DeNiro Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 Friesen scored the opening goal in the game today. It is now 1-1 however. I am cheering for the Gens, but it is nice to see a prospect doing well! Gives Freezer 7 points (4 goals) in 6 games so far - and this one isn't over. He actually ended the series with 12 PTS in 6 games. (4G 8A) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elvis15 Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Nice piece on Friesen at Canucks Army: During the course of the season, I've tried to bring attention to several less heralded prospects in Vancouver’s system. That trend continues today with a profile on Niagara Ice Dog and 2010 6th round draft pick, center Alex Friesen. Friesen plays an integral role on arguably the best team in the OHL in Niagara. The Ice Dogs feature more notable prospects in defenseman Dougie Hamilton (Boston) and slick center Ryan Strome (Long Island), but Friesen could be considered their most consistent player this past season. Friesen’s size (listed generous at 5’10” and about 190 pounds) hurt his draft ranking back in 2010, but he plays a tenacious and scrappy game at both ends of the ice. Think of a young, shorter Mike Peca if you want to get a picture of the kind of game Friesen plays (although Peca was a much more prolific scorer in junior). Back in a 2010 piece for Vancouver’s official site, Mike Gillis explained why he picked Friesen. Friesen has spent five full years with Niagara, so his numbers this season should be taken in context (as an overage player at the age of 21, Friesen is facing competition many years younger than himself, for the most part). In 62 regular season games, Friesen scored 26 goals, added 45 assists, and racked up 106 PIM. Through six playoff games, he has an impressive four goals and 12 points (and only two PIM). He won’t be in the NHL any time soon (the Canucks aren’t exactly desperate for centers at the moment), but there are several reasons why he is a prospect with NHL upside. In a recent OHL Eastern Conference poll, Friesen was selected by the coaches as the top faceoff man in the conference (after coming third in the category in both 2011 and 2010). He was also named the top defensive forward, and the top penalty killer, as well. He was third on the list for the hardest worker award. Those four awards together paint a picture of Friesen’s style of play. His production is important too, as it is very rare that checking forwards at the NHL level were unable to produce offensively at the junior level. Friesen will start next season in Chicago with the Wolves. He’ll likely start off in a depth role, as he adjusts to the speed and physicality of the professional game. While concerns about his size linger, he is more than ready to take the next step (I’d hope so after five OHL seasons), and the Canucks have to be happy with how he has improved in his strengths (defensive play and checking) while continuing to produce offensively. In his final OHL season, Friesen finished with 26 goals, 71 points, and 107 PIM. Being an over ager and playing on an elite squad both were significant factors for his strong production (as was an injury to Strome, which opened up more offensive opportunities). How does he stack up against some current and former checking line players for the Canucks? Let’s take a look. In their final CHL seasons… Maxim Lapierre recorded 25 goals, 52 points, and 139 PIM. Manny Malhotra recorded 16 goals, 51 points, and 29 PIM. Matt Cooke recorded 22 goals, 54 points, and 99 PIM. Mike Keane recorded 25 goals, 70 points, and 107 PIM. I chose four players who have similar attributes to Friesen (and I wanted to have players who skated in the CHL, to keep the basis of comparison more similar). Of the four, Keane is probably the closest stylistic comparison. The Canucks would be ecstatic if Friesen turns out to be one- half the player Keane was in his prime – a hard working two-way leader on several Cup-winning teams. A more apt comparison may be (prepare yourself for this) Chicago’s David Bolland. Friesen is a better skater than Bolland was at the same age, but he lacks some of Bolland’s creativity with the puck. That being said, both are gritty, tenacious, undersized centers with a lot of smarts and well-rounded skill sets. The Mike Gillis regime hasn’t churned out any high level prospects (yet), but there are several mid-to-late-round picks who have progressed nicely since being drafted. Friesen is one of them. The Canucks dipped back into the OHL this past season, taking Nicklas Jensen in the 1st round and Frankie Corrado in the 5th. They don’t draft from the OHL often. Cody Hodgson aside, the most recent three players Vancouver has selected from the OHL – Brandon Nolan (4th round in 2003), Nathan McIver (8th round in 2003), and Fedor Fedorov (2001). To find their last two successful OHL picks, you have to back to 1998 (Bryan Allen, 4th overall), and 1997 (Cooke, 144th overall). If Friesen (and Jensen and Corrado, for that matter) are able to continue to take positive steps towards an NHL career, perhaps the Canucks won’t keep ignoring one of the best developmental leagues in the world. While Friesen's lack of size, remains some cause for concern - he's a strong player, who has consistently played an extraordinary physical game. Here's that famous time he cleanly laid out Taylor Hall, for example: Nice to get updates on a player we don't hear much about since he's playing in junior. We'll get more exposure to him on the Wolves next year, and see how he adjusts from playing younger players to older players in the AHL. EDIT: forgot the link. That's now right at the top. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel Heyman Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Oh man that Mike Peca comparison made me grin, if he can become half the player Peca was I'll be a very happy camper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel Heyman Posted April 6, 2012 Share Posted April 6, 2012 Alright guys, what's your opinion on Freezer's potential and timetable? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ilya Mikheyev Posted April 6, 2012 Share Posted April 6, 2012 Alright guys, what's your opinion on Freezer's potential and timetable? Third line grinder who is streaky offensively like Talbot, but more like a Burrows pre-Sedin. Timetable? The team is so deep, oh dear. He'll spend a least all of next year on the Wolves, maybe even some time with the K-Wings. At the most he might get a game or two at the NHL level if he totally over performs. The year after that will be mostly AHL as well... I'd say at least 2 more full seasons before he has a shot out of pre-season for the 4th line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elvis15 Posted April 6, 2012 Share Posted April 6, 2012 I think us talking about timetables for prospects like Friesen is a sign on Gillis' drafting coming to fruition. We may not have a ton of players challenging at the NHL, but we do have a fair amount of players pushing for spots in the AHL coming out of junior. That kind of competition, and having other prospects in the ECHL when there isn't room or they aren't quite ready yet, is a good sign the depth picks Gillis has been taking are starting to develop and may have a chance. There wasn't that same level of prospect competition in our affiliates in the past. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Millerdraft Posted April 7, 2012 Share Posted April 7, 2012 Friesen with the primary assist on David Pacan' OT game winner vs Cody Hodgson's old team, Brampton, in game #1. That gives Friesen 4g 9a 13pts +1 in 7gp. He leads the Ice Dogs in scoring and is 4th in the OHL playoff scoring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dasein Posted April 7, 2012 Share Posted April 7, 2012 Friesen with the primary assist on David Pacan' OT game winner vs Cody Hodgson's old team, Brampton, in game #1. That gives Friesen 4g 9a 13pts +1 in 7gp. He leads the Ice Dogs in scoring and is 4th in the OHL playoff scoring. Wow, don't they have Ryan Strome? Is he injured or something? Anyways, I just looked at the Ice Dogs' roster - they are absolutely stacked... A back end consisting of Oleksiak and Hamilton and then Visentin in net - they'll be tough to beat IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Millerdraft Posted April 7, 2012 Share Posted April 7, 2012 Alright guys, what's your opinion on Freezer's potential and timetable? Rod Pelley, but with the chance to make a much bigger impact with the Canucks' future role players being much more skilled than Devils' role players (as of late - last 4-5 years anyway). I like PITB's comparables and the Talbot comparison as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Millerdraft Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 Friesen scored the opening goal (unassisted), later added a secondary assist and finished a +1 in a 3-1 win of game #2 vs Brampton. He is now 2nd in OHL playoff scoring with 5g 10a 15pts in 8gp. The guy has been clutch there. Archibald-Friesen-_____ next year on the Wolves anyone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ilya Mikheyev Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 Friesen scored the opening goal (unassisted), later added a secondary assist and finished a +1 in a 3-1 win of game #2 vs Brampton. He is now 2nd in OHL playoff scoring with 5g 10a 15pts in 8gp. The guy has been clutch there. Archibald-Friesen-_____ next year on the Wolves anyone? Archi - Freezer - Duco? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NuxFan09 Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 Really happy with Friesen's production in the OHL playoffs so far. Nice to have a prospect of ours really sticking out in a positive way and exceeding expectations. A future playoff warrior for the Canucks? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Millerdraft Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 Wow, don't they have Ryan Strome? Is he injured or something? Anyways, I just looked at the Ice Dogs' roster - they are absolutely stacked... A back end consisting of Oleksiak and Hamilton and then Visentin in net - they'll be tough to beat IMO. Check out Friesen's opening goal of game #2: http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/video/index/id/bf1f2bb0131d38f01e10eb6aadaa9a3c Beautiful defensive read/positioning/play, slick acceleration & lateral movement to sidestep a check and a beautiful wrist shot to finish 'er off. He didn't look so good on Brampton's goal that cut the lead to 2-1 but he did win the Ozone faceoff for the insurance marker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Honeydew Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 Haha I like the falling reaction made by the goalie made it look like the shot of Friesen had some punch to it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zduck14 Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 I'll admit I've only seen Friesen play a couple times, but from what I've seen, he kind of reminds me of a young Scott Nichol. Undersized yes, but he could turn into a very good shut down center with his work ethic and tenacity. It would be great if he turned out even better, but really, if a 6th round pick can play over 600 NHL games and be relied upon as much as Nichol has been, I'd consider that a success. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Millerdraft Posted April 11, 2012 Share Posted April 11, 2012 Friesen scored another unassisted goal (shorthanded) tonight to tie the game at 2 and he finished a +1 on the evening. The Ice Dogs went on to win game #3 6-3 and now have a strangle hold on the series, up 3-0. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Droj Posted April 11, 2012 Share Posted April 11, 2012 To me he seems to resemble Darren Helm, while Friesen is not blazingly fast he has that same style as helm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Millerdraft Posted April 11, 2012 Share Posted April 11, 2012 To me he seems to resemble Darren Helm, while Friesen is not blazingly fast he has that same style as helm. I like that comparison as well but I'm not sure Friesen will hit those lofty expectations (Helm is turning into a 20g 20a per 80gp player in the playoffs: 3g 3a 6pts in 11gp last year's postseason). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Millerdraft Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 Friesen with a +1 and the secondary assist on the series winning goal by Agozzino. Ice Dogs complete the series sweep of Brampton. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Millerdraft Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/video/index/id/567fb539d7855d41de957f281e393756 Pretty fearless forecheck by Friesen on Agozzino's series' winner @ 0:26. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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