The Prospect Park

Scoring on a Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (Jess Rubenstein) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 02:53:00 +0000

After almost no scoring on Saturday, the 6 New York Prospects put up some points but their teams went 3-3 on the Sunday. The 2009-2010 season has been an interesting one to say the least.

Sunday's Star Ryan Bourque

The Ranger's 3rd round pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft has been on a scoring binge since October 4th putting up 5-9-14 in 13 games prior to Sunday's game between his Quebec Remparts and the Montreal Juniors.

Against the Juniors, Bourque was basically the Rempart's offense putting up a goal and an assist as the Remparts dropped a 5-2 decision to the Juniors. It was Bourque's 8th goal of the season at 8:53 of the 3rd period which allowed the Remparts to pull within 3-2 before the Juniors scored 2 empty net goals late in the period to seal the win.

Bourque's assist was a secondary one also in the 3rd period which was the Rempart's first goal of the game on the power play at 1:01 to make the score 3-1. That was Bourque's 11th assist of the season and he is now 8-11-19 with points in 10 of his last 12 games.

Chris Doyle (2008 5th) had 2 third period assists to help his Prince Edward Island Rocket finish off the Acadie-Bathurst Titan 5-2. For Doyle it was his 9th and 10th assists and they came on the Rocket's 4th and 5th goals.

Doyle has quietly brought his numbers up to 8-10-18 for the season despite missing 4 games.

Ethan Werek (2009 2nd) is another player who quietly has been bringing his numbers up as he scored his 10th goal of the season for his Kingston Frontenacs as they lost 6-5 to the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors. Werek is now 10-7-17 for the season in 17 games.

Danny Hobbs (2007 7th) had an assist in his new role as the starting left wing as his UMass Minutemen defeated the Niagara Purple Eagles 4-2 to sweep the 2 game series between the 2 teams. With UMass leading 3-2 and timing winding down in the 3rd period, Hobbs was trailing in on a 2 on 1 when he picked up a rebound and fired it on goal which teammate James Marcou picked up on that rebound and scored for the insurance goal that put the game away.

Earlier this season when we asked Hobb's coach Don Cahoon about what Danny needed to do in order to improve he said "Hobbs needed to play with more confidence" and judging from this weekend he is trying.

Hobbs is now 1-1-2 on the season in 7 games which equals what he did as a freshman.

Roman Horak (2009 5th) and his Chilliwack Bruins returned home to face the Seattle Thunderbird but forgot their game on the road as the T-Birds had little trouble winning 4-1. Horak was held scoreless in this one.

Finally Craig Cunningham (Traverse City) had 2 assists as his Vancouver Giants broke a 2 game losing streak with a 4-2 win over the Edmonton Oil Kings. Cunningham's assists were his 17th and 18th of the season to give him 30 points (still 7th in the WHL scoring race).

(Bourque courtesy of Katherine Ep)

It's a Saturday Night Without Any Stars

noreply@blogger.com (Jess Rubenstein) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 03:46:00 +0000

There has to be something about Saturday Nights that casts some kind of spell on the New York Ranger prospects as nobody stood out. Not one Ranger prospect earned a single star for their play which might have been a first this season.

Ryan McDonagh (Trade 2009) scored his first goal of the season but by the time he did the outcome of the game had long been decided. McDonagh's Wisconsin Badgers dropped a 5-2 decision to the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

The Badgers gave up 3 goals over the first 2 periods and were trailing 4-1 before McDonagh scored at 12:14 of the 3rd period. It made the score 4-2 but it was too little too late for the Badgers.

McDonagh's teammate Derek Stepan (2008 2nd) had a night to forget as the sophomore center was a -3 with 4 shots. With the loss the Badgers fell to 4-3-1 on the season.

Roman Horak (2009 5th) had the only other goal scored by a Ranger's prospect on Saturday night as his 6th goal was the first goal for the Chilliwack Bruins who went on to a 5-4 overtime win over the Edmonton Oil Kings.

Horak's goal was a power play; his second power play goal of the season. Horak is now 6-11-17 for the season.

Scott Stajcer (2009 5th) stopped 40 of 43 shots as his Owen Sound Attack rallied from down 2-0 for a 4-3 win over the Guelph Storm. Stajcer improved to 7-9-1-1 3.71 0.903 in 19 games this season.

Mitch Gaulton (2008 6th) did not score but was a +2 as his Erie Otter made it a weekend sweep of the Niagara Ice Dogs with a 6-2 win. It was an emotionally charged weekend for the Otters after the events of the last 2 weeks and they have held up well.

Sam Klassen (2009 UFA) had an assist as his Saskatoon Blades rebounded from the end of their losing streak with a 4-3 shootout win over the Prince Albert Raiders. For Klassen it was his 9th assist of the season (3-9-12).

Chris Kreider (2009 1st) returned to the Boston College Eagle lineup after missing one game due to injury as the Eagles defeated the Northeastern Huskies 5-1. Kreider was scoreless but took 2 shots and was a +1 for the game.

Daniel Maggio (2009 6th) did not score and was a +1 as his Sudbury Wolves shut out the Peterborough Petes 2-0. Maggio's offense has quieted down after an early start with just 1 assist in his last 5 games.

Chris Doyle (2008 5th) had a rough night as he was a -2 along with 1-5 on faceoffs as his Prince Edward Island Rocket were beaten by the Halifax Mooseheads 4-1 in QMJHL action.

Ryan Bourque (2009 3rd) saw his 5 game scoring streak come to an end as his Quebec Remparts lost in the shootout 6-5 to the Gatineau Olympiques. Bourque was a -2 and held to just 1 shot in regulation as well as missing his shootout attempt.

Bourque put up 1-8-9 during his streak to raise his season totals to 7-10-17.

Tomas Kundratek (2008 3rd) and his "Up and Down" Medicine Hat Tigers were "Down" on Saturday as they were beaten by the Brandon Wheat Kings 5-1. It was a rough night for Kundratek as he was a -3 on the evening.

Carl Hagelin (2007 6th) and his 4th ranked Michigan Wolverines also had a lost weekend as they dropped Saturday's game with top ranked Miami of Ohio 5-1. Hagelin saw his 3 game scoring streak come to an end but for his Wolverines the loss meant they were swept by a team at home for the first time since October 26-27th of 2001.

Max Campbell (2007 5th) did not score but his Western Michigan Broncos improved their record to 5-2-1 after a 2-1 win over Lake Superior State.

Luke Walker (Traverse City) broke out of his mini scoring slump with 2 assists as his Portland Winterhawks had to go to the shootout before defeating their rivals the Seattle Thunderbirds 6-5.

For Walker it was his first points in 3 games as he recorded assists 10 and 11 on the season to raise his stats to 11-11-22.

Craig Cunningham (Traverse City) and his Vancouver Giants lost their 2nd straight game 2-1 to the Spokane Chiefs. Cunningham was held scoreless in this matchup.

We end this with some happy news as we got this from the good folks at the Kitchener Rangers

The Kitchener Rangers Hockey Club has been informed that Ben Fanelli was released from Hamilton General Hospital late (Friday) night.

"This is obviously an emotional day for the Fanelli family, our organization and community and really for the entire Ontario Hockey League's players and fans. It is still very early in Ben's recovery that will include out-patient treatments at the hospital along with additional supporting treatments at home," stated Rangers C.O.O., Steve Bienkowski.

Ben's mother, Susan Fanelli, conveyed the following: "The support from the Kitchener Rangers organization has been wonderful. We are so appreciative it is hard to express."

Restrictions on visiting will remain in effect.

The Kitchener Rangers Hockey Club and the Fanelli family ask that the family's past requests for privacy continue to be honoured.

Any future information will continue to be released through the Kitchener Rangers Hockey Club.

We again thank everyone for their support to both Ben and his family.

However after now seeing Chris Drury be injured by a cheap blindsided shot against the Flames is it not time we had a discussion about hitting vs "hitting" in hockey as a whole?

Talk now before we talk about one of these hits resulting in someone dying on the ice; by then it will be too late for discussion about player safety.

Friday Night Fun

noreply@blogger.com (Jess Rubenstein) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 07:58:00 +0000

First Star Ryan Bourque

Ryan Bourque (2009 3rd) continued his hot play as of late scoring a goal as well as an assist but his Quebec Remparts saw their 4 game winning streak come to an end 4-3 to the Victoriaville Tigres via the shoot out.

Bourque extended his own personal scoring streak to 5 games by scoring his first QMJHL career shorthanded goal and his 7th goal of the season at 4:30 of the 3rd period to give the Remparts a 3-2 lead.

The goal also ended a 6 game goal scoring drought for Bourque. Bourque also earned the game's "First Star" for his efforts.

Bourque also set up Samuel Grouix for his 10th assist of the season and his 8th assist in his last 5 games. Bourque has gone 1-8-9 in his last 5 games but also 5-9-14 since returning from his "concussion like" injury suffered at the end of September.

Second Star Danny Hobbs

Danny Hobbs (2007 7th) picked a very good time to score his 2nd career goal as the sophomore from Shawville, Quebec wound up with the game winning goal to help his 19th ranked UMass Minutemen to a 5-1 win over the Niagara Purple Eagles. It was Hobb's first goal of the season as he deflected a shot from teammate Martin Nolet with just 13 seconds remaining in the 2nd period.

It was a power play goal for Hobbs; the first of his career with the Minutemen as they continue their surprising start to the season. Hobbs has been working harder this season attacking the crease and finally it paid off for him.

For Hobbs and his Minutemen it continues a surprising start to their season as they improve to 5-1 on the year.

Third Star Ethan Werek

In what had to be the most entertaining game of the night, Ethan Werek (2oo9 2nd) scored his 9th goal of the season but it was not enough as Werek's Kingston Frontenacs lost in the shootout to the Brampton Battalion 3-2.

Werek who was named the game's "Second Star" should have had at least 2 more goals if not for the great play of Brampton goalie Patrick Killeen.
Killeen stole the show and the game with some outstanding play of his own as his Battalion rallied from down 2-0 for this win.

Werek had several strong scoring chances but other than his goal was simply robbed by a hot goalie. The only shot we think Werek would like to have back was his one from the shootout as it looked like he had beaten Killeen but shot it high above the net.

Werek is now 9-7-16 in 16 games.

Here is some game action for you to take a look at courtesy of our friends at the Kingston Frontenacs

The Rest of the Ranger Prospects

Of course we know we are a jinx as one day after naming Sam Klassen (2009 UFA) the Prospect of the Month; both Klassen's "plus" streak and his Saskatoon Blade's winning streak came to an end. The Blades lost to the Regina Pats 4-3 in the shootout to end their 7 game winning streak.

Klassen saw his own 7 game "plus" streak come to an end with a -1.

Max Campbell (2007 5th) scored his 3rd goal of the season as his Western Michigan Broncos despite the final score saying 3-3 earned the 2nd point by winning the shootout 1-0 over Lake Superior State. Campbell led the Broncos with 6 shots on goal but missed on his shootout attempt.

We love how the CCHA awards points as this is exactly the way the NHL should do things. Win in regulation or overtime and you earn 3 points, win in the shootout get 2 points, lose in overtime or the shootout for 1 point and lose in regulation for 0 points.

Carl Hagelin (2007 6th) and his 4th ranked Michigan Wolverines got a first hand look at why Miami of Ohio is the top ranked team in college hockey as the Redhawks despite being held to just 13 total shots on goal defeated the Wolverines 3-1.

Hagelin had an assist for the 3rd straight game and his 60th career point with Michigan. Hagelin's point came on a 2 man advantage as his shot just sat on the goal line before being shoved in by linemate Chris Brown.

