The Prospect Park

Sometimes you can't win them all

noreply@blogger.com (Prospect Park) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 04:31:00 +0000

Sunday was a day where the outcome did not always reflect the kind of effort given by the New York Ranger and New York Islander prospects. For 2 New York Ranger prospects, it was a cruel day where their efforts did not result in the 2 points their teams needed.

Our marquee matchup on Sunday was the Niagara IceDogs with Ryan Strome (NYI 2011 1st) and Mitchell Theoret (NYI 2011 7th) visiting Christian Thomas (NYR 2010 2nd) and his Oshawa Generals.

For the IceDogs, they were looking at keeping 1st place in the OHL's Eastern Conference while the Generals are in a 4 team brawl for 3 playoff spots. The IceDogs seem to have everything going for them right now as they are healthy and just got back their best defenseman from suspension while the Generals are struggling just to play 500 hockey.

The IceDogs came away with a 5-3 win but not without Christian Thomas doing his very best to try to win this game for the Generals. Thomas scored two goals and assisted on the third General's goal but did not get enough support from his teammates.

A scoreless 1st period led to a wild 2nd as Thomas came out firing needing just 63 seconds to score the game's opening goal giving the Generals a quick 1-0 lead. The lead only lasted for 2:32 as the IceDogs responded with a power-play goal to tie the score at 1 apiece with Ryan Strome getting the secondary assist.

At 9:10 Thomas set up Andy Andreoff for the Generals 2nd goal of the game again giving Oshawa lead this time 2-1. The Generals failed to hold lead as the IceDogs scored 2 unanswered goals to tie and then take the lead for the first time in the game at 3-2.

That was the score as the game entered the 3rd period and it was Thomas answering again this time scoring on the power play at 7:01 to tie the game up at 3. The score stayed that way and it was looking like the game was go-ahead to overtime but Niagara scored with just under 3 minutes to go in regulation to break the tie.

Niagara added an empty net goal in the game's final seconds for the final score of 5-3. It was a tough one for the Generals to lose but they just could not stop the IceDogs.

Thomas was named the game's second star for his 2 goal, 1 assist effort which gives him now a 27-27-54 mark for the season. Strome's secondary assist extends his scoring streak to 9 games and he is now 20-26-46.

Mitchell Theoret was scoreless as Niagara won their 6th straight as they retained 1st place in the OHL's Eastern Conference. As for Oshawa, they remain in sixth place but the 3 teams chasing them are separated by just 2 points.

The Generals were able to remain in 6th place because the Peterborough Petes with Andrew Yogan (NYR 2010 3rd) and Peter Ceresnak (NYR 2011 6th) also lost as they dropped a 5-3 decision to the Brampton Battalion.

Considering that not even 24 hours ago the Petes were blown out 12-0 by the Owen Sound Attack, one could say at least their defense improved. Andrew Yogan did his best to try to prevent another loss as he too had a three point performance (1-2-3).

After Brampton had jumped out to a 2-0 lead after one period, Yogan scored his 26th goal of the season unassisted at 10:01 of the 2nd cutting Brampton's lead to 1. Unfortunately for Yogan, Brampton added 3 unanswered goals after his to take a 5-1 lead going into the 3rd.

In the third, Yogan set up Alan Quine for a goal at 1:03 and then earned a secondary assist on Quine's 2nd but that was as close as Peterborough would get. Yogan's 3 points improved him to 26-25-51 as the 26 goals are career high for him.

Ceresnak had another quiet night going scoreless as Peterborough drops their 2nd straight game and fell into 8th place in the OHL's Eastern Conference.

JT Miller (NYR 2011 1st) had primary assists on his Plymouth Whalers 1st 2 goals of the game as the Whalers needed the shootout before coming away with a 5-4 shootout win over the Saginaw Spirit.

The Whalers defense has somehow disappeared in recent days as they gave up 4 goals and 57 shots to the Spirit. The Whalers are not playing like the team that was challenging for the OHL's Western Conference championship as they have fallen 8 points behind the London Knights.

Miller's 2 assists give him a 4 game scoring streak (2-4-6) as he is now 21-34-55 on the season.

Andrey Pedan (NYI 2001 3rd) was scoreless as his Guelph Storm were beaten 6-3 by the Kitchener Rangers. The loss combined with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds earning a point in their game with the Sarnia Sting drops the Storm into 9th place in the OHL's Western Conference.

It was more the same for the Storm; penalties and just bad play overall as in a week they have gone from 6th place to 9th place. Pedan was scoreless with a -1, taking a penalty in the games last minutes with the Storm trailing 4-3 and the resulting power play led to an empty net goal for the final score.

Kirill Kabanov (NYI 2010 3rd) was scoreless as his Shawinigan Cataractes extended their unbeaten streak to 3 games with a 4-1 win over the the Chicoutimi Sangueneens. A very quiet game for Kabanov in just his 2nd game back from a concussion.

(Thomas - Aaron Bell of OHL Images)

Does anyone want to win?

noreply@blogger.com (Prospect Park) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 12:07:00 +0000

We didn't check to see if there was a full moon on Saturday night, but the way some of the New York Ranger and New York Islander prospects played; it should make you wonder. Textbook hockey was very much not the norm on this evening as there were a couple of instances of just flat out horrible hockey.

Rangers First Star Steven Fogarty

Steven Fogarty (NYR 2011 3rd) and his Penticton Vees almost made a nice headline about how their winning streak came to a truly embarrassing end. In many ways, if we were the Vees , we would actually view their 7-5 win over the Westside Warriors as a loss.

The Vees entered the third period with a 6-1 lead and honestly were lucky to escape with their win. Fogarty earned the first star of the game with a 1-2-3 performance including if you believe winding up with the game-winning goal.

For us the highlight of the game was 2 Fogarty plays in the second period while he was killing penalties. Fogarty and his linemate Joey Benik had 2 shorthanded breakaway's in which Fogarty missed on his chance but Benik cashed in on his.

As we said yesterday, Fogerty's defense is first rate and you could never have enough penalty killers who just so happen to be 6'3 200+. Especially when they can generate shorthanded opportunities like Fogarty and his teammate were.

We will break down how Fogarty despite scoring the 6th goal of the game for the Vees and the rest of the Ranger prospect report which you can find right here. (Warning one game super stinker read at your own risk)

Islanders First Star Scott Mayfield

This is what we like repeat performers has Scott Mayfield (NYI 2011 2nd) is right back here for the very same reason he was here last night. Once again it was Mayfield making the play that helped his 14th-ranked Denver Pioneers defeat top-ranked Minnesota.

In this case it wasn't the game-winner but it was Mayfield, who started the play, which led to Nick Shore scoring the tying goal with just 1:26 remaining in regulation to send the game into overtime.

Every reason that we mentioned yesterday is exactly the same , reasoning why Mayfield is here again. We are talking now, back to back wins over the team that according to the polls is the best team in the NCAA.

Denver won 4-3 in overtime and because of this weekend has pulled to within one point of second place (Minnesota-Duluth) and two points of Minnesota. One other way th these wins can help Denver and that's called "Pairwise" which is how the NCAA awards at large spots in the NCAA tournament.

Scott Mayfield helped Denver jumped all the way to seventh in the "Pairwise" which is not bad for an 18-year-old. More on Mayfield and the rest of the Islanders report here.

(Fogarty - Penticton Vees, Mayfield - New York Islanders)

Free food, free goals, fun Friday

noreply@blogger.com (Prospect Park) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 12:53:00 +0000

Friday night had a lot of everything for everybody from the New York Ranger and New York Islander prospects. We had some pretty good performances from the prospects and this was one of the better evenings we have seen in a while.

Rangers First Star Chris Kreider

There is something about Beanpot week that brings out the very best in Chris Kreider's (NYR 2009 1st) game. Kreider earned first star of the game honors after a 2-1-3 performance leading 4th-ranked Boston College to a 6-1 win over the Vermont Catamounts.

Kreider after bit of a slump is starting to heat up as he has now gone 4-4-8 in his last four games which is great news for Boston College and it could be bad news for the rest of Hockey East. For a recap of Kreider's performance and the rest of what was a pretty good evening for the Ranger prospects check out the Ranger page right here.

Islanders First Star Scott Mayfield

Scott Mayfield (NYI 2011 2nd) makes his first appearance here and it was only because he made a single play. If you look in the scoresheet you'll see just one assist and a -1 for Mayfield but it was a play that said a lot about the forward progress Mayfield has made it his freshman season.

Mayfield set up Jason Zucker's power-play goal at 4:02 of the 2nd period turned out to be the game-winning goal as Mayfield's 14th-ranked Denver Pioneers defeated top-ranked Minnesota 5-3. It was just Mayfield's 5th assist of the season and 7th overall point but it was a key point in a game against the team that has been ranked number one for quite a while.

For us what we liked most about that play wasn't the play itself but what it represented and that is Mayfield's growth as a prospect. It wasn't that long ago when the 6'4 freshman defenseman was showing the growing pains of a 18-year-old teenager trying to play against 22-23 adults.

Mayfield has come a long way since the start of the season and we really do like what we are seeing out of him these days. While others have better numbers than Mayfield does, it is his growth as a player that stands out tonight.

For more about Mayfield and the rest of the Islander prospect report you can find it right here.

An Interesting Ruling

We are sure that as hockey fans you have been told repeatedly how every point counts but we have one where two points might be a serious difference maker on how QMJHL playoffs are seeded.

In a ruling regarding a game that took place on January 4 between the two teams the Commissioner of the QMJHL ruled that the Gatineau Olympiques would be awarded two points and two points would be taken away from the Saint John Sea Dogs.

What this now means is that instead of having a two-point lead over the Shawinigan Cataractes; the Sea Dogs now find themselves tied for points with the Cataractes. Currently the Sea Dogs because they have more wins remain in first place over the Cataractes but as tightly contested as this race has been we wonder what will happen if the playoffs seeding has decided because of this ruling.

(Kreider and Mayfield - NHL media)

Now that's a return

noreply@blogger.com (Prospect Park) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 06:20:00 +0000

No that was not the sound of a nuclear weapon being used just the return of a New York Islander prospect to action and boy did he make a return. Ryan Strome (NYI 2011 first) had missed eight games due to facial injuries and broken nose suffered on January 14.

Strome made a huge return to his Niagara IceDogs as he had a four-point night to lead the IceDogs to 11-0 whipping of the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors on Thursday night. In many ways one can think that Strome took out a lot of frustration on the Majors including some from last season's OHL Eastern Conference finals has it was the Majors who just beat up on Strome.

Strome with a two-goal, two-assist game helped his IceDogs team earn their fourth straight win and enabled them to pull within one point of Eastern Conference leading Ottawa who lost in overtime to Peterborough tonight. It was one of those nights that you dream about if you're player coming back under the circumstances (injured in a dirty play) that Strome was.

This game was basically over the moment they dropped the puck as it took Niagara all of 93 seconds to score the game's first goal and from there it got worse for the Majors. Strome scored his 19th goal of the season at 4:13 to give Niagara a 2-0 lead.

The IceDogs added two more goals before Strome struck again; this time for his 20th goal of the season at 15:47 to make it a 5-0 lead. Niagara added still one more goal to finish the period up 6-0.

In the second, Strome set up Alex Friesen for a power-play goal at 1:09 giving Niagara a 7-0 lead. Strome made it a four-point night in the third when he set up Freddie Hamilton for Niagara's 10th goal of the game.

It was the second four-point night of the season for Strome who was named the game's second star as he improved this season stats to 20-24-44. And despite missing time for injury as well as playing for Team Canada; Strome actually has a seven game scoring streak going (5-11-16).

Strome's return could not come at a better time for the IceDogs as they tried to come out of the OHL's Eastern Conference with the first seed going into the playoffs. Still it was a very impressive return by Strome which clearly energized his teammates.

