Graham Positioned For Success

When the 2010 Ontario Hockey League Priority Selection was all said and done, the Niagara Ice Dogs had themselves a defenseman with a lot of promise in their 6^th overall pick.

Jesse Graham recorded 18 points and an impressive plus-27 in his rookie year and isn’t looking to change his game, but intends on increasing his stats in his second-year.

“I just tried to work hard in the summer and improve my shot so I could put more pucks in the net and try to get more goals,” said Graham.

Graham knows the strong points in his game and what is expected from him in the 2011/12 season from the Ice Dogs.

“I’m a good skater and have good vision with the puck,” said Graham.  “I’m on a pair with Dougie Hamilton and were matched up against one of the better lines on the other team so we try and shut them down and produce some offense from the back end.”

Hamilton believes the duo has developed chemistry and after a year of experience together, their role on the team has increased.

“I think over the last year, we’ve kind of developed chemistry,” he said.  “We were kind of used as the shutdown pair as well so I think we can pretty much play any role.  That makes us pretty valuable.”

Graham has always been an excellent skater with an explosive first step that allows him to hold his own defensively but it’s his “high risk/high reward” style of defense that turns him into a fourth forward at times and an offensive threat from the blue line.

The biggest knock against the second-year player, to this point, has been his size but Graham believes the questions about him will only help him improve.

“I think my size is going to come and I’m going to put on weight eventually,” he said.  “It’s only a matter of time and when I do, I’ll be that much better as a player.”

Head Coach Marty Williamson couldn’t be happier with Graham and has high expectations for 17-year-old defenseman.

“His skating ability is wonderful, he makes things happen with his feet and we count on him night in and night out to be one of our contributors,” Williamson said.  “He’s logging 23-25 minutes per game; that’s a lot of hockey for a young guy.”

Williamson went on to attribute much of the team’s success to the chemistry that Graham has developed with Hamilton.

“They were real successful last year,” he continued.  “They shut down the top lines and both just skate so well that they can deny what a lot of teams want to do. They seem to have a real good feel for each other and night in/night out, they match up against the top lines.”

Graham is hopeful that his success continues into the off-season, as he has caught the eye of Central Scouting Services, who have him listed in the preliminary rankings for the upcoming NHL Entry Draft in June.