Claimed:Milos Denis

[Tyler 885]

Milos Denis

Pesov, Slovakia

August 14, 1997 (17 YO)

Kamloops Blazers (WHL)

VHL Draft Eligible: Season 39

 

 

Early Life

 

Born in Presov, Slovakia on August 14th, 1997 Milos Denis is a 17 year old hockey phenom. Standing at just 5'9" and weighing a meager 153 pounds, the young man from Slovakia has always been at a disadvantage due to his size. This has not however stopped hockey scouts across the globe from salivating at the immense skill the 17 year old possesses. It was obvious from the time the young man laced up a pair of skates that he would be something special. He was faster than the other kids, had better stick handling skills than anyone else, and more than anything, he had an ability to score that was at a superior level to the other kids he played against.

 

Slovakia is hardly a hockey hot bed and although some relevant hockey players have come out of the country, it is not the place you’d expect to find “the next one”. Denis’ father Miroslav was a hockey player himself, though it was never a full time passion. He was good, but never great and made it to the second division of the Czechoslovakian League in the 1980’s and early 1990’s before retiring to become a school teacher. His mother Andrea was a former track star in Czechoslovakia who won two Olympic medals in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. The sporting pedigree has always been there, but more than anything since his youth, the importance of organized sport has been preached in Milos’ home. His dad coached his youth hockey teams his entire life and always made sure Milos was eating properly, training hard and making sure to capitalize on the immense skill he had.

 

Hockey has been a big part of Milos' life from the time he was young.

 

Milos was always ahead of the pack in every meaningful way while playing in Slovakia. In his immediate youth, Milos played in Slovakia and by the age of nine had to play against the older kids because of his skill set. At nine he played against boys as old as twelve and showed no signs of being slowed down. He scored in bunches at a young age and continued to grow as a hockey player with the help of his father as his coach. Milos was soon selected to train with the Slovak Youth Team and did so until he was 14 years old. Milos played with the Slovak team for three years but at the age of 14, his family was approached by a Saskatchewan based Midget Hockey team in an effort to have Milos fly to Saskatchewan to train with, and if all went well, play for the team when he was of age. Milos’ family agreed to send their son to Saskatchewan and he moved to Canada at the young age of 14 years old.

 

Saskatchewan

 

Though the move itself was tough, and the culture shock was immense, his hockey transition was fluid as could be. Milos had to wait a few months before his 15^th birthday, but when he first stepped on the ice as a Midget hockey player, it was clear he was destined to become a star at that level. Denis scored 12 goals and added 15 assists as a 15 year old in Midget AAA which, though a decrease in his point totals in point totals from Slovakia, the experience he gained playing against the best hockey players at his age group would be helpful in the future. In his second season in Saskatchewan, the Slovak player put up big numbers with 37 goals and 40 assists for 77 points in just 42 games played that year. Denis began attracting the attention of Canadian Hockey League scouts and was pegged as a first round draft choice if he chose that route.

 

Milos was a star in his first year in the Midget AAA ranks.

 

After some debate over Junior Hockey versus College Hockey, the Slovakian winger chose the WHL route and was drafted 10^th overall by the Kamloops Blazers. He began play as a 17 year old rookie and put up tremendous numbers with 46 goals and adding 23 assists for a grand total of 69 points in his rookie year, placing him among the league’s top goal scorers in that campaign. In the post season, Kamloops was expected to compete for the league crown, but struggled out of the gate and lost in round one to the upstart and tight checking Moose Jaw Warriors in five games. Denis struggled with 0 points in the five games and many fans and critics blamed the European player for the teams defeat and began questioning aloud whether or not he had a second gear in the playoffs. After the playoff defeat, Denis announced his intention to leave the WHL and pursue a professional hockey career in the Victory Hockey League. The way he saw it, there was nothing left for him in junior hockey having already scored 46 goals as a rookie and especially with Kamloops losing many key pieces in the off season.

 

Pro's

 

Acceleration: If nothing else, the young player has tremendous acceleration. He has one of the best bursts of speed in all of junior hockey and is able to blow by the defense with relative ease. Teams usually have to play to him and not vice versa in that they typically have to line match to get their speedier defenders out against him. Any slow defenseman is usually caught flat footed against him and unless you check him tightly, he will usually be long gone before you even have a minute to think about how to defend him. His acceleration makes him virtually uncatchable on a breakaways and making him a shootout specialist in that he never gives the goalies time to read what he is going to do.

