With some crafty playmaking ability from the wings and perimeter, Hudson Salvador did a nice job at connecting on some centering looks via extension of the stick around bodies and hooking accurate passes over to teammates. Some good power and strength to his frame, he managed to get around opponents along the boards, maintaining his speed in the process, and showing a nice level of physical endurance. He read the game fairly well, knew what spots to send pucks to, whether it be a direct, quick, tape-to-tape snap pass, and or an area pass to a trailing man. From both off the rush and off the cycle Salvador was an effective playmaking piece, setting up teammates for scoring chances throughout the event.

A 2009-born player playing up a year with NHL bloodlines, I found Salvador to be very impressive considering the context of his situation. Early in the game, Salvador was explosive and evasive, especially on the puck, finding lanes, catching passes cleanly, and fearlessly approaching defensive coverage with relatively good success. He really shined with his quick decision making on receptions in the offensive zone. Salvador rarely wasted time and rarely took his foot off the gas, covering ice well, and moving the puck effectively when called upon. He isn’t the most productive player on this roster, but he’s playing up a year, and certainly didn’t look out of place doing so on one of the top seeded teams in the tournament. He made good reads off the puck in the offensive zone, combining with that trademark quick thinking to find seams to get the puck into the slot. There’s potential here with Salvador, and his tenacity, confidence, skill, pace and quick strike playmaking were all factors in what led to the Rockets’ success with him on the ice.

Early in the game, I thought Salvador had some nice zone entries and passes that led to a couple scoring chances for his team but as the game went on, the defense got much tighter, and he had a harder time executing plays. He was much more aggressive in the first period carrying the puck into the zone and attacking the middle of the ice and when Mount St. Charles scored early in this one, he responded just 17 seconds later with an incredibly accurate shot that beat the goalie over the glove. He was still a main contributor in the Rockets offence throughout the game and I thought his puck touches were quick and efficient when transitioning up the ice.

In moments during this game when Team USA 1 struggled to generate much, Hudson Salvador did an excellent job at bringing energy and getting involved in the offensive zone through some strong physical resiliency and challenging of the Homeplate region of the offensive zone. He was able to work well with a defender on his shoulder, using tight turns and good agility to spin them off and quickly send a pass elsewhere to a teammate. His ability to escape pressure bought himself plenty of time and space, giving him inroads towards the slot at times. He’s very tough to check as a whole, the size, strength, edgework, and heavy stick make him a formidable foe as he begins to work off the half-wall, sucking opposition in. In transition he relied greatly on his strength and reach to get around opponents, dropping the shoulder and using strong inward steps to the middle to get the edge allowing him to display a decently powerful wrister.

I first noticed how fast he could cut away from pressure or spin off pressure along the boards compared to others. That extra bit of agility and power in moments would come in handy throughout this game from a possession standpoint. He had an unreal backhand drah move that he put off the far post early on, wired a heavy wrist shot on the PP after having time to curl into it, and scored a good goal off the rush where the puck got tangled up in the feet of a couple players battling for it. Hudson was simply following up and stole an opportunity for a shot against the grain. I believe he got a second goal in the second half with a well timed push towards the net on the backdoor to finish off a tic-tac-toe play between him, Nolan Snyder, and Mason Law.