The Prospect Park

Kundratek to The Rescue

noreply@blogger.com (Jess Rubenstein) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 02:21:00 +0000

Today's Star Tomas Kundratek

It was pointed out to us the other day that at times we are harder on Tomas Kundratek (2008 3rd) than we are most of the other New York Ranger prospects. It is hard to disagree with that because we see a ton of potential in Kundratek to become a top NHL defenseman.

We have said this before of all the Ranger defensive prospects, Kundratek is the one prospect who is perfect for the Tortorella system. Between his strong skating to his excellent passing skills to a very accurate shot; we see a player who could become a top 4 NHL defenseman.

The talent is there, the question is the willingness to put in the extra effort to elevate himself to the next level. Now Kundratek does play hard so we have no complaints there but we wonder about the decision making process as at times it does not always make the right choices.

We can understand the frustration about being sent back to the WHL instead of the chance to play at Hartford. We can understand that Kundratek could have jumped to Europe and got paid to play.

But what Kundratek has to understand is that he has to earn that spot in the AHL, that as good as he may think he is that it has to translate into performance on the ice. Kundratek has to learn how to play smart as well as hard and if he does then the Rangers will have a defenseman.

On Sunday we got to see what could happen when Kundratek puts everything together. Kundratek's Medicine Hat Tigers were facing the Red Deer Rebels; with the score 0-0 in the first period, Kundratek made a heads up play, diving to block a shot with his goalie out of position leaving the net empty.

If Kundratek does not make this save the Red Deer Rebels grab a 1-0 lead and the momentum of this game changes. It was a smart reaction play from Kundratek that prevents a goal and gets the crowd into the game.

Kundratek then earns a secondary assist on Emerson Etem's power play goal at 7:45 of the second period which gives the Tigers a 2-0 lead and eventually proves to be the game winning goal. Kundratek was on the ice for all 3 Medicine Hat goals in this game which as he did not get an assist on the first goal in the first period but he made the play that sprung the Tigers on the attack.

Until today Kundratek was the only Ranger prospect (besides goalie Scott Stajcer) who had not scored a goal. Kundratek finally got his first of the season at 12:59 of the second period as he read how the power play was developing then came down into the slot where Etem hit him with a pass and Kundratek had a wide open net to score into.

That gave the Tigers a 3-0 lead which they held onto for a 3-1 win. Kundratek earned the "Third Star" for his efforts as he played a nice smart all-around game.

Ethan Werek (2009 2nd) saw his 7 game scoring streak come to an end (7-4-11) as his Kingston Frontenacs lost their 2nd in a row to the Plymouth Whalers 4-1. In all fairness this was Werek's 4th game in 4 nights and that he had enough to play a decent game says a ton about his conditioning.

Mitch Gaulton (2008 6th) and the Erie Otters did not have to face Scott Stajcer (2009 5th) in the second half of their 2 game series in Owen Sound but the result was the same as the Otters lost 3-2 to the Attack. Gaulton was scoreless in this game and a -1.

Ryan Bourque (2009 3rd) was used as a center by his Quebec Remparts against the Montreal Juniors in the Rempart's 5-2 win. While Bourque did not play too badly: 1 assist, 9-10 on faceoffs, +1, 2 shots and 2 hits, it does not look like where the best use of Bourque's skills would be.

If Bourque was bigger than 5'9 then we could understand trying him there but as small as Bourque is then playing him on the wing remains the better choice.

Chris Doyle (2008 5th) was also used as a center on Sunday by his Prince Edward Island Rockets; Doyle was also not that bad at center as he too netted an assist, was 4-5 on faceoffs and had 3 shots as his Prince Edward Island Rocket won a wild one 6-5 in overtime over the Chicoutimi Saguenéens.

The game winning goal came at with less than 1/10 of a second remaining in the overtime period as the Rockets came back from trailing 3-1, 4-2, and 5-4 to win. The Rocket scored 4 goals in the 3rd period to force overtime with Doyle assisting on the Rocket's 4th goal of the game.

(Kundratek courtesy of the Medicine Hat Tigers)

One for Mr. Scott

noreply@blogger.com (Jess Rubenstein) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 06:38:00 +0000

It was another interesting evening to follow New York Ranger prospects as we really had a mixed bag of performances to show for a Saturday night.

Tonight's First Star Scott Stajcer

It was be a whole lot easier to get a clearer idea as to the NHL potential of Scott Stajcer (2009 5th) if he was not playing on a struggling team like the Owen Sound Attack. The Stajcer we saw last season gave hints of a becoming a solid NHL prospect but this season has been more about crossing our fingers and hoping.

Saturday evening was one of those nights where you saw Scott Stajcer the solid prospect as he put on a strong performance stopping 42 out of 43 shots to lead his Attack to a 3-1 win over Mitch Gaulton and his Erie Otters. When Stajcer gets defensive support from his teammates he can be very hard to beat.