Andrew Yogan (NYR 2010 third) scored his 25th goal of the season to help his Peterborough Petes steal a win away from the Ottawa 67's 5-4 in overtime. And steal one day did as Ottawa outplayed and out shot the Petes the entire game but Peterborough thanks in part to a great third period by Yogan and his teammates came back for the win.

It was a game of streaks as Peterborough led 2-0 after one period but Ottawa scored three unanswered over the second and third periods to take a 3-2 lead. After Peterborough's Alan Quine tied the score at 13:31, Yogan added his 25th to give Peterborough a 4-.3 lead just 24 seconds later.

The Petes were outshot 46-22 in this one but were able to grab the win and jump past Oshawa into sixth place in the OHL's Eastern Conference. The win also opened a four-point lead over 8th place Mississauga and five points ahead of 9th placed Belleville or the Petes.

For Yogan, the goal tied his career-high which he set during his draft season in 2010. Yogan also moves into second place among Ranger prospects for goals scored passing Steven Fogarty who has 24. Yogan is 25-23-48 for the season while teammate Peter Ceresnak (NYR 2011 sixth) was scoreless and a -1 for the night.

It looks like the Owen Sound Attack have decided on a goalie to be their starter and it's not Scott Stajcer (NYR 2009th fifth) as Jordan Binnington got back-to-back starts as Owen Sound defeated the Brampton Battalion 4-2 to extend their unbeaten streak to four games.

Winning back to back games is going to earn you the starts in goal so Binnington is the starter until his next loss. It may not be fair to Stajcer but it's clear that the message is whichever goalie is winning is gonna get the starts.

(Strome and Yogan- OHL Images)

Wondering out loud

noreply@blogger.com (Prospect Park) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 08:10:00 +0000

Wednesday night prospect hockey was is about thinking out loud about things involving New York Ranger and New York Islander prospects than the game results. From players being injured, being suspended to how they have been used this season.

Kirill Kabanov (NYI 2010 third) is the person we thought about most of the night because as he messed tonight's game for his Shawinigan Cataractes. The QMJHL earlier in the day announced the discipline for the player who caused Kabanov concussion.

Maybe because the injury occurred in a key game between two teams fighting for first place in the QMJHL. The player in question a Jason Cameron of the Saint John Sea Dogs was given a four game suspension and quite honestly we question if it was enough.

First here is the rationale that was offered as to why a four game suspension

His opponent was in a vulnerable position

The player at fault:

Came from the blind side and hit his opponent’s head with his shoulder;

Propelled himself upwards to get at his opponent’s head;

Did not have much speed;

Was his first offence.

The player was injured.

Put me in charge of all of hockey for just one day and I will make this one rule change regarding plays like this; all suspensions to begin after the injured player has returned to play. In other words you take a player out and you get to stay out until the player returns and then your suspension begins (For repeat offenders the coach also gets to serve your suspension with you).

In the meantime Kabanov is out of the Shawinigan Cataractes lineup for who knows and as in the case tonight the Cataractes lost a game they should have won. Now I can't come out and say that Kabanov would've been a difference against Acadie-Bathurst Titan but you are looking at a team like the Cataractes who are second in the QMJHL playing against a team who is almost 20 points behind them in the standings.

That the Cataractes wound up losing this game by the shootout 5-4; does make me wonder. For us it's a matter of putting some legitimate bite into cleaning up the game.

I have been involved with hockey since I was six years old watching, playing, the whole 9 yards and the majority of plays like this are preventable. And remember it is not about taking the hitting at the game but rather taking the people getting hurt again.

There was no reason why Kabanov winds up injured and missing tonight's game and who knows how many more.

Sticking to the QMJHL, Samuel Noreau (NYR 2011 fifth) and his Baie-Comeau Drakkar were playing host to the Halifax Mooseheads as and their wonder child Nate MacKinnon. Wish people would stop comparing MacKinnon to Sidney Crosby because MacKinnon doesn't dive and he doesn't sucker punch people while they are being held.

As for the game, the Drakkar came away with a 2-1 shootout win and Noreau while not scoring still made us happy because he was using his 6'5 body as a weapon against the Mooseheads. We liked his defensive play and since he supposed to be a stay-at-home defenseman; he did a pretty good job this evening getting credited with three hits.

More importantly for the Drakkar gained two points in the standings holding them in 10th place but pulling them to within three points of the ninth place. In the QMJHL, the way the playoffs are set up the closer you are to the middle of the standings say being in the eighth or ninth seed the better a first-round matchup you will have. It is way better than having to face a one or two seed in the first-round.

In the WHL, the Kelowna Rockets with Shane McColgan (NYR 2011 fifth) were playing host to the Seattle Thunderbirds. The Thunderbirds earned a 2-0 win over the Rockets due to a large part being the more desperate team.

The Rocket are basically fixed in sixth place as they are 11 points behind fifth place and thanks to the loss 14 points ahead of seventh place. Seattle on the other hand has not made the playoffs in the last couple of years and are playing hard to make them.

They got the win and they found themselves as that seventh place team in the WHL's Western Conference. Good for them they truly wanted it more.

Up in Red Deer, John Persson and the Rebels were hosting the Prince Albert Raiders looking to make up ground on eighth place Brandon. Brandon having already defeated Regina and extended their lead over Red Deer to 5 points so the Rebels badly needed a win.

Red Deer shut out the Raiders 4-0 to remain just three points behind Brandon. Persson was scoreless but did take two minor penalties that Red Deer killed off the resulting power plays.

Michael St. Croix (NYR 2011 fourth) had two secondary assists as his Edmonton Oil Kings taking advantage of a five goal second period defeated the Calgary Hitmen 9-5. For St. Croix the assists set a new career high as he is now standing at 50 assists for the season.

At 34-50-84 and having 18 games remaining, we were pretty sure that 50 goals is out of reach but we still think St. Croix can make it to 100 points. His Edmonton Oil Kings are only two points behind Kamloops for the best record in the entire WHL too.

Scott Stajcer (NYR 2009 fifth) had a good seat to watch Jordan Binnington earn a 2-1 shootout win over the Erie Otters for their Owen Sound Attack. Stajcer and Binnington are rotating in goal and the more we see it; the more we see it is hurting both goalies and their development.

Owen Sound to be honest we do not understand the logic that they are using as with 16 games remaining in the regular season; we see a team that is basically begging to be eliminated in the first round of the OHL playoffs.

We feel bad for both goalies as both very much deserve to be a starting goalie and while Binnington has one of the season of Junior remaining so he will be most likely a starter somewhere. Stajcer on the other hand does not and the Rangers hopes of his competing for one of the spots on the CT Whale may also be fading.

The Rangers as the way things are going right now very much could wind up having to cut or trade a decent goalie a situation in which nobody wins that way.

And last but not least the Moose Jaw Warriors will be welcoming back Dylan McIlrath (NYR 2010 first) on Friday night as he has served his eight game suspension. And then again maybe they won't considering how Moose Jaw went 7-1 during his suspension.

Just kidding but on a serious note, McIlrath comes back with a bull's-eye clearly on him and he is not going to get any kind of slack or sympathy. What McIlrath did was make it easier the WHL handout longer suspensions and McIlrath must realize that in his situation his next incident is three strikes and he really will be out as in season over.

If he gets a 3rd suspension we seriously doubt that the AHL would not honor it and just let him play.

Moose Jaw has a very good team, the kind of team that could win the WHL championship and a Dylan McIlrath would be an important piece to the puzzle.

A little of everything

noreply@blogger.com (Prospect Park) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 07:53:00 +0000

Tuesday had a little of everything involving 5 New York Rangers and 1 New York Islander prospect.From an afternoon "educational" game to three prospects fighting for playoff positioning to 1 Ranger prospect becoming part of history in a small town in British Columbia.

It was the third Annual CN hockey hooky of the day as the Edmonton Oil Kings hosted the Kootenay Ice in an afternoon matchup in front of 5000 local Edmonton schoolkids. 'The Predator" Michael St. Croix (NYR 2011 fourth) made sure the schoolkids got to go home happy with another first star performance after he registered a goal as well as an assist to spark a 3-1 Edmonton win.

The Ice lead for most of the game scoring a first period goal and that goal held up until late in the second period. At 17:52, St. Croix set up Griffin Reinhart for the tying goal to send the game into the third period tied at one.

In the third it was St. Croix with his 34th goal of the season giving the Oil Kings their first lead of the game at 7:42 while on a 4 on 3 power-play. That goal also improved to be the game-winner as Edmonton added another goal to send the school kids happy.

St. Croix improves to 34-48-82 which leads all Ranger prospects in both goals as well as points. St. Croix also is fifth in the WHL for scoring and the game-winning goal was St. Croix's sixth tying him with Steven Fogarty for the Ranger prospect lead.

The Oil Kings continue to lead the WHL's Western Conference and pulled within two points for the overall WHL lead. St. Croix also tied his career-best with his 48th assist tonight.

BCHL history was made Tuesday night when Steven Fogarty (NYR 2011 third) and his Penticton Vees whipped the Chilliwack Chiefs for their 30th straight win 7-0. The win breaks a 22-year-old BCHL record as the Vees had little trouble with the Chiefs and this might sound crazy with a 7-0 score but the Vees defensive effort just swarmed all over the Chiefs giving them next to nothing in scoring chances.

Fogarty had an assist thanks to a shot of his hitting the post and dropping right at the feet of his teammate who had a wide-open net to tap it in. Fogarty (24-38-62)was playing with a case of the flu that is going through his team.

Despite suffering from the flu, Fogarty was more impressive on the defensive end especially on the penalty kill as he has been part of the unit and is killed off 38 straight power plays. John Tortorella is going to be like a kid at Christmas when he sees a 6'3 200 lbs+ manchild whose defensive game will be well polished by the time he shows up in New York.

We did get a little bit of bad news as Fogarty did reaffirm his decision to attend Notre Dame next year. As somebody who's watched the Notre Dame program for the last two years is not a bad decision by Fogarty and is much as we understand the Rangers logic behind wishing Fogarty playing in the WHL; Notre Dame will be as good for Fogarty as Plymouth is for JT Miller.

Friday night the Vees return home and there will be a promotion that if the Vees win then all fans in attendance will earn a free quarter lb. hamburger with fries. It's been 94 days since the Vees last lost good luck to the owner of that restaurant.

In Peterborough, Christian Thomas (NYR 2010 second) and his Oshawa Generals took on the Peterborough Petes featuring Andrew Yogan (NYR 2010 third) and Peter Ceresnak (NYR 2011 sixth) in a battle for sixth place in the OHL's Eastern Conference.

Peterborough came into this game with a one point lead over Oshawa but Oshawa came into the game having defeated Peterborough in all five of their previous meetings this season. Make it six straight wins for Oshawa as they defeated Peterborough 5-2 and jumped past Peterborough into sixth place.

This is going to be one of those nights where the numbers really will not tell the story as Christian Thomas had a primary assist on Oshawa's first goal the game a power-play goal and that would be all he scored.

Andrew Yogan responded by setting up Peterborough's first goal which tied the score but unfortunately for Yogan he wound up with a -3 when he was on the ice for two empty net goals. Sometimes they should have a separate category for empty net goals.
=
Thomas (23-26-49) has quietly built up an eight-game scoring streak (5-6-11) as his Generals moved in the sixth place by one point over Peterborough. The problem with Oshawa though is that they've been playing 500 hockey as of late so they will probably give the spot right back in the next game.

Andrew Yogan (24-23-47) we can't blame for how the Petes are playing as when he scoring they start losing and we can't explain that but somebody needs to figure out before they play themselves out of a playoff spot. Teammate Peter Ceresnak was scoreless and the -1 for the evening for the Petes were gone 3-7 in their last 10 games.

Finally we have the only Islander prospect to play on Tuesday night Andrey Pedan (NYI 2011 third) and his Guelph Storm who were looking for a chance to take advantage of the games in hand and cut into the Windsor Spitfires lead for the seventh seed in the OHL's Western Conference while creating some space with ninth seed Sault Ste. Marie.

