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Nictox · 10-12-2020, 08:15 AM

Amiens, France -- French U16 Tournament

Nic Tox here reporting from the French U16 tournament held in Amiens, France. Amiens, as you may know, is home to one of only hockey rinks big enough to host a tournament in all of France. I am here today to start scouting for future star players. While I am not a team scout, I am an agent looking for young talent. I have managed some great people from different leagues and sports even. Most notable players I have (or still do) manage. Nicholas Wilson of the GOMHL, Nic Wilson of the PBE (is actually the nephew of the hockey player), Mac Elephant of the ISFL, and Nicholas Williams of the SHL. Lots of Nic’s with some form of Will for a last name. Strange eh? Anyways, I’ve heard rumblings of a couple good players in this French tournament that could be real difference makers in the SHL. Rumors of high skilled, fast forwards as well as tough, big shutdown defenseman. I am not sure what I am looking for yet, but I know they are in this tournament.

The first day at the rink is always exciting. I grab my coffee, notepad, and cell phone as I make my way through the crowd to a press box seat. I sit in silence for a few moments and go over the list of players who will be eligible for the S58 SHL entry level draft. Now part of my job is to not only prep these kids to make it to the big leagues, it is to get them overseas into the SMJHL where more SHL teams can scout them. I see 5 names on the list of players who fit the bill. Over the course of this tournament I will write about each and eventually pick one to represent. As I write the names of each player on top of a section of my notepad, I hear the buzzer go off. The first two teams come out for their warm up skates.

Up first we have the Bombers versus the Lions. Three of the players on my list will be playing in this game. Two on the Lions and one on the Bombers. This brings us to our first couple pre-game reports.

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Jacques Bisset , Goalie, Lions
5’-11”/ 177lbs / Left / Butterfly
Bisset is a very quick goalie. He relies heavily on his agility to make a save and less on his positioning. That may be a fault in his game but hey, some of the best goalies I have ever seen doubled as acrobats. Bisset is a very good candidate and may be someone I approach to manage. I look forward to watching him this tournament.

Nicolas Guillaume, Defenseman, Lions
6’-1” / 186lbs / Left / Point Shooting Defenseman
Fun fact, Guillaume is the Williams of the French speaking world. He just jumped way up my list. He is known for having a powerful shot that rarely goes wide of the net. He looks for the open lane and fires low below the knees. Not only that,pair him with a good garbage collector or screener and good things will come.

Luc-Michel Laurent, Left Wing, Bombers
6’-2” / 207lbs / Right / Power Forward
Ah yes, the big bad power forward who plays very physically. I am actually really excited about this prospect and hope I get to see him fire on all cylinders this weekend. He loves crashing the net and playing the body so much, he could be the next big thing in the SHL. There are question marks next to his commitment level though, which is concerning.

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The game starts off and quickly the Bombers take control. This tournament has a no fighting policy but allows for big hits. The Bombers are the more physical team and it stands out. As mentioned above, Laurent is a power forward who looks for a hit. He made a really big one right behind the net and gained control of the puck. He made an excellent pass to show off his great vision and watched his teammate bury it behind the Lions’ Bisset. Bisset is usually on top of the puck and can track it well, unfortunately for him one of his defenders blocked him from crossing the crease to make the save. No fault lies on his shoulders there. With a 1-0 lead, the Bombers do not slow down. In fact, it looks like they up their tempo. At the end of the first period the Bombers are up 2-0 over the Lions. I received a note from a concerned mother that I was making one of their sons nervous and not playing like themselves. I won’t name who it is but I thought it was incredible that a player’s mother would do that. Now I know this player cannot handle the pressure and may not have what it takes to make the SHL.

The second period begins and seems a bit different. The coach of the Lions must have really fired his team up because they are playing like fire. They are all over the place out there and playing keep away showing off their puck handling skills. Bisset is making key saves and keep his team alive out there. The Lions crash the net, but in a sneaky way, drop the puck back to Guillaume who walks the line for a shot. He finds his target and slaps it. He finds the back of the net under the blocker to make this a 2-1 hockey game. Exciting times and what a great way to get introduced to him.
After some great back and forth the game comes down to 60 second tie, 2-2. Will we see overtime and get more chances for looks at the two prospects really watching? It would not. Laurent comes flying down the boards, dekes past both defenders, all alone now in the slot. One on one with Bisset. He strides to the left, then quickly right pulling his stick back behind him. He quickly moves his stick towards Bisset to attempt a one hand tuck. Bisset, being the acrobat he is, dives and makes a huge save. Recovers and dumps the puck down ice. One of the Lions’ forwards snags it up and passes to Guillaume who walks the line once again. This time he sees something different. He performs a slap pass and watches as the puck he just possessed hits his teammates blade and deflects up over the shoulder. 3-2 Lions with 3 seconds left. What a hell of a way to end the game.

This game brought me good insight on all three of the players I was watching. It also brought to my attention the amount of pressure my presence alone brings to a rink. While I started with 5 prospects to keep my eye on, I am not down to 4.

Game 2 starts in an hour. Maybe I should interview one of the two players I just saw. I look for the coach of the lions and ask about interviewing a couple players and gauge their interest in the SHL. He agreed of course and said, “..but you’ll have to wait until later tonight, right now we are celebrating the win against our rivals who had our numbers all season long.” Fair enough I thought as I scheduled them into time slots I had open in my notepad. As I made my way back to my seat in the press box I was met by a familiar face. None of the Nicholas Williams of the New Orleans Specters decided to join me to catch a game and chat about his future and renewing my contract as his agent/manager. Nic is someone I do not look at like a paycheck, he is a friend and we go way back now. I have managed him his entire career.

