Marshall James Frostbeard Junior Review

[FrostBeard 1,988]

Junior Review

LW - Marshall James Frostbeard, Latvia

Marshall James grew up in a small town in Latvia called Nereta. His first look at hockey was through a TV as they didn't have an ice-skating rink in the town. For him the game was intriguing and fun and yet something that he could only dream of. His life changed and he had to move away to school in a bigger town and he finally found himself in a position to start playing Hockey. He did first have to learn how to skate but it was said that it was one of the things he was great at already from the start. 

Marshall started playing for his local "Leduslāči" team (Latvian for Icebears) in the town of Jēkabpils. His first season with the team showed that he still has a lot to learn but his raw talent and ability to control the puck was already ahead of many who have played for numerous years. After a letter to his parents from his coach Krīgars, family decided that Marshall will be enrolled into Riga Hockey School (Rīgas Hokeja Skola) and improve his skills there. 

In 3 years he spent with Rīgas Hokeja Skola he posted an almost 1.5 goals a game average and close to 2 shot block a game. Unfortunately for him, hits totals were not registered in these games so we have no real idea on how good is with using his body. He was already physically fit and able to push through his opponents easily. His only real issue was his vision and ability to find open teammates as he always focused on creating offence around him by just being talented. Right now, in Riga School of Hockey, he was one of the top players but not the best one and that was a first hand experience for him, to understand that there are better players and more hardworking players around. 

Altogether, his skill set is something teams should want to have and could use for deep playoff runs as he helped Riga Hockey School to win 3 Baltic championships. He also was named captain of last championship team. Never was able to exceed to the point of being named a tournament MVP, but always he was acknowledged as one of the best players. 

For his overall rating, we can rate him at B- as his game needs to improve heavily so that he can keep up with players that are on the similar level. He could rise to B+ if given an opportunity to showcase his skills on a bigger stage like VHLM.