Gueph was facing the Kitchener Rangers and this was a game of streaks. The Rangers scored the game's first goals then the Storm came back by scoring the next three to take the lead. But then the Rangers proceeded to score the game's next four goals to earn a 6-3 win.

It was the fourth straight loss for the Storm and while Pedan had a goal (8-15-23) he was also a -4 and took two minors both of which resulted in Kitchener power-play goals. There's nothing much to say about Pedan as is a talented player but I would not want him on my team.

(St. Croix-Edmonton Oil Kings, Fogarty- New York Rangers, Thomas- Oshawa Generals)

A busy week with a strange start

noreply@blogger.com (Prospect Park) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:09:00 +0000

Monday is usually an off day for the New York Ranger and New York Islanders prospects but not this week. This is going to be a very busy week but for many prospect a very important week that could be a factor in how the season winds up.

But first things first as this week's New York Ranger prospect of week. For us the choice was kind of made for us as Shane McColgan (NYR 2011 fifth) of the Kelowna Rockets was the only Ranger prospect had a good week.

McColgan only had a 2-2-4 performance in two games last week but his points were key to his Kelowna Rockets winning both games on the road in Prince George. On Friday night McColgan only had one goal, but it was the game-winning goal as the Rockets earned a 2-1 win, while McColgan was named the game's third star.

Saturday night, it was McColgan with a three point effort helping his Rockets earned a 4-1 win. With a goal and two assists, McColgan was named game's First Star in helping the Rockets sweep the two-game series.

Those wins have enabled the Rockets to build up a six-game unbeaten streak and raise the team record to above 500.

In 19 games remaining in their regular-season and trailing 5th place, Vancouver by 11 points, it does not seem as if the Rockets will be able to catch them. But getting on a roll now could help McColgan and his teammates possibly pull off a first-round playoff upset.

McColgan: for the season is now 15-38-53 which leads the Rockets and has McColgan third among the Ranger prospects.

This was a good one because we are not sure how the communication breakdown happened but we missed reporting that Chris Kreider (NYR 2009 first) had earned a share of the Hockey East player of the week for the week ending January 30, 2012.

Kreider had a five point weekend against New Hampshire (2-3-5) starring with a 1-2-3 Friday night where his goal was shorthanded one and he followed it up Saturday night with a goal and an assist.

Kreider leads Boston College in scoring with a 16-14-30.

All of this is a nice lead-in to the annual Beanpot tournament, which got underway Monday evening with Boston College facing Northeastern. What we love about this annual tournament is that Chris Kreider will provide us with a heart stopping highlight reel goal.

It didn't come out of Monday's game as Kreider was scoreless in fourth-ranked Boston College's 7-1 rout of Northeastern. It was good effort by Kreider, who was active, perhaps maybe a little too active since he was hit with a roughing and hitting from behind minors in this game.

But we'll take that kind of night from him because like we said the key to Chris Kreider is going to be him getting off no less than four shots a game. When does things like that. It means Boston College has a better chance of winning.

Oh, and I'm pretty sure that Chris Kreider, as well as his Boston College teammates Monday's Beanpot final all circled on the calendar since it will be against Boston University. Boston University has so far owned Boston College on the ice this year beating him badly this is for the Beanpot.

We also have a bit of bad news as Kirill Kabanov (NYI 2010 third) suffered a concussion Saturday during the game with the Saint John Sea Dogs. Not good news for the young Russian as we believe this is his second confirmed concussion in the last two years.

We don't know how long he's going to be out, but we have hope that Shawinigan will not rush him back to the lineup. Kabanov is a really good kid whose work really hard at changing his ways and becoming a good person.

The Islanders need a healthy Kabanov because his personality and his willingness to interact with fans will do a lot to help the Islander franchise rebuild their fan base.

Brendan Kichton (NYI 2011 fifth) has become one of our favorite prospects to watch this season. As we've said before, he's not the biggest dog on the blueline, but we can see him helping the Islanders in the next few years.

For one thing, he does know how to quarterback a powerplay something the Islanders could use. Monday night Kichton's Spokane Chiefs were hosting the Seattle Thunderbirds and yes, Kichton was a difference maker.

Kichton had a one goal, +3 effort to help Spokane earn a 7-3 win over the Thunderbirds. Kichton's goal was a killer as it came on the power play with the score tied 2-2.

With just 5 seconds remaining on the power play, Kichton blasted one from the right face-off circle to give Spokane a 3-2 lead at 19:37. Spokane did not trail again in this game, but it was also a record-setting goal for Kichton.

It was Kichton's 41st career goal was Spokane and he became the all-time leading goal scorer among defensemen in Spokane history. It's a well-deserved honor for Kichton, but I'm pretty sure he will tell us that the two points that the Chiefs gained was more important.

Kichton improves to 13-41-54 on the season, tops among all WHL defensmen, but more importantly for the Chiefs the win gave them sole possession of fourth place in the WHL's Western Conference.

Tuesday Tuesday

While the Rangers will be taken on the Devils, it will be a rare busy night for us. The big game is going to take place in Chilliwack where Steven Fogarty (NYR 2011 third) and his Penticton Vees will be attempting to make BCHL history.

Fogarty and company will be going with it 30th consecutive win. And if you're interested, the game will start at 10 PM Eastern/ 7 PM Pacific and you can listen in for free here. It won't be high-tech but it is hockey from the heart.

Tuesday will also feature Christian Thomas and his Oshawa Generals taking on the Peterborough Petes featuring Andrew Yogan and Peter Ceresnak. That game is going to be for sixth place in the OHL's Eastern Conference; the Petes currently own it with a one-point lead over the Generals.

In the OHL's Western Conference, it will be Islander prospect Andrey Pedan and his Guelph Storm trying to break out of the three-game losing streak and try to catch up to 7th place Windsor with a trail by four points, but have four games in hand on.

(McColgan- Kelowna Rockets, Kreider- Dennis Pause, Kabanov- Shawinigan Cataractes, Kichton- Spokane Chiefs)

A lesson learned

noreply@blogger.com (Prospect Park) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 10:10:00 +0000

Boy, if you are a fan of both the New York Rangers and the New York Giants then Sunday was doubly special for you. Beating the Philadelphia Flyers in the early afternoon and then turning around to watch New York Giants defeat the New England Patriots in Super Bowl.

And in so many ways when you look at the New York Rangers and the New York Giants; you can see in many ways how both teams are mirrors of each other.

You start with how willing everybody on that Giant team bought into the system that the team wanted to use. The team comes first and the individual accomplishments can wait or just not show up at all.

The Rangers as anyone can see, have clearly bought into what John Tortorella is wanting to do. Just like the Giants, the Rangers may not win the pretty games but right now they're winning the games that they have to win.

You take two very dominant personalities that you have in Giants coach Tom Coughlin and the Rangers John Tortorella and they're more like than people realize. Demanding of everybody with a "I will get in your face if you don't do things my way" attitude when the coach does not think you're giving 100%.

The point of all this is that sometimes when you get an entire team buying into a system that you can actually win. On Christmas Eve, the New York Giants started play with a 7-7 record coming off a demoralizing loss that had just about everybody in the media writing the team's obituary, as well as calling for the firing of Tom Coughlin.

Six weeks later look who was holding up the Vince Lombardi trophy after defeating the New England Patriots in Super Bowl. Tom Coughlin has gone from being walked to the execution chamber to seeing his name being discussed as possible Hall of Fame possibilities.

Call it the New York Rangers 2011-2012 season in the express lane (sorry not guaranteeing a Stanley Cup for the Rangers), but rather showing that sometimes patience is actually a much more dangerous weapon than going out and going after players.

It was not gobbling up the current trade rumor, but rather players believing in each other; believing in their coaches and not caring what the outsiders are saying about their chances.

The Giants had just enough offense to defeat the Patriots, but they had more than enough defense to stop the Patriots. When you look at the Rangers you can see the seeds being planted for a championship run.

Whether it's this year or next, the most important ingredient has to be patience. Patience from the fans, the media, and even the front office has to be shown in order to get this team the chance to grow and develop chemistry.

No it does not mean don't go out and get anybody but rather if you are going to get somebody, then make sure that the person you are getting can address the needs, not the desires of the team.

If the team has a to a three-game losing streak, don't hit the panic button. The one thing that was the most notable item no matter which Giant player was being interviewed was how they all talked about believing in each other when nobody else did.

Remember that as one day the Rangers will require that kind of faith in them from their fans.

Game action

The only action involving New York Ranger and New York Islander prospects was a matchup against each other. it was Andrey Pedan (NYR 2011, third) leading his Guelph Storm into Oshawa to face Christian Thomas (NYR 2010 second) and his Oshawa Generals.

Both teams are fighting for their playoff lives, which means every single point matters. The Generals were entering the game in ninth place in the OHL's Eastern Conference while the Storm were in eighth place of the OHL's Western Conference.

Guelph struck first with the goal barely 3 minutes into the game and carried that 1-0 lead into the second. In the second period, the Generals responded with two goals of their own to grab the lead at 2-1.

In the third, Guelph tied the score with a power-play goal at 3:42 but Christian Thomas answered 42 seconds later with what proved to be the game-winning goal. Thomas's 23rd goal of the season at 4:24 gave the Generals a 3-2 lead for good as they added an insurance goal 10 minutes later for a 4-2 win.

For Thomas, he improves his season to 23-25-48 on his third game-winning goal of the season. The win also allowed the Generals to jump from ninth in the standings to seventh.

As for the Storm, Andrey Pedan had a rough go of it scoreless and a -3 for the game. The Storm remain an eighth place in the OHL's Western Conference but now trail 7th place, Windsor by four points (Storm hold three games in hand)

(Thomas - courtesy of Aaron Bell of OHL Images)

Win now or pay for it later

noreply@blogger.com (Prospect Park) — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 09:01:00 +0000

What a terrible Saturday night we had for both New York Ranger and New York Islander prospects. 14 prospects dressed and the record for the evening was 3-8-1 (two teams had two prospects playing), and this kind of effort will ensure that many prospects will see their season end sooner than later.

And I'm pretty sure that once again Islander fans will be unhappy with me because none of their players aren't stars tonight. As I said yesterday please read report and show me where I'm wrong.

Tonight's Star Shane McColgan

Not sure what is about Prince George that Shane McColgan (NYR 2011 fifth) likes but two games up there and McColgan was a key player in helping his Kelowna Rockets earned two wins. Saturday night, McColgan had a 1-2-3 evening to lead the Rockets to a very dominating 4-1 win.

The game's first star McColgan got his Rockets on the board with his 15th goal of the season (power-play goal) at 16:52 of the first period. It gave the Rockets a 1-0 lead which they held until around the middle of the second.

In the second period after Prince George tied the game, the Rockets took command of the game with three unanswered goals 4-1 lead. McColgan earned two secondary assist on the third and fourth goals scored by the Rockets.

For McColgan, the three points improved his numbers to 15-38-53 which puts him third among Ranger prospects.

Ranger Prospects

JT Miller (NYR 2011 first) had an assist for his 31st assist of the season and 50 point as his Plymouth Whalers defeated the Windsor Spitfires 5-1. Miller is 19-31-50 on the season and he had his fifth fight of the season where he was caught with a jersey violation that gave him a 10 minute misconduct.

Andrew Yogan (NYR 2010 third) broke his six-game goalless streak with his 24th goal of the season but he was a -3 as his Peterborough Petes were spanked 8-4 by the Sudbury Wolves. Yogan is now 24-22-46 on the season but the loss was costly because it allowed fifth-place Sudbury to increase their lead over six place Peterborough to four points.

Teammate Peter Ceresnak (NYR 2011 sixth) was scoreless but not much of a factor in this game.