Ryan McDonagh (2009 Trade) had an assist while teammate Derek Stepan (2008 2nd) was scoreless as their 18th ranked Wisconsin Badgers held off the Minnesota Golden Gophers 4-2. For McDonagh it was his 6th point (all assists) of the season as the Badgers improved to 4-2-1

Luke Pither (Traverse City) had 2 assists as his Barrie Colts just whipped on Daniel Maggio's (2009 6th) Sudbury Wolves 6-2. Maggio was scoreless as Pither registered his 14th and 15th assists to bring his season totals to 12-15-27.

Mitch Gaulton (2008 6th) had his first points in 4 games with a 2 assist night as his Erie Otters won an emotionally charged game over the Niagara Ice Dogs 9-3. For Gaulton it was assists 6 and 7 on the season as the Otters blew the game open with 5 goals in the 3rd period.

The Otters were playing without Michael Liambas who was suspended for the rest of the OHL season and playoffs due to the hit on Ben Fanelli last week in Kitchener. Our friend Victor Fernandes who does an awesome job covering the Otters has a game report here, coverage of the Liambas press conference and an interesting take on how the Liambas ruling could change the roles of some players which includes quotes from former Jeff Beukeboom which are worth reading.

Tomas Kundratek (2008 3rd) had an assist as his Medicine Hat Tigers edged the Moose Jaw Warriors 3-2. For Kundratek it was his 10th point of the season all of them coming as assists.

Roman Horak (2009 5th) and his Chilliwack Bruins were shut out on the road 3-0 by the defending WHL champion Kelowna Rockets. Horak was quiet on the evening as the Rockets just outplayed the Bruins.

Craig Cunningham (Traverse City) was held scoreless as his Vancouver Giants were whipped 8-2 on the road by the Tri-City Americans. The Americans just jumped on the Giants for 4 first period goals and never looked back.

Chris Kreider (2009 1st) sat out Friday's game as his Boston College Eagles escaped with a 4-4 overtime tie with New Hampshire. The Eagles blew a 4-1 third period lead as Hockey East does not have the shoot out.

Kreider is out with an injury and no word has been officially given as to what is the exact nature of his injury.

Scott Stajcer (2009 5th) was the back up as his Owen Sound Attack got whipped 8-2 by the London Knights.

(Bourque courtesy of Katherine Ep, Hobbs courtesy of UMass, Werek courtesy of Aaron Bell/OHL images)

Dean Prentice Prospect Of The Month

noreply@blogger.com (Jess Rubenstein) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:15:00 +0000

The best way to describe why we named the Prospect of the Month after Dean Prentice is to borrow from the folks at the Legends of Hockey's description of Dean Prentice during his time as a New York Ranger.

Prentice became the two-way standout who excelled at backchecking, killing penalties, working the corners and jumping onto the powerplay. But his quiet, unassuming personality took a back seat to the more colorful (Andy) Bathgate who was the dipsy-doodler and scorer among the trio. As such, Prentice has been characterized as the most underrated forward of his era.

Whether it is 1959 or 2009, New York Ranger fans have always had one standard for their team; either they work hard or they got booed. All you have to do is look at those who the Ranger fans select as the winners of the "Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award" to see the kind of standards Ranger fans have.

It is with those standards in mind when we pick who is the Ranger prospect of the month because sometimes it is not how many points you put up but what you do in order to help your team win.

Dean Prentice Prospect of the Month for October- Sam Klassen of the Saskatoon Blades

Others had more points, others had highlight performances but what nobody else offered was the consistent performance that could be tied directly to how well his team played. Sam Klassen only scored 11 points during the month of October (3-8-11) but he was an impressive +17 as his Saskatoon Blades went 10-2-0-1 and jumped to the top of the WHL standings.

Had you asked us at the beginning of the month who we thought was going to suffer from the "Post-Camp Blues" after being cut our first thought was Klassen. Klassen is an overage defenseman who signed as a free agent with the Rangers last June but due to the combination of a glut of defenseman and having a year of junior eligibility remaining, Klassen was returned to the Saskatoon Blades (who were very happy to have him back).

Klassen even had a very quiet first 3 games back with the Blades but against the Kootenay Ice on October 2nd both Sam and the Blades work up their season with a decisive 8-4 win thanks in part to Klassen's 3 assists. It was his first points of the season but it helped the Blades start a 6 game winning streak.

Klassen scored his first goal of the season 2 nights later against Red Deer but it was his +4 that stood out that night. In fact it is Klassen's plus/minus that has had us almost addicted to his play as since October 9, Klassen has been either a "plus" or even in 12 out of 13 games.

The Saskatoon Blades have been 12-1 during those same 13 games which is why we have fast become fans of Sam Klassen's game. It is also interesting to note that Klassen who we interview for the November issue of the Blueshirt Bulletin told us his goal for the season was to become more involved with the Blade offense.

After watching Klassen's work on the defensive end, whatever numbers he puts up on offense are a very nice bonus.

Congratulations to Sam Klassen for earning this month's Prospect of the Month Honors.

------------------------------------------------

The Latest on Ben Fanelli

Kitchener, ON: November 5, 2009 - 3:10pm

Kitchener Rangers defenseman, Ben Fanelli has been moved from I.C.U. to a private room in Hamilton General Hospital. His medical status remains unchanged. Medical testing continues and a no visitor policy is in effect.

The Fanelli family and the Rangers Organization again thank the many people who have expressed their concerns and wishes for Ben's recovery. If you wish to send cards or messages, those may be dropped off to the Kitchener Rangers office or emailed to info@kitchenerrangers.com.

Further updates will be made by the Kitchener Rangers when they become available.

Steve Bienkowski
Chief Operating Officer
Kitchener Rangers Hockey Club

(Dean Prentice courtesy of the New York Rangers, Sam Klassen courtesy of Steve Hiscock Photography)

Bravo for the Irony

noreply@blogger.com (Jess Rubenstein) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 08:26:00 +0000

It is ironic that on the night before the Rangers faceoff against the Edmonton Oilers with their new "associate" coach Tom Renney that 2 undrafted Ranger prospects went against each other. Like Tom Renney as the Ranger's coach or not; his contribution to the Rangers will pay dividends longer than people will ever realize.

It was during the NHL lockout that Tom Renney made his greatest contribution to the rebuilding of the Rangers as he spent that season scouting, planning and helping to develop the prospect program that Ranger fans are seeing the benefits of today.

If not for Tom Renney, there is no Michael Del Zotto, no Brandon Dubinsky, no Ryan Callahan and many more yet to come. The prospect program that is in place today is because of Tom Renney, Gordie Clark, Christer Rockstrom and the 8 great guys who make up the Ranger's amateur scouting team.

With only 7 rounds in today's NHL Entry Drafts, it is really key for the Ranger scouting staff to find free agents who can help supplement the draft picks and sometimes turn themselves into Rangers like Dan Girardi did.

We bring this up because 3 of the Traverse City invitees were in action on Wednesday night starting with Craig Cunningham and his Vancouver Giants visiting Luke Walker and the Portland Winterhawks. Cunningham has been leading Ranger prospects in scoring prior to the game against the Winterhawks and added on to his lead.

Cunningham scored his 11th and 12th goals of the season to raise his prospect leading season totals to 12-16-28 (good for 7th in the WHL) as Cunningham's Giants shut out Walker's Winterhawks 4-0. For Cunningham he has now 7-8-15 over his last 10 games as the Giants have gone 7-2-1 during that span.

As for Walker and his young Winterhawk teammates it was their second straight game where they were shutout. Still Walker is also not having a bad season as he is 11-9-20 in 20 games which is 3rd among Ranger prospects.

Cunningham earned the game's second star for his efforts as his first goal of the game was also the game winner. Cunningham now has 4 game winners on the season also tops among Ranger prospects.

Yes Sam Klassen (2009 UFA) extended his "Plus" streak on Wednesday night to 7 straight games and yes that means that his Saskatoon Blades also won their 7th straight game this time coming from behind to edge the Swift Current Broncos 2-1.

This win in our eyes was more impressive because the Blades were playing their 5th game in their last 6 nights. How they were able to find the energy and effort to not only shut down the Broncos but to pull out the win is just amazing.

Klassen with a +1 is now up to +19 on the season which is 3rd in the WHL behind his defensive partner Stefan Elliot. In fact the Saskatoon Blades who are at the top of the WHL can credit their league leading defense as for why as they have only given up 2.25 goals a game also tops in the WHL.

Luke Pither (Traverse City) is the oldest of the Traverse City prospects but he is also having a pretty solid year with the Barrie Colts of the OHL. On Wednesday, Pither had 2 primary assists to help his Colts whip on Scott Stajcer (2009 5th) and the Owen Sound Attack 6-1.

For Pither, he is second among Ranger prospect scoring with a 12-13-25 record in 17 games. Pither is tied with Cunningham for most goals at 12 and has 3 game winners to his credit.

Scott Stajcer and the Attack once again saw the penalty kill as the main cause of their undoing as the Colts went 4 for 7 on the power play. Stajcer faced 45 shots and sorry when the goalie is facing that many shots it is almost impossible to blame him for the loss.

Then another prospect that the Ranger scouts can take a bow for is Roman Horak (2009 5th) as he was an unknown to most of us in North America but has been a pleasant surprise for the Chilliwack Bruins of the WHL. Wednesday night's results may not have shown it as Horak's Bruins got spanked on the road by the Spokane Chiefs 5-1.

Horak was held scoreless and for a rare occasion was a -2 for the night. On the season Horak is a respectable 5-11-16 in 19 games with a +7.

The hardest team for us to figure out is Tomas Kundratek and his Medicine Hat Tigers as no team in the WHL reminds us more of last year's Rangers than this season's version. It is "flip a coin" or "toss a dart" as we have never a clue as to what will happen with the Tigers.

On Wednesday evening it was the Bad Tigers who showed up as they got beaten 7-4 by the Regina Pats on the road. Kundratek was not bad with his play as he set up Taylor Gal for Medicine Hat's first goal (Kundratek's 9th assist) during a 4 on 4 but the Tigers were already trailing 2-0 at the time.

The Tigers were spending so much time playing catch up as they tied the game on 3 different occasions before giving up 3 third period goals for the loss.

(Cunningham courtesy of the Vancouver Giants, Klassen courtesy of the Saskatoon Blades)

The Helper Helps Himself

noreply@blogger.com (Jess Rubenstein) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 03:29:00 +0000

Prospect Park Player of the Week Ryan Bourque

At first glance when we heard that the New York Rangers used their 2009 3rd round pick on Ryan Bourque we really liked the idea. Bourque was one of the top young playmakers in the United States Development Program and there was really only one reason why Bourque fell to the 3rd round; his size.

If Bourque was 6'1 210 then no way do the Rangers get him with a 3rd round pick but Bourque is a small 5'9 170. Talent wise there is not a question that Ryan Bourque can play but that concern about his size is not going to go away.

Bourque plays for the Quebec Remparts in the QMJHL and during most of the early part of this season we saw more goal scoring from Bourque than his playmaking skills. Until last week when Bourque showed the playmaking side and the Remparts reaped the benefits of that side.

Bourque had a 6 assist week as he helped his Remparts to 3 wins but it was more than just the assists as it was the kind of the assists that stood out. Against Moncton, Bourque had a career high 4 assists but his 2nd assist set up the game winner.

Against Prince Edward Island, Bourque only had one assist but his 3 good hits stood out in the Rempart's 4-3 win. To end his week, Bourque set up the game tying goal as the Remparts came from behind to defeat the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles 3-2 in OT.

Altogether Bourque has a 4 game scoring streak (0-7-7) as his Remparts also have a 4 game winning streak. We also think that the more assists that Bourque puts up the more his Remparts are going to win.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Game Action

Daniel Maggio (2009 6th) set up the first goal for his Sudbury Wolves as they jumped out to a 4-0 lead over Ethan Werek's (2009 2nd) Kingston Frontenacs and then held on for a 4-3 win. Maggio's assist was his 7th of the season and added a +2 for the evening.

Werek was held scoreless and was a -1 for the night.

