Regina Pats 4 Saskatoon Blades 3

Game Notes:
The Blades dominated play in the first 10 minutes of the game but failed to score on Pats' rookie goaltender Dawson Guhle -- who may have been the best player in the game. The home team lead the game until the Blades tied the score 3-3 with less than a minute to play. The Pats went on to win the game in the shootout.

Prospect Notes:
Blades prospect Charles Inglis did not play because of mono, and is listed as being out indefinitely. He is a player who I wanted to see because last year (as an underage) he demonstrated grit, determination, and possibly leadership potential despite not demonstrating an elite level of skill.
Two other Blades' prospects did play, however. Josh Nicholls and Curtis Hamilton are two players who possess the required talent level to be considered for the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. Since this is my first viewing of these players I will simply provide a brief description of each.
Josh Nicholls is a tall and somewhat lanky right-handed shot who possesses a long skating stride. In this game he demonstrated good vision of the ice and good passing ability. At this point he does not participate in much physical play. My opinion is that his skating will improve as he becomes stronger -- he seems somewhat underdeveloped physically, in other words he could work on his leg strength. He is a player that scouts will monitor this season.
The other prospect I watched in this game was Curtis Hamilton. This is his third season in Saskatoon as he has a late 1991 birth date. His offensive statistics have improved from season to season, and hopefully he will be able to do the same this year. I would describe Curtis as having good offensive instincts, and just overall a very smart player -- he understands all aspects of the game. He is a good skater, but tends to lean over a little too much during his acceleration phase. He played left-wing in this game and was used in all situations. He is definitely a player to watch and I will provide a detailed prospect evaluation after I see him again.

Note: Saskatoon also has two solid underage players to keep an eye on in Duncan Siemens and Brent Benson. Siemens, in particular, was impressive as a young defenseman with good size and skating ability -- someone to watch for the future.