As difficult as it is to really get a complete impression of players from only watching them do drills, it’s even more difficult to really get a decent impression of the goalies. The following drills provide very limited insight into how these goalies perform in a game situation, but we can get a decent look at some of their base characteristics. Although Jared Coreau only participated in limited practice drills during camp, because he was recovering from shoulder surgery, he impressed the heck out of me with his size, movements, and poise.
Here’s a quick look at the goalie stats:
| Ht | Wt | Drafted | 2012-2013 Team | |||||
| 31 | Jared Coreau + | G | 6.05 | 207 | — | Northern Michigan (NCAA) | ||
| 34 | Andrew D’Agostini * | G | 5.10 | 173 | — | Peterborough (OHL) | ||
| 38 | Toni Eskelinen * | G | 6.01 | 181 | — | Karpat U20 (FIN) | ||
| 36 | Jake Paterson | G | 6.02 | 183 | DET-12 (3-80) | Saginaw (OHL) | ||
| 68 | Jake Patterson * | G | 6.01 | 191 | — | London (OHL) |
This first video gives us a little bit of a baseline for their size, movement characteristics, and style.
- Note the stark contrast between Jared Coreau and Toni Eskelinen. Jared Coreau is a big goalie (6’5″, 207 pounds) who’s quick, smooth, and poised. Eskelinen wears gear that I think is too big for him, because it’s sloppy and when he skates it looks like he’s sort of…waddling.
- Watch how Coreau’s upper body remains still, no head bobbing or arm flailing, then watch Eskelinen.
- Jake Paterson is the Red Wings‘ 2012 3’d round draft pick. Jake Patterson was a free agent tryout.
This next video shows the goalies doing their moves in the crease, so we can see their style and moves with the context of the net.
- Coreau covers a lot of the net just by standing in front of it. He drops quickly and fluidly, slides efficiently, and recovers quickly. I’m running out of ways to say “wow, Coreau is big, fast, smooth and poised”. His pads are very tall, and I’m not sure yet if the new NHL regulations on pad size will affect him or not.
- Toni Eskelinen keeps his pads low, and it looks awkward to me, like he’s uncomfortable or something. In my notes on Eskelinen, the word “sloppy” came up a lot.
- Jake Patterson (free agent tryout) plays a style very similar to Jimmy Howard, and after our two goalies (Coreau and Paterson) who I think were the best, in my opinion, Patterson was the next best and could certainly have a bright future career when he’s finished in the OHL.
- Jake Paterson is a very quick goalie as well, and he’s a decent size for a goalie (6’2″, 183); especially be Detroit standards. He has great mobility and though you don’t get to see it in these drills, from the scrimmage it’s obvious that he has great instinct and goalie sense. Players would try to fake him, but he wasn’t biting. He’s great at reading the player as well as the puck. I’m also pretty sure he must have said “Hey coach, do these pads make my five-hole look big?” At least that’s what I’m going to imagine.
- Andrew D’Agostini was the “little” goalie at camp (5’10”, 173) and he wasn’t bad by any stretch of the imagination, he just wasn’t good enough to impress me.
Both Jake Paterson and Jared Coreau will be playing in the Prospect Tournament, so we’ll get to see them in actual game action.