Danny Hobbs (NYR 2007 seventh) was scoreless on six shots as his UMass Minutemen lost to the Merrimack Warriors in an unbelievable heartbreaking fashion. Merrimack scored the game-winning goal with just 2 seconds remaining in regulation costing UMass a badly needed point in the Hockey East race.

UMass because of the loss fell 2 points behind 8th place Northeastern who defeated UMass on Friday night.

Islander Prospects

Mitchell Theoret (NYI 2011 seventh) had a primary assist on his Niagara IceDogs first goal of the game as the IceDogs rallied from down 2-1 with four unanswered goals in the third period to defeat the Brampton Battalion 5-2. A huge win for the IceDogs as they opened up a four-point lead over the Battalion in the race for the Central Division title.

In addition, the IceDogs moved to within two points of OHL Eastern conference leader Ottawa who lost Saturday. For Theoret, he is now 10-6-16 on the season.

Brendan Kichton (NYI 2011 fifth) scored his 12th goal of the season but it was not enough as his Spokane Chiefs were beaten 6-2 by the Kootenay Ice. It was a costly loss for the Chiefs as they missed on a chance to pull within four points of third placed Portland who lost.

And Vancouver won which pulled them even with the Chiefs in the battle for fourth place in the WHL's Western Conference. Kichton remains the leading scorer among Islander prospects with his 12-41-53 record.

John Perssons (NYI 2011 fifth) had a goal as well as an assist, but was also a -3 as his Red Deer Rebels gave up four goals in the first, scored two in the second and then gave up two more in the third to lose to the Calgary Hitmen 6-2.

Perssons was awarded the game second star but we seriously cannot honor that call when you lose like Red Deer lost. For the season, Perssons is 19-28-47.

Kirill Kabanov (NYI 2010 third) was scoreless as his Shawinigan Cataractes dropped the very key 2-1 loss to the Saint John Sea Dogs. The loss dropped the Cataractes three points behind the Sea Dogs in the race for the first seed in the QMJHL Playoffs.

Very disappointing seeing Kabanov with no points again as he needs to start scoring now and not wait until the playoffs. Just three points in his last seven games. We know he can do better and should do better.

Robbie Russo (NYI 2011 fourth) scored his fourth goal of the season set up by his teammate Anders Lee (NYI 2009 sixth) to open the scoring for sixth-ranked Notre Dame. Unfortunately it was not enough as visiting Bowling Green came away with a 3-2 win.

We are sorry but Notre Dame ranked sixth in the United States was outplayed on their home ice by a last-place team, outshot 12-4 in the third period and got what they deserved. Russo is now 4-10-14 as a freshman defenseman while the sophomore Lee is 14-15-29.

Jason Clark (NYI 2010 third) returned to the Wisconsin Badger lineup after missing seven games, but it did not help as Clark remained scoreless the 2011- 2012 season. His Wisconsin Badgers lost their fourth straight game this time; 2-1 to St. Cloud State.

Clark deserves a pass this entire season as our experience has shown us that it takes most players anywhere from six months to a year to recover from single hip surgery and Clark underwent double hip surgery last summer. We have faith in his coach Mike Eaves who looks for places to put Clark which says to us the coach believes in the kid, then so should we.

Scott Mayfield (NYI 2011 second) was scoreless as his 13th-ranked Denver Pioneers skated to a 2-2 overtime tie with the Colorado College Tigers. Mayfield was starting defenseman, but took no shots and was even for the night

Did not play

Scott Stajcer (NYR 2009 fifth) – dressed as backup for Owen Sound's 2-1 over the Belleville Bulls.

Cody Rosen (NYI 2010 seventh) - did not play in Clarkson's 5-1 loss to Yale

(McColgan – Kelowna Rockets)

Nobody wants to be a star

noreply@blogger.com (Prospect Park) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 11:03:00 +0000

Friday night was one of those nights where it really looked like there would not be any stars from either the New York Ranger or New York Islander prospects. Going coast-to-coast during the evening, the closest we came to somebody making a game changing play came on an assist.

But that person did not even get a star as with three other players in the same game. It took the very last game being played in the furthest away location for somebody to reach up and grab star.

What a strange evening this was as we not sure why but there was a lot of people describing games and/or efforts with with some not so nice terms. Even stranger for us was seeing hockey doubleheader that we never thought we would see on US TV.

Someone forgot to tell Root Sports that the CHL and the NCAA was at war because we got to see the Portland Winterhawks/Everett Silvertips followed by Denver/Colorado. How sad that both sides can not see how much both have to offer hockey because those were 2 pretty good games offering 2 different styles.

Tonight's Star Shane McColgan

Size wise Shane McColgan (NYR 2011 fifth) is all of 5'9 but if the Kelowna Rockets have any hope of making any kind of noise in the WHL playoffs then McColgan is going to have to play big every night. Friday night against the Prince George Cougars, it was McColgan making the big play when he scored his 14th goal of the season at 10:08 of the third period.

The goal broke a 1-1 tie and prove to be the game-winning goal as Kelowna defeated Prince George 2-1. The win improved Kelowna's record to 23-23-2-4 an extended Kelowna's unbeaten streak to five straight games.

With exactly 20 games remaining in the regular season for the Rockets if they had any hope of improving at their playoff position (currently sixth in WHL's Western Conference) then they better make their move now. Making it out of the first round would be a lot easier if you're the fourth or fifth seed.

Honorable Mention Steven Fogarty

They say the records are meant to be broken then we give a stick tap to Steven Fogarty (NYR 2011 third) and to his Penticton Vees for their 29th straight win which tied a 22-year-old record in the BCHL.The Vees defeated the Chilliwack Chiefs 5-1 in front of approximately 3800 fans on Friday night and sure, for most of you 3800 does not seem like a lot. But when you played hockey in the smaller arenas in the smaller towns getting a crowd like that means a lot.

Fogarty scored his 24th goal of the season but this goal in our book broke the game open turning a 2-1 game into a 5-1 final that it was. Fogarty is committed to play at Notre Dame next season what we don't think you will be very long before he is wearing a Ranger uniform.

The rest of the Ranger report is right here and quite honestly it's not all that pretty.

Sorry Islander Fans

If you can go to this report on the play of Islander prospects and find somebody that was worthy of earning a start tonight then please show me. It's not New York Ranger bias but rather an honest accurate calling of the efforts of the Islander prospects on Friday night.

We don't kid ourselves and claim that the Islander prospects are not any good because we know better. It was a night where your best prospects were either not playing or did not have a good night.

(McColgan - Kelowna Rockets)

Quiet night short post

noreply@blogger.com (Prospect Park) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:21:00 +0000

Call it the lull before the storm, but only one prospect in action for either the New York Islanders or New York Rangers on Thursday night. Because of the CHL Top Prospects game last night in Kelowna just about all three leagues were very quiet.

Only Samuel Noreau (NYR 2011 fifth) and his Baie-Comeau Drakkar were in action as they lost their fourth straight game 4-2 to the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies. The Drakkar gave away a 2-0 first period lead in this game.

Noreau scoreless and a -1 for the evening.

Friday night our focus will be in the small city of Penticton in British Columbia as a New York Ranger prospect Steven Fogarty (2011 third) and his Penticton Vees will be attempting to tie a BCHL record for most consecutive wins at 29.

What an impressive season the Vees have had as they have not lost since losing in overtime on November 5th. Their last regulation loss came last October 19th

The Vees record for the season is 40-3-0-2 and 82 points, they are 23 points ahead of second-place Merritt, who were also the last team to beat them.

An update to Dylan McIlrath (NYR 2010 first) as his suspension does not end until after his Moose Jaw Warriors play on February 8. McIlrath will be able to return to play a week from Friday on the 10th.

Any thought of McIlrath, making the jump directly to the NHL and the Rangers next year has to be viewed as a long shot. McIlrath because of the two suspensions and the one injury as only played in 34 games this year.

Our thoughts of his potential have not changed as we do see him as a solid NHL defender but now he needs time to make up for losing as much playing time as he did this season.

(Penticton logo- Penticton Vees)

Addressing The Real Needs

noreply@blogger.com (Prospect Park) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 11:06:00 +0000

It never seems to fail; that the moment either the New York Rangers lose a game or somebody's name makes it to the rumor mill that Ranger fans start screaming for a move to be made.

It doesn't matter that the Rangers just so happened to be in first place of the Eastern conference. It doesn't matter that the that most of the players involved in trade rumors are not addressing what the team really needs.

All that matters is that like a spoiled child, it becomes; "I've got to have that player." The world's worst general managers are fans because they typically make the world's worst trade offers.

You want Brenden Morrow? If I am the Dallas GM then I want somebody back who's going to give my team a future and not somebody you want to get rid of because he is having a bad year or contract.

It never ceases to amaze me how fans will go on and on about how worthless somebody is and then turnaround and offer them up in a trade. Now forgive me for being sarcastic, but why in the world do I want your trash?

No, seriously I see the current whipping boy Brandon Dubinsky being called everything from a passenger to grossly overpaid and yet you expect Dallas (or any other team for that matter) to take him.

Now why would I do that? After all you just said he's worthless, overpriced and passenger.

Okay, let's play the game and go under the impression that the Rangers are Stanley Cup contenders. What area do you really think really needs improvement?

If you been paying attention to what John Tortorella's been saying lately then you know that there's any area where the Rangers would be looking. It would be on the blueline.

Michael Sauer has been shut down and that more than likely means you might as well forget about him coming back this season. If you doubt me take a look at Mark Staal and notice how much he's been struggling with his own game since his return.

Notice what John Tortorella has been saying about why Staal is struggling. Staal missed training camp and missed most of the first half; it would be a fair statement to say that Marc Staal has been a mere shell of the player Ranger fans grown accustomed to.

And now take a look at how the minutes were spread out among Ranger defensemen against the Sabres. By the time the third period got underway in: John Tortorella had already cut back to a rotation of five defensemen sitting down Stu Bickel.

Rangers basically went with four defensemen alternating Staal and Anton Stralman. Michael Del Zotto who many of you are still wanting to run out of town plays about 25 minutes a game.

And I'll be the first one to acknowledge that Del Zotto turns the defensive zone into an adventure. Yes, we know Steve Eminger will be coming back soon but do you really think he's a top four defenseman that you want on the ice in the last minute of the game?

John Tortorella is playing with fire, using Dan Girardi 30 minutes a night is one thing but we are talking about the guy who tries to block every shot. One shot in the wrong spot and he's gone out injured.

I have nothing against blocking shots, but even if it doesn't injure what it does do is lessen a player's effectiveness with all the wear and tear on his body.

If the Rangers lose Girardi or Ryan McDonagh to injury then they're in big trouble. In other words if there is any kind of move the Rangers need to make it needs to be a durable defenseman.

And now it's time to be realistic as here is your choices as if you really think the Rangers are legitimate Stanley Cup contenders are, how much are you willing to pay?

Are you willing to part with any of the young talent? Rule number one about a trade is that both teams wanna walk away thinking they have improved their team.

If you are wanting to win the Stanley Cup, then you are not looking to pick up a spare part, but rather you want somebody that put you over the top.

So are you willing to give up on Chris Kreider? How about JT Miller or Dylan McIlrath? First of all, Glen Sather does not work that way, as he will not give up on any of these three. Not to mention Gordie Clark might throw Sather off the Garden roof if Sather did anything like that.

He might be willing to give up on second rounders or third rounders, but not first. But here's something that I think people will be freaking that they're reading right here.

If you willing to move young talent than this would be the year for you to part with a first-round pick if you truly, honestly think this team is a Stanley Cup contender.

The price for a quality defenseman in the NHL around the trading deadline is going to be a first rounder or a top prospect. And since I'm making the suggestion, allow me to explain why.

Draft rules for the first-round say that a team appearing in the cup final will have the 29th or 30th pick. Should the Rangers eliminated in the conference finals then they would have the 27th or 28th pick.

