Drummondville Voltigeurs vs Victoriaville Tigres September 9, 2012

(Pre-Season Game)

VIC #5 D Vance, Troy (Dallas Stars prospect) Vance didn’t have his best game and kept multiplying the turnovers going out of his zone. His ratio of good plays versus bad plays wasn’t very good. He still showed his great hands and ability to rush the puck a few times. He made some great plays just before turning the puck over. It looks like he was trying…

to do too much in those situations.

VIC #12 C/W Rehak, Dominik (2013) – Best game I’ve seen so far from him. He looked much more comfortable. Didn’t generate a lot of speed but he was a constant threat when the puck was nearby him in the offensive zone. His quick hands and good decision making proved to be helpful and got him two assists along with his goal. He had a quick release on a loose puck for his goal. You could see he is still adapting to the physical game the way he reacts when he gets banged up (he looks surprised).

VIC #19 C Savage, Félix-Antoine (2014) – He doesn’t get a lot of ice time and I’ve been watching him for a few games trying to get a read on him. He skates well and follows the play on both ends of the ice but he doesn’t seem comfortable with the puck. He tries to rush his decisions as if he was trying to keep up with the speed of the game. He would benefit keeping the puck a little longer and let the play develop around him instead of making sloppy plays too quickly. You could see he works hard and tries to win battles but he isn’t strong enough right now to be really effective.

VIC #20 RW Ayotte, Mathieu (2014) – Didn’t factor much into this offensive contest. He is at his best with the puck on his stick where he seems to be in a comfort zone. He had a couple flashes where he showed maturity the way he is able to hold onto the puck before making the right play.  It looks like he is a fairly decent skater too but he didn’t get many opportunities to show it in this game. His skinny 140 pound frame isn’t helping him either when he has to win a battle along the board or carry the puck through traffic. I liked the fact he wasn’t a quitter even though he’s clearly disadvantaged with his weight.

VIC #79 D Pomerleau, Tristan (2014) – Very undersize (5,09 – 170) but I thought he had an excellent game. He was an offensive sparkplug when he was on the ice with his speed and quick puck-moving ability. He also did well on the power play cycling the puck around to his teammates. He still has to learn how to use his speed and stick to defend properly but he limited the mistakes and was mostly effective in his own zone.

DRU #9 LW Archambault, Olivier (Montreal Canadiens) – Archambault didn’t have a good game. Only had a few chances with his speed and he ended up doing his usual stuff, getting stuck between a couple opponents  because he wouldn’t pass or dump the puck. Most of the time when he gathers momentum with the puck in an open space, you think he’s going to do something great only to end up turning the puck over. I’m not sure if it’s a matter of trust towards his teammates or limited vision. But still, his speed and great hands can be a deadly weapon for him.

DRU #55 C Balmelli, Lukas (2013) – Second time I’ve watch him and it’s hard to get a read on him because he skates around but doesn’t get into the action much. He moves around pretty easily and he’s never too far from the action but never really gets into it. He also lost quite a few battles for the puck. It’s still to be seen what he can do when he has the puck on his stick.

Scouts Notes:

A game filled with goals and penalties that was ultimately won 9-5 by Victoriaville. Dominik Rehak (1-2) had a great game alongside veterans Philippe Maillet (3-3) and Angelo Miceli (3-1). I like his instincts in the offensive zone and his quick hands allows him to finish the job most of the time when he sees an opportunity. It’s still early pre-season but his game is coming along pretty well and he seems to have a very legit package as a player. Like I mentioned it was the second time watching Swiss import Lukas Balmelli and on the first occasion I didn’t even bother filling in a report because I didn’t see him at all on the ice. Tonight he was there in term of speed of the game but he didn’t factor at all into the action. We’ll see how he adapts to the North American game as the season goes on. Adaptation early in the season is not always easy for import players.