People may think our watching Sam Klassen's (2009 UFA) "Plus" is crazy but here is what is not crazy; Klassen has been a "plus" in 6 straight games and his Saskatoon Blades won their 6th straight game edging the Moose Jaw Warriors 2-1.

Klassen may not be scoring but since his streak started the Blades have jumped to the top of the WHL standings. If anything we like Klassen because our firm belief is you can have all the offense in the world but defense will win you championships.

Tomas Kundratek (2008 3rd) and his Medicine Hat Tigers have been playing 500 hockey as of late so you never know which Tiger team is going to show up from night to night. Tuesday night the effort was there but the Tigers lost to the Everett Silvertips 3-1.

Kundratek was held scoreless and a -1 for the evening

--------------------------------------------------------------

Ben Fanelli Update

The Kitchener Rangers released this update on Tuesday:

The condition of Kitchener Rangers defenseman, Ben Fanelli has been upgraded to serious but stable.

The Fanelli family and the Rangers Organization again thank the many people who have expressed their concerns and wishes for Ben's recovery.

Further updates will be made by the Kitchener Rangers when they become available.

Steve Bienkowski
Chief Operating Officer
Kitchener Rangers Hockey Club

(Bourque courtesy of the Quebec Remparts)

Not a Sunny Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (Jess Rubenstein) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 05:11:00 +0000

Normally we would like to start out with the highlights but on Sunday we have to start out with the news that 2009 First Round Pick Chris Kreider was forced to leave Boston College's game against the Merrimack Warriors due to an injury.

Due to the Federal Privacy Laws (HIPPA) we do not know the extent of Kreider's injury at this time but if we are given any information that we can report we will of course pass it on.

(Monday Update: best report is that Kreider "got his bell rung" nothing too serious but Boston College will observe him for a day or too to be safe. Injury was caused by a huge hit when Kreider got caught with his head down)

Kreider before getting injured had a secondary assist on Boston College's first goal but the Eagles eventually lost to Merrimack 5-3 to split the weekend series. It was Kreider's 2nd assist on the season as well as 2nd point.

Ethan Werek (2009 2nd) was given the primary assist when teammate Mitch Lebar scored off a rebound of Werek's shot for what at the time was the game tying goal in the second period. However Werek's Kingston Frontenacs gave up 2 third period goals to drop a 4-2 decision to the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds on Sunday.

For Werek is was his 7th assist of the season and his 15th point in 14 games for the Fronts. The Frontenacs let this game slip away as they had dominated the first 2 periods but in the 3rd period became undisciplined and the Greyhounds made them pay for it.

Jeff Beukeboom's son Brock wound up setting up the Greyhound's 4th goal of the game on a power play about midway of the 3rd period. It is interesting to see how younger Beuk looks like his dad but does not play like him.

Ryan Bourque (2009 3rd) is starting to heat up exactly as we thought he would for the Quebec Remparts as the young forward's 7th assist in his last 4 games set up the tying goal at 17:02 of the 3rd period as the Remparts went on to score in overtime for a 3-2 win over the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles.

As we said in the preseason, Bourque's strengths are his playmaking as well as his forechecking and now the playmaking is starting to show up. During his 4 game scoring streak, Bourque has not only set up goals but most of his assist have been for key goals like this one on Sunday.

Bourque's hot streak has helped his Remparts to a 4 game winning streak as well as a 8-1-1-0 record in their last 10 games. At 6-9-15, Bourque is a key part of a Rempart team that currently has the 3rd best record in the QMJHL.

Sam Klassen (2009 UFA) may not have scored but his Saskatoon Blades edged the Swift Current Broncos 3-2 to extend their winning streak to 5 games and now have the best record in the WHL. Klassen also continued his "plus" game streak with a +1 to 5 games (+10).

Klassen is now 3-8-11 +17 to lead all Ranger prospect defensemen.

Craig Cunningham (Traverse City) under normal circumstances would have been our star of the game off a 1-2-3 night as his Vancouver Giants whipped Roman Horak's (2009 5th) Chilliwack Bruins 8-2. Cunningham has been red hot as of late and Sunday was no exception as the current Ranger prospect scoring leader upped his season totals to 10-16-26.

Since October 2nd Cunningham has gone 7-10-17 in his last 12 games as he is 6th in the WHL in scoring. As for Horak, while his Bruins may have lost badly, Horak's strong play continues as he added an assist to extend his own hot streak to 7 game (4-4-8) and has moved up to 6th place among WHL rookie scoring (2nd in assists) at 5-11-16 in 18 games

Daniel Maggio (2009 6th) was scoreless as his Sudbury Wolves continued to struggle after a 3-1 loss to the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors. The Wolves have gone 3-7 in their last 10 games.

Luke Walker (Traverse City) and his Portland Winterhawks saw their 5 game winning streak come to an end as they were shut out by the Spokane Chiefs 3-0 to earn a split of the home and home series. On Saturday it was the Winterhawks who shut out the Chiefs 2-0.

--------------------------------------------------------

Ben Fanelli Update

The Kitchener Rangers put out this press release regarding the condition of the young defender badly injured on Friday against the Erie Otters.

Kitchener, ON: November 1, 2009 - 12:35pm - Media Update Ben Fanell

Kitchener Rangers defenseman, Ben Fanelli remains in Hamilton General Hospital's ICU unit.

There has been no official change in his condition.

The Fanelli family and the Rangers Organization again thank the many people who have expressed their concerns and wishes for Ben's recovery.

Your continued respect for the family's privacy as they focus on supporting Ben is appreciated.

Further updates will be made by the Kitchener Rangers when they become available.

Steve Bienkowski
Chief Operating Officer
Kitchener Rangers Hockey Club

We will honor this request but will share any information with New York Ranger fans as we get it. The K-Rangers have accounts on both Facebook and Twitter if you wish to leave messages of support for both player and his teammates during this rough time.

(Kreider courtesy of Boston College, Werek courtesy of the Kingston Frontenacs, Bourque courtesy of the Quebec Remparts, Fanelli courtesy of OHL Images)

Tricked to Earn The Treat

noreply@blogger.com (Jess Rubenstein) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 02:55:00 +0000

Halloween lived up to it's name for the New York Ranger prospects as some got tricked while others of course gave us some very nice treats with their play.

Tonight's Star

If Scott Stajcer (2009 5th) asked us for a suggestion as for who he should be on Halloween then we would say Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde as that would be the ideal choice to describe how his season has gone. It has been a season of ups and downs for the Owen Sound Attack goalie but on Saturday he gave us quite a treat.

Stajcer followed up his win from last night over the Plymouth Whalers with an even better performance against the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors on Saturday evening. Stajcer earned the game's "First Star" after he stopped 43 out of 44 shots to lead Owen Sound to a 4-1 win.

Stajcer had a shut out for most of the game before losing it in the game's last 3 minutes thanks to a video review; actually there were 2 different video reviews on Major's scoring chances. The first was overturned but not the second costing Stajcer what would have been his first shutout in his OHL career.

Still Stajcer has to be happy with back to back wins that improve his record to 6-8-1-1 while lowering his goals against to 3.61. Stajcer also raised his save percentage to 0.904.

The Rest of the Ranger Prospects

It has been a strange week for Tomas Kundratek (2008 3rd) and his Medicine Hat Tigers. Kundratek missed 3 games due to the flu but his teammates did not miss him winning 2 of the games by a combined score of 16-3. Kundratek returns and the Tigers lose 3 straight by a combined score of 17-4.

Of course you know for Halloween, the Tigers return home and blow out the Seattle Thunderbirds 11-2. Kundratek had 2 assists on the evening as he is now 0-9-9 for the season.

Carl Hagelin (2007 6th) set up what proved to be the game winning goal with his 3rd assist of the season as the 5th Michigan Wolverines made it a weekend sweep over the Lake Superior State Lakers 6-3. Hagelin is 3-3-6 for the 4-2 Wolverines

The Badger Brothers Ryan McDonagh (2009 Trade) and Derek Stepan (2008 2nd) both had strong games as the Wisconsin Badgers whipped the University of New Hampshire 6-1. McDonagh had an assist on Wisconsin's first goal for his 4th assist of the season while Stepan was scoreless but a +2.

Roman Horak (2009 5th) had a secondary assist on Chilliwack's last goal of the game to extend his scoring streak to 6 games as his Bruins extended their winning streak to 3 games with a 4-2 win over the Calgary Hitmen. Horak during his streak has gone 4-3-7 to improve his season numbers to 5-10-15.

Sam Klassen (UFA 2009) did not score but was a +2 for his 4th straight "plus" game as his Saskatoon Blades won their 4th straight 4-3 over the Moose Jaw Warriors. Klassen ended the month of October with an impressive +17 in 13 games with just one "minus" game the entire month.

One can make a direct link to Saskatoon's record and Klassen's elevated play as going back to October 7th when Klassen scored his first points of the season; the Blades have gone 10-1 since then. The Blades have the 2nd best record in the entire WHL at 12-3-0-2.

Also hot is Luke Walker's (Traverse City) Portland Winterhawks as they won their 5th straight game 2-0 over the Spokane Chiefs. Walker was scoreless as his Winterhawks have the 4th best record in the WHL.

Mitch Gaulton (2007 6th) was scoreless as his Erie Otters spotted the Plymouth Whalers a 3-0 lead and could not finish their rally as they lost 4-3. Those who have asked or saw the tape on You Tube, the latest we have is that Kitchener defender Ben Fanelli is in stable but critical condition.

Like everyone else we are hoping that Fanelli makes a full recovery but we will reserve judgment on Michael Liambas until the OHL takes action. For those interested about what happened to Kitchener defenseman Ben Fanelli is right here.

Luke Pither (Traverse City) was held scoreless but his Barrie Colts were able to edge the Niagara Ice Dogs 2-1.

Chris Doyle (2008 5th) and his Prince Edward Island Rocket were shut out by the Montreal Juniors 3-0.

Daniel Hobbs (2007 7th) and his UMass Minutemen saw their unbeaten streak end at 4 as they lost to the Providence Friars 2-1. The stats make it look like UMass played decently but most reports say that their effort was weak at best.

Max Campbell (2007 5th) and his Western Michigan Broncos lost to Michigan State 5-3 to wind up being swept for the weekend series. Campbell was held scoreless for the weekend.

(Stajcer courtesy of the Owen Sound Attack)

Forget Sweet Sixteen We Got Seventeen

noreply@blogger.com (Jess Rubenstein) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 05:28:00 +0000

In 2004 when we first started covering New York Ranger prospects at best we felt that the Rangers had 4-6 quality prospects who had legit shots at becoming NHL players.
When Dane Byer's scored for the Rangers against the Wild; that meant that the 2004 draft class gave the Rangers 4 members who scored at least one goal in a Ranger uniform.

We bring this tidbit up because on this Friday evening a record total of 17 Ranger prospects were in action. It has been a very long time since the Rangers could honestly say they had not only quality but also productive ones at that.

Tonight's First Star

In a way it is a shame that most of the attention that Chris Doyle (2008 5th) has gotten this season has been for things other than his play on the ice. On the ice, Doyle has actually put up some decent numbers himself.

Before Doyle's Prince Edward Island Rocket visited Ryan Bourque's Quebec Remparts, Doyle was 7-6-13 in 14 games. Doyle had a goal and 2 assists as his PEI Rocket earned a 4-3 overtime win over Bourque's Remparts.

Doyle's 8th goal at 2:39 of the second period tied the game at 1-1, his first assist was a secondary assist at 0:30 of the 3rd period which pulled the Rocket to 3-2. It was Doyle's second assist that set up game's tying goal as Doyle fed teammate Adam Polasek on the power play at 12:22 of the 3rd period.

For his efforts Doyle was named the Game's 3rd star as he now has a modest 3 game scoring streak at 2-4-6.

