Thoughts on Peter Holland and Luca Sbisa

Hey all just wanted to post some info on Peter Holland and Luca Sbisa who are both making news

Peter Holland had just a dreadful start due to a combination of injuries and lack of chemistry with linemates.

Prior to the new year he had 8 goals and 18 assists for 26 points and a -17 through 27 games

Since then he has 17 goals, 22 assists for 39 points in 23 games and is a +5 in that time period

I emailed Tony Saxon of the Guelph Mercury news a few weeks ago and here's what he had to say:
Good to hear from you.

Peter had an awful start, as did the rest of the team. Lot of injuries to team, lot of line juggling. Now the lines are set and Peter and Michael Latta have really become a powerful duo.

Peter has an excellent shot, he just wasn’t using it often enough. He is a superb skater and very intelligent. While big, he is not overly physical, which is one of the knocks on his game. He turns away from finishing his check too much.

Skill-wise I see Patrick Marleau. Not nearly physical or involved enough physically to be compared to Jeff Carter.

I think Peter plays a cerebral game. Not everyone can look like they’re going hells bells out all the time. I think people misunderstand that as lazy, but I don’t think Peter is lazy, he just has a different style.


as noted previously on this blog people had previously tagged him as lazy but I feel that if you don't watch a player on a regular basis it's easy to think that of certain guys. Scott Niedermayer is a prime example, if you didn't know who he was, watched and watched a few games you could take his effortless style and get the impression he's not playing hard.

He does, he's just a very smart player, and I see the same qualities in Holland, on www.guelphstorm.com they show hi lites of every goal and what you can discern is Hollands anticipation especially defensively. He doesn't waste movement, everything he does you could say is calculated or has a purpose. His hands are sick, I see some Getzlaf in this guy in terms of having a dynamite shot, but is a pass first type that's that sees the ice very well. The main differences are he's not a power forward like Getzlaf and skates better, the Marleau comparison was very adept by Saxon, though I think being a Jeff Carter type is not out of the question if he continues to shoot the puck more.

The Ducks did their homework, I think Holland is putting to bed alot of the concerns that were out there and due to his size(6'3, almost 200 lbs) he is not that far away from stepping in. I don't think it'll be next year but if he has an excellent training camp he'll make the ducks give him a look. Most likely he spends another year in Jr, dominates from start to finish and hopefully earns a shot on the Canadian world Jr team.

Luca Sbisa, opened alot of eyes in training camp. He shows flashes of immense talent but correctly, the Ducks sent him to the WHL so he could play 30 minutes a game, kill penalties, qb a PP and so on. If the Olympics are any indication this kid will be ready to assume a major role next season with the Ducks, who are facing the possibility of Scott Niedermayer retiring, and James Wisniewski, likely to be traded within the next 5 months.

His skating is elite, no question but his defensive IQ has really improved leaps and bounds, his positioning and usage of his stick are two things that I noticed improvement on, against the Americans and Team Canada he was playing against elite NHL'ers almost every shift, and not only held his own, but at 19 years old really stood out.

The toughness he showed playing through a broken finger tells me this kid has the mentality to become great, no one would blame him for hitting the showers early but he wanted to help his team WIN. This is what we as Duck fans want...WINNERS, players who don't take shortcuts and who have that compete level to be great.

It is very telling, when a player like Nikita Filatov, who has immense talent, quits on the jackets because he didn't get the ice time he thinks he deserves, did not want to go to the AHL because he thinks he's above it......he went to Russia. He didn't suck it up.

Luca Sbisa, in a similar situation did not complain, he did not sulk, he did not rip Randy Carlyle, he had a good attitude and did what was asked. All these things point to Sbisa being a future no.1 defensemen