Reports NOT Exaggerated, "Freddy P" IS a Dope, Sly Swede

I know, I know, I keep telling myself the same thing! That it's just a 4 vs 4 scrimmage featuring mostly young kids between the ages of 18 and 20 who don't yet have any "pro" experience. But it's really hard to suppress one's excitement when it comes to the skills and abilities of the player known as "Fly" (Fredrik Pettersson) back home in Sweden. Not to stereotype, but Swedes seem like a fairly conservative lot who aren't prone to slapping monkiers on players without justification. But I digress.

My trek up I-85 was well worth the time as I, as well as a few dozen other observers, were rewarded with some very enlivened, not to mention entertaining, hockey action. There were several players, mostly forwards, who jumped out at me. But I must admit that, going into this, I was much more focused on the play of forwards such as Burmistrov, Cormier, Pettersson and Esposito. And I forgot to bring my list of jersey numbers for lesser known players whom I planned to observe closely. Regardless, it is much harder to gauge the abilities of a D-man prospect due to the nature of the exercise as 4 on 4 hockey is a slightly more organized form of "pond hockey."

However, with that in mind, one can still glean some useful information with respect to the subtle gradations of talent of the various prospects. First and foremost is this: FREDDY PETTERSSON IS NOT A PROSPECT. He's a bona fide talent who's experience playing pro hockey in Sweden has prepared him well for his emergence as a legitimate threat to not only crack the roster in Atlanta, but also the starting line-up. Without a doubt, he possesses the requisite puck skills, relentless motor and pure SPEED -- the kind of speed in which his top gear makes you think he may just skate through the end boards until that split instant when he turns on a dime and glides around the net with ease -- to play in the NHL.

In fact, the play of the day was turned in by the sly, shifty Swedish blur. Pettersson's 2nd goal of the game was hockey poetry in motion. As he streaked across the blueline on the right side of the ice with speed, the jitter-bug forward throttled down into a lower gear as he feigned a big wind-up for a hard slapper, which completely froze his defensive counterpart, then turned on the after-burners driving hard to the cage, but continuing behind the net only to emerge at the opposite pipe so quickly that goalie Ed Pasquale could not get his skate to the post to thwart Freddy's gorgeous wrap-around stuff job. In other words, he completely schooled the defense and made a very hard wrap-around play look incredibly easy. And Pettersson's first goal wasn't exactly boring either as he flashed a little "shake and bake" stick-handling move to free himself of a would-be defender (Julian Melchiori I think) before pulling up at the right circle to rip a laser-like wrister between the goalie's pad and glove hand for a sweet unassisted tally.

So as you can see I am quite exuberant at the prospect of Freddy Pettersson making a story-book run at not only a roster spot, but also a starting role in which his superlative hockey skills are given a chance to shine. But wait, it's only a glorified scrimmage against merely boys, right? I realize I should know better and temper my enthusiasm with a dose of realistic caution, but once you see Freddy P live and in the flesh, you will understand why I'm so giddy about him.

Well enough about Freddy P, time to move on to the other prospects, right!? Here is a player by player run down of the other notable performances:

Burmistrov(C) -- played a very solid two way game showing flashes of speed and stick-handling aplomb; feathered a nifty pass to Danick Paquette in a transition 2 on 1 scenario to set up a quick-hitting one-timer that found a home underneath the crossbar; later D.P. would return the favor with a pretty pass of his own to Burmie, who had no problem depositing the easy tap-in from the slot.

Cormier(C/F) -- certainly never flashy, but always seems to be around the puck; he's strong on the puck and not deterred easily when its on his stick; his personal hi-lite goal came later on when he made a strong, power forward drive to the net from the right wing in which he beat the goalie with a deft wrister from the low circle; he had a couple of big hits as well.

Paquette(F) -- sleeper of the whole camp in my opinion; can't say enough about how he has improved from last summer to this one; always tough as nails and a fearless forechecker, Dannick has added some offensive flair to his game, which is much better now thanks to much-improved skating stride; had the two connections with Burma (who would make anyone better), but also took the shot that led to the first goal of the game, a put-back stuff by Sebastian Owuya.

Esposito(C) -- didn't do much offensively, but it wasn't from a lack of confidence on his skates; the off-season rehab and summer training with Zach Bogosian has certainly paid dividends as he looked strong on his skates and fairly nimble turning in the corners; he also exhibited good hustle on the back-check despite not enjoying very many offensive chances.

Kozek(F) -- this college kid (Univ of North Dakota) never gets much fanfare, but always seems to make himself noticed on the ice with his hustle and scrappy, balls-to-the-wall effort; showed good speed on the rush with his head up and managed to squeeze off a couple of decent wristers on account of his speed to the outside.

Owuya(D) -- very good skater who is not afraid to pinch-in and crash the net when the opportunity presents itself; he had a couple of big hits and also converted the 4th goal for the blue team with a strong finish off a feed from #72, Jonathan Johansson. I believe he converted the first goal of the game, but Ben Wright is reporting that it was Ivan Telegin. But I'm pretty sure Burmistrov was on the ice with Paquette, his usual pairing mate, though Owuya was also out there and involved in the offensive flurry.

Aliu(F) -- strong skater who is not afraid to mix it up along the boards, but he doesn't seem to be reckless in his pursuit of the big hit; had a nice hi-lite reel goal of his own when he received a quick feed for a breakaway in which he made a sweet, fore-hand to back-hand deke before flipping the puck up over the goalie's stick and shoulder for the goal; has the stuff to become a bonafide power forward at the NHL level.

Sol(D) -- probably had the strongest game of the defensman, but admittedly I did not pay close enough attention to the D-men throughout the game. But I did notice big #52 involved in many plays which required a decisive and accurate outlet pass to get the play going the other way.

As for other D-men, I did notice a few things: how big, yet mobile big Ben Chiarot is; how fluid a skater Julian Melchiori is; and of course Paul Postma is smooth like butter. But honestly, I was too caught up in trying to follow the puck and document transition plays that led to goals. Overall though I did not get the feeling the D-men were getting abused; our prospects possess a lot of speed and any young D-man prospect would have struggled to stand out yesterday during the hi-octane, wide-open scrimmage.

POST-SCRIPT: One last thing! I had the pleasure of "bumping into" Chris Thorburn as I made my way out of the rink to go to my car. We ended up chatting a bit longer than I expected as I figured he'd make a bee-line right to his car after my initial question. But without going into to detail (this post is long enough!), I will say that Chris could not have been friendlier in answering my questions and chatting it up like he knew me from Adam. It just reinforces all the more why I love the game of hockey and being around these really classy and hard-working athletes. Thorburn's self-deprecation and easy-going manner helps you see that these guys just seem to "get it" when it comes to interacting with their fans.