DESPRES GETTING MIXED REVIEWS

Hockey Canada will make their first round of cuts this morning at the World Junior Selection Camp currently being held at the MasterCard Centre in Toronto.

“The first cuts are to be announced Tuesday morning, with the full 22-man roster named on Wednesday,” reports TSN.

The camp began on Sunday. The junior aged players were split into two teams and played an intrasquad game Sunday and again Monday night.

Among those at the camp is Saint John Sea Dogs defenseman Simon Despres, who by most accounts, hasn’t had the greatest of camps so far.

In the first match on Sunday, Despres was paired with Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Jessie Blacker on Team Red, states Hockey Canada’s Twitter page. Red won the game 4-1.

Stephane Leroux of RDS was on hand, and he had this say on Despres (TRANSLATED through Google Translate):

The 5th player in the QMJHL Simon Després Seadogs had a little more trouble. He was responsible for three turnovers and a camp so short these are things that do not go unnoticed by policy makers. Després has also received a minor penalty in the 3rd period.

Leroux gave Despres a five-out-of-10 rating, the lowest of the five players from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League at the camp.

Monday, Despres was paired with Chicago Blackhawks prospect Dylan Olsen on Team Red. This time around, Team White took a 7-5 win.

Leroux provided some better news on the ‘Big Horse,’ giving him a seven-out-of-10 rating which was tied for the highest among QMJHL players.

Defender Simon Despres was stronger than yesterday and should avoid the first chopper.

TSN’s Bob McKenzie didn’t quite get the same impression of Despres, tweeting this Monday night:

Gudbranson should be a Top 6 guy. I would have thought Simon Despres would be too but he hasn't played real well here thus far.

Will Despres be among the first to go? We shall soon see.