Against Erie, Stajcer was rock solid as he came 4:56 from recording his first OHL shutout but settled instead for his 8th win of the season. Stajcer improved his record to 8-11-1-1 with a 3.66 goals against and a 0.904 save percentage.

Something we have noticed about Stajcer that keeps us on high on him is an interesting trend we noticed that with Stajcer is that he plays better when he faces more shots.

When Stajcer has faced over 40 shots in a game, his record is 5-1-1-1 on the season. Yet when Stajcer faces less than 40 shots then his record drops to 3-10 which we have no explanation for as the average number of shots an OHL goalie tends to face in a game is 34-35.

Second Star Craig Cunningham

Funny thing is that when it comes to Craig Cunningham (Traverse City) the first thing everyone seems to mention is that he is a mid-sized player. Here is something to think about Ryan Callahan was Cunningham's exact size at Cunningham's age (19) and he did not turn out bad.

For the second time this season, Cunningham had a 4 point night as his 1-3-4 evening put a 7-3 spanking on Luke Walker and his Portland Winterhawks. It was a solid performance for Cunningham who is in the midst of a breakout season at 13-24-37 in just 27 games which is way ahead of his numbers of last season (28-22-50 in 72 games).

Cunningham (8th in WHL scoring) got his evening going with his 13th goal of the season at 11:53 of the 2nd period to give Vancouver a 3-1 lead. After Luke Walker cut the score to 3-2, it was Cunningham who set up Lance Bouma for what proved to be the game winner at 18:50 of the second period.

Cunningham also had 2 secondary assists on Vancouver power plays as the Giants blew the game open late in the 3rd period.

Third Star Roman Horak

It is safe to say that Roman Horak (2009 5th) is trying to send a message to those who make the selections for the Czech Republic's Under-20 team that he wants on. Even though Horak's Chilliwack Bruin's lost in the shootout 4-3 to the Kamloops Blazers; Horak rightfully earned the game's "Third Star" to earn his 4th game star in his last 5 games.

Horak's 11th goal of the season tied the game at 3-3 at 15:29 of the third period and became the first (and only) Bruin this season to score on his shootout attempt. In Chilliwack's previous 3 shootouts they never got past the 2nd shooter so tonight Marc Habscheild went with Horak as his second shooter.

Horak over his last 5 games is now 5-3-8 +5 as he has risen to third in WHL rookie scoring. Prior to this season, Horak was an unknown to Ranger fans but that is changing very fast. How the Rangers were able to "steal" Horak with a 5th round pick is impressive as this is no one way player as Horak plays a rock solid 2 way game.

The Rest of the Ranger Prospects

As already mentioned Luke Walker (Traverse City) scored for the Portland Winterhawks in their 7-3 loss but what we did not mention was that it was a shorthanded goal (1st of the season) and his 15th overall. Something else to mention is last season Walker was a -17 and so far this season he is up to a +14.

That is a huge turnaround no matter who you play for and here is hoping the Rangers get him under contract before the NHL draft (if they can).

In the Owen Sound/Erie Otter matchup, Mitch Gaulton (2008 6th) was held scoreless ending a 4 game scoring streak (1-4-5). Gaulton's game has improved but we still want to see more goals from him.

Luke Pither (Traverse City) had an assist to extend his own scoring streak to 4 games as his Barrie Colts won their 11th straight game 4-2 over the Saginaw Spirit. Pither is now 18-18-36 which puts him in 5th in the OHL scoring race.

Daniel Maggio (2009 6th) had a rough night taking 2 different minors as his Sudbury Wolves gave the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors 10 power plays (3 that the Majors scored on) enroute to a 5-1 loss. The Majors outshot the Wolves 54-20 in a game that wound up getting out of hand due to the lack of discipline from the Wolves who had 21 penalties called on them.

Chris Doyle (2008 5th) did not score but went 6-3 on his faceoffs and was credited for one good hit as his Prince Edward Island Rocket jumped out to a 3-0 lead then held on for a 3-2 win over the Chicoutimi Saguenéens.

Carl Hagelin's (2007 6th) 5th goal of the season got the 15th ranked Michigan Wolverines going as they defeating Bowling Green 4-1 to end a 5 game losing streak. Hagelin's goal just 2:18 into the game helped give the Wolverines some jump as they ended their worst losing streak in 21 years.

Ryan McDonagh (2009 Trade) and Derek Stepan (2008 2nd) each earned secondary assists as their 16th ranked Wisconsin Badgers used their penalty kill to power themselves to a 4-1 win over St. Cloud State. The Badgers killed 7 out of 7 St. Cloud power plays and held the Huskies to just 19 shots on the game.