Second Star

Derek Stepan (2008 2nd) scored 2 goals as his Wisconsin Badgers whipped on the University of New Hampshire 4-1. The first goal was more accidental as it bounced in off Stepan's arm to give the Badgers a 3-1 lead at the 5:22 mark of the 3rd period.

The second goal which put the nail in the coffin so to speak for New Hampshire came at 9:15 of the period and turned out to be the game's final tally. Stepan fired a shot from just inside the New Hampshire blueline that appeared to fool New Hampshire goalie Brian Foster.

Stepan who entered the game 1-2-3 helped the Badgers to their first home win of the season.

Third Star

Carl Hagelin (2007 6th) is very much off to his best start at Michigan as 5 games into the 2009-10, Hagelin after his 5th ranked Michigan Wolverines defeated the Lake Superior State Lakers 5-1 has 5 points. Hagelin earned the game's first star with his 3rd goal of the season along with his second assist as part of a 3 goal first period outburst.

Hagelin scored the game winning goal when he jumped on a rebound and put it in for Michigan's 2nd goal of the game at 10:30 of the first period. It was Hagelin's 8th career game winning goal at Michigan.

Just 5:27 later, Hagelin fed teammate Louie Caporusso for Michigan's 3rd goal and Hagelin's 2nd assist of the season. For Hagelin it was the 2nd multi-point game of the young season and 13th of his career.

Honorable Mention

Guess which prospect has quietly gotten hot and hardly anyone has noticed it? If you said Roman Horak (2009 5th) then you would be right as Horak after Friday has a 5 game scoring streak (4-1-5).

Horak's 5th goal of the season was also his first WHL power play goal of his career as Horak's Chilliwack Bruins whipped the Kamloops Blazers 7-1. Horak's goal was also his 2nd straight game winning goal and 3rd in the last 4 games.

Horak also added his 9th assist of the season also on the power play on Chilliwack's 5th goal of the game. On the season, Horak is now an very nice 5-9-14 +10 in 16 games.

Scott Stajcer (2009 5th) returned to the starting lineup and backstopped his Owen Sound Attack to a 6-2 win over the Plymouth Whalers. Stajcer stopped 29 out of 31 shots to earn his 5th win of the season (5-8-1-1) and break a personal 3 game losing streak.

Stajcer got support at both ends of the ice as the Attack scoring 6 goals was nice but the Attack penalty killing effort was even better killng off 6 of the 7 Whaler power plays.

The Rest of the Ranger Prospects

Ryan McDonagh (2009 Trade) had a secondary assist on the first Derek Stepan goal in the Wisconsin Badger's game. For McDonagh he is now up to 3 assists on the season.

Ryan Bourque (2009 3rd) had an assist in his Quebec Rempart's 4-3 loss to Chris Doyle's PEI Rockets. Bourque now has his own 3 game scoring streak (0-6-6) going as he is now 6-8-14.

Chris Kreider (2009 1st) was scoreless and held to just 2 shots as his 12th ranked Boston College Eagles had a dogfight with the Merrimack Warriors before just escaping with a 4-3 win.

Ethan Werek (2009 2nd) 8th goal of the season forced overtime but his Kingston Frontenacs lost in the shootout 3-2 to the Belleville Bulls. Werek missed on his shootout attempt.

Sam Klassen (UFA 2009) had an assist to extend his own scoring streak to 3 games (2-3-5) and another +3 performance as his Saskatoon Blades defeated the Edmonton Oil Kings 5-2. Klassen now leads Ranger prospects with a +14.

Tomas Kundratek's (2008 3rd) 7th assist of the season was not enough to help prevent his Medicine Hat Tigers from losing their 3rd straight game this time to the Red Deer Rebels 4-2. The only positive out of this loss as the Tigers were not blown out as they have been in their previous 2 losses.

Max Campbell (2007 5th) was held scoreless as his Western Michigan Broncos lost their first game of the season 2-1 to the Michigan Wolverines. The Broncos fall to 4-1 with the loss.

Daniel Hobbs (2007 7th) also did not score but his UMass Minutemen defeated the Providence Friars 5-3. With the win the Minutemen upped their record to 4-0 on the season.

Daniel Maggio (2009 6th) was scoreless but his Sudbury Wolves overcame blowing a 3-1 lead and held off the Niagara Ice Dogs 5-4. Maggio was quiet except for a -1 on the night.

Mitch Gaulton (2008 7th) and his Erie Otter team was held scoreless as they were shut out by the Kitchener Rangers 4-0.

Craig Cunningham (Traverse City) and his Vancouver Giants were also shut out as they were blanked 2-0 by the Calgary Hitmen. Cunningham saw his prospect high 7 game scoring streak (4-6-10) come to an end in the loss

Luke Pither (Traverse City) just might be starting to heat back up as Pither scored for the 2nd straight game as his Barrie Colts won a wild one 7-5 over the Guelph Storm. In addition to Pither's 12th goal of the season; Pither added his 11th assist and a +3 in the win.

(Doyle courtesy of the PEI Rockets, Stepan courtesy of the Wisconsin Badgers, Hagelin courtesy of the Michigan Wolverines)

Plenty of Helpers

noreply@blogger.com (Jess Rubenstein) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 07:28:00 +0000

When the New York Rangers used their 2009 3rd round pick on Ryan Bourque there was no question that they were looking at one of the top young playmakers to come out of the USA Hockey program.

Despite his having 6-3-9 for stats so far as a member of the Quebec Remparts; our belief remained that Ryan Bourque's best potential was as a playmaking forward. On Thursday evening Bourque showed exactly why we had that belief.

Ryan Bourque had a career high 4 assist evening as his Quebec Remparts defeated the Moncton Wildcats 5-2. It was a truly impressive performance for the 18 year old from Boxford Ma.

Bourque got his night going when he fed Kelly Tessier for a power play goal and a 1-0 Quebec lead at 4:20 of the first period. At 13:54 of the same period, Bourque this time set up teammate Marc-Olivier Vallerand for another power play goal and a 3-0 lead.

That assist proved to be the game winning one as the team's traded goals in the second and third periods with Bourque earning secondary assists on both Quebec goals. For his efforts, Bourque earned the game's second star for his 4 assists and a +2.

What is interesting to note is that despite the 4 assists, Bourque never got credited for a shot on goal in this game.

Luke Pither (Traverse City) also earned a second star for a goal and two assists (+2) as well) as his Barrie Colts blew out the Niagara Ice Dogs 7-0 in OHL action. For Pither it was his 7th multi-point game of the season (11-10-21).

It took Pither all of 18 seconds to get on the scoresheet as he fed teammate Byran Cameron for a 1-0 Barrie lead and eventual game winning goal. Pither added a secondary assist on Barrie's second goal at 6:56 also in the first period.

In the second period Pither scored his 11th on the power play at 6:55 for Barrie's fourth goal of the game. For the Colts it was a great performance as they got 7 goals from 7 different players in the win.

Scott Stajcer (2009 5th) got the night off as his back up Jordan Binnington got the start and led the Owen Sound Attack to a huge 5-4 upset shootout win over the Windsor Spitfires on the road. Too bad the Attack do not give Stajcer this kind of support on a regular basis.

Finally we want to send out our congratulations to Craig Cunningham (Traverse City) of the Vancouver Giants for being named to Team WHL for the Subway Super Series against Russia. Cunningham very much was a deserving pick as 7th leading scorer in the WHL (9-14-23) which is also tops among Ranger prospects.

The Subway Super Series is used by Hockey Canada to help decide who earns an invite to tryout for Canada's Under-20 team. Cunningham joins Ethan Werek as the only Ranger prospects who are getting to face Russia in this series.

Now before anyone wonders why; to earn an invite you have to be Canadian, under 20 and playing in one of the 3 CHL leagues.

Right now it looks like Derek Stepan, Ryan Bourque and Chris Kreider are remain in the hunt for Team USA. Roman Horak is expected to join the Czech Republic team with a possibility that the Rangers will release Evgeny Grachev from Hartford to join Russia.

The odds are stacked against both Cunningham and Werek making the Canadian team.

(Bourque courtesy of the Quebec Remparts)

A Czech Cashing in His Chance

noreply@blogger.com (Jess Rubenstein) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 05:55:00 +0000

It seems like every year the New York Ranger scouting staff finds a prospect that nobody knows much about and he turns out to be a very pleasant surprise. Roman Horak one of the Ranger's two picks in the fifth round in the 2009 is this year's stealth pick it seems.

Nobody knew much about Horak when he was first drafted and since he was selected by the Chilliwack Bruins (a WHL team that Glen Sather owns a piece of) there was some skepticism about Horak's talent. If anything it looks like the Bruins took advantage of some inside information when they selected Horak in the CHL Import Draft.

The Bruins have just 5 wins after upsetting the Tri-City Americans 5-2 on Wednesday night. Roman Horak the game winning goal in 2 of those games including against the Americans.

In 15 games with the Bruins, Horak is 4-8-12 +10 12 PIMs and the 2 game winning goals. On a team that has a record of 5-6-1-3 to have a player with a +10 is pretty impressive. Just as impressive is Horak's 3 goals in his last 4 games.

Against the Americans in the 3rd period, Horak cashed in a rebound that wound up right in his lap to break a 2-2 tie at the 1:25 mark. It was more than just the game winner as it got the Bruins fired up and they increased the pressure on the Americans.

The Bruins added an insurance goal at just 2:11 later and went on for the win.

One has to wonder which Medicine Hat Tiger team Tomas Kundratek (2008 3rd) plays for; last week they outscored 2 teams by a combined 16-3. This week, the Tigers have been outscored 13-2 in back to back games including a 6-0 shutout on Wednesday evening.

In this case the key cause of this was simply a bad effort by the Tigers as a team the night after getting spanked by the Saskatoon Blades 7-2. Kundratek was no different than any of the Tigers so we will not hang him out to dry.

That is because we know his coach Willie Desjardin is going to take his entire team to the woodshed on Thursday.

In the OHL, Mitch Gaulton (2008 6th) did not score but was a +2 as his Erie Otters earned a 5-2 win over the Guelph Storm. It gives the Otters their 3rd win in their last 4 games as the team moves closer to a 500 record at 5-7-2-1.

Daniel Maggio (2009 6th) and his Sudbury Wolves have been struggling after a strong start. A 3-2 start to the season has turned into a 5-9-0-1 and a change at head coach. The Wolves dropped a 3-2 decision to Brock Beukeboom and his Sault Ste Marie Greyhounds.

Maggio was scoreless ending a 4 game scoring streak but was also a -2.

(Horak courtesy of the Chilliwack Bruins)

Pick Me Pick Me

noreply@blogger.com (Jess Rubenstein) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 07:38:00 +0000

Prospect Park Prospect of the Week and Tonight's Star

A funny thing happened on the way to selecting this week's Prospect Park Prospect of the Week; we did not think we had anyone worthy of selecting. Several of the prospects played well but nobody was standing out for this week.

That is until we went back though the entire week not just Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It was when we looked back at last Wednesday and realized that Sam Klassen (2009 UFA) did not have a bad week after all.

Going backwards from Saturday we saw that Klassen played well on Saturday earning the star of the night for a goal and an assist to lead his Saskatoon Blades to a 4-1 win over the Kamloops Blazers. Klassen was named the game's 3rd star for his efforts and our Star of the night.

On Friday night Sam and his teammates would prefer that we did not say much about the 6-2 loss that the Swift Current Broncos pasted them with as it ended a 6 game winning streak for the Blades. Klassen was a -3 for the night but was on the ice for 4 of the Swift Current goals.

But when we remembered his play from last Wednesday night it was then that we decided that despite the bad Friday night Sam Klassen deserved being our Prospect of the Week. In this one Klassen made a picture perfect pass to spring teammate Travis Toomey for a shorthanded goal in the 3rd period that proved to be the game winning goal.

Klassen's numbers may not have been earth shattering at just a 1-2-3 but his timing of his points were what stood out. The already mentioned assist, his power play goal on Saturday and for the most part some very steady defensive play all combined to sneak up and tell us that Sam Klassen was our Prospect of the Week.

