A player who was a pain in the side to line up against, Brock Burch brought the heat each-and-every game for his team, playing with a high level of compete and stirring things up with some strong physical play. He didn’t hesitate to use the body to force pucks free, and or deliver a jolt of energy to his team if he saw the opportunity. Very engaged in scrums in the corner in both the offensive and defensive zone, he had plenty of moments of retrieving pucks out of a crowd, giving him some possession time to work with. Utilizing the power, strength, and willingness to play physically, he was one of the better forwards at the camp at driving the crease, holding off a defender, and making serious inroads towards the goal as he crashed the net. He wasn’t the fastest player out there but knew how to stay on his feet and attack the net on an angle defenders had a tough time closing down on. Many of his best offensive looks in the camp came as a result of some hard work, enduring contact, and or moving his feet to hustle and pull away from opponents. He brought a decent scoring touch as well, capable of getting pucks on goal from all over the ice, he displayed some good power, along with craftiness in tight.

Burch was sniffing around the net all game so it didn’t surprise me to see him tie the game up at 3-3 during the late game powerplay as he found the soft spot under the goalie’s blocker from a sharp angle shot. He also created a great scoring chance for Ebersold when he found him streaking down towards the slot with a pass right into his wheelhouse and garnered a few good looks for himself in tight with a pesky net-front presence. I thought he was an effective penalty killer in this one as well, breaking up a dangerous scoring chance by deflecting a pass going across the crease while also applying pressure to puck carriers to force quick decisions.

Bringing a lot of energy to this Little Caesars team, Burch used his motor and smart playmaking instincts to be, what I thought was, the most impactful forward on his team. He was tracking pucks all over the ice, throwing himself into puck battles, finishing his checks and flashing quick decision making with the puck. Although he didn’t make it onto the scoresheet, I thought he was able to generate a good amount of chances for teammates around the blue paint by executing quick catch and release plays after picking up loose pucks that caught opponents off guard and really displayed his level of awareness on the ice. In the last 5 minutes of the third period, it seemed like every chance his team had was coming off Brock’s stick both as a playmaker and as a shooting threat.

Playing another gritty, and tenacious game, Brock Burch made the most of his opportunities by not shying away from physicality and keeping his feet moving. He had a nice chance early in the game by leaning on his man, he made great progress towards the net, flung a shot on the net, losing an edge in the process. The pure hustle and work to drive the crease, back off the defender, gave him the extra few inches needed to get ever-so-closer to the net. He took plenty of shots on the net as the game went on, certainly a volume shooter, he shot from seemingly everywhere, some of which were low quality, others of high. He drew a penalty shot for himself in the second half, working hard to pull away from the defender, he drew forced a hook in the process. He kept playing with an edge when away from the puck, finishing his hits, walking the fine-line of what may-or-may-not be a penalty. Overall, a solid series of games for Brock Burch this camp for Team Orange.

Setting the tone early, Brock Burch delivered a massive hit just inside his defensive zone minutes into the game, establishing the physical presence he would bring to the table for the remainder of the match. One of his better chances of the game came off jumping into the high slot, intercepting a breakout pass, and taking a few strides towards the net and releasing a shot on goal. Early in the game it was clear he was a volume shooter, as he got plenty of pucks on net from all sorts of angles, with a good degree of power on all his shots. When handling the puck, he was valuable at powering his way around the ice, drawing in checkers, and creating space elsewhere for teammates. A fairly simple meat-and-potatoes game with the puck, but complimented with some good hands and edgework, he forechecked hard, and forced pucks free on many occasions.

It took him a while to get going in this game, but once he did, I thought Burch was one of his team’s most effective and dangerous forwards. He was much less inclined to sit around the perimeter in the second half of the game when he started leveraging his skill to cut through defenders and attack the middle of the ice, even drawing a penalty in one instance. When he wasn’t able to get to the middle on his own, I thought he was doing a great job of making quick passes to the slot while under pressure, often resulting in some grade A chances. Off-puck I thought he was utilizing his foot speed effectively to pressure opposing defenders, which lead to turnovers and a regain of possession for his team.