McDonagh recorded his 7th assist on the season while Stepan's assist was his 6th.

Chris Kreider (2009 1st) was scoreless as his 18th ranked Boston College Eagles settled for a 3-3 tie against the Maine Black Bears. Kreider had a quiet game for the Eagles who came away with 3 points from the 2 game set.

Max Campbell (2007 5th) and his Western Michigan Broncos on the scoreboard played top ranked Miami of Ohio to a 3-3 overtime tie (WMU lost the shootout 2-1 and did not get the extra point). Campbell did not score but went 7-4 on his faceoffs.

Campbell did miss on his shootout attempt.

(Stajcer courtesy of NHL.com, Cunningham courtesy of the Vancouver Giants, Horak courtesy of the Chilliwack Bruins)

Going Toe to Toe

noreply@blogger.com (Jess Rubenstein) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:44:00 +0000

Typically when New York Ranger prospects go head to head with each other one player tends to get the better of the other. Rarely do we ever get to witness both prospects putting up numbers but we did in Chilliwack.

First Star (Tie) Roman Horak and Luke Walker

Last Sunday Roman Horak (2009 5th) and his Chilliwack Bruins took on Luke Walker's (Traverse City) Portland Winterhawks in Portland with Horak's Bruins winning 5-4 behind Horak's 2 goals. On Friday it was the Bruin's turn to be the hosts but the outcome was not much different.

The Bruins won this matchup 6-4 but what was different was that both player put up 2 goals and an assist each. The difference was that Horak got the game winner and had a +3.

Horak got the night going when he took a feed from defenseman Mitch Topping and beat Portland goalie Ian Curtis for Chilliwack's 2nd goal at 12:41 of the first period. Less than a minute later Luke Walker fed Chris Francis for a goal at 13:21 to cut Chilliwack's lead to 2-1.

That score carried over into the second period when Horak teamed with linemate Ryan Howse on a 2 on 1 shorthanded breakaway that Howse converted for a 3-1 Bruin lead.

Luke Walker then pulled the Winterhawks into a a 3-3 tie with 2 straight goals; the first came at 14:19 off a feed from Chris Francis. Then Walker being double shifted 4 minutes later tied the game at 18:04.

Chilliwack scored to take a 4-3 lead before the end of the 2nd period and in the third Horak and Howse team up again for a shorthanded goal this time it was Horak who scored at just 55 seconds into the 3rd period for a 5-3 lead that Chilliwack eventually turned into a 6-4 win for their 3rd straight win.

Horak, the game's "Second Star" finished with a career high 3 points scoring his 9th and 10th goals of the season with his 14th assist. Horak also was a +3 as he is now 10-14-24, +10.

Walker earned the game's "Third Star" in a losing effort with his 13th and 14th goals of the season and his 12th assist. Walker is now 14-12-26 as he is well on his way to topping his 29-23-52 of last season.

Second Star Luke Pither

Luke Pither (Traverse City) was the entire Barrie Colt offense during regulation as his 2 first period goals were all the Colts would score during regulation against the Brampton Battalion. The Colts though scored in overtime to earn their 10th straight win 3-2.

Pither scored his first goal on the power play at 11:18 of the first period; it was his 11th power play goal of the season and his 17th goal of the season.

Pither added his second goal of the night also on the power play at 16:44 for a 2-0 Barrie lead. It was power play goal number 12 and 18th overall (tops among Ranger prospects).

Pither earned the game's "First Star" for his efforts as he is now 18-17-35 good for 6th in the OHL. His 12 power play goals leads the entire OHL.

The Rest of the Ranger Prospects

We were concerned how Ethan Werek (2009 2nd) would do playing his 3rd game in 3 nights but he was fine. His Kingston Frontenacs on the other hand were not as they saw their 4 game winning streak come to a crashing halt 8-1 to the Kitchener Rangers.

Werek had an assist to extend his scoring streak to 7 games as he is now 15-12-27.

Mitch Gaulton (2008 6th) had 2 assists as his Erie Otters came back from down 4-2 in the 3rd period but lost in overtime 5-4 to the London Knights. Gaulton has a 4 game scoring streak of his own (1-4-5) but was a -3 for the evening.

Daniel Maggio (2009 6th) had an assist for his 13th point of the season while earning the game's "Third Star" for a strong 2 way game as Sudbury shut out the Saginaw Spirit. Maggio has been playing well even if the Sudbury team has been struggling.

Chris Doyle's (2008 5th) Prince Edward Island Rocket returned to action after having 2 games postponed last weekend when half the team came down with the flu. Doyle scored his 9th goal of the season and played a decent game but the Rocket lost to the Moncton Wildcats 5-4.

Doyle scored the Rocket's first goal of the game, was 5-3 on his faceoffs. registered 3 shots and 1 good hit.