After that, your draft slot determined by your season record right now. If the Rangers would end the season tomorrow and failed to make it out of the conference finals then the best they would pick would be 25th or 26th.

The 2012 NHL Draft is going to be overloaded with defensemen in the first round. It is a good deep draft that the Rangers can still find quality prospects in the 2nd round and on.

If you're getting a quality defenseman who you would have for at least two years; then pay the price and then use the first-round pick as part of your offer.

If you want a run at the Stanley Cup; then be real about it. If you're not then go with what you have and stop with the fantasy trades.

And if you say Rangers need more offense than remember the old saying "offense wins games but defense wins championships."

Game action

Only one game was the night involving a prospect of either the New York Rangers or New York Islanders. Brendan Kichton (NYI 2011, fifth) and Spokane Chiefs found out the hard way why the Kamloops Blazers have the best record in the WHL.

A game that was tied at one entering the third period; turned on one bad elbow. Spokane's Corbin Baldwin was given a five-minute major for checking to the head and the Kamloops Blazers took full advantage.

With the teams playing four on four the Blazers scored twice and then added a goal when they had the man advantage. Three goals in a matter of 3:16 was the difference as the Blazers ended the Chiefs 8 game unbeaten streak 4-1.

Kichton was scoreless and a -1 for the evening.

(New York Rangers logo – New York Rangers)

Kichton Cooking Up A Win

noreply@blogger.com (Prospect Park) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 08:45:00 +0000

Tuesday night was the night for the 2011 fifth-round picks of the New York Islanders to have the spotlight all to themselves. It's interesting to watch these two because of the contrast of seasons they've had.

John Perssons had a great first half but has struggled the last couple of months. Brendan Kichton had a so-so first half, but has been on fire the past month.

Both are key players for their respective teams and how far either team goes is going to depend on how well both players finished the season.

First, we start with Brendan Kichton who just so happens to be the current Islander prospect of the week. Always nice of the prospects to have a good night right after earning prospect of the week.

As we said yesterday; Kitchen is somebody who is quickly becoming a favorite with us because he makes plays, whether they're on offense or on defense. He's not the biggest dog on the blue line, but one does not become the leading scorer among defensemen in the WHL without having some serious talent.

Spokane is on a quick two-game road trip facing Seattle on Tuesday and then up I-5/ BC-5 northbound into Canada for a game Wednesday against the Kamloops Blazers the team with the best record in the WHL. It's not an easy trip as while it's only two games you're looking at close to 18 hours of bus riding.

It's a slow Tuesday, which allows us to give give you guys back east a sense of what these kids go through trying to make it to the NHL. If you see the map and you start from Spokane driving through I-80 to reach Seattle. It is not a joyride, even with ideal conditions but we are in the dead of winter with a Pacific storm hitting the Northwest.

We put up the entire road trip round trip to give you an idea of what these young men go through and if you want to play around with it. Go get a copy of the WHL teams and start making your own road trips one we recommend anywhere to Prince George and see how far trip that is just play two games.

View Larger Map

As it is Spokane has been on a roll but Seattle was a dangerous game because the Thunderbirds may be in seventh place but they are also a team was made the playoffs in several years and they are currently in a fight with four other teams for the last two spots in a WHL's Western Conference playoffs.

And of course there is the danger of overlooking a seventh-seeded team when the next night you know you're facing the team with the best record in the WHL. Spokane has been one of the hottest teams as of late and in large part due to the play of Kichton.

Tuesday was no different as Kichton earning a game's third star after a 1-1-2 led the Chiefs to a 5-3 win over the Seattle Thunderbirds. The win extended Seattle's unbeaten streak to seven games as well as pull to within six points of 3rd place, Portland (Spokane owns a game in hand).

Kichton's first point of the game was a secondary assist on a power-play goal in the first period giving Spokane a 1-0 lead at 9:28. This game went back and forth which two teams trading goals until third period.

In the third period, Kichton gave Spokane a 3-2 lead when he scored his 11th goal of the season at even strength at 12:07.January was very kind to Kichton as he wound up 5-14-19 (11-41-52) to lead Spokane to a 11-5 record in the month, which has Spokane back in the hunt for both the WHL's US division lead and the Western Conference championship.

John Persson and his Red Deer Rebels would be holding a playoff spot right now had they defeated the Brandon Wheat Kings last Saturday night. Going into that game, the Wheat Kings held a two-point lead over the Rebels and by winning stretched it to four points.

Red Deer has three games in hand on Brandon and they used one of those games in hand against the Medicine Hat Tigers on Tuesday night in a must win situation for the Rebels.

The Rebels scored two goals in each of the three periods to earn a 6-3 win over the Medicine Hat Tigers. The win pulls the Rebels back to within two points of 8th place Brandon.

Persson scored his 18th goal of the season an empty net goal at 18:53 to seal the win for the Rebels. It also extended Persson's scoring streak to six games (3-3-6) and if he starts scoring like he did last season; it will greatly help Red Deer's hopes of making the playoffs.

At 18-27-45, Persson is way off at least the goal scoring pace that he had last season when he went 33-28-61. The Rebels have 22 games remaining on their schedule and the way things are looking it's going to take at least 20 more points for them to make the playoffs.

(Kichton- Spokane Chiefs, Persson- Red Deer Rebels)

Is it Miller Time? Looks Like It

noreply@blogger.com (Prospect Park) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 09:49:00 +0000

There is a saying among those who blog about the New York Rangers as well as a growing number of fans that goes quite simply "In Gordie We Trust." It is our tribute to the Rangers director of player personnel Gordie Clark, who will leave us shaking our heads when names are called on draft day.

Ranger fans will be so sure that they know who the team will select then swear the Rangers made a mistake with who they picked.

And over time it is Clark who winds up being proven right; his picks are part of a plan where player A will compliment players B + C. That is why the pick of JT Miller has been getting better with each passing week.

For the week ending on January 29, 2012; JT Miller of the Plymouth Whalers is our New York Ranger prospect of the week. Miller in three games was 4-2-6 in helping his Plymouth Whalers win all three games that they played.

Last Thursday against the Barrie Colts, Miller set up the game's first goal as a Whalers earned a 4-1 road win over the Colts. On Saturday Miller was 2-1-3 with his second goal of the game being the overtime game-winning goal in a 6-5 win over the Sudbury Wolves.

Not even 24 hours later Miller followed up that performance with another two-goal game which earned him the game's first star on the road against the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. The Whalers won that game in the shootout 4-3 to cap off their week.

Miller in his last four games has gone 6-3-9 as the Whalers have won all four games. Miller on the season is now 19-30-49 which is good for second on the Whalers and puts him in 3rd place among Ranger prospects.

For the New York Islanders the player that we select for their prospect of the week did not have the big numbers that you expect for player of the week, but Brendan Kichton (2011, fifth) got our attention for the plays that he made not the points he scored.

Kichton has worked his way into being one of our favorites not because he leads the Western Hockey League in scoring by Defensemen (10-40-50), but by how his Spokane Chiefs have caught fire because of his play.

With a game left on Tuesday, the Chiefs have had a pretty good month of January. The Chiefs are 10-5 with Kichton going 4-13-17, with two of those goals being game winners.

And honestly, we don't mind when a prospect makes us eat our words as Kichton did yesterday. It might've been his best game of the year and we're glad to be wrong when it means his team won.

The Spokane Chiefs fell behind 3-0 after one period and there we were so sure that this game was over. We know better now as Spokane turned the game around in the second period with Kichton setting up the second goal.

But what stood out the most was how the Chiefs just dominated outshooting the Ice 18-4. In the third, the Chiefs tied the score to send the game to overtime and Kichton scored the game-winner at 3:10 of overtime for a 5-4 win.

Kichton's play at both ends of the ice was the difference maker and a reason why the Spokane Chiefs have climbed their way into fourth place of the WHL's Western Conference. They trail third-place Portland by eight points while holding two games in hand so we are not counting them out.

(Miller- Aaron Bell of OHL Images, Kichton- Spokane Chiefs)

Heating up (Updated Monday ! AM)

noreply@blogger.com (Prospect Park) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 04:54:00 +0000

As Marion Gaborik was walking away with the MVP award at the NHL All-Star game; future Rangers were putting on a show of their own. For those Ranger fans wondering about the Rangers needing to find more offense, it's coming and it's gonna be fun to watch.

JT Miller (NYR 2011, first) may have taken a while to respond to our call for more goals in the second half but six goals in his last four games is the next response.

Miller and his Plymouth Whalers were taking on the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds on Sunday looking to catch up to the London Knights for first place in the OHL's Western conference. Miller earned the game's first star with another two-goal performance to help the Whalers earn a 4-3 shootout win.

Miller, who had just one point in the months first seven games finished up the month with a six goal, three assists surge in the last four games of the month. Miller overall is 19-30-49 on the season with the Whalers.

On Sunday Miller scored the game's first goal his 18th to give Plymouth an early 1-0 just 50 seconds into the game. The Greyhounds scored two goals of their own to grab the lead but the Whalers answered with a goal two seconds before the period ended leaving the game tied 2-2 after one.

Neither team scored in the second, but Miller scored his second goal of the game to give the Whalers and 3-2 lead at 3:41 of the third. The Whalers couldn't hold the lead as a game wound up going first into overtime, then the shootout.

In the shootout, Miller missed on his attempt as Plymouth second shooter but it took six rounds before Plymouth got the win. With the win, the Whalers now have a four-game winning streak, just like Miller has a four-game scoring streak.

Christian Thomas (NYR 2010, second) and his Oshawa Generals hosted the Peterborough Petes with Andrew Yogan (NYR 2010, third) and Peter Ceresnak (NYR 2011, sixth) with both teams trying to secure a playoff spot in the OHL's Eastern Conference. Entering the game, the Petes held a three-point lead over the Generals.

Andrew Yogan drew first blood when he scored his 24th goal of the season just 1:37 into the game. The goal broke a four-game scoreless streak for Yogan.

It was Christian Thomas, who answered back when he scored his 21st goal of the season at 7:53 and the first to tie the game. For Thomas, the goal extended his scoring streak to five games (3-5-8) and was the first of three points that Thomas would score in this game.

In the second, Thomas set up the General's second goal while on the power play at 14:01. The Generals would actually score 5 unanswered goals in this game with Thomas earning a secondary assist on the Generals fourth goal, helping him earn his second star of the game.

UPDATE Our friend Neate Yager from Buzzing The Net wrote this about the play Thomas made on on his primary assist:

Honourable mention: Christian Thomas, Oshawa Generals (OHL)

The signed New York Rangers second-round pick had three points in the Gens' 5-2 win over rival Peterborough. Thomas wasn't named first star at General Motors Centre. It went to teammate Scott Laughton (two goals), but Thomas made one play that deserves to be honoured. On a rush down right wing late in the second period, Thomas flipped the puck over the head of retreating defender Trevor Murphy, darted by him to retrieve it and made a saucer pass to Laughton for the goal. This, from someone who had more goals than assists in each of the previous two seasons.

(This gives you the OK to kick anyone who offers up Thomas as tradebait at the trade deadline)

Yogan would add his 25th goal in a losing cause, while his teammate Ceresnak was scoreless. In the end, the final score was 5-2 in favor of Oshawa as they took sole possession of eighth place in the OHL's Eastern conference and pulled to within one point of 7th place Peterborough.

Thomas with his three points is now 21-25-46 and Yogan 25-20-45.

Our friend Neate Yager over at Buzzing The Net

Andrey Pedan (NYI 2011, third) had an assist for his 21st point of the year but his Guelph Storm lost to the Kitchener Rangers 5-3. The loss ended a three-game winning streak that helped elevate the Storm into sixth place in the OHL's Western Conference.

Mitchell Theoret (NYI 2011, seventh) was scoreless, but his Niagara IceDogs shut out the Brampton Battalion 3-0. The win allowed the IceDogs to retake the OHL's Central Division lead and pull to within four points of the OHL's Eastern Conference leader Ottawa.

