I posted this in the Cam York thread below, but decided it needed a separate post:
Update...still no confirmation of a commitment from Cam York himself.
Took the opportunity last night to head out to USA Arena in Plymouth to catch another glimpse of York and fellow Michigan commit, John Beecher, as the the NTDP U18 team took on Bowling Green in an exhibition game.
Observations...
York didn’t play due to injury. The USA brass would only confirm an injury, but not the nature of the injury. He was in attendance and showed no signs of the injury. Couldn’t be very serious.
In fact, he stopped to pay his respects to the Hughes family sitting just to my right in the east end of the arena. The whole Hughes clan - Dad, Mom, Quinn and Luke - were out on Thanksgiving eve to watch Jack play. While Jack didn’t have one of his most effective games, it is SO obvious that he plays with higher skill and unmatched speed relative to everyone else on the ice.
Bowling Green is a very good college hockey team, deserving of their #12 ranking, and beat the highly-regarded U18s on this night.
Michigan 2019 commit forward John Beecher was the lone Wolverine commit to play for the U18s in this game. Beecher centered the second line and saw secondary duty on both specialty teams, penalty kill and power play. Beecher was called on to use his 6-3 204 pound frame to assume a presence in front of the BG offensively. He reminded me of a bigger, less offensively potent version of Josh Norris on this night due to his skating skill, taking face offs well, understanding the spacing required by playing at center, blocking shots and setting up a key USA goal in the third period. Norris is ultimately a better player probably, but Beecher played very well in a “sum is greater than the addition of the parts” fashion. Will need to use his size more on defense in college.
Update...still no confirmation of a commitment from Cam York himself.
Took the opportunity last night to head out to USA Arena in Plymouth to catch another glimpse of York and fellow Michigan commit, John Beecher, as the the NTDP U18 team took on Bowling Green in an exhibition game.
Observations...
York didn’t play due to injury. The USA brass would only confirm an injury, but not the nature of the injury. He was in attendance and showed no signs of the injury. Couldn’t be very serious.
In fact, he stopped to pay his respects to the Hughes family sitting just to my right in the east end of the arena. The whole Hughes clan - Dad, Mom, Quinn and Luke - were out on Thanksgiving eve to watch Jack play. While Jack didn’t have one of his most effective games, it is SO obvious that he plays with higher skill and unmatched speed relative to everyone else on the ice.
Bowling Green is a very good college hockey team, deserving of their #12 ranking, and beat the highly-regarded U18s on this night.
Michigan 2019 commit forward John Beecher was the lone Wolverine commit to play for the U18s in this game. Beecher centered the second line and saw secondary duty on both specialty teams, penalty kill and power play. Beecher was called on to use his 6-3 204 pound frame to assume a presence in front of the BG offensively. He reminded me of a bigger, less offensively potent version of Josh Norris on this night due to his skating skill, taking face offs well, understanding the spacing required by playing at center, blocking shots and setting up a key USA goal in the third period. Norris is ultimately a better player probably, but Beecher played very well in a “sum is greater than the addition of the parts” fashion. Will need to use his size more on defense in college.