Ryan Bourque (2009 3rd) and his Quebec Remparts also returned to action after fighting the flu bug but their game was still in the sick bad as they were spanked 6-1 by the Shawinigan Cataractes. Bourque was held to just 2 shots on goal.

Sam Klassen (2009 UFA) was a +2 as his Saskatoon Blades won their 4th straight 4-1 over the Moose Jaw Warriors. The Blades now have points in 12 straight games as they lead the WHL.

Tomas Kundratek (2008 3rd) had an assist for his 12 point of the season as the Medicine Hat Tigers held on to defeat the Prince Albert Raiders 6-4. Kundratek and his Tigers now have won 4 straight.

Kundratek is the only Ranger prospect (besides Goalie Scott Stajcer) without a goal on the season.

Carl Hagelin (2007 6th) and his 15th ranked Michigan Wolverines dropped their 5th game in a row to Bowling Green 4-2. It is the first time since 1988 that Michigan has lost 5 games straight.

Hagelin was held scoreless despite firing 4 shots.

Max Campbell (2007 5th) was held to just 1 shot as his Western Michigan Broncos were shut out 3-0 by top ranked Miami of Ohio. The killer was giving up 2 shorthanded goals to the best defensive team in college hockey.

Chris Kreider (2009 1st) was held to no shots and was a -1 as his 18th ranked Boston College jumped out to a 2-0 lead and then held on for a 4-3 win over the Maine Black Bears.

The Badger Brothers, Ryan McDonagh (2009 Trade) and Derek Stepan (2008 2nd) were both held scoreless as their 16th ranked Wisconsin Badgers were upset by St. Cloud State 4-1.

(Horak courtesy of the Chilliwack Bruins, Walker courtesy of the Portland Winterhawks, Pither courtesy of Aaron Bell/OHL Images)

Ethan's Subways Tastes Great

noreply@blogger.com (Jess Rubenstein) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 04:34:00 +0000

If the World Under-20 Championships were to start today, there is a good chance that the New York Rangers would not have any of their prospects on the team. Ethan Werek (2009 2nd) is doing his best to change that though and we hope Team Canada gives him a chance to earn a spot.

As we talked about yesterday Werek has caught fire as of late with a 7-4-11 run in his last 6 straight OHL games. Werek has almost doubled his season numbers over the last 2 weeks and is now on a pace to score 47 goals this season if he stays healthy.

Werek was named to the Team OHL roster for just one of the two games in the Subway Super Series as these rosters were set before Werek got hot. They are important because Hockey Canada uses the 6 games played among the 3 Canadian Junior Leagues to decide who earns an invite to the final evaluation camp for the World Under-20s.

Since Werek did not get an invite to the first camp his chances of earning a roster spot or camp invite in all honesty are slim at best. It did not help Werek that last season he was playing on a weak Kingston team but Werek has been a key part of this season's turnaround and hopefully that will be taken into account.

Werek did not play badly against Team Russia as Werek got a primary assist on Taylor Beck's power play goal at 9:06 of the second period. The goal tied the score at 2-2 as Team OHL went on to win 5-2.

If Werek does not make it to Hockey Canada's roster this year then we fully expect him to be a part of it next year. Werek now returns back to his Kingston Frontenacs as they host the Kitchener Rangers on Friday.

It will be interesting to see how well Werek handles 3 games in 3 nights.

In other action, Danny Hobbs (2007 7th) and his 11th ranked UMass Minutemen continued their surprising season by
defeating 9th ranked Yale in a non-conference matchup 4-3 in overtime.

Hobbs had a quiet evening not scoring or even getting off any shots but played another solid game for the Minutemen. It is a huge turnaround for Hobbs from his freshman season where he spent half the season as a healthy scratch.

This season Hobbs has played in every game with a 1-4-5 stat count in 10 games. Hobbs has worked his way up the depth chart to where he has been used as mainly as the 2nd line left wing.

We do see though where his coach Don Cahoon is wanting to see Hobbs show more confidence in his offensive game. Hobbs averages under 2 shots a game and we know him from his days with the Columbus Junior Bluejackets so he should be shooting the puck a lot more than he has been.

It would be nice to see Hobbs continue to improve as he is a very really good young man who is majoring in legal studies.

(Werek courtesy of OHL Images/Aaron Bell, Hobbs courtesy of Dennis Peace)

Hello Team Canada

noreply@blogger.com (Jess Rubenstein) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:22:00 +0000

One of the areas that the folks who decide who earns an invite to the final evaluation camp for Team Canada's Under-20 team is how well a player has been playing prior to the camp.

Well Team Canada may we please make a case for Mr. Ethan Werek (2009 2nd) of the Kingston Frontenacs? You guys kind of overlooked him this past summer despite his scoring 32 goals as a OHL rookie in 66 games.

