This time of the hockey calendar is all about getting noticed. Whatever any player can do to draw the eyes of his coaches, and maybe his general manager, to then maybe be that next call up from the minors or to get that better opportunity in the lineup. Some use their skill to do that; weaving through opponents and ripping a perfectly executed shot to score during a random drill to pop the crowd. Others would show off their tireless work ethic as they aim to be that coach’s favorite.
Philadelphia Flyers prospect Noah Powell is doing this by being as violent as possible.
During the two-game Rookie Series this past weekend, as other prospects were pulling off some nifty moves — Jett Luchanko using his speed and detail work to set up a couple of goals, Alex Bump to just look better than everyone — Powell was out there hurting people. He seemed to want every single New York Rangers prospect to remember who he is by the bruises he leaves on their body.
It’s something that he strived to do this weekend and to continue to do throughout the regular season.
“Definitely a role that needs to be filled and I think I do a pretty good job of it,” Powell said after the second and final Rookie Series game. “Helping the team in any way I can, you know, contributing, whether it’s hitting, fighting, kind of just getting in your face, forechecks. You know, maybe mixing in offense as well, but definitely being hard to play against every time I get the chance to get on the ice.”
Flyers prospect used violence to get noticed at rookie camp
Throughout the two games, Powell did manage to score a goal — an empty-net tally to finish off Game 2 on the rookie sweep — but no one really cares about that. It’s all about just how much of a nuisance he was and how he attempted to make life hell for anyone not wearing orange.
Whether it was in a 1-on-1 bout with some poor Rangers prospect or even getting into it after the final whistle of the first game of the Rookie Series on Saturday, Powell was trying to get noticed. Even just during the normal flow of the game and not in these post-whistle moments, the 21-year-old forward was being super aggressive. He did end up getting noticed.
“He does whatever you ask him to do and he does it 120 percent,” Phantoms coach John Snowden said.
But does this really come all that natural to him? When he was drafted in the fifth round two years ago, he was seen as someone with some above-average creativity and a wicked shot on top of that. He was always physically bigger, but he did end up leading the USHL in goals with a total of 43 in just 61 games — that is what got him noticed and the Flyers to draft him.
But now he’s showing much more of a physical and violent side and we can’t say that we hate it.
“I feel like a certain degree it’s pretty natural,” Powell said. “Hockey is a violent game. I’m not saying I’m a violent person but when I get there, I definitely do like to play a violent, vicious style of hockey and kind of get out there and make sure that it’s known.”
This could be in an attempt to somewhat switch his primary game. During his time in the USHL, OHL, and even in the NCAA with Arizona State, it felt like Powell was much more of an offensive creator that certainly could get nasty but it was not the main directive. Now that he’s had a 16-game stint in the AHL and is heading into his first full season of pro hockey, maybe Powell is realizing that if he were to make it and to achieve bigger and better things, he needs to lean heavier into that on-ice aggressiveness.
He’s certainly already got his mind made up of what players he wants to model his game after.
“I’d kind of say like the motor and relentlessness of Kiefer Sherwood, but kind of the toughness and heavy hitting of someone like Tom Wilson,” Powell said when asked who he wants to play like. “Kind of a blend of those two guys and just kind of wearing guys down and being a pest to play against.”
That’s a pretty good combination, we have to admit.
While Powell does have a fairly long journey to becoming someone that could find themselves on the Flyers roster, he does have the archetype of a player that seems comfortable taking their time. Even Kiefer Sherwood didn’t play a full NHL season until he was 28 years old — and that had to be on a pretty bad Nashville Predators team.
Powell can keep on plucking away with every chance he gets with the Phantoms this season and could easily be a weapon that they love to have. Someone with a wickedly dangerous shot, but also loves to put other players through the boards and drop the gloves every so often. In a few years, the Flyers might just need that exact type of talent on the fourth line and instead of signing some overpriced veteran, Powell could be the answer and he might even score double-digit goals when everything is said and done.
The clock has just started to tick for this 21-year-old winger and we can’t wait to see where his violence gets him.