 

Stick Handling: Having great acceleration means nothing if you don’t have great hands, and luckily enough for Milos, he does. He is able to stick handle in a phone booth and this was on display for many of his 46 goals in his only Western Hockey League season. Whether it is to dangle around a defenseman, or to move around a goalie, the young Slovak is one of the best in the world at his age for using his hands to create space on the ice. It is rare to see him lose the puck while stick handling and the only time his dangle seem to fail him is when he is knocked off his feet by a bigger defenseman, or when he makes one too many moves.

 

Denis is a skilled offensive dynamo who lacks defensive awareness.

 

Potential: Every prospect has some potential, but the truth is, very few in recent memory of had the potential to be great that Milos has. He has the ability to score at will; he can make plays out of nothing and is one of the most naturally skilled hockey players ever at the age of 17. He is a complete boom or bust player who will probably either be a future MVP, or a player who never sniffs a VHL ice surface. If he is placed in the right position, under the right regime and with the right people around him, Milos could become a 50 goal scorer and a 100 point scorer in the VHL, and very quickly.

 

Con's

 

Cockiness: Although you would be hard pressed to say he has an attitude issue, or to say that he causes locker room issues, Milos is seen as cocky by some. He sometimes will celebrate goals a little too much and rub some of the old guard of hockey the wrong way and is far too often the type to make an easy mistake while trying to be too creative on the ice. Milos relies too often on his skill rather than his brain and makes mistakes that players who are less skillful and more the "hard working" type of player would never make. This all goes back to his cockiness in the sense that Denis will sometimes believe he can do anything with the puck and end up giving it up and giving the other team a solid scoring chance. He has to learn his limits if he is to reach the potential he so clearly has.

 

Defense: Despite obvious offensive potential, no one would be so foolish as to assume Denis has any real defensive awareness. He is usually seen wandering around the perimeter of the defensive zone and not really attempting much by way of defensive play. It is a rare thing to see if he is backchecking as hard as he skated in to the offensive zone, and you never see him apply a stick check on an opposing player. This obviously drives coaches crazy and has seen him benched more than once in his career thus far. It all goes back to a lack of effort on his part when things are not going his way, which is another thing that has followed him his entire hockey career.

 

Milos is a small kid and will need to use his elite skill all of the time if he wants to be an effective player in the pro ranks.

 

Shot: Even as a pure goal scorer, Denis does not posess the best shot in the world. It is more accurate than it is hard and rarely does he create offense based on just his shot alone, it is usually some sort of creative play on his part that ends up in the back of the net versus a shot. He will obviously need to add some weight behind his shot if he wants to be a goal scorer at the next level, and especially if he wants to be more of a finisher as opposed to just a creative goal scorer. His shot isn't horrible and it will give him a handful of goals, but the truth is, he needs it to improve if he is to ever reach his goal scoring potential.

 

Pro Potential (9.0 D)

 

We've spent a great deal of this write up taking about Milos Denis' professional potential, but what is it really? The fact is, the 17 year old can go as far as he wants to. He is fast, has elite puck handiling skills and is a talented goal scorer. He is however, lazy, uncoachable by some accounts and has a weaker shot than most would like. He could be the next superstar to grae the VHL ice surface, or the next bust who spends his time in the VHLM collecting points and never sniffs a VHL ice surface. The truth is, he will likely make it to the VHL, if only because he has such an elite repetroir of moves and he brings a flashiness to the game many others lack. It will be interesting to see if Denis ever lives up to the hype, but if he does look out.

[Guest Svoboda_3]

Overview- 3/3

1,848 words. What a tremendous biography. One informational component that was incorrect was that you had Kamloops lost to the Moose Jaw Warriors in round 1. That couldn't be possible because both are in different Conferences. I would be curious to know which AAA team Denis played on. That was left out. Otherwise, I have no qualms about this. In fact, it was well-written and had superb Pros and Cons.

Grammar- 2/2

I would say it got somewhat sloppier in the last paragraph, but based on the word count of nearly 2,000 words, 12 mistakes isn't that bad.

 

1997 Milos = 1997, Milos

Saskatchewan based = Saskatchewan-based

off season = off-season

on a breakaways = on breakaways

seem = seems

of had = have had

50 goal/100 point = 50-goal/100-point

guard = guards

posess = possess

handiling = handling

grae = grace

repetroir = repitoire

Presentation- 1/1

I thought you did enough here.

Pros- 2/2

386 words. Show off.

Cons- 2/2

446 words. Wow, excellent job here.

Overall- 10/10

[Guest]

Claimed