ANAHEIM - I arrived at the Anaheim Ice rink, looking forward to seeing the talent pool that the Anaheim Ducks were displaying today. Although last Thursday began a six day camp which had invited players to showcase their skills to the Ducks staff, media, and fans, we were all treated to a great exhibition competition.
It was an awesome shootout, a basic 4-on-4 river hockey style game that resulted in a 9-6 finish. The goals were scored by Chris Wagner who had 4, Emerson Etem, Joseph Cramarossa, Devante Smith-Pelly who each had 2 goals, and Andy Welinski, Tim Heed, Andreas Dahlstrom, Brett Perlini and Radoslav Illo who had 1 goal each.
One of the most impressive players on the ice was Chris Wagner who was a 2010 fifth round pick, played with alot of intensity and determination to show the Ducks just what he was bringing as a player. He worked hard scoring his goals, and has shown he has very good hands, control, and a defensive mind state.
Long Beach native Emerson Etem was fantastic, with his ice vision improved, along with his skill set on the ice. Etem has also improved on his body strength. He should definitely make the team for this coming season. Etem talked about what his goals were and the upcoming season "Just to fit in the top six, I bring more of a defensive set, I scored 9 short handed goals last year for my team in the Western Hockey League. I'm going to play at whatever position they put me in and do my best at it."
On the other hand, Devante Smith-Pelly who scored 2 goals, looked a bit out of shape during the scrimmage. If he wants to make a solid push to make an NHL team this year, he's definitely going to have to work on himself getting into better hockey shape. "I need it to be at an elite level. All last summer I worked very hard at it." If Smith-Pelly is able to get into better shape, look out because this 2010 2nd round pick has some very serious skills and would be a fantastic edition to any NHL team.
It was a great opportunity to witness this young players showcase their talents and be able to not only stay in shape during the off season, but make the Ducks and their fans aware of whats to come possible for the 2011-2012 NHL season. Etem, Wagner, Smith-Pelly are going to be future superstars in this league, can't wait for them to hit the ice during the regular season.
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