MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Missouri — Last year, when Will Cranley went to Minnesota for the Tom Kurvers Prospect Showcase, it was a matter of overcoming a mental setback.
Or was that not the case?
After all, the St. Louis Blues goalie, a sixth-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, didn’t just take shots from anyone. It was the top prize in the 2023 NHL Draft: Connor Bedard.
Bedard scored three goals and added an assist in his Chicago Blackhawks debut, but 364 days later, at the USA Rink at Centene Community Ice Center, the 22-year-old Cranley donned his best version of a Velcro strap.
Cranley stopped 26 shots and the Blues completed an unbeaten streak in the showcase by beating the Minnesota Wild 6-2 on Sunday afternoon.
The Blues, who defeated the Blackhawks 4-3 in overtime on Friday and beat the Wild 4-2 on Saturday, finished the tournament with a 2-0-0 mark and delivered some excellent performances.
Some of the solid performances included:
* Will Cranley — The goalkeeper made last year’s game – and Bedard – a distant memory with a solid performance on Sunday.
“Compared to last year when I came here, it’s a little bit different and a little bit more fun,” Cranley said. “I’m just hoping to build on the momentum heading into practice games here.
“He’s a pretty good player. He made some good shots, but I wasn’t very sharp either.”
Cranley was much sharper on Sunday. His rebound control was nearly impeccable, angles were tight, puck control was steady, and after the Blues opened the game with a flurry of activity on one end against Minnesota goalie Riley Mercer when the ice was lopsided, Cranley was called into action.
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He made 11 saves in the first period and was never really concerned with fighting the puck.
“He’s been good for a couple of days, whether it’s practice or whatever,” Springfield coach and Blues prospects coach Steve Konowalchuk said. “He seems like he can play. It’s a short sample size, but he’s definitely been consistent out there and made the saves he needs to. Good game for him.”
Cranley, who went 9-15-4 combined last season with Utah and Reading in the ECHL, hopes to create a true goaltending competition this season with the Thunderbirds, who feature Vadim Zherenko and Colten Ellis.
“I worked with Dan [Stewart] this summer, the Springfield goalie coach,” Cranley said. “Everything from top to bottom to sharpen my game and tonight I think that was a good aspect of my game.
“I think it’s just a matter of taking it game by game. Wherever I play, I just want to give the team the best chance to win every night. I think consistency has been a bit of a thing in the past, so this year I think the biggest thing going forward is just a bit of consistency. If I can get that, we’ll be good.
“I think my engagement level overall has just been good. There’s never really a question about the skill there. It’s just kind of an engagement level and a mental thing, and tonight it was there.”
* Dvorsky, Pekarcik rebound; linemate Robertsson shines again — After a tough Friday, Slovakian duo Dalibor Dvorsky (first round, 2023) and Juraj Pekarcik (third round, 2023) combined for five points on Sunday, all in the third period.
Pekarcik scored twice and Dvorsky assisted on three goals. Combined with teammate Simon Robertsson, who had two assists after scoring the winning goal in overtime on Friday, the lineup accounted for seven points in the game.
“We felt really good in these games,” Pekarcik said. “It was a good game for us, for me personally, for Robertsson. I think we had really good chemistry. It was really important for us.
“It was really good for us. The first shift was really good and then we continue and it was really good for us.”
The line was threatening from the start. The first shift Pekarcik spoke of helped spark the flurry of attacking activity as the Blues held a 9-2 shot advantage in the first six minutes of the game.
“I thought that line with Dvorsky was pretty solid,” Konowalchuk said. “… I’m coming into it a little bit blind. I know the players a little bit and when I listen to the organization, you know what, these guys could play well. And then if I need to make adjustments, you can talk about it and do it, but we didn’t have to. They clicked. We had two good hockey games, pretty easy to coach as far as things go. Guys played well. You don’t have to shake things up. You don’t have to make a lot of changes. The management staff and the scouting staff probably knew they were going to play well together and they did.”
Dvorsky was the driving force behind both of Pekarcik’s goals, at 1:20 of the third period with a tap-in from behind and at 11:03 with a redirect in front. The goals came off a beautiful assist from Marc-Andre Gaudet at 8:30.
“He was really more relaxed there,” Pekarcik said of Dvorsky. “We went out to dinner last night and (had) a little chat. It was really good for us and it felt really good tonight.”
* Zack Bolduc — It’s clear: Bolduc doesn’t belong in these games and is ready for full-time NHL action.
His goal at 13:06 of the second period was a sight to behold. He collected a puck in midfield and used his speed to slice past Minnesota’s Stevie Leskovar and slide a backhand five-hole past Wild goalie Chase Wutzke to tie the game at 1-1.
“I just know he played well here and he’s going to go to the next camp and do what he does,” Konowalchuk said. “There’s a lot of hockey, but he definitely played well here.”
After a great game on Friday, Bolduc and teammates Zach Dean and Aleksanteri Kaskimaki played with inspiration again.
“They’re good hockey players,” Konowalchuk said. “You can put that line in any situation that it can do for you. I thought Kaskimaki, he played well. He’s a good, crafty-good hockey player. He fits in well with them because he’s around the net, has good body position, digs the puck out and has the hands to make plays. He does some crafty-good things there. Another good hockey player.”
* Sam Bitten, Quinton Burns, Matthew Mayich — The Blues trio is gaining recognition just for answering the bell on the fight card.
Both teams were involved in fights before a goal was scored as the match was quite combative and chaotic.
“Being a part of the St. Louis Blues, I know that’s the reputation that they’ve always had and always wanted to have,” Konowalchuk said. “I know that with this organization and I definitely like the team that I’m with, they play hard. They certainly did that. It was a good, competitive hockey game and our guys just stood there and kept playing the right way.”
Burns had an inconsistent game on Friday but recovered well and fitted in well with the aggressive, physical and forechecking style of play that suits him well.
Burns battled Carson Lambos after Bitten and Leskovar’s energetic battle opened things up. Then Mayich, who had an assist on Pekarcik’s second goal on Sunday, finished it off with Mason Zebeski in another energetic battle.
* Dylan Peterson — The player selected in the third round of 2020 had another solid game ahead of him.
Peterson, 6-foot-3 and 195 pounds, was again a threat with his speed, physical presence in predicting the puck, solid forechecking and good puck placement.
It was the second strong showing in a row for the Boston University product, who will join the main camp starting Thursday.
* Jecho, Gaudet score beautiful goals — Adam Jecho, a 2024 third-round pick, and Gaudet, a 2022 fifth-round pick, both scored nice goals to close the show.
Jecho’s wrister from the slot at 15:39 in the second period, after a nice pass from Robertsson, gave the Blues the lead for good: 2-1. Gaudet was solid in picking up the rush from the blue line throughout the game and his short shot in the third period was a beauty that made it 5-1.
“A lot of players played well. It was pretty impressive, pretty impressive, a very competitive hockey game,” Konowalchuk said. “They played hard, our guys played hard. I liked the beginning of the game. I think the first 10 minutes, the team played fast. Good skills to go with the speed and forechecking, pretty good tempo and definitely some good individual play to win that way. Good all-around game, goaltending was good, solid, a lot of good things.
“… I told the guys before the four days, mentally they were focused, they were practicing well, they were playing well. I think it showed in the games. You could tell before the games that they were taking it seriously. We really wanted to build as a team on how we were handling the puck so we could get up there fast and play with tempo. First game, it takes a little bit of time. A little choppy for both teams, but I thought the first 10 minutes (Sunday) set the tempo. Guys were really playing a fast game and skating and moving the puck. They were able to keep that tempo and make some things happen.”
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