Meet Your New Hockey Eagles: Destry Straight
By Joe Micik
Here’s a nice little change-up from the unfolding football disaster.
The second Canadian coming from B[ritish] C[olumbia] to B[oston] C[ollege] is an 18-year old forward by the name of Destry Straight (#17). He committed to the Eagles late last year and is regarded as one of the best players joining Eagles hockey in 2011.
Like his new Eagles teammmate, Mark Begert, he most recently played for the Coquitlam Express in the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL). If I were talented enough to play sports, I would imagine it’s nice to have a former teammate go with you to your new team. As an interesting side note, not only did he and Begert play together on the Coquitlam Express, but they went to the same high school (Sentinel), come from the same town (West Vancouver), and also played together on the Vancouver North West Giants of the BCHMML. With all this time they’ve spent together — and now they come in as a package deal to Boston College — you’d think and hope these two are friends. Perhaps one influenced the other, or it’s just a coincidence that they’re both now Eagles.
There are a number of reasons why Straight has come so highly regarded. First, when he played for Coquitlam, he managed 67 points (26 g, 41 a) in only 49 games, and 11 of his 26 goals were on the power play. Second, the year before that in the midget league, he racked up 63 points (12 g, 51 a) in just 39 games. Third, he is a former all-star in the midget league who helped his team win a championship. Fourth, and finally, unlike some of the other players joining the Eagles, there is a lot of information available regarding his play.
His stats, which indicate he is a player who has dominated at the lower levels of competition, are impressive enough, but the scouting reports also indicate that there is promise here. The Bruins 2011 Draft Watch blog knows more about him than I do, so I shall defer to their wisdom:
"Straight is good skater with a long, fluid stride with strong playmaking ability, vision and offensive hockey sense. On the downside, he’s on the soft side and doesn’t possess much in the way of strength. Tending to stay out of traffic and on the outside, scouts can be frustrated with his tendency to not take the puck to the net or use his prodigious offensive gifts more effectively. Defensively, he has a lot of work to do. RLR [Red Line Report] cited him as “one-dimensional” and without the big numbers in the BCHL to back it up, he’s likely to fall down the boards a bit as a result."
Some more information, this time from Dan Sallows’ Hockey Scout blog:
"He reminds me a little of [Canadian NHL prospect] Ryan Johansen, with his smooth skating, excellent hockey IQ, ability to drive to the net, slick stick-handling, and in the way he can dish the puck. Straight is very useful on the power play, makes his teammates better, is a leader on and off the ice, and can change the course of a game with one shot."
Straight seems as though he is a work in progress with quite a bit of talent. It remains to be seen what his role will be on the 2011-2012 Eagles, but I am confident that he will be a strong contributor on this team in the years to come.