Actually what made us take a second look at Sam Klassen was Tuesday night when Klassen with a goal and 2 assists led his Blades to a 7-2 blowout of Tomas Kundratek's (2008 3rd) Medicine Hat Tigers. Kundratek was returning to the Tiger lineup after missing 3 games with the flu should have skipped this one as well the way his team got manhandled by the Blades.

Klassen in earning the game's First Star now has back to back games where he has earned a star for this efforts. He was the 3rd star on Saturday for going 1-1-2 which added to Tuesday's 1-2-3 gives him 2-3-5 in his last 2 games.

Klassen earned 2 secondary assists on the Blade's 2nd and 4th goals before scoring his now career high 3rd goal of the season at the 10:02 mark of the 3rd period for a 6-1 Blade lead. Klassen on the season is now 3-8-11 for the season.

Not to mention that Klassen was a +3 on the evening to bring his total to a +11. What made this 7-2 win that much more impressive was that Medicine Hat came into this game having won their last 2 games by a combined 16-3 score.

As for Kundratek, tonight's loss was not his fault as his teammates ran into a buzzsaw and there was nothing really they could do about it. Kundratek was a respectable 1 assist -1 in his return from the flu bug.

Luke Walker (Traverse City) and his Portland Winterhawks returned back home after a very good 4-2 Eastern Canada road trip only to have to escape the Brandon Wheat Kings via a 5-4 shootout win over the Brandon Wheat Kings. The Winterhawks blew a 4-1 second period lead and hung on to earn this win.

Walker had his prospect leading 11th goal of the season which was Portland's 4th goal in regulation and added his 9th assist of the season. Walker now is 11-9-20 which puts him in 12th overall in the WHL, 2nd among Ranger prospects behind Craig Cunningham in points and as we mention the leading goal scorer.

(Klassen courtesy of the Saskatoon Blades)

Somewhat Slow Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (Jess Rubenstein) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:51:00 +0000

With the attention of New York fans on Sunday football or the Yankees in the ALCS, there was just a couple of New York Ranger prospects in action on Sunday night. One had a great night while the other continued to struggle.

Craig Cunningham (Traverse City) may not be a listed Ranger prospect but the more we see of him the more we understand why the Rangers invited him to Traverse City. Cunningham is having a career season so far for the Vancouver Giants of the WHL.

On Sunday Cunningham earned the game's "First Star" with a goal and an assist for his 5th multi-point game of the season as his Vancouver Giants survived a 4 goal second period to defeat the Kelowna Giants 5-4. Very quietly Cunningham has built up a 7 game scoring streak (4-6-10).

Cunningham set up teammate Kevin Connauton for Vancouver's first goal of the game while on the power play at 4:38 of the first period. It was Cunningham's prospect leading 14th assist of the season.

The Giants added a goal for a 2-0 lead before Kelowna scored 3 straight goals to grab a 3-2 lead before Cunningham answered with his 8th goal of the season at 7:29 of the second period to tie the game at 3-3.

Cunningham was also a +2 as his Giants went on for the win to improve to 10-3-1-2 23 points and the 2nd best record in the WHL.

Scott Stajcer (2009 5th) continues to struggle this season as he lost his 3rd straight game giving up 4 goals on 21 shots as his Owen Sound Attack lost to the Guelph Storm 5-3.

Stajcer was pulled from the game in the first period after giving up 2 goals in 22 seconds but was sent right back in about 3 minutes later and appeared to have found his game. Stajcer gave up a goal in the 2nd period and then the eventual game winner at 17:47 of the 3rd period.

Stajcer in losing his 3rd straight in fairness was playing his 3rd straight game but in under 3 days and this one we seriously do question Attack coach Mark Reeds asking him to play like this.

Stajcer watches his numbers drop to 4-8-1-1, 3.91 goals against and a 0.896 save percentage.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

The 3 leagues that make up the Canadian Juniors are constantly working on improving their websites. In many a ways they put the NHL to shame with some of the features that they use for their websites and to help us in the media to do our jobs.

Here is a very nice feature from the folks at the QMJHL media office on 2009 3rd round pick Ryan Bourque.

Kudos to the folks at the QMJHL for a really nice feature on a promising Ranger prospect.

(Cunningham courtesy of the Vancouver Giants, Stajcer courtesy of the Owen Sound Attack, Bourque feature courtesy of the QMJHL media office)

Saturday Night Sam

noreply@blogger.com (Jess Rubenstein) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 06:55:00 +0000

Prospect Park dedicates tonight's report to Bill "The Big Whistle Chadwick who passed away Saturday at the age of 94. For anyone who was a Ranger fan during the 1960s and 1970s, the Ranger broadcasting duo of Jim Gordon and Bill Chadwick were larger than life.

Gordon was the straight man to Chadwick's colorful commentary as Chadwick never had a problem calling a play as he saw it. It was Chadwick who coined the legendary phrase "Shoot the Puck Barry" after Barry Beck frustrated him one too many time for not shooting the puck when he had chance.

Others will highlight how Chadwick was the first American to work in the NHL as an on ice official but this Ranger fan will always recall with a smile watching Chadwick arguing with King Clancy every time the Rangers were in Toronto for a broadcast.

For those of you who will be at the Garden Monday night add our voice to those calling for Ranger fans to honor Chadwick with one last "Shoot the Puck Barry". Chadwick and Gordon in their own way deserve a banner raised to the Garden roof for being so special to many a Ranger fan.

RIP Big Whistle and Thank YOU

Tonight's Star

Every coach we have ever talked to always mentions that the game after a bad loss is one where you learn about your leadership. On Friday evening Sam Klassen (2009 UFA) and his Saskatoon Blades saw their 6 game winning streak come to a crashing 6-2 halt.

On Saturday, the Blades got right back on the winning track with a 4-1 win over the Kamloops Blazers. Klassen got the Blades going when he pinched in and scored his 2nd goal of the season on the power play in the first period to give the Blades a 1-0 lead.

Klassen also had a secondary assist on the Blade's 3rd goal which was also the only goal the Blades scored at even strength. Klassen earned himself the "Third Star" of the game from the local media as he improved his numbers to 2-6-8 +8 22 PIMS.

It also may not seem like much but Klassen's 2nd goal equaled his career high.

The Rest of the Ranger Prospects

The Badger Brothers Derek Stepan (2008 2nd) and Ryan McDonagh (2009 Trade) had direct impact on Wisconsin's 3-2 loss to Minnesota State. Stepan had an assist on a tying goal which tied the game at 2-2 but McDonagh took a 5 minute major (and 10 minute misconduct) that gave Minnesota State the power play which they scored the game winning goal on.

Wisconsin can only blame themselves for this loss as they gave Minnesota State not one but 2 extended power plays due to taking five minute majors. A very disappointing loss by the Badgers that they never should have lost.

Roman Horak (2009 5th) netted his 8th assist on Chilliwack's first goal but failed on his first shoot out attempt of the season as his Chilliwack Bruins lost their 3rd shoot out game of the season 5-4 to the Prince George Cougars.

While Horak has improved to 3-8-11 in 14 WHL games, his Bruins have yet to score on any of their shoot out attempts this season going 0 for 8.

Ryan Bourque (2009 3rd) had a secondary assist on his Quebec Rempart's 7th goal of the game as they blew out the Baie-Comeau Drakkar 7-0. Bourque for the most part was quiet but did register 2 good hits and a +2.

Chris Doyle (2008 5th) had a primary assist as his Prince Edward Island Rocket rallied with 3 third period goals for force overtime and then won in the shootout 4-3 over the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles. Doyle missed on his shootout attempt which for him is a rare occurrence.

Max Campbell (2007 5th) did not score but his Western Michigan are off to a 4-0 season start after a 2-1 win over Alabama-Huntsville. Campbell took only 2 shots but went 4-7 on his faceoffs in this match up.

Mitch Gaulton (2007 7th) had a bad night defensively going a -3 as his Erie Otters got beaten 5-1 at home by Brock Beukeboom's Saute Ste Marie Greyhounds. The son of Ranger fan favorite Jeff Beukeboom is having a pretty good start to his season already equaling his offensive numbers of last season.

Check out the picture of young Beukeboom as he looks just like his father.

Craig Cunningham (Traverse City) netted his 13th assist of the season as his Vancouver Giants blew a 3-0 lead and lost to the Kelowna Rockets 4-3 in overtime. Cunningham leads Ranger prospects with a 8-13-21 mark.
Luke Pither (Traverse City) was scoreless as his Barrie Colts defeated the struggling Brampton Battalion 3-1. Pither has quieted down after a red hot start to his season with just 2 goals in his last 10 games after scoring 8 in his first 3 games.

Tomas Kundratek (2008 3rd) missed his 3rd straight game but his Medicine Hat Tigers have not missed him in their last 2 games as they followed a 9-2 win on Friday with a 7-1 win over the Edmonton Oil Kings on Saturday.

(Gordon and Chadwick courtesy of WNEW-AM, Klassen courtesy of Hiscock Photography)

Gordie Howe Hockey Prospect Style

noreply@blogger.com (Jess Rubenstein) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 03:15:00 +0000

For those of us who love the old school of hockey then when the phrase "Gordie Howe Hat Trick" comes up then you take notice as it sadly is becoming a lost art. The "Gordie Howe" is when you have a goal, an assist and a fight in the same game.

Tonight's First Star: Chris Doyle

Chris Doyle has had a lot to deal with this season; starting with a 4 game suspension for abusing an official. Toss in pending criminal charges and the Ranger's 2007 5th round pick has had to play under a microscope.

On Friday night Doyle recorded his first "Gordie Howe Hat Trick of the season as Doyle's Prince Edward Island Rocket defeated their rivals the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles 7-4. Doyle got his evening going when he cashed in a feed from Benjamin Casavant for his 7th goal of the season to tie the game at 1-1.

In the second period, Doyle dropped the gloves for his second fight of the season with Screaming Eagle Jan Piskacek in a bout that was more wrestling than punches thrown. Still one thing that can always be said about Chris Doyle is that he is more than willing to protect his teammates.

In the 3rd period Doyle set up the insurance goal when he fed Jarrad Struthers for the Rocket's 6th goal at 18:18 of the 3rd period for a Rocket 6-4 lead that finished off the Screaming Eagles.

Second Star: The Badger Brothers
We have a luxury that Ranger fans are not enjoying which is getting to see the Badger Brothers Derek Stepan (2008 2nd) and Ryan McDonagh (2009 Trade) working together this season as a hint of what is going to happen when both become Rangers. It is going to be a lot of fun to watch these 2 very talented prospects grow into players.

Friday night the Minnesota State found out that the Badger Brothers get things done at both ends of the ice. Derek Stepan scored his first goal of the season on a nicely done backhand shot at 11:02 of the first period.

Ryan McDonagh earned a secondary assist on the goal which was the first of his 2 assists on the night. McDonagh's second assist came on the Badger's last goal of the game as he fed Jordy Murray for his first goal of the season.

On the evening, the Brothers combined for 1-2-3, on 7 shots and a combined +3. Stephan and McDonagh helped to keep Minnesota State to an 0 for 8 on the power plays.

Third Star Luke Walker

The toughest game to win is the one at the end of a long road trip. Most teams have a habit of mailing their effort because they are thinking about just going home. To prevent that a team needs their leadership to step up and set the standard for their younger teammates.

Luke Walker was exactly that on Friday night as Walker scored 2 goals (his 9th and 10th) while earning the game's First Star in leading his Portland Winterhawks to a convincing 5-1 win over the Kootenay Ice.

Walker has become a real leader for the Winterhawks and that on ice leadership was just as much a factor as his 2 goals. Walker's hard work helped a very tired Winterhawk team find it within themselves to end a very long road trip with a 4-2 record.