We got to chatting about the future and how his goals in the league have all been met, to an extent. Of course he would have loved to win the Mexico in S51 when he was nominated or even the Razof in S54 where he was also nominated along with fellow Specters. Williams said he still has gas in the tank and that he wanted another 5 years with me. I accepted without hesitation. We chatted a little more about his season so far in the SHL (he was here during the bye week so it was a mini vacation for him) and about a doctors appointment he had which he called, “A routine check up to make sure I am still all good.”

The next game was between the Diablos versus the Nationals. I have a prospect I am watching on both sides. Which means I have two more pre-game reports.

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Alexandre Marseille, Center, Diablos
5’-9” / 167lbs / Left / Dangler
The small center is very quick. He can really skate and shows great hands. He is the type of guy to set his teammates up more than looking for a goal. His quick stride and even quicker hands make him seem like a blue chip prospect, but his size and his work ethic comes into question on whether or not he makes the jump to the big leagues. I will watch him closely.

Jean-Locke Zidane, Defenseman, Nationals
6’-4”, 227lbs, Left, Defensive Defenseman
A huge kid who has a lot of strength. Known as a gym rat, Zidane is always working harder to be the best that he can be. While not being overly concerned about creating offensive chances, he is a complete shutdown defender. He enjoys being the guy everyone hates on the ice, an agitator who always gets noticed on the ice.

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These two players are polar opposites when it comes to how they play. Sure one is a center and the other a defenceman, their minds are completely located on one side of the ice. The game starts with Marseille winning the first draw and carrying the puck all by himself to the Nationals zone. He makes a mistake though, he put his head down as he was about to make a move to get past the towering defender in front of him. Zidane knocks him down with ease and gains control of the puck. Zidane quickly moved the puck to a forward and held the blue line watching for the pick. What an introduction to the big defender. Marseille is back on the ice and makes a beautiful deke between the legs of his opponent and gets a quick wrister in which is knocked down. The second period is where things pick up. Marseille begins showing off his moves once again, but this time he doesn’t do a quick wrister, he drags the puck back and picks the top corner. 1-0 Diablos. What a goal. This kid could really be something someday. The game ends in a 2-1 Diablos win. Something I noticed during this game was Marseille’s lack of using his teammates. He seemed to only want to play for himself.

With the day over I part ways with my long time friend Nic and head to the hotel I am staying at. I prep some questions for the two Lions’ players I will be interviewing soon. For now I will leave you with an updated report on the four players (originally five) that I am considering approaching to manage.

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Jacques Bisset , Goalie, Lions

Bisset played a great game and I was happy I got to see him win. He is one of the players I will be interviewing soon. He lost his nerve a bit early in the game and allowed two goals, but really became something in the second period. Shutting down all offensive attempts to score and inspiring his teammates to attack knowing they had a brick wall in net. He really shows his composure and will at the end of the game with a 2-2 tie. Making the big saves and being exactly what the team needed. Bisset is still young and goalies are hard to scout, but it is hard to deny this young man’s raw talent.

Nicolas Guillaume, Defenseman, Lions

Nicolas is an offensive defenseman who really focuses on the offensive side of things. A new age of defenseman has been started and Nicolas is right in line with it. His vision on the ice in this game was great. His one goal and game winning assist really makes him stand out as one of the top defenseman prospects in the league. The only concerning aspect of his game is his defensive IQ. He seemed like he couldn’t find the right spot in the defensive zone to cover the right guy. He looked like a forward trying to find an opportunity to create an odd man rush. Maybe he can be coached to be better defensively? Time will tell.

Alexandre Marseille, Center, Diablos

Marseille was born to be a star and he knows it. So much so that he doesn’t need his teammates.. In his eyes anyways. The Diablos could have been much better if Marseille played a more team first game. His high speed and very quick hands create opportunities that he should capitalize on by setting up another player for a goal. Instead he tries to do it himself and almost always gets knocked off the puck or has a weak scoring chance.

Jean-Locke Zidane, Defenseman, Nationals

Probably the most underrated player I saw today. He was a beast of a defender who got under everyone’s skin. We do not see players like this anymore. He blocked shots, made big hits, and most importantly, prevented the other team from having good scoring chances. While I am classifying him as a defensive defenseman, I think he is more agitator at heart. The kind of guy everyone hates, unless they are on your team.

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As you might have noticed, I will not be approaching Laurent as the note I received earlier completely ruined his chances. He played great for the first half of the game, but you can tell when the pressure of someone watching him kicked in. It’s a mental block barrier that he needs to get over if he wants to play in the big leagues one day. Everyone else I watched seemed to up their games knowing someone was in the press box watching. The only other prospect I am having doubts about is Marseille, but I think I need to watch another game or two of his. He could have been showing off knowing I was there.

This is my first time in France and I am excited to watch how their play differs from the US and Canada. The talent looks good here with plenty of prospects to consider. Since this is the end of my first post, I will say that there will be more to come. Including entries on the journey to both the SHL and SMJHL drafts for the prospect I select to represent. Thank you for reading.

[2501 Words]

RIP Dangel #AD26 | RIP TDZ

DeletedAtUserRequest · 10-12-2020, 01:36 PM

sensationnel

+1

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