Scott Stajcer (NYR 2009, fifth) was the backup, as his Owen Sound Attack lost 3-1 to the Ottawa 67's. Owen Sound was shorthanded only dressing 16 skaters in the loss.

Finally, in the WHL, Shane McColgan (NYR 2011 fifth) had an assist on his Kelowna Rockets second goal of the game as they held off the Seattle Thunderbirds for a 4-3 win.

McColgan is 13-36-49 on the season as the Rockets extended their unbeaten streak to four games (3-0-0-1).

(Miller- Aaron Bell of OHL images)

The Fire Inside

noreply@blogger.com (Prospect Park) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 09:54:00 +0000

While hockey fans were enjoying the performance of Carl Hagelin at the All-Star Skills Competition; New York Ranger and New York Islander prospects were in action working on their own dream of being at an NHL All-Star game.

Saturday night was a mixed bag of performances once again as consistency seems to be the biggest roadblock for many of the prospects struggled with.

Rangers First Star Steven Fogarty

We can understand why every time Rangers scouts watch Steven Fogarty (2011, 3rd) play that they wish he would change his mind about attending Notre Dame next year and go play in the WHL. It is hard to believe that this same young man was considered a long-term dream project when he was drafted.

Fogarty has shown great improvement as the season has gone on Saturday night was just another example of that improvement. Fogarty with a 1-2-3 effort helped his Penticton Vees to an 8-1 win over the Salmon Arm Silverbacks.

The win was the 28th consecutive win for the Vees putting the team one win away from tying the BCHL record for most consecutive wins. Fogarty, as he has the last three games has been an important part to each win.

The game's second star got his night going when he scored his 23rd goal of the season at 17:03 of the first period. The goal gave Penticton a 2-0 lead and proved to be the game-winning goal (Fogarty's sixth).

In the second period, Fogarty earned primary assists on Penticton's third and fifth goals of the game. Those assists were his 35th and 36th of the season as well as giving Fogarty, a three-game scoring streak (3-6-9) as the 6'3 center is now 23-36-59 on the season.

Ranger's Second Star Chris Kreider

We were afraid to jinx him and say that hopefully Chris Kreider (2009, 1st) is about to go on a roll. But the last two games against New Hampshire Kreider has been a force.

Kreider was named the game's third star after having a 1–1–2 performance to help seventh-ranked Boston College earn a weekend sweep of New Hampshire with a 4-3 over time win.

Kreider scored his 16th goal of the season (new career-high) at 16:08 of the first period, which gave Boston College a 2-1 lead at the time. In overtime, Kreider earned the secondary assist on the game-winning goal scored by Barry Almeida.

It was Kreider's 14th assist and raised his season totals to 16-14-30.

Rest of the Ranger Prospects

Michael St. Croix (2011, 4th) was held scoreless as his Edmonton Oil Kings were not able to dig themselves out of a 3-0 hole as they lost to the visiting Vancouver Giants 3-2. Huge credit goes to Vancouver defense, which kept Edmonton offense ineffective for the first two periods of the game.

Christian Thomas (2010, 2nd) scored his 20th goal of the season but it was not enough as his Oshawa Generals fell to the Brampton Battalion 3-2. Thomas scored his goal at 1:10 of the first period to give Oshawa their only lead of the game.

Brampton clamped down on the defense in the second and third periods as a rallied for the win. Thomas is now 20-23-43 on the season as his Generals fell back into ninth place in the OHL's Eastern conference.

Scott Stajcer (2009, 5th) may not be too happy with a couple of his teammates as goalies are one player who can have their stats affected by the actions of others. We bring this up because Stajcer was sailing along in a second period with a 1-0 shutout of the Guelph Storm.

Then the refs got involved and the game went downhill from there. First Owen Sound lost one forward when he was slapped with a misconduct for objecting to a holding the stick call that was weak at best. 18 seconds into the first penalty saw the Attack be called for a delay of game that we will not say a word other than the mention that thanks to the extended five on three that Guelph had led to them scoring two goals and that was the game.

We are old school believing that when you don't notice the on ice officials; then you know they did a good job. When you do then they didn't and no question we saw way too many suspect calls on both teams.

Any time penalties are the deciding factor in the outcome of the game then you have to wonder about the quality of those calling again. There were bad calls going both ways, and that doesn't mean it's fair it just means the game was not decided by the players on the ice.

Stajcer gave up three goals while facing 23 shots as he took the 3-2 loss. Stajcer saw his numbers dropped to -7-2-3 2.56 goals against and 0.923 save percentage.

Danny Hobbs (2007, 7th) was held scoreless as his UMass Minutemen dropped their second straight game to 11th-ranked UMass/Lowell 5- 2. The loss dropped the Minutemen to 9-10-5 on the season.

Samuel Noreau (2011, 5th) was held scoreless as his Baie-Comeau Drakkar lost to the Moncton Wildcats 2-1. The win allowed the Wildcats to pull within one point of the Drakkar for 10th place in the QMJHL standings.

Islanders First Star Brendan Kichton

Time to tell the truth as we glanced at the score of the Kootenay Ice/Spokane Chiefs game at the end of the first period, we actually said this game was over. Kootenay held a 3-0 lead over the Chiefs and given everything from having traveled overnight to playing the defending WHL Champions; we gave the Chiefs no chance at winning this game.

Excuse us as we wipe the egg off our face as Brendan Kichton's (2011, fifth) 10th goal of the year coming at 3:10 of overtime gave the Spokane Chiefs a 5-4 win. Kichton also added a primary assist on his evening to improve his numbers to 10-40-50, which leads all WHL Defenseman as well as all Islander prospects.

Second Star Brock Nelson

Brock Nelson (2010, first) was involved the beginning as well as the end to help his North Dakota hockey game earn a weekend sweep over Wisconsin. Nelson with a 1-1-2 performance helped North Dakota to a 4-2 win.

Nelson had the primary assist on North Dakota's first goal of the game which came at 19:05 of the first. It turned out to be a bigger play than first realized as Wisconsin tied the score just 10 seconds later.

In the third, Nelson put the game away with his 19th goal of the season coming at 630 of the period, giving North Dakota a two goal lead.

Rest of the Islander prospects

Anders Lee ( 2009 6th) had two assists while teammate Robbie Russo (2011 4th) was scoreless as fourth-ranked Notre Dame defeated the Alaska Nanooks 4-2. Lee had a secondary assist on Notre Dame's second goal, which tied the game at two.

Lee also showed us what kind of teammate he was when he passed up an empty net to give the puck to teammate Riley Sheahan; it was Sheahan who had done all the hard work to gain the puck. Lee is now 14-13-27 for the season.

John Persson (2011, 5th) had an assist as his Red Deer Rebels lost 3-2 to the Brandon Wheat Kings. Persson had a secondary assist on the Rebels second goal but this is a game that Red Deer really needed to have.

The classic four-point game this was as Red Deer had a chance to pass Brandon in the standings for eighth place in a WHL's Eastern conference. Instead Brandon winds up with a four-point lead over Red Deer. Persson is 17-27-44 on the season.

Andrey Pedan (2011, 3rd) was scoreless as is Guelph Storm defeated the Owen Sound Attack 3-2. The win allowed Guelph to move up to sixth place in tthe OHL's Western Conference.

Pedan added four more PIMS to his stat sheet, giving him 105 on the year.

Scott Mayfield (2011, 2nd) was scoreless as his 15th-ranked Denver Pioneers doubled up on Alaska Anchorage 6-3.

( Hagelin- THE Michigan Wolverines, Fogarty- Penticton Vees, Kreider- Dennis Pause (RIP my friend), Kichton-Spokane Chiefs)

Make Most Of Your Chances

noreply@blogger.com (Prospect Park) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 12:53:00 +0000

If you're looking for a theme to describe Friday night hockey for the New York Ranger and New York Islander prospects; then the best one might be every point counts. This is the time to the year were teams are jockeying for playoff position or in some cases fighting to make the playoffs.

There are many things that are a prospect can learn into practice such as how to improve their skating or getting stronger on defense. You can teach a prospect how to improve his diet as well as better ways to work out.

But there are some things that a prospect either already has it or he won't have and that is the ability to raise his game during crunch time. Coaches can't teach prospects how to put their team on their back and carry them to a win.

It's money time whether it's what round might find yourself drafted or with the team that drafted you sign you? This is the time of the year where an undrafted player can earn an invite to try out for a pro team.

It is also the time of the year where dreams of becoming a professional hockey player come to an end.

Ranger First Star JT Miller

Safe to say that Miller's January slump has come to an end after Miller had a two-goal one assist game against the Sudbury Wolves. Miller scored his 17th goal of the season at 4:02 of overtime to help his Plymouth Whalers earned a 6-5 win.

It seemed that every time the Whalers needed a big play it was Miller who was making it happen. From setting up a goal which tied the game to scoring a goal that gave Plymouth their first lead of the night and finally the goal that won the game.

Miller, Michael St. Croix, and Chris Kreider earned stars from us tonight as each played a role in helping his team win. You can be how they did along with the rest of the Ranger prospect report right here.

Islanders Star John Persson.

John Persson's (2011, 5th)17th goal of the season gave his Red Deer Rebels not only their first goal of the game but new life as as the undermanned Rebels rallied from down 2-0 to force a tie and then score the game-winning goal in overtime upsetting the Tri-City Americans 3-2

It was interesting to watch how Red Deer was able to come back in this game and win. First Persson forced his way into the slot area to score his goal which gave his team new life.

Then it was Red Deer goalie Deven Dubyk making several key saves and finally defensemen Matt Dumba scoring the tying goal to force overtime. Then in the overtime it was Dumba scoring the game-winner.

Persson in the third period was totally different from the the player we have watched in the first two periods. It was great to see him step up his game after Red Deer saw their captain be forced to leave the game after the shot off an ankle.

This win was big for the ninth place Rebels as they were able to pull within two points of 8th place Brandon who lost as the Rebels hold three games in hand. Person was a standout performance for the Islanders and while a couple players played well they did not earn stars but you can catch the rest of the Islander report right here

(Miller- Aaron Bell of OHL Images, Persson- Red deer Rebels

Where Every Game Counts

noreply@blogger.com (Prospect Park) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 08:13:00 +0000

While Thursday night prospect hockey did not have the down to the last second excitement of Wednesday night; the games that were played on Thursday involving New York Ranger and New York Islander prospects were about making every single point count.

The WHL and most of the QMJHL were off on Thursday, but for the teams that were playing in the OHL and QMJHL each game mattered. In the OHL there are 20 teams in the league and of those 20 teams, 18 are very much in the hunt for a playoff spot.

Go on a two-game winning or losing streak. and you could find yourself going from having home ice advantage to not having a playoff spot. It may be the end of January, but there's a lot of people doing a lot of scoreboard watching.

We start in Niagara where the IceDogs are fighting for both the Central division title and the OHL's Eastern conference first seed. They are having to do that without New York Islander prospect Ryan Strome (2011, 1st) who's out with facial injuries as well as their defenseman Dougie Hamilton who is serving a 10 game suspension.

That's leaving the IceDogs having to count on Mitchell Theoret (NYI 2011, 7th) to step up his game in the absence of those missing. Theoret is strictly a role player who, while he tries to best he is not going make up what is missing.

The IceDogs were hosting the Belleville Bulls, who came into tonight's game on a five-game losing streak. Make it a six-game losing streak as Niagara with three goals in the first, and then three more in the third shutout the Bulls 6-0.

Theoret scored his 10th goal of the season at 1:38 of the third period, giving the IceDogs a 4-0 lead as they broke the game open. It is a new career-high in goals for Theoret as well as ending a seven-game pointless streak.

The win allowed the IceDogs to take over the lead in the OHL's Central division from the idle Brampton Battalion. Both teams have 61 points on the season but Niagara has 29 wins to Brampton's 26.

