<span style='font-family:Times'><div align="center">From The Press Box
</div></span>

From The Press Box - Third Issue: Part 6 (12/4/2017)
Training Camp with the St. Louis Scarecrows’ Rookie Defenseman
Author: Rancidbudgie


“The Dream D”, some are calling it. Joyous cries from Scarecrows fans in St. Louis can be heard rumbling all throughout the city as the final days of training camp come to a close on the eve of S38’s imminent preseason. The calls come from the impressive showing of St. Louis’ three rookie defenseman drafted shortly before SMJHL training camps began. The trio of green blue-liners have added what looks to be solid depth to the already impressive veterans patrolling the Scarecrow’s back end.

St Louis wasted no time during the S38 SMJHL Draft to address the roster spots left over from call-ups at the end of last season. Their first two picks of the draft, both of the Crows’ 1st rounders, were used to take blue-chip prospects Brady McIntyre (5th overall) and Elias Svensson (8th overall). A pleasant surprise has also been their 7th-round pick and third defenseman taken in the draft, Jon Tellofsen (52nd overall), who is looking to be a valuable depth contributor on the third pairing this year on an already stacked St. Louis defensive corps. The Crows have appeared to reap nothing but gems with all of their selections in this larger SMJHL draft, but their defenseman are showing particular promise at the dawn of their careers.

The Scarecrows had no hesitations when their number 5 pick rolled around, selecting the American-born Brady McIntyre. Gifted in both offensive prowess and defensive skill, and boasting respectable size for his age, McIntyre wowed at training camp, and is speculated to start the season on St. Louis’ second pairing, showing the Scarecrow’s faith in him to contribute immediately. Throughout training camp McIntyre seems to only grow more confident in all of his abilities as the days continued, and his shot, one of his gifts that was less noted than his others leading up to draft day, came roaring out, adding another weapon to his already stacked skillset. Expect McIntyre to be drafted high in his upcoming SHL draft year, but how high he goes next time only depends on what degree he dominates the competition this year.

Reports and rumors were varied when St. Louis was set to take their next pick. They had traded up in the draft to opt for Paddy O’Sullivan with a later pick in the 2nd round, and who was to be selected was up in the air. There were a couple of good defenseman available, but no one would have blamed the Scarecrows for going for a forward, having just selected Brady McIntyre three picks earlier. But with the 8th overall pick, St Louis felt that they simply could not pass up on the impressive Swedish two-way defender Elias Svensson. From the looks of training camp, they were right on the money to do so. Not only has he developed great locker-room with fellow-first rounder McIntyre, Svensson showed great on-ice chemistry with Jon Tellofsen on the third pairing during training camp, with Svensson mentoring Tellofsen’s physical game and acclimatizing and introducing him to the rigors of the SMJHL, but with Tellofsen’s complimentary style of play allowing Svensson to develop a good first pass out of the zone and amazingly improved puck protection. They look to be a strong shut-down pairing as Svensson continues to improve and thrive as S38 gets underway.

As of now looking like a steal at number 52 overall, there were questions about Jon Tellofsen’s work ethic and fitness before the draft. The GM of the St. Louis Scarecrows, Joe Kurczewski, saw the young Norwegian very differently. In an article Kurczewski was quoted as saying Tellofsen was “inquisitive”, and “showed lots of willingness to grow”. Indeed, during training camp Tellofsen has not only shown improvement, but is doing a good job of keeping pace with the other rookie blue-liners drafted much higher than him. Tellofsen still needs to adapt to the rigors of such a condensed schedule like the SMJHL’s, but once he builds up an endurance to the workload he should be a strong two-way defender. He may have been taken 52nd overall in this years SMJHL draft, but you can bet after a training camp like Tellofsen’s, his stock for his next draft will have risen.

With young defenseman like McIntyre, Svensson, and Tellofsen all stepping up and having strong training camps, SMJHL fans in St. Louis have a lot to look forward this season. Yuma now has a stellar backup. The forwards are intimidating, versatile and varied in their skills, and the defense looks as strong as ever. The Scarecrows are looking like a legitimate threat to take the Four-Star Cup, with a deep squad from top to bottom. With a strong returning cast from last season and the up-and-coming rookies bonding together and developing plenty of chemistry on and off the ice, you can bet there will be a lot of cheering coming out of St. Louis, from when the first puck of the preseason is dropped to the final game 7 nail-biter of a series of the season. As of right now, things are like a dream.




<a href='index.php?showuser=2895' rel='nofollow' alt='profile link' class='user-tagged mgroup-62'>caltroit_red_flames</a>
<a href='index.php?showuser=2867' rel='nofollow' alt='profile link' class='user-tagged mgroup-3'>Kmichael</a>
<a href='index.php?showuser=2310' rel='nofollow' alt='profile link' class='user-tagged mgroup-10'>JKortesi81</a>

<div align="right">
Double Media payout for this article, as per this link: http://theshl.b1.jcink.com/index.php?showt...0&#entry2364764
Word count: 843
</div>