Crowder has been a routine presence in game reports and standout articles for some time and this selection camp was no different. He paced the Rocky Mountain team with nine points in six games which was almost double his closest teammate. His poise under pressure and ability to calmly make plays in small areas is present on every shift and if he gets the puck below the hashmarks, he’s usually finding a way to the net for a scoring chance for himself or a teammate. He really excels and using funky timing or unorthodox angles to throw defenders off balance, and he has the stickwork and confidence to make the opposition look silly. In addition to his skill with the puck on his stick, he is attentive to the finer details of the game. He’s never fishing for offence and instead attacks from behind the puck, ensuring his defensive responsibilities are taken care of first. Skating has been and continues to be the greatest potential limiting factor in his progression upwards, but his intelligence, skill, and competitiveness will carry him far.

Crowder didn’t bring a sexy game to the table in our viewings of him but you can’t argue with effectiveness as he is constantly involved in the play. What he lacks in skating efficiency and flair, he makes up with his competitive edge and ability to take space. With his ability to use his frame and protect the puck while using his hands in tight areas, he’s a constant threat down low on the cycle and at the net front. His thought process isn’t high end but the simplicity and ability to create off efficient passing and shooting will keep him a threat as he keeps moving up the area. It seems like he’s always in a spot to receive a puck and isn’t a slouch on the defensive side of the ice either. I don’t ever see him as a guy who is going to be a puck transporter through the neutral zone but some added mass and refinement in his skating will go a long way to proving me wrong.

Crowder continues to show why he’s the leading scorer on his team and looks to be as close to a lock on the Hlinka roster as you can be. Crowder brings so many great traits to the game that should only make him a better and better player with time. He’s tall, quite lanky, but has a powerful, long stride that gets him around the ice, navigating through open space up the middle of the ice with ease. Pushing pace like few others in this tournament, Crowder was protecting the puck well and distributing to others, enabling offense for others as well as himself. He came away with a goal working off a give and go with a beautiful tip through the goaltender’s five hole to get the scoring going in the first half, and has clearly been punching below his weight class at this camp. The combination of traits is unique at the level he plays at, and has been a standout in every viewing thus far.

Unsurprisingly, Crowder was the key player for the Rocky Mountain squad. His routing off-puck connects all the details within his game. The highly intelligent forward has such a great sense for the game, positioning himself so that he’s always near the play to assist a teammate or make a quick read that resets possession for the team. He was the facilitator for Rocky Mountain’s first and only goal, while also being the lead instrument that created chances and space throughout the offensive zone. He’s definitely thinking the game ahead of his teammates as there are some moments where Crowder creates space and there’s no one there to capitalize on it.

I have yet to see an underwhelming performance by Jackson Crowder and this game was no different. He is such a smart player both with the puck where he controls the pace of play with his puck movement and stickhandling, and without the puck where he always seems to be in the right place at the right time. He created Rocky Mountain’s first goal by stripping a defender on the forecheck and quickly recognizing the net-front presence with a crisp tape to tape pass for an easy tip-in. You could see the confidence Crowder was bringing all game as he was dangling defenders out of their jockstraps on numerous occasions. I really think there is very little left that Crowder needs to prove against his peer group, the only thing left to do is prove that he can maintain his effectiveness at the junior level despite a skating stride that is far from clean.

Crowder led his team early in the game by working hard on the forecheck to steal pucks and make New York defensemen lives difficult. He should great playmaking ability with good vision in the offensive zone. He is difficult to knock off the puck as he is strong on his edges and knows how to use his body to protect it. His empty net goal late in the second half came from a strong solo effort where he stole the puck, fended off multiple opposing players, working his way up ice to seal the game.

Jackson Crowder was impressive once again for the Western Selects. His two-way commitment along with offensive contribution makes him a well-rounded forward with a good base set of skills. A speedy skater with soft hands, he was able to gain the zone and attack off the rush setting up teammates as he attacked in layers. When shooting opportunities arose, he did not shy away from getting the puck on net, displaying a quick release with good power behind it on both his wrist shot and snapshot. Defensively he covered the slot well, covering up shooting lanes and not biting on attempts by puck carriers to draw him from his position.

