Sunday, August 23, 2009

Vipers Aquire Veteran Defenceman:


Mark Ferner has made his second trade of the season in just over two weeks. Ferner who just picked up 20 yr old forward, Jonathan Milhouse from the Victoria Grizzlies for 20 yr old forward, Brian Elser now has picked up veteran 20 yr old defenceman, Dan Nycholat from the Canmore Eagles of the AJHL for Kory Roy and future considerations. This puts the Vipers roster at six 20 yr olds wich is the league limit. Here's a look at the Vipers six 20 yr old's, (Kevin Kraus, Braden Pimm, Graeme Gordon, Dan Nycholat, Rob Short & Jonathan Milhouse)

Let's take a look at Dan Nycholat's stats over the last three season's

2006-07 Canmore Eagles 58 GP 7 goals, 17 assists, 24 points, and 84 pims
2007-08 Northeastern University 21 GP 1 goal, 4 assists, 5 points, and 6 pims
2008-09 Northeastern University 27 GP 0 goals, 2 assists, 2 points, and 14 pims

I did some digging and come across a very good article on Nycholat.
This article is from Hockey Futures, The #1 online prospects resource, This website has featured the Top 10 NCAA 2008 Prospects. Dan Nycholat was rated tied at #10

T10. Dan Nycholat, D

Freshman, Northeastern University
6’3 180 lbs.
DOB: 6/2/89 Shoots: Left
Central Scouting final ranking: N/A

Nycholat may be one of the best up and coming Hockey East defensemen that nobody is talking about. The younger brother of defenseman Lawrence Nycholat in the Ottawa Senators system enjoyed a very good rookie campaign despite battling mononucleosis this season. The Calgary, AB native appeared in 21 games with the Huskies, posting five points (one goal, four assists).

Talent Analysis: Nycholat moves remarkably well for such a tall, lanky man. While he may eventually develop into an offensive defenseman, he is a very good two-way defenseman right now. The challenge of newcomers to acclimate themselves to the faster, more rigorous collegiate game can be tough, but for Nycholat it was made even tougher because of his battle with mono in the first half of the season that resulted in significant weight loss. While Nycholat played the remainder of the season exceedingly well, the lack of muscle and especially physical strength was clearly noticeable. As he grows into his 6’3 frame, many of Nycholat’s size and strength issues should resolve themselves.

One of his Nycholat’s best features is his skating. He’s mobile, can get up and down the rink very well and skates with long, smooth, powerful strides. However, he could use some work on his transitioning. He does a very good of keeping his feet moving and showed noticeable improvement in areas such as his agility by the end of the season.

Another one of Nycholat’s best attributes is his puck skills. He is remarkably poised and patient with the puck and moves quite well with it. He can make some nice tape-to-tape passes and his outlet passes are also very good. He possesses a very heavy shot and can get shots to the net. Nycholat also possesses a very quick wrist shot.

Nycholat takes great advantage of his size and long reach, particularly in one-on-one situations or in transitioning plays. While he’s not an overly physical player, Nycholat doesn’t shy away from playing the body. But his lack of strength has limited his effectiveness in that area this season. He is smart, hard-working and keeps things relatively simple. As his confidence grew this season, so did his game. He is defensively responsible and he has shown that he can make good decisions as well. While Nycholat is very much a work in progress, he has a great upside that will become more apparent with further growth and development.

Northeastern University head coach Greg Cronin’s comments on Nycholat: “What Dan is going to have to improve on is his agility. His footwork got better down low, particularly defending in the corners and I think that really led to a lot of confidence. We’re trying to make him more efficient as a player. When he came back from having mono, I think Dan was really rejuvenated and was determined to correct the mistakes that he had made earlier in the year. I felt by the last three or four weeks of the season he was one of our best defensemen, which is a credit to his growth as a person.”

To view the entire list,

http://www.hockeysfuture.com/articles/10425/top10_ncaa2008_prospects/


From what I have read I like this trade, as I stated on my blog last week I figured with a possible 12 forwards already basically on the team, you had to wonder with only 4 d-men returning that one or if not more of these forwards could or would be used as trade bait. I was a little worried with the Vipers blueline going into training camp, with only 4 d-men returning you had to wonder why the Vipers havnt addressed the defence? With the addition of Nycholat, this adds size and experience to the Vipers backend that needed some upgrade. You have to ask why would Nycholat leave Northeastern after two seasons and now play in the BCHL with the Vipers? Nycholat is now the third Viper to leave school and play for Vernon. Hunter Bishop returned to Vernon after just one season with the University of North Dakota back in 2006-07. & then Greg Beller left Yale University in 2007-08 after playing just 2 games to join the Vipers halfway through the season. Current Viper forward, Braden Pimm is heading to Northeastern next season on a scholarship.

Im glad Mark & Jason have brough in Nycholat a veteran 20 yr old defenceman wich the club needs. This now puts Vernon with 5 d-men heading into camp tomorrow (Dan Nycholat, Kevin Kraus, Adam Thompson, Steven Weinstein, & Nick Amies) It would be nice if Ferner could pull off another trade and aquire a solid 19 yr old d-man to try and solidify the backend.

Canmore Eagle fans keep an eye on Kory Roy, you wont be dissapointed and will be thrilled with his strong work ethic. Roy who watched most of his games from the stands played in just 16 regular season games with the Vipers collecting (2-2-4) Due to injuries Roy would play 12 games with the Vipers in the Playoffs scoring one lone goal. I was a big fan of Kory Roy and am sad to see him go. Here's a kid who come to play when called apon and didnt dissapoint, Roy was a hard worker, always skating hard playing on the Vipers fourth line. This kid didnt back down from the rough stuff, battling hard in the corner and in front of the net. After seeing very little icetime last season, Roy was one of those kids you knew was going to get his chance this year to really prove himself. It's too bad he wont be able to do it in a Vipers jersey. Roy may have scored just 2 goals in the regular season but both goals were huge both vs Salmon Arm. One of his goals was late in the 3rd to tie the game and then send it to Overtime where Mike Collins scored the OT winner to put the Vipers atop 1st place over Salmon Arm who held the Division lead for sometime. Id like to wish Kory all the best in Canmore, thanks for the memories as a Viper. All the best!

Kory Roy's Stats and Profile,

http://www.bchl.bc.ca/leagues/rosters_profile.cfm?clientID=1413&leagueID=2393&teamID=173502&playerID=459441

Dan Nycholat's Stats and Profile,

http://gonu.com/mhockey/roster/mh-nycholat.shtml

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