That is OK because here we are in the 2009-10 season and Ethan already has 15 goals in just 21 games including 2 huge goals Wednesday evening to lead his Kingston Frontenacs to a 3-2 come from behind overtime win over the Mississauga St. Micheal's Majors.

All Werek did was score the tying goal and then the overtime winner to earn his 3rd "First Star" in a week. Thanks to Werek's heroics the Frontenacs have a 4 game winning streak and opened up a 4 point lead over the Peterborough Petes in the OHL's East Division.

The team they beat was no slouch either as the Majors just so happen to be the OHL Eastern Conference leaders. All Werek did with his 2 goals was end the Major's 5 game winning streak.

And the goals that Werek scored were typical of what he has been doing all season long; crease area rebound goals. The first goal which tied the game came at 2-2 came at 11:31 of the 3rd as Werek gobbled up a rebound off a Tyler Moat shot and beat Major's goalie Chris Carrozzi .

The game winner was why the Rangers think they may have their future power forward as with the Frontenacs on the power play in the overtime, Werek grabbed another rebound and one timed it past Carrozzi for the win.

Our friends from the Frontenacs once again provided us with the video tape to watch so check it out and see why we are becoming fast fans of #25.

The goals helped Werek extend his own scoring streak to 6 games as Werek has gone 7-4-11 during that streak. Werek also has been climbing up the OHL scoring list as he jumped from 30th to 21st after this game.

And on Thursday Werek will be playing for the OHL All-Stars against Team Russia in the Subway Super Series up in Barrie. Werek will not be hard to spot, he wears 25 and will be the one out working the Russians.

Luke Pither (Traverse City) earned his own "First Star" as the Barrie Colt forward scored his 15th and 16th goals of the season while adding his 17th assist as his Barrie Colts won their 9th straight game 6-2 over the Peterborough Petes .

Pither now has back to back 3 point games with the Petes being the victims in both games. For Pither it is part of his own hot streak as he has 10 points (4-6-10) in his last 5 games.

The Colts thanks to the win now have points in 11 straight games as they are fighting for first place in OHL's Eastern Conference with the above mentioned Majors.

As for Pither he too is jumping into the OHL scoring race as with his 16-17-33 numbers they are good for 6th place. Pither also with his getting hot again has also taken back the lead in the Ranger's prospect scoring race due more goals than Vancouver's Craig Cunningham.

Speaking of Craig Cunningham (Traverse City); he and his Vancouver Giants were generous hosts to Roman Horak's (2009 5th) Chilliwack Bruins as the Bruins whipped the Giants 6-1 to pay them back for a home loss last week on Remembrance Day. Cunningham had an assist (21st) for his 33rd point while Horak may not have scored but played yet another solid 2 way game for the Bruins.

Luke Walker (Traverse City) and his Portland Winterhawks traveled up to Kelowna to face the defending WHL champs the Kelowna Rockets. Walker had a quiet day but his Winterhawks jumped out to a 3-0 lead before settling for a 4-2 win.

Still now that the first CSB lists are out here is a name that folks should tuck away for the 2010 NHL Draft as this is a player who's stock is rising every day. His name is Nino Niederreiter and he just might be the best player to come out of Switzerland in years.

We are talking premier talent with a 6'2 200 lb body. This is not your average 17 yr old as he already is 10-12-22 in 24 WHL games. CSB had him listed 5th in the WHL in their first list but expect him to be Top Ten when draft time arrives.

We are really beginning to feel sorry for Scott Stajcer (2009 5th) as one has to wonder how much his confidence can take when his defense in front of him disappears. It is like we are watching Antoine Lafleur all over again as Stajcer has to be picture perfect or he is going to look bad.

Take Wednesday night as Stajcer's Owen Sound Attack lost to the Saginaw Spirit 7-5. People will see 6 goals for Stajcer and think he was terrible when he was not. The Attack jumped out to a 3-0 lead and then forgot to play the rest of the game.

Stajcer was charged with 6 goals on 34 shots but in reality 3 goals were because his forwards did not come back and the 2 were bad board bounces. One has to wonder how much playing on the team with the worst record in the OHL is going to affect his development.

Daniel Maggio (2009 6th) and his Sudbury Wolves are not in much better shape as they have the second worst record in the OHL. Maggio was a -2 as the Wolves got blown out by the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds 7-0.

(Werek and Pither courtesy of OHL Images/ Aaron Bell and Terry Wilson)

Really is There Any Difference?

noreply@blogger.com (Jess Rubenstein) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 07:40:00 +0000

So the New York Rangers gave their fans what they wanted when they fired Tom Renney and replaced him with John Tortorella. Out with the bland and in with the fan favorite.

So are we really seeing anything different besides the talents of Marian Gaborik?