Honorable Mention

Roman Horak's (2009 5th) 3rd goal of the season broke a 2-2 tie and turned out to be the game winning goal as Horak's Chilliwack Bruins went on to a 4-2 win over the Prince George Cougars.

Daniel Maggio's (2009 6th) 5th goal of the season was all his Sudbury Wolves needed as they shut out the Sarnia Sting 4-0. In just 11 games Maggio has already matched his career high in goals which is not bad for the prospect expected to be a defensive stopper

The Rest of the Ranger Prospect Report

Mitch Gaulton (2008 6th) got a secondary assist on what proved to be the game winning goal as his Erie Otters defeated the Niagara Ice Dogs 3-2. With the assist, Gaulton (1-5-6) equaled his entire offensive output of last season in just 10 games.

Ethan Werek (2009 2nd) was held scoreless but his Kingston Frontenacs scored in overtime to edge the Saginaw Spirit 5-4. It was a very entertaining game as it went back and forth all game long.

Scott Stajcer (2009 5th) gave up 5 goals while facing 31 shots before being removed as his Owen Sound Attack got shelled by the Windsor Spitfires 8-4. Stajcer lasted about 35 minutes but the score here does not indicate how big a blow out this really way.

Sam Klassen (2009 UFA) was a -3 as his Saskatoon Blades saw their 6 game winning streak come to a crashing halt 6-2 to the Swift Current Broncos. Credit the Broncos who jumped all over the Blades from the start and never let up for a minute.

Chris Kreider (2009 1st) earned his first point at the NCAA level as the freshman for Boston College notched an assist as his 15th ranked Boston College upset 10th ranked Notre Dame 3-2 on the road for their first win of the season. Kreider earned a secondary assist on Boston College's 2nd goal of the game.

Max Campbell (2007 5th) was scoreless but his Western Michigan Broncos are 3-0 on the season as they defeated Alabama-Huntsville 2-1. Do not discount this win as Alabama-Huntsville already holds a win over Notre Dame this season.

Daniel Hobbs (2007 7th) also was scoreless as his UMass Amherst Minutemen also moved to 3-0 with a 5-3 win over the Maine Black Bears. Hobbs had a very quiet night as the 3rd line left winger.

Craig Cunningham (Traverse City) scored his 8th goal of the season as his Vancouver Giants finally defeated the Everett Silvertips after losing their first 2 meetings. Cunningham is 8-12-20 on the season tops among all Ranger prospects.

Tomas Kundratek (2008 3rd) missed his second straight game with the flu but his Medicine Hat Tigers did not miss him at all. The Tigers battered the Red Deer Rebels 9-2.

(Chris Doyle Courtesy of Katherine Ep, Derek Stepan and Ryan McDonagh Courtesy of Melody Hasse)

His Speed Kills

noreply@blogger.com (Jess Rubenstein) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 07:43:00 +0000

On an otherwise quiet Thursday evening Carl Hagelin (2007 6th) of the Michigan Wolverines gave some serious hints that the 2009-10 season was going to be his break out season.
Hagelin was named the game's "First Star" as Hagelin's 4th ranked Michigan Wolverines jumped out to a 3-0 lead and held on for a 3-2 win over the Niagara Purple Eagles.

Hagelin notched his 2nd goal of the season as he is off to his best start in his career at Michigan at 2-1-3. It was a nice finish of a play where Hagelin was standing alone on the right side of the goal and just slammed the feed into the net for Michigan's 2nd goal of the game.

It is a change from previous seasons where the fast skating Hagelin would get off to slow starts or simply miss on easy setups. Hagelin as a junior has been asked to take his game to a higher level by Michigan Coach Red Berenson this season has responded so far.

We have been a fan of Hagelin since his freshman season as his skating, his forechecking and his ability to score clutch goals. Before his highlight reel goal against Notre Dame in the 2008 Frozen Four, we felt that this young man from Sodertalje, Sweden had NHL potential.

As a freshman, it was his very impressive defensive skills and forechecking ability that got our attention. At the time little did we think that the Rangers would be switching coaches to John Tortorella but Hagelin would thrive in the "Safe is Death" system Tortorella uses.

Hagelin in 82 games prior to this season has respectable career numbers of 24-29-53 but we have predicted that Hagelin has the potential to put up 25 goals this season. If he does then Michigan will have a great chance to return to the Frozen Four in 2010.

The only other Ranger prospect in action on Thursday evening was Luke Pither (Traverse City) of the Barrie Colts. Pither who is the leading goal scorer among Ranger prospects with 10 goals (2nd overall scorer with 18 points) was held scoreless as his Barrie Colts fought back from trailing 3-1 in the 3rd period only to fall in the shoot out 4-3 to the Sarnia Sting.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Getting Ready for a Big Weekend

Friday night will have all the top Ranger Prospects in action highlighted by a huge test for 2009 1st round pick Chris Kreider as his Boston College will be facing Notre Dame. Wisconsin with Derek Stepan and Ryan McDonagh will be looking for their first win of the season as they head to Minnesota State.

That plus 11 other Ranger prospects will be in action on Friday night and we will have all the results for you.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Check This One Out Yourself

Wednesday evening was also the Kingston Frontenac's annual salute to the Canadian Military and this year they brought in Don Cherry to help raise money for the Canadian charity "Soldier On.

Each member of the Frontenacs wore a special Don Cherry jersey that is currently being sold on EBAY to raise funds for Soldier On. Here is the link to the Ethan Werek jersey that currently is up to 510.00 US dollars.

The best way to describe these uniforms is to not describe them as they are beyond ugly. But it is for a good cause and one day Ethan Werek will be wearing a Ranger uniform.

(Hagelin courtesy of B Shields of MLive.com)

Toughing it Out Prospect Style

noreply@blogger.com (Jess Rubenstein) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 03:32:00 +0000

Playing a game during the middle of the week is actually a lot harder for prospects than most fans will realize. Unlike at the NHL level, the majority of these kids are attending some type of school during the day whether it be high school or college.

People also are not aware that just like at the college level a player's grades can keep him out of a lineup as the CHL leagues do have grade standards that players are expected to adhere to.

Having said all that, it was still good to see the 3 prospects toughing it out in their own ways to help their teams as best they could.

Sam Klassen (2009 UFA) continued his excellent play as his setting up of Travis Toomey for a shorthanded goal in the third period turned out to be the game winning goal as Klassen's Saskatoon Blades won their 6th straight 4-3 over the Regina Pats. Klassen made an almost impossible pass between the Regina defense to send Toomey in on a shorthanded breakaway.

Klassen talked about how much he wanted to improve his offensive skills but that pass was a work of art. Klassen has been a factor in each of these wins as the Blades are now in first place of the WHL's East Division with a record of 8-2-0-2.

Klassen in addition to his assist finished the game with a +2 to bring his season numbers up to 1-5-6 and a prospect leading +9 with 18 PIMS.

Luke Walker (Traverse City) did not score but was such a factor at both ends of the ice that the home town Lethbridge media gave him the game's "second star" as Walker's Portland Winterhawks won their second straight this time a hard fought 4-3 overtime win over the Lethbridge Hurricanes.

With the win the Winterhawks have taken over as the top team in the WHL's Western Division with a 10-5 record. Not bad for the team that many considered to be one of the worst in all of the Canadian Juniors just last year.

Walker was getting the job done at both ends of the ice, using his body, breaking up offensive plays and being the on ice leader that the Winterhawks need as they continue this impressive start to their season.

Walker is 8-8-16 +8 with 28 PIMs (including 2 fighting majors) and as he told us the confidence he gained from playing at Traverse City has taught him he can play at the next level. The Rangers did not make any promises to him but one has to think that the Rangers are watching Walker very closely this season.

Ethan Werek (2009 2nd) returned to the Kingston Frontenac lineup after missing the last 2 games with a "lower body" injury and to be honest we were surprised to see him back so soon. We were expecting Werek to be out of the Kingston lineup for at least another game or 2.

It says a lot about Werek's courage to play hurt as his Kingston Frontenacs had dropped 2 straight games without their leading goal scorer. The Frontenacs hosted the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors on Wednesday evening and even with Werek back in the lineup dropped a 4-3 decision to the Majors.

The Frontenacs were hurt by giving up 3 goals in the second period as they were playing catch up for most of the game. Werek was not at 100% but was able to notch an assist on a late power play goal for his 13th point of the season.

--------------------------------------------------------------

We typically just list the sites that allow us the use of their images to help show the kind of effort that Ranger prospects give on a given night. Tonight we would like to give some special thanks to the folks who help us show you what your prospects look like.

For example tonight's images starting with the first one of Sam Klassen was provided to us by Steve Hiscock Photography. Our second image of Luke Walker comes to us courtesy of the Portland Winterhawks. The last image which is of Ethan Werek was taken by Aaron Bell of the OHL Images.

We also are lucky enough to get pictures of our QMJHL prospects Chris Doyle and Ryan Bourque from a very nice young lady by the name of Katherine Ep. Our college images are given to use from the Sports Information Departments of the various colleges.

And we even have to say thanks to the New York Rangers and National Hockey League for the use of their images as well. We mention these names because too often when traveling the web most of the images we see posted are not credited back to those who took those pictures.

As much as we want credit for our own work, it is only fair that those photographers who provide us with some great action pictures receive credit for their own hard work.

(Klassen: Steve Hiscock Photography, Walker: Portland Winterhawks, Werek: Aaron Bell/OHL Images)

Serving Up Some Excellent Soup

noreply@blogger.com (Jess Rubenstein) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 05:46:00 +0000

Prospect Park Prospect Of the Week

A 2 goal, 2 assist weekend is not a bad way to get one's season going and that is exactly what Max Campbell (2007 5th) of the Western Michigan Broncos this past week. Campbell a junior at WMU was a big part of why his Broncos were able to earn a 2 game weekend sweep of Mercyhurst and thus earning our Prospect of the Week honors.

Campbell a center was part of a line that was 6-9-15 for the 2 games which is why Western Michigan was able to start their 2009 season 2-0. Paired with J. J. Crews (4-1-5) and Greg Squires (0-5-5), this line walked away with the majority of stars for the weekend set.

Campbell got his season off with a 2 assist evening last Friday night as well as going 10-8 on his faceoffs as WMU won 5-1. On Saturday Campbell was even better as his 2 goals keyed a WMU comeback from being down 2-0 to give them a 3-2 lead.

Campbell also went 13-6 on his faceoffs as he earned "First Star of the Game" for his efforts in a WMU 4-3 win. Campbell spent his own money this past off season to be able to attend the Ranger's summer Prospect Development camp for the second season in a row and it appears to have paid some dividends right from the start.

Campbell is a pure goal scorer who has a knack for scoring on the power play and from in the slot. He is not the biggest dog on the ice at 6' 190 but opponents have discovered that it is hard to out work him once he gets set up in the slot area. We think Campbell is going to improve on his 16 goal numbers from last season and show some serious consistency this season.

We think we will be serving up a lot of Soup this season as he just might lead the Ranger college prospects in goals this season. Considering the company Campbell is keeping that would be a pretty good accomplishment.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

It was going to be the only time that Luke Walker (Traverse City) and his Portland Winterhawks were going to face Tomas Kundratek (2008 3rd) and his Medicine Hat Tigers this season but the flu bug sent Kundratek to the sidelines for this matchup and Walker's Winterhawks took full advantage.

Walker scored his 8th goal of the season and added an assist on Portland's empty net goal to help key a 5-3 come from behind win over the Tigers. It was an impressive performance by the Winterhawks as they beat the Tigers at their own game which is speed.

Walker got the Winterhawks going as his goal at 3:13 of the first period answered a Medicine Hat goal that had been scored just 36 seconds earlier. The Tigers actually led after the first period 3-1 but from the second period on it was all Portland as they took the game to the Tigers scoring 4 unanswered goals to earn the win.

