Earlier this month Magness Mayhem surveyed the DU hockey team about various player characteristics.

Fourteen of the 25 players on the roster responded (56 percent) through an online survey. All results were anonymous. I’d like to thank the DU players for taking the time to take the survey.

I’d also like to thank the following sponsors for helping make this possible:

Kostoff and Co. at Nova Home Loans – The Right Loan, The Right Lender

Pesta Chiropractic – We’ve Got Your Back, with offices in Centennial and Westminster

SouthEast Auto – Trusted since 1958, and just 2 miles east of the DU campus

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What follows is third of five parts of the survey, along some accompanying analysis.

Part 3: Passing, vision, hockey sense and face-offs

11- Which player is the best passer in traffic?

Troy Terry – 10 (71 percent)

Henrik Borgstrom – 2 (14 percent)

Liam Finlay and Dylan Gambrell also received one vote.

Behind the numbers: There are many reasons Terry has the puck on his stick so much in the offensive zone, and this is a big one. His stick handling and scoring prowess helps open up prime passing lanes for him.

12 – Which player executes the best break-out passes?

Michael Davies – 5 (36 percent)

Blake Hillman and Ian Mitchell – 3 (21 percent)

Adam Plant – 2 (14 percent)

Tariq Hammond also received a vote.

Behind the numbers: If you’re a defenseman who can’t do this well, you’re not going to play a key role for any Jim Montgomery-coached team. So it’s no surprised to see so many of the defensemen appearing on this list. Davies gets lost in the shuffle sometimes, but this reinforces just how good he is at an important skill for a puck-possession team, and he’s far from alone in that regard. Hillman, whom I feel is also extremely overlooked for all he contributes, Mitchell and Plant also excel at this.

13 – Which player has the best overall vision?

Henrik Borgstrom – 8 (57 percent)

Troy Terry – 3 (21 percent)

Dylan Gambrell – 2 (14 percent)

Devin Cooley also received a vote.

Behind the numbers: Who sees the ice well in every situation? Three guys who won’t be done playing hockey at the NCAA level, that’s who. This is skewed toward the offensive end. I expected a defenseman or two to make this list.

 14 – Which player has the best overall hockey sense?

Troy Terry – 4 (28 percent)

Henrik Borgstrom, Dylan Gambrell, Tyson McLellan – 3 (21 percent)

Jack Doremus also received a vote.

Behind the numbers: This category can be in the eye of the beholder and is the toughest one to quantify. Some players are just better fits for better teams and styles. Beyond the usual suspects, I have heard several players mention just how smart McLellan is and how well he can break down what’s taking place on the ice in a split second.

15 – Which player most consistently wins important face-offs?

Tyson McLellan – 13 (93 percent)

Dylan Gambrell also received a vote.

Behind the numbers: If you needed any more evidence about how badly the Pioneers have missed McLellan since the sophomore went down with a shoulder injury, here it is. In his absence Gambrell and freshman Jaakko Heikkinen have emerged as the go-to guys more often than not. Gambrell was excellent down the stretch last year once his upper-body injury healed and has had his moments in the past few weeks.

Previously:

Part 1: Skating and strength

Part 2: Shooting and stick handling

Coming up:

Part 4: Defense, positioning, leadership

Part 5: Breaking down the numbers

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