The win also pulls Niagara to within two points of Eastern conference leader Ottawa, who also had the night off.

JT Miller (NYR 2011, 1st) and his Plymouth Whalers have held a pretty healthy lead over the rest of the teams in the OHL's West division but they have been chasing OHL Western Conference leader the London Knights.

The Knights having lost on Wednesday gave the Whalers a chance on Thursday to pull within four points of first-place if they could beat the Barrie Colts. Miller set up Plymouth's first goal of the game at 5:56 of the first period as the Whalers led from wire to wire for a 4-1 win.

It was Miller's 29th assist and 44th point of the season as the Whalers won their second straight game

Peter Ceresnak (NYR 2011, 6th) broke a 12 game scoreless streak with a secondary assist on what turned out to be the game-winning goal as his Peterborough Petes had little trouble defeating the Kingston Frontenacs 5-1. It was Ceresnak first point since scoring a goal against Ottawa on December 3rd.

For Ceresnak it was his seventh assist on season bringing his overall point total to 4-7-11. Teammate Andrew Yogan (NYR 2010, 3rd) was scoreless for the third straight game, as well as a -1.

In the QMJHL, Samuel Noreau (NYR 2011, 5th) remains out an undisclosed upper body injury as his Baie-Comeau saw their four-game win streak end after a 3-1 loss to the Halifax Mooseheads. Noreau has now missed four straight games with no timetable for return.

The Drakkar are currently 10th overall in the QMJHL where 16 out of the 17 teams in the league make the playoffs.

(All images from Aaron Bell and Terry Wilson of OHL Images)

The Best Medicine

noreply@blogger.com (Prospect Park) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 10:30:00 +0000

One of the things I kept hearing from people was that I picked the wrong week to have my surgery. Tuesday was the only New York Ranger game on the schedule for this week because of the All-Star game and that I would have to wait until next Tuesday to see a Ranger game.

What people do not realize is that for myself these days the most entertaining hockey, the most exciting hockey that I get to see is played at the CHL and NCAA levels. It's more than just a game but rather the atmosphere as well as the entertainment that you get during breaks in the action.

Hockey is supposed to be fun and too often the NHL has forgotten that part of the game. Wednesday going coast-to-coast was actually some pretty good hockey involving teams who should be contending for their various championships. Living out west means I can start watching hockey from 3:30 PDT until 10 PDT.

The theme Wednesday evening was "you got your money's worth" as there was some really entertaining and exciting games played. Our star for the evening was Steven Fogarty (NYR 2011, 3rd) of the Penticton Vees as his team was looking for their 26th straight win.

The Vees thanks to 6 goals in the third period blew out the Merritt Centennial's 9-0 to earn win number 26. Fogarty earned the game's 2nd star behind his 1-3-4 performance in the win.

What we liked about Fogarty tonight was that he did a little of everything to help the team win.It took Fogarty all of 17 seconds to score his 21st goal and what wound up being the game winning goal when he scored to give Penticton a 1-0 lead. Still in the first period, Fogarty picked up his 2nd point of the evening when he set up Ryan Reilly for a power-play goal at 14:09 giving Penticton a 2-0 lead after one period.

In the 2nd period, Fogarty earned his 3rd point when he was credited with a secondary assist on Joey Benik's goal just 21 seconds into the period at and a 3-0 lead. Then in the 3rd period, Fogarty scored his 22nd goal with this one being unassisted at 11:01 for a 5-0 Penticton lead.

The 2 goals was Fogarty's 21st and 22nd of the season and the 2 assists Fogarty had raised his season total to 32 which gives Fogarty and overall record of 22–32–54. That puts Fogarty in second place among Ranger prospect scoring the season.

In Shawinigan Kirill Kabanov (NYI 2010, 3rd) was named the game's 3rd star after a 2 assist performance led to an easy 6-0 win over the Victoriaville Tigres. The win gave Kabanov's Cataractes sole possession of the top spot in the QMJHL overall standings.

Kabanov said that the game's first and fifth Shawinigan goals on the evening to improve his numbers for the season to 16-21-37 +19 in 32 games. Shawinigan is hosting the 2012 Memorial Cup and it looks like the intent not going as the host but as the QMJHL champions.

In the WHL, we had to see plenty of good action will start with John Persson (NYI 2011, 5th) and his Red Deer Rebels were hosting the Vancouver Giants. It was important game for the Rebels as they looked to try to get back in the hunt for a playoff spot in the WHL's Eastern Conference. As they entered the game against the Giants they were in 9th place 6 points behind 8th place Brandon.

Persson scored his 16th goal of the season as he got his Rebels going when he scored at 12:18 of the first period on the power play to tie the game at1-1. For Persson it was just his 3rd goal in his last 10 games but it also gave them a 3 game scoring streak.

The win also helped Persson regain 2nd place in the New York Islander prospect scoring race with a 16–26–42. Hopefully this breaks Persson out of the slump he has been in for the last couple of months.

Speaking of the leading scorer among Islander prospects, Brendan Kichton (NYI 2011, 5th) not only leads the New York Islander prospects but also all WHL defensemen in scoring as his Spokane Chiefs traveled to play the Everett Silvertips.

Spokane has been chasing the Vancouver Giants for the fourth seed in the WHL's Western Conference standings. And when you making a run you look to your veteran players to leading the charge and that is exactly what Kichton has been doing in the January.

Kitchen had one assist against Everett as the Chiefs won their fourth straight game 4-2 over the Silvertips. The win has the Chiefs now just one point behind the Giants lost to Red Deer.

Kichton is now 3-12-15 +16 for the month of January and is helping the Chiefs earn consideration as a serious contender for the WHL's Western conference championship.

When the CHL released its weekly rankings of the top 10 teams in all 3 CHL leagues, the Tri-City Americans were 3rd in the poll and the team they were facing Wednesday evening the Edmonton Oil Kings were at number 6 (their highest ranking in franchise history).

It was a game that we were very much looking forward to because you had in Edmonton the team that was leading the WHL's Eastern conference while Tri-Cities has been going toe to toe with the Kamloops Blazers for the top spot in the WHL's Western Conference.

We see a lot of games over the course of the season but what we saw Wednesday night as far as what we see was the most entertaining game of the season so far. We are glad that the game did not in the shootout because this is a game that if he didn't have a clear winner deserve to be a tie.

Tri-City thanks to an outstanding play by Brendan Shinnimin scored the game-winning goal in overtime to give Tri-City a 5-4 overtime win. Shinnimin made beautiful deke that. Michael St. Croix (NYR 2011, 4th) as well as everybody else on the ice fell for to create the space to score.

But this game was truly one that the fans their monies worth for sure. Edmonton drew first blood and Tri-City responded with 2 goals to.
,
Edmonton answered with 2 goals of their own to retake the lead; then in the 3rd it was Tri-City answering back with 2 goals to take the lead again. But Edmonton responded with a goal that tied the game and he eventually led to overtime.

You had goalies making unbelievable saves way it looked like they will beaten; you had players were hitting or making plays as both teams play their hardest to win this game.

Michael St. Croix may not have scored and and yes he was beaten on the final play but he played a great game of his own between passing and offensive chances that he has no reason to blame himself for the loss.

And if you were a Ranger fan during the time when Ulfie Samuelsson was Ranger then you will love his son Henrik who plays for Edmonton. He is not as big as his father is but he made the right choice coming back to North America

Henrik already has been suspended for a game and in 6 games is 2-5-7. He needs a new nickname as there is only 1 King Henrik in North America.

As soon as we finished with the Edmonton game, we jump right in to the game between 2nd-ranked Kamloops Blazers and Shane McColgan's (NYR 2011, 5th) Kelowna Rockets. Kamloops came into this game was a 9 game winning streak that led to them to the top of the WHL standings.

Meanwhile Kelowna has been trying to get on a roll themselves, currently they are holding the 6th seed in the WHL's Western Conference which if the WHL playoffs were to start tomorrow we put them against the Portland Winterhawks. Not a favorable matchup but the Rockets are 11 points behind 5th place Spokane who also has 3 games in hand.

What we do like though is that Kelowna is trying to improve their fate and Shane McColgan is doing as we hoped which is score goals. McColgan was a game second star thanks to a 1-1-2 performance which helped his Rockets earn a 3-2 win in the shootout to stop Kamloops 9 game winning streak while Rockets have back to back wins.

McColgan scored his 13th goal in the 2nd period which tied the game at 1-1 and in the 3rd period fired a shot on net in which the rebound was pounced on and put and by his linemate Brett Bulmer which tied the game once again and forced first overtime then the shootout.

It was a huge win for the Rockets who were expected to have had a much better season then they have had. For McColgan he improves to 13-35-48 which puts him in third place among Ranger prospects.

(Fogarty – Penticton Vees. Kabanov- Shawinigan Cataractes, Kichton- Spokane Chiefs, Samuelsson- Edmonton Oil Kings)

Michael St. Croix CHL Player Of The Week

noreply@blogger.com (Prospect Park) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 08:53:00 +0000

For the second time this season a New York Ranger prospect was selected as the CHL player the week. Michael St. Croix of the Edmonton Oil Kings (2011, 4th) earned the honors for the week ending January 22, 2011.

It has been a long time since the New York Rangers have had two different prospects being named as a national player the week.

Here is a press release from our friends at the CHL:

Toronto, ON – The Canadian Hockey League today announced that forward Michael St. Croix of the Edmonton Oil Kings is the CHL Player of the Week for the week ending January 22 after picking up 10 points in three games scoring six goals and four assists with a plus-minus rating of plus-7.

St. Croix led the first place Oil Kings to three straight wins last week giving them 69 points to lead the WHL’s Eastern Conference Standings. Last Wednesday night he scored his first of two hat-tricks during the week as first star of a 5-0 win over the Prince George Cougars. St. Croix then picked up a pair of assists in a 6-1 road victory over the Swift Current Broncos on Friday night before matching a season-high with five points as first star of a 9-2 win over the Prince Albert Raiders on Saturday where he scored three goals and two assists.

St. Croix, an 18-year-old from Winnipeg, MB, is currently playing in his third full WHL season with the Oil Kings. A fourth round pick of the New York Rangers in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, St. Croix is currently ranked third in WHL scoring with 31 goals and 46 assists for 77 points in 48 games played.

theThis been quite a year for the young man we have given the nickname "The Predator" to; Michael has earned 2 "WHL Players Of The Week" starting with the one for the week ending December 4, 2011 and including the one for this week.

St. Croix was also the "WHL Player Of The Month" for the month of December. The first award that St. Croix won back in December was also the week when Christian Thomas (NYR 2010, 2nd) was named "CHL Player Of The Week.

Game Action

Samuel Noreau (NYR 2011, 5th) missed his third game in what is being called and upper body injury with no timetable for his return. The Baie-Comeau Drakkar were able to win their second straight by defeating the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles 4-3 in a shootout

(St. Croix – Andy Devlin/Edmonton Oil Kings)

St. Croix Earns 2nd WHL Player Of The Week (updated Monday evening)

noreply@blogger.com (Prospect Park) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 18:53:00 +0000

EDMONTON OIL KINGS’ MICHAEL ST. CROIX NAMED WHL PLAYER OF THE WEEK

CALGARY, AB.- The Western Hockey League announced today that Edmonton Oil Kings’ Michael St. Croix is the WHL Player of the Week. St. Croix collected 10 points, scoring six goals and four assists to go with a +7 rating, in three games over the past week helping the Oil Kings to a 3-0-0-0 record.

On Wednesday, January 18, the Oil Kings welcomed the Prince George Cougars to Rexall Place in Edmonton. St. Croix picked up the hat-trick, finding the net three times and was named the games 1 Star as the Oil Kings’ shut-out the Cougars’ 5-0. On Friday, January 20, St. Croix collected a pair of assists in a 6-1 road victory over the Swift Current Broncos.