Honestly it is almost like a mirror of last season where we watched the Rangers jump out to a great start and then turn into the leaders of inconsistency. After a 7-1 start to the season; the Rangers have gone 4-8-0-1 ever since then.

We see a lot of the same questions surrounding this team that we did last season such as scoring problems, taking too many bad penalties and even worse Rangers getting run and nobody doing anything about it supposedly because they don't want to take a penalty.

The Tortorella quote that is getting a ton of coverage:

“I thought, for most of the game there, we played. Obviously our biggest weakness is that we are not getting any secondary scoring. We played in surges at times. We held them to 11, 12 scoring chances. We just aren’t creating enough with our secondary scoring.”

For starters you have created a team that has become totally dependent on Marian Gaborik, just like Tom Renney did when he had Jagr on the Ranger roster. Yes I know the Rangers are missing Drury and Dubinsky but as Andrew Gross pointed out neither was sorry when they were healthy.

It is funny how while people love to point out the differences between Tortorella and Renney that they are not seeing how the two coaches are too much alike. It is in this area why we are seeing the ugly side of Ranger's hockey.

Everyone complained that Tom Renney changed his lines around on an almost game by game basis; John Tortorella does it only worse as he will change lines almost every period. Now how exactly can one expect the team to develop scoring when they first need to develop some chemistry with each other.

When you have no idea who is going to be your linemate from one shift to the next then you are going to have problems getting scoring chances unless it is the result of an individual effort like Gaborik for the most part has been. Take away Gaborik and Prospal and this Ranger team is in deep trouble.

No team no matter how much talent they add is going to become a winner until they develop chemistry with each other. It goes back to this annual problem of the Rangers being dependent on free agents to stock their key roster spots not develop them on their own.

You are not going to purchase chemistry as every Ranger fan has seen that since 1997, chemistry is developed over time with players who grow up in the same system together. Until the Rangers learn that lesson we are going to keep seeing quotes about what is wrong from the coach.

Put together lines and give them 2-3 games to see if they can come together as units; swapping them out every other period is not going to work. We are seeing Ryan Callahan being turned into a checking forward after his 22 goal season last year WHY?

Yes it is nice that Callahan is leading the NHL in hits but sorry that is not why he got that bump in pay after last season. It is totally unacceptable that Callahan has just 3 goals in just 21 games as we should be expecting 25-30 this season from him.

Put him where he can be used as a scorer not as a checker as if you want some checkers use the 4th line more than 4 minutes a game. The Rangers are currently built as one scoring line, two very confused lines, and 3 guys who take up close to 3 million dollars of cap space just to have free ice level seating.

Remember how Tortorella told us how much we Ranger fans would love see Brashear protecting his teammates? How Brashear would be a deterrent from people running at the Rangers?

Tom Renney said he never believed in using enforcers but at least Colton Orr was used about 10-12 minutes a night. If Brashear is a better overall player than Orr was then how come we see him only being used for 3-4 minutes a night?

This is not a knock on Brashear cause he can't protect his teammates if he is sitting on the bench for all but 3:47. I may not like the guy but if he is dressed then use him or bring in people you are going to use.

We watched now in back to back games rookie mistakes cost the Rangers, unlike Renney would would never point a finger at the player we saw Tortorella finger point. Sorry coach but point the finger at yourself too because a good teacher of a coach would have already taught his rookies lessons on how to play at the NHL level.

That is why you have Schoeny as one of your assistant coaches instead of hiring a full-time one right?

Yes I know it is only a quarter of the season gone by but all the symptoms from the Tom Renney years are already rearing their ugly heads and Renney is not even here anymore.

There is no excuse for a coach who does a great job talking to get more out of this team. This team has much more talent as a whole that last seasons but it simply is not being used right and the finger there needs to be pointed at the coach.

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Only 1 Ranger prospect in action on Tuesday evening as Tomas Kundratek may have had a quiet evening but his Medicine Hat Tigers still won 4-3 over the Brandon Wheat Kings. The Tigers have put together 4 good efforts and despite all the strange things that have happened to them have found themselves with the 5th best record in the WHL at 13-9-2-3.

(Tortorella courtesy of the New York Rangers)

2009 Just Might Turn Out Fine

noreply@blogger.com (Jess Rubenstein) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 07:15:00 +0000

New York Ranger scouts wherever you reading this please stand up, take a bow, heck take 2 bows because the more we watch the more we see the class of 2009 is going to be another winner for the Rangers and their fans.

First Star Roman Horak

When the Rangers used the first of their 5th round picks on Roman Horak; everyone was scrambling who is this guy as none of us had a single clue.

The only thing we were told was Horak was someone who had some decent offensive skills and was worth checking out. As both the pre-season and Traverse City came and went, Horak's name started showing up more and more as a player who was having an impact.

