Photo Credit: Zack Hill
Noah Cates says, “I think just getting bigger, faster, and a little quicker,” when asked what he needed to improve this offseason at exit interviews. He put in the work this Summer and it’s quite evident in his play. For his efforts, Cates looks like a mini Sean Couturier on the ice.
“He’s a coach’s dream.” – Head Coach of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms Ian Laperrière said following a Flyers first pre-season tilt
“He does everything right,” Laperrière continued. “He doesn’t cheat. He plays the right way and coachable. How can you not like a guy like that? I don’t know Torts much but I know every coach likes players like that. His brother is playing great too. Jackson, I wouldn’t but him out of the race either. He came in camp in tip-top shape and came in camp to make the team. I’m sure they trained together. They’re tight. They’re always together and it’s fun to watch. Noah is a pleasure to just see what he does, the little things that you don’t see, a super goal by beating a guy one-on-one or score a great goal. He does the little things that coaches like.”
Getting bigger, stronger, faster are common goals for young prospects to make it at the next level. For Cates, he had one heck of a showing in a small sample size last season, and that has filtered into this season. The past few months he has been marred by injury, but he was still the same old Noah Cates, playing well defensively and trying to chip in a bit offensively. Cates’s offensive numbers were down from the year prior to his recent injury, however, he is still a min Sean Couturier, just minus the scoring prowess that Couturier possesses.
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The good thing is Cates will return to the lineup tonight, and John Tortorella is happy to have him back into the fold, “He knows he has to keep improving his game. He’s very coachable, he’s so far ahead, as so far as, the mental part of the game,” Tortorella said of Cates during the pre-game against the St. Blues.
“It was obviously big going into the summer, and next training camp, knowing what to expect and what the pace is like, and different things like that was I think kind of the question mark,” Cates said when asked if gaining this NHL experience was helpful. “What I was focused on was the pace of the game. Definitely didn’t think I was out of place, but I think I could improve this summer and get to playing a little faster. Be able to generate a little more.”
He has skated well, is confident and poised with the big club. It almost is reminiscent of the Sean Couturier, just without the offensive niche just yet. Let’s see how Cates responds tonight with this beings his first game back in the lineup in a few months.
