Name: Greg Eagles
Position: G
Current Team: VHLM Supplemental Draft Eligible
Age: 18
Height: 6’1”
Weight: 180 lbs.
Birthplace: Wroclaw, Poland
Scout Notes (Brief)
Son of a former VHL goaltender, Greg Eagles is looking for make his professional start in the VHLM this year. He has played on the National Junior Team for Poland where he led his team to a finals finish. Finishing the tournament with a 1.85 GAA and .924 save % flagged him as a potential elite prospect by scouts from all over the world. His play was the main reason Poland advanced so far in the tournament with a team full of unknown players. With multiple scouts calling, Greg decided that for his future career VHLM would be the best place to start.
Greg Eagles is an exceptionally agile goaltender with an elite level of rebound control who is capable of shutting down the opposition on any given night. Blessed with quik feet and the ability to go from post to post in an instant, Eagles is an outstanding athlete who will not give up any bad rebounds. Eagles has the competitiveness of a starter who wants to play every night and has the ability to create unbelievable saves night in and night out. Eagles utilizes excellent positioning and the ability to recover to his feet quickly, which makes it very hard for the opposition to put a puck past him. The main question regarding Greg is how will he handle better opposition and can he improve his weak glove side? Playing in the Polish Hockey League has not granted him the chance to play against the best and we will have to wait and see if he can carry over his Polish Hockey League play into the VHLM and VHL where the opposition will be much tougher.
Scouting Report
Strengths:
Rebound Control – This is his bread and butter. I don't think you can find a goalie at his age with any better rebound control. This guy just knows where to put the puck off a rebound and doesn't give his opponents a good second chance to put the puck into the net. Most shooters are frustrated that once a rebound hits Eagles, they know it won't land on their stick but somewhere off in the corner away from danger. By being able to see the puck very well through traffic and having good reaction, Eagles is able to direct the puck at his will.
Agility – Another Strength for Eagles is his agility. Due to his overall agility and quickness Eagles is very unpredictable. Opposing players do not have an easy time reading him and predicting what he will do so he is able to challenge and react with a high level of success. His post-to-post movement speed is incredible as well as his ability to quickly recover to his feet have left snipers bewildered and confused. Unless it is a perfect play cross crease passing play, it is very hard to put pucks past this goalie. Skating – In order to have great rebound control and great agility, you need to have very good skating. Eagles has been skating since he was a young child, being trained by his father (former VHL goaltender) and the best skating coaches out of Poland. You will not find a better skating goalie anywhere else in the world. His quik, can turn on a dime, incredible backward skatings and has figure skating training that has helped him become an elite level prospect. Most goalies are not the best skaters but Eagles is out to prove that goalies should take this more seriously.
Weaknesses:
Leadership – Eagles is definitely lacking in the leadership department. He is very introverted and is always the first to leave the locker room and not engaging in much talk with his team-mates. He is not known to share his opinion or yell out to defenders in key situations which may hamper how his team-mates play in front of him. This has always been an issue for him and there has been very little improvement. We are yet to see if this will hamper where he will get drafted.
Penalty Shot – Eagles while incredible in Rebound Control and Agility has always struggled on the 1v1 penalty shot. Scouts do not yet know why he struggles in this aspect since all his pro's show that he should be good at 1v1's. Many believe it to be his lack of concentration when he is faced on 1v1. He seems to always try to poke check the oncoming opponent instead of relying on his skill to make the save. While not many penalty shots are taken in the professional level, if Eagles wants to become an elite goaltender he needs to work on this aspect of his game
Hand Speed – Another area Eagles needs to work on if his to become an elite goaltender. While his glove is not bad, he does tend to drop a lot of pucks that end up glove side. While he rebound control helps diminish the amount of goals caused by this, he will never reach elite status if this does not improve.
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