Walker also was a +2 for the evening as he improved to 8-8-16 on the season.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Have a Good Laugh Folks

Wish we could take credit for finding this but the kudos belong to Gregg Drinnan of Taking Note but one time coach's headache Dale Purinton has now become a head coach himself.

The announcement is right here folks and one has to wonder how long it is going to take Purinton to get himself suspended for his behavior.

(Max Campbell courtesy of WMU and GS Photo)

A Slower Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (Jess Rubenstein) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 05:53:00 +0000

Sunday's Star

There are times when someone's effort is not going to show up on the scoreboard because they did not put up goals or assists. On Sunday Sam Klassen (2009 UFA) of the Saskatoon Blades had one of those days as he keyed a strong defensive effort to help his Blades to a 4-0 shutout win over the Edmonton Oil Kings.

Klassen has moved into the 2 spot on the Blade's defense teaming with Stefan Elliot and this pairing has become a huge reason why the Blades have 5 straight games. Klassen did not score but his +3 as well as his efforts on the penalty kill played roles in this road win.

Klassen has been on a role since October 7th as he has gone 1-4-5 with a +9 and that was also the start of the current Blade winning streak. With Klassen anchoring the Blade defensive corp, the Blades currently are the number one defensive team in the WHL holding opponents to just 2.27 goals per game.

The Rest of the Ranger Prospects

The Ranger's 2009 1st round pick Chris Kreider made his NCAA debut on Sunday as his 12th ranked Boston College took on 11th ranked Vermont in a nationally telecast game on Sunday. The results may not have been to Kreider's liking as his young Boston College Eagles were taken to the woodshed by the veteran Catamounts 4-1.

We saw some good and a few bad things out of Kreider here but the good should eventually provide a solid player for the Rangers if they let him develop and not rush him. Kreider finished 2nd on his team with 4 shots on goal and we gave him credit for 2 "dangerous" scoring chances in this.

In the first period we saw Kreider's wrist shot which has some heat on it, it was low and in time it will catch goalies unaware leading either to scores or nice rebounds for teammates. Late in the second period, Kreider had beaten Vermont goalie Rob Madore with a nice shot only for it to go off the right post.

Offensively we can't complain about any part of Kreider's game as we have to factor facing one of last year's Frozen Four teams into how well he played. The Catamounts did a good job disrupting the Eagle's offensive flow after the first 10 minutes of the game which made it hard for Kreider to use his best weapon which is his speed.

Defensively, Kreider does need to learn how to read plays better which is to be expected of a young player making the kind of jump in competition like Kreider has. Kreider fell a couple of times early for head fakes but mostly stayed within his defensive positioning.

Kreider also needs to learn how to better square up his body when trying to check, at 6'2 205 Kreider should be a tad more physical at both ends of the ice. If he does then he will create more space for himself.

Overall grade out his debut as a B-, taking into account playing against one of the better teams in Hockey East if not the NCAAs. We liked that Kreider did not show any jitters or played like he was an average freshman.

Kreider is going to get better more likely soon than later so let us watch him say in January and see how he plays then. We think it will be worth waiting for.

Daniel Maggio (2009 6th) and his Sudbury Wolves came into Sunday's OHL matchup with the Brampton Battalion with the 3rd worst defense in the league. So of course that means that the Wolves shut out Brampton 3-0 with Maggio earning a secondary assist on the game winning goal.

With the assist, Maggio is now 4-6-10 in 13 games with a -3 and 21 PIMs.

Chris Doyle (2008 5th) had a quiet game as his Prince Edward Island Rocket fell to the Saint John's Sea Dogs 5-2. Doyle was limited to just 1 shot for the game which is nothing close to what we are used to seeing out of him.

Luke Walker (Traverse City) and his Portland Winterhawks went up against their former coach Mike Williamson who is now coaching the Calgary Hitmen and the 2 teams put on a great display of wide open pond hockey. The Winterhawks will not like watching the tape of this one as they gave away leads of 2-0 and 4-3 in losing 6-5 on a goal in the last 40 seconds of the game.

Walker had a goal (Portland's 4th) and an assist on the Winterhawk's 2nd goal but was also on the ice for 2 key goals for Calgary. Walker on the season improves his numbers to 7-7-14 +5.

Tomas Kundratek (2008 3rd) had a secondary assist as his Medicine Hat Tigers held off the Swift Current Broncos 4-3 despite being outshot in the game 35-22. Kundratek is now 0-5-5 on the season.

A Favor To Ask

This month we are trying to help the American Red Cross raise money to help those great folks who respond to disasters wherever they happen. All you have to do is click on the ad in the upper right corner.

It just costs you a few minutes of your time and when you do that then we help raise money for disaster relief efforts that the American Red Cross provides. Click early and often please cause the person you one day may be helping could be yourself.

(Klassen courtesy of the Saskatoon Blades, Kreider courtesy of Boston College)

Serving Some Saturday Soup

noreply@blogger.com (Jess Rubenstein) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 06:01:00 +0000

Tonight's Star

Max Campbell (2007 5th) rarely ever gets any notice or respect from those who cover New York Ranger prospects (except us of course). They say he is too skinny, that he does not do much other than score goals among other things.

Take it from us, Campbell is a natural goal scorer, always has been and we believe in time could score at the NHL level as well. On Saturday, Campbell earned his 1st "First Star of the Game" of the season after a 2 goal performance that helped his Western Michigan Broncos earn a 2 game sweep of Mercyhurst 4-3.

With the Broncos trailing 2-1 in the 2nd period, Campbell got the tying goal when he took a feed from linemate Greg Squires and beat Mercyhurst goalie Ryan Zapolski at 6:02. Then at 15:18 while on a power play, Campbell found a loose puck in the crease and slammed it past Zapolski to give the Broncos a 3-2.

Campbell and his linemates Greg Squires and J. J. Crews combined for a 3-5- 8 evening on top of the 3-4-7 they put up on Friday evening. For Western Michigan to have any hope of a good season this line is going to have to produce numbers like this all season long.

The Rest of the Prospects

Mitch Gaulton (2008 6th) and his Erie Otters got a split of their 2 game series with the Owen Sound Attack with a 5-4 shoot out win on Saturday night. For Gaulton it was his first point in 3 games as he is now 1-4-5 on the season.

Daniel Maggio (2009 6th) scored his 4th goal of the season but Maggio and his Sudbury Wolves got whipped by the Niagara Ice Dogs 7-3. Despite scoring a goal in his 2nd straight game, Maggio wound up a -3 as the Ice Dogs outplayed the Wolves in this one big time.

Sam Klassen (UFA 2009) did not score but helped key a penalty kill that shut out the Calgary Hitmen (0 for 5) which led Klassen's Saskatoon Blades to an easy 5-1 win. With their4th straight win the Blades move to the top of the East Division standings with a 6-2-0-2.

Ryan Bourque (2009 3rd) set up the tying goal on the power play to help his Quebec Remparts come from behind and defeat the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles 5-3. For Bourque it was just his 2nd assist of the season to go along with 6 goals for 8 points.

Roman Horak (2009 5th) scored his second goal of the season but it was not enough as his Chilliwack Bruins fell to 3-6-1-2 on the season after a 3-2 loss on the road to the Red Deer Rebels. Horak is now 2-7-9 for the season.

Ryan McDonagh (Trade 2009) and Derek Stepan (2008 2nd) were held off the scoreboard as their Wisconsin Badgers skated to a 1-1 overtime tie with the Colorado College Tigers. McDonagh got called for a hooking penalty during a Tiger power play which set up a 5 on 3 power play that the Tigers scored on for their only goal of the game.

Stepan had 2 good scoring chances but could not cash either in. The Badgers are now 0-1-1 on the season.

Craig Cunningham (Traverse City) recorded his prospect leading 12th assist but his Vancouver Giants lost to the Tri-City Americans 5-3. Cunningham now leads all Ranger prospects with a 7-12-19 record.

Scott Stajcer (2009 5th) finally got a well deserved night off for the Owen Sound Attack after starting 12 straight games. Stajcer is 4-5-1-1, 3.72 GAA and 0.900 Save Percentage.

Ethan Werek (2009 2nd) got a night off but it was not what he wanted as Werek is out with a hip injury he suffered on Friday evening. Werek's status is day to day for now and we will update you when we get more information.

PROGRAMMING REMINDER

If you get ESPNU then make sure you check out 2009 First Round Pick Chris Kreider's official NCAA debut with Boston College LIVE at 5 PM EDT/ 2 PM PDT.

(Campbell picture courtesy of the Western Michigan Broncos and GS Photo)

Some Serious Friday Fun

noreply@blogger.com (Jess Rubenstein) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 06:14:00 +0000

This is the kind of problem we really do like to have having too many possible picks for our stars of the night that someone can make as much a case for one prospect being first star as another can for someone else.

In the end, one of us makes the final decision and that will be to not award anyone as 1st, 2nd or 3rd but rather honor the worthy performances as a whole. When you see this kind of effort then you have to acknowledge all of them as it has been a very long time since Ranger fans had this kind of depth and quality among their prospects.

Our Stars

First up is Ryan Bourque (2009 3rd) as his 6th goal of the season in the 3rd period tied up the game between Bourque's Quebec Remparts and the home Montreal Juniors. The game eventually wound up going to the shoot out where the Remparts won 2-1.

Bourque was simply outstanding in this one, 7 shots on goal including 3 which were called "dangerous scoring" chances. Bourque was good enough to earn the game's 3rd star from the host Montreal media which alone says a lot about his efforts.

It has been almost 18 months since we have been able to call Danny Hobbs (2007 7th) as one of our stars but welcome back Danny. Hobbs a sophomore at our UMass/Amherst set up the game winning goal as UMass shocked 2nd ranked Boston University 3-2.

In the 3rd period with the score tied, Hobbs threw a puck towards the net that linemate Will Ortiz was able to redirect past the Boston University goalie for what turned into the game winning goal. It was a happy way for the Minutemen fans to get their season off to a good start.

For Hobbs who only was 1-1-2 for the entire season this is an even better way to jump start his sophomore season.

Max Campbell (2007 5th) has long been a favorite of ours as the "Soup" has earned our respect for not only his hard work but also his willingness to do whatever it takes to learn how to improve himself as a player. The "Soup" has twice paid his own way to attend the Ranger's prospect development camp which for a college player is almost unheard of.

Campbell is entering his junior season at Western Michigan and he got his season going just right with 2 assists as WMU defeated Mercyhurst 5-1 in the season opener for both teams. Campbell is known more as a goal scorer than playmaker so this is a nice sign of his improving his overall game.

In the 1st period, Campbell found linemate J.J. Crew off the near circle that Crew cashed in for the first goal of the season for Western Michigan. In the 3rd period, Campbell teamed up with his other linemate Greg Squires to set up Crew's 3rd goal of the game which gave WMU a 4-1 lead.

All together the line of Crew/Campbell/Squires put up 3-4-7 for the game.

Craig Cunningham (Traverse City) earned himself a "First Star of the Game" after he scored 2 goals and added an assist to help his Vancouver Giants blow out the Prince George Cougars 8-0.

Cunningham scored the game's first two goals (his 6th and 7th) during a span of 2:12 to jump start the Giant's offense and they never looked back after that.

Toss in his prospect leading 11th assist in the 3rd period on the Giant's 7th goal of the game and you have a 7-11-18 record good for 2nd place in Ranger prospect scoring.

Then you have the person who is leading Ranger prospects in scoring earning himself a "first star" as well on Friday night as Luke Pither (Traverse City) scored his prospect leading 10th goal of the season and added 2 more assists to lead his Barrie Colts to a 6-2 win over the London Knights.

Pither had been quiet in recent games but broke out offensively against one of the better teams in the OHL on the road no less. Pither leads all Ranger prospects with 10-8-18.

Then there is Scott Stajcer (2009 5th) who won his 3rd game out of his last 4 (with the 4th being a shoot out loss) as he stopped 41 out of 45 shots in leading the Owen Sound Attack to a 5-4 overtime win over Mitch Gaulton's Erie Otters.

