SCOUTING REPORT MICHAEL DIPIETRO

WHILE THATCHER DEMKO’S NHL career is just getting started, the Canucks have another ace goalie down in Utica with Michael DiPietro, the highly decorated junior star now in his first AHL season with the Comets. We asked former NHLer Curtis Sanford, a goalt

MENTAL GAME

“THIS MAY BE HIS strongest point. He’s very resilient and has a lot of passion and energy. He is dialled in to what he wants to accomplish and where he wants to go, which, obviously, is the NHL one day.”

ATHLETICISM

“HE’S A GREAT ATHLETE. If I’m putting it on a scale of 1 to 10, he’s probably an eight right now. His lower-body strength enables him to play more aggressively, and he can cover more area because of it. He’s not the tallest (at six-foot), so he has to be aggressive.”

TECHNIQUE

“HE’S A VERY TECHNICAL goalie, but we also don’t want him to lose the energy and raw athleticism that he brings. There are times when he gets out of his technique to make unorthodox saves, and we’re fine with that. We don’t want to drown his instincts, because when he plays with instinct, he’s at his best.”

READING THE PLAY

“THAT’S AN AREA HE is making big improvements on. That was a concept we wanted to focus on this year: making reads and using the timing of his stance inside those reads. It’s evolving on a game-by-game basis.”

GLOVE HAND

“IT’S QUICK. It has to be, and he does it well. It goes part-and-parcel with his athleticism. He’s starting to read shots off the stick better, especially on shots that are rising on him. It takes time and experience, but he’s getting better at it.”

PUCKHANDLING

“THAT’S AN AREA OF IMPROVEMENT. He’s taking more pride in it, and he wants to work on it on a daily basis. He’s dedicated to it, and he wants to help his teammates. He wants to save his defensemen from taking hits when they go back to get the puck.”