The strengths and limitations of Jackson Crowder were on full display, as well as how Crowder smartly plays around his limitations when certain matchups are tough to handle. Crowder isn’t the most fleet of foot and it denies him chances to separate from incoming pressure through raw explosivity, which is a particularly damning trait when playing against a long, rangey, fluid Kings defense. While there were certainly moments where that extra bit of oomph offensively would have helped build up some dangerous sequences in the OZ, Crowder mostly circumvented the issue through great handling ability and, above all else, anticipation. He recognizes defensive shifts and often correctly guesses the routes that players will take on their rotations, and capitalizes striking through these gaps as they form, trying to use the defenders momentum against them.

Crowder is the straw that stirs the drink for Dallas and time and time again in this contest he was creating something out of nothing in the offensive end. His stride is far from picture perfect but his apparent clunkiness builds in an air of deception as he still manages to consistently gain separation from the opposition by catching them by surprise with his skill and smarts. He has the rare feel for how a defenceman is approaching, what their body positioning is, where their weight is loaded, and he uses that opponent’s momentum to dart against the grain and make them look silly. Over time in this game, you could feel Chicago’s defensive structure become more off balance when he was on the ice as Crowder’s ability to problem solve consistently made them second guess themselves. He collected two assists in this game, had a filthy foray through traffic that was only kept out of the net due to the heroics of the Chicago tender, and was creating chances on every shift. I’m really looking forward to seeing how he can develop and improve his footwork as he transitions to the junior level.

Crowder was excellent in this game, and arguably played the most mature and well-rounded style of anyone. Crowder is such a wonderful combination of size, pace and skill that is always in demand, he factored into both goals in the first period, and showed some high level thinking and skill often. He showed no lack of willingness to play physical either, chasing down puck carriers and finishing checks and making himself known on the ice. There was one slot pass where I was convinced he shot it himself, but had threaded a perfect pass across the crease for a scoring chance. He used his size effectively off the puck as well, providing a key screen on goal #6 to give Dallas some insurance they turned out to need. Crowder showed a highly projectable style of play that should have no problem translating to the next level, and his balanced and skilled physical play helped get and keep Dallas ahead, finishing the game with four points.

The more I watch Crowder the more I appreciate the subtleties in his game and the little things he does to extend possession and create chances. He always seems to know where his teammates are at any given moment and his game is full of quick and clever little bump passes under sticks and through feet before the defensive structure can get set. His counterattack offensive style really punishes opposition mistakes, and you need to play with a greater level of care when he’s on the ice. Crowder is a gamer in every sense of the word. He never takes shortcuts in the search of offence, and he had a couple of huge shot blocks in this game that nullified opportunities. As a whole, there is a lot to like in Crowder’s game however he really needs to develop his stride to unlock his full potential. He has a very hunched over and choppy stride and it could be a limiting factor for him as he progresses to higher levels if not addressed.

The duo of Dallas Stars Elite Jackson Crowder and Lucian Deering drove the offence for Royal Blue. Jackson was mainly the beneficiary of Lucian's top-notch playmaking. Jackson was constantly rotating smarty into open space or choosing a clever route to put himself into the right spot to receive a pass from his Dallas Stars teammate. Once Crowder found open pockets, Deering could hit him, and Crowder had plenty of scoring chances. The duo opened the scoring for Royal Blue as Crowder chose a smart route to the net to give him inside positioning and in an excellent spot for Deering to thread him a pass, which he tipped into the net. Crowder added a second goal, using his long reach to pick up a loose puck, dragging it around a defender's stick, firing it on net, and jamming home his own rebound. Crowder was a powerful skater who could pick up speed with a few crossovers and get to top speed in no time. His quickness was a difference-maker offensively, but it also allowed him to catch up to a few opponents and retrieve the puck.