On Sunday we got our own firsthand look at the young man from Ceske Budejovice in the Czech Republic and boy was he fun to watch in action. Whichever Ranger scout discovered Horak deserves a very nice holiday bonus from the Rangers for the gift he gave to the Rangers and their fans.

For starters, Horak is not just a one way player as he was working hard at both ends of the ice. The Chilliwack Bruins use him as a center and with great reason as he was 13-2 on his faceoffs.

We counted 23 shifts for Horak which includes 10 on the power play and 2 on the penalty kill. A fluid skater who has no wasted movement to his skating, we liked his speed and a very nice compact stride to it.

On defense, we liked how Horak was aware of where everyone was on the ice, making sure he covered anyone who came into his zone of coverage. Horak was willing to use his body to block shots (we counted 2) and to check Winterhawks (another 2 good hits).

On offense, Horak had 2 goals in this game mainly because Horak spent the majority of the night in the Winterhawk crease. The first came at 17:38 as Horak outworked Winterhawk defenders and pushed the puck past Winterhawk goalie Kurtis Mucha to give his Bruins their first lead of the game 3-2.

In the second period, Horak was on the power play when he grabbed the puck and with a quick move then flick of the wrists lifted the puck over a screened Mucha. For Horak the goals were his 7th and 8th of the season and gave him 4 points for his last 2 games.

So what does Horak need to work on? Right off the bat he needs some weight especially in the upper body as I was surprised at how skinny he was but his strength is very deceptive as he was winning battles in the corners.

Second it would be nice to see him shoot the puck more which is part of the adapting to the North American game. Play a little more selfishly with the puck as he was very hard to knock off the puck so he can generate either more scoring chances or draw power plays.

Ranger fans will love his work ethic, that on offense all you have to do is look towards the slot or crease as Horak unlike many European prospects heads right there and stays there and that he plays hard on every shift at both ends of the ice.

This was actually one of the more entertaining games we have been at as Portland jumped out to a early 2-0 lead, Chilliwack responded with 4 straight goals, then Portland scored 2 to tie the game before Chilliwack scored a power play goal in the 3rd period and held off the Winterhawks for a 5-4 win.

Horak is 8-13-21 +6 with 14 PIM in 25 games.

Second Star Ryan Bourque

Prior to attending the Winterhawk game, we watched Ryan Bourque turn in yet another strong solid performance as the Rangers 3rd round pick from the 2009 draft had 2 goals on 4 very good scoring chances as his Quebec Remparts rallied from down 3-1 with 4 goals in the 3rd period to defeat the Drummondville Voltigeurs 5-4.

Bourque made both of his goals count as his first came at 5:00 of the 3rd period tied the game at 3-3. Quebec then scored to take the lead just 7 seconds later and Bourque then added his second goal of the game just 2:18 later for what proved to be the game winning goal on the power play.

It was Bourque's 9th and 10th goals of the season and his first game winning goal in the QMJHL. Bourque is now 10-12-22 with a 4-4-8 mark for the month of November.

Rest of the Ranger prospects

Ethan Werek (2009 2nd) saw his 4 game goal scoring streak end but had a secondary assist on his Kingston Frontenac's first goal of the game (just 14 seconds in) as the Frontenacs held off the Sarina Sting 4-3 to win their 3rd straight game and take possession of first place in the OHL's East Division.

Doug Gilmour has done quite a job turning the Frontenac around but Werek with a 13-11-24 season is a big reason why.

Chris Kreider (2009 1st) had an assist in a losing effort as his Boston College Eagles lost to the Vermont Catamounts 3-2. For Kreider it was his 3rd assist of the season as the young freshman is now 1-3-4 in 6 games.

Luke Walker (Traverse City) did not score against Roman Horak's Chilliwack Bruins only because he had one goal taken from him on a highlight reel save from Bruin goalie Mark Friesen and a second by an alert Bruin defender who knocked away a bank shot off Friesen's back that was headed in.

Walker actually played well despite the loss as he showed us some skills we had not seen before starting with some strong defensive play during a 5 minute penalty kill in the second period which kept Portland in the game. The other is how well he plays all 3 forward positions especially at center as if you remember those 2 faceoff losses that Horak had?

Both were against Walker who won all 4 faceoffs he took. We would leave Walker at center as he played his best when used there.

Craig Cunningham (Traverse City) and his Vancouver Giants would rather not have us mention that they got beaten badly at home by the Seattle Thunderbirds 5-0. The WHL's Western Conference leaders were out played in every area of the game.

The Giants will get to pay for their poor play with what will be a really hard hitting practice on Monday.