Stajcer was the main reason why the Attack got this game to overtime as he faced 21 and 14 shots in the first 2 periods alone. He did what a goalie is supposed to do which is give his team a chance to win at crunch time.

Stajcer had us worried for a while about his performance but now that he is getting some support at both ends of the ice then we are looking forward to his numbers getting even better. We do still believe it is time for him to take a rest after starting 12 straight games for Owen Sound.

The Rest of the Prospects

Mitch Gaulton (2008 6th) tried but he could not beat Scott Stajcer for any points on Friday evening as Gaulton was a -1 with 4 PIMs.

Derek Stepan (2008 2nd) had one assist while teammate Ryan McDonagh (Trade 2009) was scoreless as their 14th ranked Wisconsin Badgers lost their season opener to Colorado College 3-2. Stepan set up Wisconsin's 2nd goal of the game but the Badgers could not hold a 2-0 lead and Colorado won with 3 unanswered goals.

In case you have not seen it Ryan McDonagh is featured in this month's edition of the Blueshirt Bulletin so make sure you check it out. If you have not subscribe then if you subscribe before November 1, Dan the new boss is going to give you the October issue for free.

Daniel Maggio (2009 6th) scored his 3rd goal of the season but that was all the offense his Sudbury Wolves could muster as they lost to the Oshawa Generals 3-1. Maggio is 3-5-8 in 11 games well above his career scoring averages.

Ethan Werek (2009 2nd) had an assist as his Kingston Frontenacs had little trouble with the Peterborough Petes 7-3. Werek is now 7-5-12 in 10 games well ahead of last season's breakout season.

Luke Walker (Traverse City) had an assist but his Portland Winterhawks got whipped by the Red Deer Rebels 6-2. The highlight was Walker setting up linemate Spencer Bennett just 12 seconds into the contest but sadly the game went south for the Winterhawks after that.

Neither Tomas Kundratek (2008 3rd) or Roman Horak (2009 5th) scored as their respective teams wound up going to overtime before Kundratek's Medicine Hat Tigers scored a 2-1 win over Horak's Chilliwack Bruins. Last Friday it was Chilliwack who won the matchup of Ranger prospects from the Czech Republic.

Finally Chris Doyle (2008 5th) and his Prince Edward Island Rocket got shut out 4-0 by the Moncton Wildcats. It was a reversal of the outcome from the teams who played in Moncton the night before.

Doyle was held to just 2 shots in this game as well as just 1 hit.

(Pictures: Bourque/Katherine Ep, Hobbs/UMass, Campbell/Western Michigan(Zoltan Cohen), Cunningham/Vancouver Giants, Pither/New York Rangers, Stajcer/Owen Sound Attack)

Goals To Go

noreply@blogger.com (Jess Rubenstein) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 06:20:00 +0000

5 New York Ranger prospects saw action on Thursday evening, those who scored goals won, those who didn't score didn't win. Well to be fair one was a goalie and he did try hard to win.

Luke Walker (Traverse City) scored his 6th goal of the season while adding his 5th assist of the season as Walker's Winterhawks started a very long road trip with a 5-2 win over the Edmonton Oil Kings in WHL action. Walker is now 6-5-11 for his season.

Chris Doyle (2008 5th) scored his 6th goal of the season as well as his Prince Edward Island Rocket had little trouble defeating the Moncton Wildcats 4-2 in QMJHL action. Doyle has improved to 6-4 10 in 10 games this season.

Ryan Bourque (2009 3rd) scored his 5th goal of the season as his Quebec Remparts held off the Halifax Mooseheads 3-2 in QMJHL. Bourque is now 5-1-6 in 9 games which is about where we expected him to be at.

Scott Stajcer (2009 5th) of the Owen Sound Attack stopped 44 out of 47 shots during regulation and overtime but he could not stop the Niagara Ice Dogs from scoring in the shoot out and took a shoot out loss 4-3 in OHL action. It may have been a tough loss for Stajcer but we are seeing a turnaround in his as well has the Attack's play over the last week.

Luke Pither (Traverse City) was held scoreless as his Barrie Colts dropped a 3-2 loss to the Sarina Sting in OHL action. Pither now has gone 5 games without a goal after scoring 9 in his first 5 games.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Do not forget Sunday will mark the NCAA debut of 2009 first round pick Chris Kreider as a member of Boston College. That game will be televised on ESPNU starting at 5PM EDT/2PM PDT.

If you want a good idea as to what the Rangers drafted then here is your first real chance to see him live in game action. Kreider wears #19 for Boston College and they are expecting a lot out of him.

Friday night if you have Fox Sports Wisconsin then you will have a chance to see Derek Stepan and Ryan McDonagh in action for the first time as they take on Colorado College in their season opener. That game starts at 6PM MDT time.

(Luke Walker courtesy of the Portland Winterhawks)

Once Upon a Time

noreply@blogger.com (Jess Rubenstein) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 06:41:00 +0000

Once upon a time back when hockey players knew there were certain unwritten rules that had to be obeyed; players rarely ever touched another team's goalie. If they did then there was an immediate response that was did not care about an instigator penalty just protecting their goalie.

I bring it up after watching Henrik Lundqvist get run over not once but twice in the same game and no response from a New York Ranger. Now while the second "hit" was not the fault of the Los Angeles King as he was driven into Henrik by Christopher Higgins the first one when Peter Harrold hit Henrik was.

It is a growing trend to watch Lundqvist in his crease getting knocked down but it should be an unacceptable one to any of those wearing a Ranger uniform. If Lundqvist was a wandering goalie who got hit away from his crease then it would be hard to complain about Henrik getting hit.

Let us not kid ourselves people; the Ranger season begins and ends with Henrik Lundqvist. Anything happens to Henrik and you might as well kiss the Ranger season good-bye.

Forget saying it is Donald Brashear's job to be the team enforcer as when it comes to Lundqvist it is every single Ranger's job to protect him. Even more surprising is that of all the things one would be expecting from John Tortorella to get upset about; wouldn't running his star goalie be at the top of his list?

Yet the Rangers for the most part have been quiet and that is also a disappointment because one of these times Henrik is going to get run over and he will not be getting right back up. Complaining about Henrik getting injured will not do the Rangers any good as they could done something about it beforehand.

The next time someone even tries to knock Henrik over then that player should have every Ranger on the ice on his butt. So what if the Rangers have to kill off a penalty; better to kill off a power play than risk losing your star goalie.

Or should we simply wait until Henrik is helped off the ice with an injury?

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Mitch Gaulton (2008 6th) returned to action on Wednesday after missing 3 games due to a case of Bronchitis not the upper body injury that was originally reported. It may sound crazy but given Gaulton's injury issues that getting sick is much better news than another injury.

Even Gaulton's return to the Erie Otter lineup could not prevent the Otters from extending their winless streak to 5 games after they lost to the Kitchener Rangers 3-1. Gaulton had a quiet night in his return not much of a factor at either end of the ice.

Roman Horak (2009 5th) did not score but his Chilliwack Bruins got a 5 game road trip off to a good start with a 1-0 win over the Lethbridge Hurricanes. Horak is still off to a good start at 1-7-8 in 10 games.

(Henrik Lundqvist courtesy of the Rangers)

Sam Steps Up

noreply@blogger.com (Jess Rubenstein) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 06:03:00 +0000

Prospect Park Prospect of the Week

It has been a long hard road for Sam Klassen of the Saskatoon Blades; going undrafted did not stop the young defenseman from Watrous, Saskatchewan as he earned himself a New York Ranger contract with his hard work and determination.

Klassen had the misfortune of having an overage year left with the Saskatoon Blades of the WHL so when the Rangers had a logjam on the blueline in the system; Klassen was returned to the Blades. The Blades were very happy to have Klassen an experienced defenseman back on their roster.

Klassen had a quiet return to the Blades as one can understand being demoted back to the junior level but to Klassen's credit it did not take Klassen long to start having an impact. Klassen told us when we interviewed him for the Blueshirt Bulletin that his goal for the season was to improve offensively.

Klassen did not score in his first 3 games with the Blades and his Blades had gotten off to a 2-2-0-2 start on their season. Last week both the Blades and Klassen had very good weeks as Klassen put up a 1-4-5, +6 10 PIMs week to help the Blades win all 3 of their games.

It started last Wednesday as Klassen put up 3 assists to help the Blades to an 8-4 win over the Kootenay Ice. It was Klassen's first points of the season and match his career high for a single game.

On Friday, Klassen scored his first goal of the season, added a +4 and played perhaps his strongest game of the season as the Blades defeated the Red Deer Rebels 6-3. Klassen earned the third star of the game for his efforts to help the Blades to the road win.

Saturday, Klassen had only one assist but it was his biggest point of the week as Klassen set up Derek Hulak for the tying goal with 42 seconds remaining in regulation. The Blades went on to win the game in overtime for their 3rd straight win 3-2.

Klassen has never been known as a scorer as his career best is 1-24-25 so any extra offense he can provide the Blades will help them as they battle for a WHL championship.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Chris Doyle (2008 5th) continued his strong play earning the game's second star of the game as his Prince Edward Island Rocket shut out the Saint John's Sea Dogs 4-0. Doyle had an assist but a strong overall game with 4 shots, +1, 3 good hits and 1-1 on faceoffs.

(Sam Klassen courtesy of Steve Hiscock Photography)

Thanks for Giving Canadian Style

noreply@blogger.com (Jess Rubenstein) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 23:00:00 +0000

Our friends to the north in Canada celebrated their version of Thanksgiving on Monday so New York Ranger prospects showed their ways of giving with some pretty good efforts.

Today's Star

Scott Stajcer (2009 5th) choose Thanksgiving for his best performance of the young season as the young netminder stopped 43 out of 44 shots to lead his Owen Sound Attack to a 2-1 win over the Barrie Colts. It was Stajcer's 2nd straight win over a first place team after being winless in 6 previous starts.

Stajcer was on top of his game from the get go but put on the kind of performance we knew he was capable of in the 3rd period when he stopped 27 out of an amazing 28 shots on goal. Stajcer also earned his second straight first star as he improved to 3-5-1, 3.82 GAA and an 0.882 save percentage.

For the 2nd day in a row a team scored 9 unanswered goals as Tomas Kundratek (2008 3rd)'s Medicine Hat Tigers turned a 4-2 deficit into a 12-5 blowout win over the Kamloops Blazers. Kundratek had an assist to go along with a +2 and 17 minutes of penalties that we will take any night.

Kundratek came to the aid of one of his teammates who took a questionable hit from Blazer's Jake Trask and dropped the gloves with Blazer Ryan Hanes (call it a draw) to earn the instigator, fighting major and the misconduct.

Kundratek is now 0-4-4 in 6 games showing a much more consistent game than we saw last season. More importantly is that Kundratek is playing in Medicine Hat with a positive attitude and a willingness to be a leader in his 2nd year playing in North America.

Ethan Werek (2009 2nd) scored his 7th goal of the season but his Kingston Frontenacs got beaten by the Oshawa Generals 7-2. Werek is now 7-4-11 on the season.

Roman Horak (2009 5th) had a very quiet game going scoreless as his Chilliwack Bruins lost in the shootout 2-1 to the Craig Cunningham (Traverse City)'s Vancouver Giants. Cunningham recorded his prospect leading 1oth assist of the season in the game and scored the game ending goal in the shootout.

Daniel Maggio (2009 6th) and his Sudbury Wolves got smoked by the Windsor Spitfires 7-0 with Maggio a -2. This was not even close as the Spitfires scored 4 goals in a 23 shot barrage in the first period and cruised from there.

Luke Pither (Traverse City) was a scratch in his Barrie Colt's loss to Scott Stajcer's Owen Sound Attack. No reason given for the scratch.

(Pictures: Stajcer: Owen Sound, Kundratek: Medicine Hat)