MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. — Last year, for Will Cranley, upon entering Minnesota The Tom Kurvers Prospect Showcase was about overcoming some mental adversity.
Or was it?
After all the The St. Louis Blues The goaltender, a sixth-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, didn’t face just anyone’s shots. He was the prize of the 2023 NHL Draft: Connor Bedard.
Bédard scored three goals and had an assist in his Chicago Blackhawks debut, but 364 days later at the USA Ice Rink at Centene Community Ice Center, Cranley, 22, donned his best version of Velcro.
Cranley stopped 26 shots and the Blues completed an unbeaten run by moving away from the Minnesota Wild6-2, Sunday afternoon.
THE Blueswho beat the Blackhawks 4-3 in overtime Friday before the Blackhawks beat the Wild 4-2 Saturday, finished 2-0-0 in the tournament and had some standout performances along the way.
Some of the solid performances include:
* Will Cranley — The goalie turned last year’s prospect game – and Bedard – into a distant memory with a solid performance Sunday.
“Compared to last year when I came in, it’s a little different and it’s a little more enjoyable,” Cranley said. “I just hope to carry that momentum forward into the exhibition games here.”
“He’s a very good player. He made some good shots, but I wasn’t very sharp either.”
Cranley was much sharper Sunday. His rebound control was near impeccable, the angles were tight, the puck control was consistent and after the Blues opened the game with a flurry of activity at one end against Minnesota goaltender Riley Mercer when the ice was tilted, Cranley was called into action.
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He made 11 saves in the first period and never really struggled with the puck.
“He’s been good for a couple of days, whether it’s practice or otherwise,” Springfield coach and Blues prospects coach Steve Konowalchuk said. “He looks like he can play. It’s a small sample size, but he’s certainly been consistent on the field and made the saves he needs to make. Good game for him.”
Cranley, who posted a combined 9-15-4 record with Utah and Reading in the ECHL last season, hopes to make this season a true goaltending competition with the Thunderbirds, who feature Vadim Zherenko and Colten Ellis.
“I worked with Dan (Stewart) this summer, the goalie coach in Springfield,” Cranley said. “From start to finish, I just improved my game and tonight I thought that was a good part of my game.
“I think you have to take it game by game. No matter where I play, I just want to give the team the best chance to win every night. I think in the past, consistency has been a little important, so this year, I think the biggest thing going forward is just a little bit of consistency. If I can establish that, we’ll be in a good position.”
“I think overall my commitment level was good. There was never really any doubt about my ability. It’s just a matter of commitment level and mentality, and tonight it was there.”
* Dvorsky, Pekarcik rebound; teammate Robertsson shines again — After a tough day on Friday, the Slovakian duo of Dalibor Dvorsky (first round, 2023) and Juraj Pekarcik (third round, 2023) combined for five points on Sunday, all in the third period.
Pekarcik scored twice and Dvorsky had three goals. Along with teammate Simon Robertsson, who had two assists after scoring the game-winner in overtime Friday, the line combined for seven points in the game.
“We felt really good in those games,” Pekarcik said. “It was a good game for us, for me personally, for Robertsson. I think we had really good chemistry on the field. That was really important for us.”
“It was really good for us. The first shift went really well and then we kept going and it was really good for us.”
The line was menacing from the start. The first change of play Pekarcik called for helped fuel the offensive activity as the Blues held a 9-2 shot advantage through the first six minutes of the game.
“I think the line with Dvorsky was pretty solid,” Konowalchuk said. “… I’m kind of coming in blind. I know the players a little bit and I listen to the organization that says you know what, these guys could play well. And from there, if I needed to make adjustments, you can talk about it and make them, but we didn’t need to. They clicked. We had two good hockey games, pretty easy to coach as far as things go. Guys played well. You don’t have to shake things up. You don’t have to make a lot of changes. The management staff and the scouting staff probably knew they would play well together and they did.”
Dvorsky set up both of Pekarcik’s goals, at 1:20 of the third period on a back-pass and at 11:03 on a redirection in front, goals that came off a beautiful assist on Marc-Andre Gaudet’s shorthanded shot on a back-pass into the top half of the net at 8:30.
“He was definitely more relaxed on the court,” Pekarcik said of Dvorsky. “We went out there last night for dinner and had a little chat. It felt good and we felt really good tonight.”
* Zack Bolduc — It’s pretty obvious: Bolduc doesn’t belong in these games and is ready for full-time NHL action.
His goal at 13:06 of the second period was a thing of beauty. He took the puck at center ice and, using his speed, got past Minnesota’s Stevie Leskovar and slid a five-hole backhander over Wild goalie Chase Wutzke to tie the game 1-1.
“I know he played well here and he’ll come into the next camp and do what he did,” Konowalchuk said. “There’s a lot of hockey, but he certainly played well here.”
Once again after a great game on Friday, Bolduc and his teammates Zach Dean and Aleksanteri Kaskimaki played in an inspired manner.
“They’re good hockey players,” Konowalchuk said. “You can put that line in any situation that can help you. I thought Kaskimaki played well. He’s a good hockey player, very quiet. He fits in well with them because he’s close to the net, he’s in good position, he gets the puck and he’s got the hands to make plays. He does very quiet things on the field. Another good hockey player.”
*Sam Bitten, Quinton Burns, Matthew Mayich — The Blues trio gets nods simply for answering the bell on the fight card.
Each of them were involved in scuffles before a goal was scored in this match, as the play was quite spirited and lively.
“Being a part of the St. Louis Blues, I know that’s the reputation they’ve always had and want to have,” Konowalchuk said. “I know coming into this organization and I certainly like the team I work with, they play hard. They certainly did. It was a good, competitive hockey game and our guys stood up and continued to play the right way.”
Burns had a mixed game Friday, but he bounced back nicely and adapted well to the aggressive, forechecking, physical style of play that suits his strengths.
Burns fought Carson Lamborghini After Bitten and Leskovar’s fiery battle, things got going. Then Mayich, who had assisted on Pekarcik’s second goal Sunday, wrapped things up with Mason Zebeski in another fiery battle.
* Dylan Peterson — The 2020 third-round pick also had a solid game in terms of outlook.
Peterson, who is 6-foot-4 and 192 pounds, was once again a threat with his stealthy speed, physical puck-chasing presence, solid forechecking and proper puck placement.
It’s the second straight strong game for the Boston University product, who will participate in main camp starting Thursday.
* Jecho, Gaudet score beautiful goals — Adam Jecho, a 2024 third-round pick, and Gaudet, a 2022 fifth-round pick, each scored nice goals to close out the showcase.
Jecho’s wrist shot from the slot in the second period at 15:39, off a nice pass from Robertsson, gave the Blues the lead for good at 2-1, and Gaudet was solid in jumping on attacks from the blue line throughout, and his shorthanded shot in the third was a beauty that made it 5-1.
“A lot of guys played well. It was a very impressive hockey game, very competitive,” Konowalchuk said. “They played hard, our guys played hard. I liked the start of the game. I think the first 10 minutes the team played fast. Good skills went along with the fast play and the forecheck, good pace and definitely some good individual play as well to win like that. Good overall game, the goaltending was good, solid, a lot of good stuff.
“… I told the guys all four days that they were mentally focused, practicing hard and playing hard. I think it showed in the games. You could see before the games that they were serious. We really wanted to build a team on how we managed the puck so we could move quickly and play at a fast pace. The first game, it takes a little while. A little bit of turbulence for both teams, but I think the first 10 minutes (Sunday) kind of set the pace. Guys were really playing a fast game, skating and moving the puck. They were able to keep that pace and make things happen.”
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