage INFO
POST-GAME VIDEO
Full Highlights
Tyce Thompson
Brian Halonen
Alexander Holtz
Here are some observations from the game...
- Somebody forgot to tell Thompson that this was a friendly scrimmage. The 6-foot-1, 175-pound forward scored twice (regulation and shootout) as well as throwing around his body. Thompson caught Alexander Holtz coming across the blue line and didn't hesitate to give him a body check.
Thompson scored a nice goal from above the circles and added another with a sick shootout tally. On the shootout, he faked a slap shot before quickly sniping a snapshot bar down.
"It was more fun than anything to be out there with your teammates again," Thompson said. "It was a blast all week."
- Halonen is an interesting player. He led the entire NCAA in goals with 21 last year for Michigan Tech. He certainly has the hands. Halonen showed that in the scrimmage with a goal and shootout tally.
Halonen scored maybe the most impressive goal on the afternoon cutting around a defender and then, in tight at the crease, was able to lift a shot into the top corner of the net. In the shootout, Halonen coasted in before riffling a blistering shot far side for the score.
"I just wanted to prove that I had a good summer so far," Halonen said. "The things that I was instructed to work on in my exit meeting in Utica, that I've been working on those things. That I've made strides in those areas that they wanted improvement and I think that I have."
- Holtz didn't end up on the final scoresheet, but it wasn't for lack of trying. In the final minutes of the scrimmage, Holtz made a great play to cut around a defender and then sent a quick snap pass intended for Chase Stillman in the crease. Stillman couldn't convert. Holtz then set himself up in the lower circle and received a pass from Stillman. Holtz laid into a one-timer that was blockered away by netminder Isaac Poulter.
Holtz also was stopped on a penalty shot and shootout. He had the puck on his stick a lot on the afternoon and created a lot of opportunities, though he didn't break through.
"I take a lot out of this week," he said. "See some new faces that are around, meet all the guys here, make some new friends as well. You learn some stuff all the time when you're here."
- The Devils' first-round pick (second overall) in last week's NHL Draft, Simon Nemec, got another taste of the North American game. Nemec, who has only played on the smaller surface during World Junior competition, really stood out on a play late in the third period. Nemec, 18, started the rush from his own zone, skated all the way into the corner in the offensive zone and then set up Moynihan for a late goal.
- Camp invitee Xavier Parent doesn't have much size at 5-foot-8 and 170 pounds. But he certainly knows how to finish. He posted 51 goals (and 106 points) in 65 games for Sherbrooke of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. He showed that finish with a nice wrist shot from between the circles for a goal in the contest Friday afternoon.
