Winterhawks Notes: Thursday, July 9th

Getting caught up on a few things that happened over the past few days:

Petan

Petan Talks About Mindset After Being Sent Back to the Dub:
-A really good Winnipeg Free Press piece goes into the mindset Petan had after being sent back to the WHL, despite a strong camp last year. While I would not necessarily disagree with this piece saying that he "didn't give up," I believe that there was a noticeable drop in his effort level until the World Juniors in late December. He had 33 points in first 26 games last season, but a lot of these could be attributed to just passing the puck to Oliver Bjorkstrand and letting him do his thing. Multiple times, I noticed him skate, very slowly, to the bench after his shift. After the WJC's, however, he was incredible and earned the "C" that had been given to him at the start of the season. He finished the season with 56 points in his last 28 games and then scored at least once in the 17 playoff games, totaling 28 and carrying the team offensively. I would look for Petan to make his debut for Winnipeg at some point this season. It would be really cool if he were playing for the Jets, when they visit his hometown Vancouver Canucks in mid-March.
-A blog post looking at Winnipeg Jets prospects, has Petan as their 4th best prospect and Chase De Leo as their 15th best. I have not seen Kyle Connor play, but cannot see how he could be rated over Nik Ehlers (2nd), Josh Morrissey (3rd) and Petan on their list.

De Leo's Versatility Sets Him Apart:
-Article about Chase De Leo talks about his growth while with the Hawks and even mentions that Coach Jamie Kompon would put struggling players with De Leo in order to get them out of their slumps. He definitely had my vote last year for the "Most Consistent Winterhawk" honor. Another interesting part in this interview is how former Hawk coach Mike Johnston pointed out Tyler Johnson, when Chase was 16 and Tyler was an over-age with Spokane, as someone he should model his game after. This was years before Tyler broke Tampa Bay's playoff goal scoring record and became the go to player for smaller players to point at as a reason they could succeed in the NHL. With the way Chase plays day in and day out, I could really see him being the next Tyler Johnson.

McLeod

McLeod Talks Abut His Time in Portland:
-Former Winterhawk and current Colorado Avalanche pugilist Cody McLeod was interviewed by Mile High Sticking and he talked about how he decided to change his playing style while in Portland and became more of a fighter, leading to his long career in the NHL. Here's a quote from the article:

 “With the Portland Winter Hawks, I knew that I would have to be a tougher player and stick up for my teammates if I wanted to have a career. I definitely took a lot of poundings in juniors before I got the hang of it. I still do, because you’re not going to win them all. It’s part of the game and I’ll just keep it going.”
I've always admired how great a teammate Cody appears to be and how much he gives back to the community.

Turgeon Finishes with 3 Total Pts in Two Red Wing's Scrimmages:
-Dominic Turgeon added an assist in the 2nd and last scrimmage at Detroit Red Wing's Development Camp Tuesday afternoon. He also played a great diving play defensively that was all for naught, as "Team Lindsay" tied "Team Howe" late in the scrimmage, setting up a 3 on 3 OT period. In the video at the link,  Turgeon's assist is at the 5:43 mark.
-Then during a shoot out, Turgeon pulled a nifty move in beating the Goalie. The goal is at the 0:35 second mark of the video.

Cederholm Helps Pull a Bus:
-Anton Cederholm is at Vancouver Canuck's Development Camp and he and his teammates used a rope to pull a bus up the hill. This was seemingly to demonstrate how as a team you can accomplish much more, than you can individually.

Bellows on CSS "Futures" List:
-Winterhawks prospect and 2015/16 USNTDP Forward Kieffer Bellows was listed on NHL Central Scouting's Futures List. Bellows is looking like a lock to be a first round pick in the 2016 NHL draft. What happens after he's drafted, could be interesting as some NHL teams have encouraged their draftees to abandon their college commitment to play in the CHL. Columbus being the most notorious.
Some Bellows highlights are shown in this video.

Switzerland Out for Matthews But Europe Still Possible:
-Possible #1 overall 2016 NHL Draft pick Auston Matthews appears to not be able to get clearance to play in Switzerland, but Europe is still looking like a possibility, according to the Hockey News. It looks like one of the potential landing spots for Auston is in the DEL with Munich. This whole thing does not look good for Everett, who owns his CHL rights, as he seems to be looking at any possible avenue to play professionally, even if it could damage his draft stock, by having him play in a lower league. One has to think that if they can land Matthews, Tyson Jost would follow suit and leave Penticton of the BCHL.