On Saturday, January 21, the Oil Kings were in Prince Albert to face the Raiders. St. Croix nabbed his third hat-trick of the season, scoring three goals, adding two assists and was also named games 1 Star in the Oil Kings’ 9-2 win over the Raiders.

St. Croix currently ranks 3rd among all WHL scorers with 77 points (31 goals, 46 assists) in 48 games played thus far this season. The Oil Kings are 7-2-0-1 in their past 10 games and currently sit first in the WHL Eastern Conference with a 32-11-1-4 record for 69 points.

St. Croix is in his third full season with the Edmonton Oil Kings. The Oil Kings made St. Croix the 4th overall selection in the 2008 WHL Draft and the New York Rangers recently selected the forward in the 4th round of the 2011 NHL Draft.

The WHL has also nominated Laurent Brossoit of the Edmonton Oil Kings for the CHL Goaltender of the Week Award. Brossoit posted a 2-0-0-0 record with one shut-out this past week, stopping 52 of 54 shots faced for a 0.963 save-percentage and 1.00 goals-against average. Brossoit an 18-year-old from Surrey, BC, led the Oil Kings to victories over the Prince George Cougars (5-0) and Prince Albert Raiders (9-2).

Rangers sign McNaught to AHL Contract

The New York Rangers announced that they had signed Randy McNaught (2010, 7th) to a AHL contract. McNaught who attended the Traverse City tournament, but then chose not to sign with the Rangers at that time in order to attend the University of Calgary.

McNaught played 12 games for the University of Calgary and was scoreless with 24 PIMs. McNaught is a 6'4 221 pound forward played last season for the Vancouver Giants in the WHL.

It is a unusual move for both player and team to make as usually during the season , it is the player who leaves the pro-team to attend college. What kind of prospect McNaught will be is gonna be interesting because he missed all but eight games last season due to a broken ankle and with the dinos did not show anything.

The one thing he does do very well is fight as he had some pretty good scraps with Dylan McIlrath last couple years. It's really hard to consider him as an NHL prospect at this time but he is worth the investment.

He's impossible to move from the crease area and if he can improve his eye hand coordination, you might have somebody.

Third Time The Charm?

Tomorrow morning I get to undergo my third operation on my neck, to say that this is getting frustrating would be an understatement.

Why my neck gives me problems could be true due to any number of reasons. What it has done is open my eyes to realizing that we can't keep ignoring shots to the head and neck area.

There is nothing more scary than waking up one day and discovering a part of your body is not working. Forget the pain part and try to imagine not even being able to type your own name like a normal person would.

Basically right now, something as simple as tying your shoelaces becomes an impossible task. Getting yourself a bowl of ice cream becomes an adventure.

I thank my friends for standing up for me and helping me keep this blog going. The current plan is for me to stay overnight in the hospital and go home on Wednesday.

But if you want prospect fix in, then start with the good people over at buzzing the net who cover the Canadian juniors and basically any of the blogs in the blogging the prospects section.

(St Croix - Edmonton Oil Kings, McNaught- New York Rangers )

Sin Bin Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (Prospect Park) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 04:46:00 +0000

What a strange day Sunday turned out to be for the prospects of both the New York Rangers and New York Islanders. There were more fights (2) then there were combined goals and assists (1) from the eight prospects who played on Sunday.

Christian Thomas (NYR 2010, 2nd) was the player who recorded the assist as Thomas and his Oshawa Generals shut out the Barrie Colts 3-0. Thomas and his teammates playing their 3rd game in 3 days made it back to back wins after the embarrassing loss they suffered to Ottawa on Friday.

This game was a defensive battle for the first two periods as neither team was able to find a way to score. In the 3rd, it was Thomas and his linemates Andy Andreoff and Scott Laughton who were responsible for all 3 goals scored by Oshawa in the period.

Thomas got things going when he set up Andreoff for the game's 1st score at 4:03 and while it turned out to be the only goal Oshawa would need; the linemates added 2 more goals for the Oshawa win. For Thomas, it was his 22nd assist of the season and his 41st point of the season (19-22-41).

The win moved the Generals into 8th place past the Belleville Bulls lost on Saturday.

In Penticton, Stephen Fogarty (NYR 2011, 3rd) and his Penticton Vees made it 25 straight wins with a 3-1 win over the Prince George Spruce Kings. Fogarty did not score but was named the "Hardest Working Vees" for the game.

For us that is as good as earning 1 of the 3 game stars. We would like to also congratulate Penticton coach Fred Harbinson for wining his 200th game as a BCHL coach.

In Niagara, Mitchell Theoret (NYI 2011, 7th) and the IceDogs just trashed the Peterborough Petes with Andrew Yogan (NYR 2000, 3rd) and Peter Ceresnak (NYR 2011, 6th) 9-0. None of the three prospects in this game scored but Theoret did get into his third fight the season.

Theoret besides the fight was scoreless and a +1 for the game. Yogan was even and took an interference minor that led to a Niagara power play goal while his teammate Ceresnak was a -1 with no penalties.

Andrey Pedan (NYI 2011, 3rd) and his Guelph Storm hosted the Sarnia Sting on Sunday. The Storm earned a 3-1 win which moved them into 8th place in the OHL's Western Conference.

As for Pedan, he did not score but picked up his 1st fighting major of the season along with 2 more minors to his PIM to 91 (43 minors and 1 major).

John Persson (NYI 2011, 5th) was scoreless and a -1 as his Red Deer Rebels lost to the Calgary Hitmen 4-2. The Rebels are currently in 9th place in the WHL's Eastern Conference, 4 points away from a playoff spot.

The way the Rebels have been playing it is very unlikely they will turn things around in time to make a run for the playoffs.

Brendan Kichton (NYI 2011, 5th) and his Spokane Chiefs made it 3 wins in 3 nights as they defeated the Portland Winterhawks 6-1. Kichton was scoreless and even for the game.

The one thing that we have taken away from the last 3 games is that the Chiefs are just as much a contender in the WHL's Western Conference as Portland and Tri-City are.

In Baie-Comeau, Samuel Noreau (NYR 2011 5th) missed his third game with an undisclosed injury.

The Predator Strikes Again

noreply@blogger.com (Prospect Park) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 13:29:00 +0000

Saturday night was a much better night for the prospects of the New York Rangers and New York Islanders then Friday was. We saw better efforts out of several prospects even if they didn't show up on the score sheet.

Ranger's First Star Michael St. Croix

Can we just simply give this prospect his contract already? Michael St Croix (NYR 2011, 4th) goes from having a four-game scoreless slump to a favorite to win WHL player of the week again.

For the second time this season Michael St. Croix registered a five point night and for the second time this week a hat trick. St. Croix earned the game's first star thanks to a 3–2-5 night in leading his Edmonton Oil Kings to a 9-2 whipping of the Prince Albert Raiders.

It's the kind of repeat story that we never get tired of telling because we've waited so long to be able to tell this kind of story. We can say that because we've waited eight years to see nights like this.

The details as well as the rest of the day for Ranger prospects can be found right here.

Islanders First Star Brock Nelson

It has been a while since we've seen Brock Nelson (NYI 2010, 1st) here as he has been rather quiet as of late but that was not the case Saturday night. Nelson's 17th goal of the season turned out to be the game-winner as his North Dakota (team with no nickname) defeated St. Cloud State 3-2.

The goal which came at 2:50 of the 3rd period 4th game-winning goal of the season for Nelson. Nelson also had a secondary assist on North Dakota's 1st goal of the game as a game's 2nd star improves to 17-10-27.

Nelson was not the only Islander prospect to have a good evening as you can check out the rest of the Islander prospects right here.

( St. Croix- Edmonton Oil Kings, Nelson- NHL media)

The Gremlins ate my homework

noreply@blogger.com (Prospect Park) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 10:39:00 +0000

For those of you who were kind enough to check the blog out this morning; sorry but Comcast says they are experiencing a "major" breakdown which has knocked out service of all types.

Truth be told Comcast does not want Ranger fans to know that Micheal St. Croix had his 2nd 5 point night of the year.

They do not wasn't you to find out that JT Miller had a 2 goal night or that Christian Thomas was our 3rd star with a 1-1-2 evening.

Those Flyer pukes don't want Islander fans to know that Brock Nelson helped North Dakota win.

They don't want you to know that Brendan Kichton had another strong game either.

All kidding aside we hope you will come back later and get the details.

A Night For Bad News

noreply@blogger.com (Prospect Park) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 12:13:00 +0000

Friday night was more about bad news than it was about outstanding performances for both New York Ranger and New York Islanders prospects. The first bit of bad news was announced before anybody even stepped on the ice as each team had bad news about first-round pick.

The New York Rangers saw their 2010 first-round pick Dylan McIlrath be suspended for eight games as a result of the hit McIlrath delivered during a game against the Victoria Royals on January 18th. If you missed it here is the link to our report from earlier this evening which has a video clip of what McIlrath did.

McIlrath will be eligible to return to play on Friday, February 10th when Moose Jaw Warriors play the Calgary Hitmen.

The New York Islanders found out that there 2011 first round pick Ryan Strome be out at least two weeks possibly three after undergoing surgery for a broken nose and other facial fractures. Strome was a victim of a sucker punch during a game last week and his loss is a huge one for the Niagara IceDogs who also are going to be missing Jeff Beukeboom's son Brock whose out with concussion like symptoms.

Ranger Star Danny Hobbs

It's been a rough senior year for Danny Hobbs as the Rangers 2007 7th round pick has been fighting some nagging ankle injuries that caused to miss a few games but he was healthy on Friday night. His UMass Minutemen were glad to see him back healthy as Hobbs registered his first career hat trick in helping UMass beat Vermont 4-3.

Hobbs opened the scoring with his 7th goal of the season at 8:39 of the first period giving UMass a 1-0 lead and was the only scoring in the period. In the 2nd, Vermont scored twice to take the lead after two periods 2-1.

In the third period, Hobbs tied the score just 59 seconds in with his 8th goal of the season. With UMass on the power play, Hobbs broke the tie with his 3rd goal of the night at 10:23.

UMass as we said went on to win the game 4-3 as Hobbs earned the game's 1st star for his efforts. For Hobbs the three goals also extended a scoring streak that now is up to 6 games (5-4-9) and overall Hobbs is 9-9-18 on the season.

We have the rest of the Ranger prospect report right here.

Islander's Star Brendan Kichton

Sometimes there comes along a player who the first time you watch him, you don't think much of his abilities or his potential. That is why you never want to make a judgment call on a prospect good or bad until you have seen him play in different situations.

That basically is how Brendan Kichton (NYI 2011, 5th) has won us over as the Spokane Chiefs defender has shown us there is more to him than meets the eye. Kichton and his Chiefs were in Kennewick Washington to take on their arch rivals, the Tri-City Americans.

Last Saturday night in Spokane, Kichton and his Chiefs defeated the Americans with Kichton playing a huge role in that win. The rematch Friday night was just as good a game as the last time they met.

Kichton who leads all WHL defensemen scoring also happens to be pretty good defensive player himself. His play on the penalty kill was a big reason why Tri-City could not score on any of the five power plays they had.

But when Spokane was given their 6th power-play of the game it was Kichton who cashed it in. Kichton took a pass right at the blue line and one-timed it towards the Tri-City goal.

The puck deflected off one American and then a second as it somehow found its way into the back of the goal. It was Kichton's 8th goal of the season and 44th on the season (8-36-44)

The goal at 10:56 gave Spokane a 2-1 lead and proved to be the game-winning goal as Spokane added another "pinball like" goal while shorthanded to make it a 3-1 game.

Kichton was named the third star as the Chiefs were able to keep pace with the Vancouver Giants in the battle for the fourth seed in the WHL's Western Conference. As for how the other Islander prospects did as well as an updated injury report can be found right here.

(Hobbs – UMass athletics, Kichton – Spokane Chiefs)