Jackson Crowder excels again for Team Royal Blue, the Dallas Stars Elite forward played a heavy, but skilled, game to drive play, create ice, and be a handful for defenders to work with. Not all players manage to succeed in the middle of the ice, even smaller players can get away with a few plays here-and-there but often can’t consistently replicate their work making mid-lane drives and attacking the crease; Crowder was able to consistently attack the middle, protect the puck, lean on defenders, and get pucks to the dirty areas of the ice. A very solid forward, his edges carved deep into the ice giving him great friction and balance, his reach is long enough to keep the puck a reach away from defenders, and the strength lets him simply bulldoze his way through crowds at times. He won races to loose pucks in the slot well, battled hard, and ultimately was rewarded for his hard work with some nice looks from deep in the slot. He ended up scoring a goal that was of great note, coming in hot with speed from the high slot, he danced around a defender who was turning to land a stick check, reacted accordingly and pushed the puck wide around the outreached stick, converged on the goaltender, and once more went wide on the goaltender to slide the puck by their pad. His ability to react to whatever was thrown in front of him and retain possession was also a great skill he offered.

As in other viewings it seems like there was always a way for Jackson Crowder to extend his possession - whether it looked pretty or not. He has a great amount of creativity and all the confidence in the world, but can sometimes deke himself into a corner. More often than not he keeps a good awareness of his opportunities and is very persistent in pursuing them. Not only is Crowder quite slippery with the puck but he also tends to be quite stealth without it. He'll often pop out of traffic at optimal moments to receive a pass or even get a quick shot off, as was the case for his goal to go up 3-0. His puck skill is undoubtedly his most prominent asset and there's rarely an occasion where he can't use it to evade or deceive his opponents. His second goal of the game came off of a nice backhand move on the Team Red goaltender.

Crowder was one of the players who really popped in this game, knocking on the door for quite some time before he ultimately broke through. He did well on the puck to give himself a step on defenders with a bit of skill and once he had that step he was able to set up and rip a shot towards goal. He was constantly a threat in the first period, but found his breakthrough in the second period after he really started gaining traction after a pair of really good shooting opportunities. He fired one off the post and there were a few more shots fired towards goal before the puck ended up in the net, Crowder was credited with the assist. He followed that up fairly quickly with a goal of his own that he ripped high blocker from the slot and made no mistake. His line looked great all game and Belle had himself a nice chance and then Crowder battled for the puck below the goal line and ultimately came out front with it and tucked away a quick wrap-around. Crowder was one of the driving forces of the offense and did a great job creating his own chances and chances for his teammates.

The man of the evening, Jackson Crowder. Crowder had tallied a hattrick in this one, with all 3 goals coming from mere feet away from the net; his tenacity and scoring knack drove him to the hardest areas of the ice and he found success as a result. He has this ability all great goal-scorers have, and that is the sense of how to weave in and out of defensive coverage, appearing at just the right moment to take advantage of a scoring opportunity. This was seen on his second goal when he deflected Fiddler’s slap-pass, completely unguarded; along with on his hattrick goal as he slipped by a defenseman at the last second to deflect a shot – giving the Stars the 4-3 lead late in the game. Crowder had a few instances where he showed what he was capable of when skating with the puck, displaying a strong, long, stride and smooth puck handles, he distributed the puck nicely and overall was a good playmaker when he wasn’t scoring all the goals.

It’s sad to see the end of Jackson Crowder’s run in the US Nationals as he was one of the most intriguing players outside of some of the favorited clubs. In the loss he picked up a goal and an assist to maintain his impressive point production, ending off with 3 goals, and 3 assists in 4 games. Crowder got the Stars on the board with a nice deflection goal, his work around the net and low-slot region was evident all tournament long – with good strength and hand-eye coordination he was deadly if left unchecked. He nearly single handily was the creator of the Stars’ second goal, with good work on the forecheck he intercepted a clearing attempt and dished the puck over to Klage Kaebel who sniped the puck top corner. Coming into this years u14 Nationals, I was unfamiliar with Crowder’s game, but coming out of them I’m now well acquainted of what he can do.

While there’s certainly some opportunity for this Dallas forward to make improvements to his stride, Jackson Crowder showed a decent aptitude for supporting possession and recovering loose pucks from his linemates. His offensive awareness was demonstrated on various instances when he was often within a single stride of pucks as they were knocked loose from his opponents. By minimizing the distance between himself and the puck he was able to compensate for his skating deficiencies and create a few offensive opportunities. He was the intermediate passer in Dallas’ opening goal between Klage Kaebel and Jeffrey Hurlburt.