Shugg vs. Shalla

On paper, Justin Shugg and Josh Shalla look fairly similar. They're both offensive OHLers who tend a bit more towards goalscoring, both eligible for the 2010 draft, and have similar names. When I was planning my trip to see Windsor and Saginaw, I had some trouble keeping them separate.

Boy did that change. The thing that impressed me the most about Shugg was how hard he worked. Windsor was down by two goals (rare I know, but they had some guys out of the line-up), and Shugg played as if he thought they could quickly get it back. His hard work was rewarded with a goal, though they did still lose. I spoke to him and he's a stand-up guy. Here's the interview.

Shalla, who I saw the next night, did not impress at all. He was even benched in the second period. He seemed to just have one speed, and no intensity. I had questions prepared for him, but instead decided to head to the Erie locker room and talk to Robbie Ftorek about Greg McKegg. McKegg deserved the time, Shalla did not. After I was done with that though, I swung by the Saginaw locker room, wanting to speak to a coach about why Shalla was benched. I wanted to know how different this was than his normal play, so we know where to rank and rate him. I was treated so rudely by associate coach John Kisil, that I just had to laugh. Someone doesn't take losing well, and takes it out on everyone else. In any case, it will make me remember Shalla for sure. And not in a good way.
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