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2011 draft prospect- Tomas Jurco, RW 6"2 190 Saint John Sea Dogs


chickenman92

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Tomas Jurco, RW 6"2 190 Saint John Sea Dogs

Drafted 4th overall in the 2009 CHL import draft

34 games, 18 goals, 15 assists, 33points, 8 pim, +26 +/-

By Ian Esplen

Tomas Jurco came to Saint John last year with one dream, the dream of making it to the NHL one day. After a season in a half, he appears to be well on his way to making that dream a reality, in the near future. Since bursting into the QMJHL last season, he has electrified crowds with his stick handling and shoot out moves. He is one players in this draft class to watch at all times, as he will likely make you say "wow" at least once a game.

Growing up in Kosice Slovakia, Jurco would learn the game at his local rink. He would work on his skills every day in hopes of making it to the NHL, like his hero's Crosby, Hossa and Gaborik. His hard work paid off, as he became a YouTube sensation, in a video that shows just how much skill he has.

Jurco is not a player that is all flash and no substance. At the age of 16 he would lead the Slovakian under 20 league in scoring with 54 points in 51 games. As a result of his strong play, Jurco was chosen to represent Slovakia at the 2009 world under 17 challenge. He would go on to dominate the tournament, and be his team’s best player. He posted 7 points in 5 games, while not looking the least bit intimidated by the more physical North American game. He would again represent Slovakia that spring, at the World Under 18 Championships. Again playing against some of the best 18-year-old players in the world, he played well, scoring 5 points in 6 games. This past Christmas Jurco played again for Slovakia at the World Jr. Championships. While he didn't see a ton of playing time, he did manage to play mistake free hockey on their 4th line and chip in a goal in his 6 games.

For the past season and a half, Jurco has been playing with the Saint John Sea Dogs of the Quebec League. In that time he has learnt to speak very good English and play on the small ice surface. In his first season in the league, he scored 51 points in 64 regular season games. Jurco took his game to another level in the playoffs, scoring 17 points in 21 games, being one of the teams best players, and helping them get to the league final. This season Jurco has been even better. He's playing very well at both ends of the rink, and is amongst the league leaders in plus/minus, with a plus 26 rating. He is also scoring some big goals for his team and is averaging almost a point a game.

To paraphrase, Mike Kelly, Director of hockey operations for the Saint John Sea Dogs “Tomas was not used to the North American game when he came over, but he has learnt fast. He already had great puck skills, but he has really learnt how to play on the boards very well, also. Out of all our players, he has had one of the sharpest learning curves, and that's not including the fact he came over from another country, and the differences he's experienced there. I think he's going to be a top 6 forward in the NHL, but he's also going to be a real character guy who will pay the price to score. Now that he speaks English, he is a lot of fun to be around. He’s one of the guys on the team who is extremely hungry to get better. He's always asking for advice and wanting videos of the games to take home. Always working on his game and extremely focused"(Kelly).

One scout had this report on Jurco. " A big body who can put the puck in the net…skates well with good straight line speed but lacks that separation gear…has good lateral quickness, balance and handles the puck extremely well…has a nice shot with very good velocity…lacks a little in offensive creativity but is a strong finishing compliment to a play making centre…not overly physical by nature but does not back down from physical battles for the puck"(Stewart).

Overall, the flashy Slovakian, should become an NHL regular, and be bringing crowds to their feet real soon. Jurco assets are his great work ethic, drive, stick handling (maybe the best in the draft), skill and shot. His flaws are he needs to get stronger, become a bit better in his own end, and work on becoming more explosive. Jurco should be able to develop into a 30-goal scorer that plays hard for his team.

NHL comparison- Alexei Kovalev (with out the drama)

Works Cited

http://futureconsiderationsdotca.wordpress.com/2010/12/26/2468/

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