(Horak courtesy of Bob Frid/Freemotion Photography, Ryan Bourque courtesy of the Quebec Remparts)

A Tale of Two Lukes

noreply@blogger.com (Jess Rubenstein) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 04:58:00 +0000

For a welcome change the New York Ranger prospects had a mostly productive Saturday evening including a return from an almost lost prospect.

First Star: Luke Pither

It has been quite a while since last we saw Luke Pither (Traverse City) at the top of our report as he started his season on fire then cooled off. Saturday evening Pither led his Barrie Colts with a 3 point evening as they cruised to a 6-1 win over the Peterborough Petes for their 8th win in a row.

Pither had 2 goals as well as an assist as he earned the game's "First Star." Pither got his night going when he scored Barrie's first goal of the evening just 11 seconds into the game.

Pither had a secondary assist on Barrie's fourth goal and then finished off the evening with a power play goal in the 3rd period. Pither improved his season numbers to 14-16-30 which gives him the goal scoring lead and ranks him 2nd among Ranger prospects in scoring.

Second Star Luke Walker

Just like Luke Pither it has been a while since we have seen Luke Walker (Traverse City) of the Portland Winterhawks here. Walker has played well this season as the Winterhawks have been on of the surprise teams in the WHL.

Facing the defending WHL champion Kelowna Rockets, Walker's unassisted goal at 17:12 of the second period tied the game up at 2-2 as the Winterhawks went on to earn a 3-2 win. It was Walker's 12th goal of the season as it broke a 4 game mini goal scoring slump.

Walker on the season is 12-11-23 but also a +12 which is not bad considering that Walker is playing on Portland's top line. Last season Walker scored 29 goals and it is not hard to expect him to blow right past that number this season.

Third Star Roman Horak

It is rare that someone earns a star when his team loses but Roman Horak (2009 5th) of the Chilliwack Bruins earned this one with a 2 assist effort as his Bruins lost to the Red Deer Rebels 5-2.

After a strong October, it has been a somewhat quiet November for Horak who only had 2 points in his last 6 games. Of the class of 2009, Horak has been the extra present as he has shown flashes of offensive skill especially as a playmaker.

It will be interesting for us on Sunday as we will be seeing how Horak does against Luke Walker and his Portland Winterhawks.

The Rest of the Ranger Prospects

Ryan McDonagh (2009 Trade) had one assist while fellow prospect Derek Stepan (2008 2nd) who had 2 assists as they helped their Wisconsin Badgers to a 6-2 win over the Alaska Anchorage Sea Wolves.

McDonagh and Stepan teamed up for the assists on Wisconsin's 2nd goal of the game as they broke a 1-1 tie and never looked back. The win gave the Badgers a 2 game sweep of the weekend.

Chris Kreider (2009 1st) scored his first NCAA goal as his 16th ranked Boston College Eagles avenged an earlier loss to 15th ranked Vermont with a 7-1 whipping. Kreider scored the Eagle's 6th goal at 2:46 of the 3rd period but otherwise had a quiet game.

Boston College improved to 4-2-1 on the season and will face Vermont again on Sunday afternoon.

Max Campbell (2007 5th) had 5 shots on goal but just 1 assist as his Western Michigan Broncos dropped the 2nd game of their weekend series to the Ohio State Buckeyes 4-2. It was a rough weekend for Campbell and Co. as Ohio State kept their offense in check in both games.

For the first time since 2005, the Michigan Wolverines have a 4 game losing streak after being shut out 2-0 by in state rivals Michigan State. Carl Hagelin (2007 6th) and his teammates are sporting a 4-6-1 record which by it's self is shocking as we are not used to seeing Michigan with a losing record.

Danny Hobbs (2007 7th) saw his 3 game scoring streak come to an end as his UMass Minutemen lost for just the 2nd time this season falling 4-2 to the University of New Hampshire. Hobbs was 1-3-4 during his streak.

Tomas Kundratek (2008 3rd) did not score but his Medicine Hat Tigers are showing signs that they are turning things around with their 3rd straight strong effort in a 4-2 win over the Lethbridge Hurricanes.

Sam Klassen (UFA 2009) and his Saskatoon Blades depending on how you want to look at things have a 2 game winning streak; have not lost in regulation in 11 games or are 9-0-0-1 in their last 10 games. In any case, the Blades defeated the Prince George Cougars 3-2 as Klassen was scoreless but a +1.

Ryan Bourque (2009 3rd) was used as a center for the first time this season for an entire game and did not play bad at all. Bourque had an assist but was 10-5 on his faceoffs as his Quebec Remparts defeated the Rimouski Oceanic 6-3.

It was a very good effort by Bourque but his future in the NHL is on the wing because of his small size.

Scott Stajcer (2009 5th) gave up 3 goals in facing 32 shots as his Owen Sound Attack lost to the Brampton Battalion 4-1. With the loss Stajcer dropped to 7-10-1-1 with a 3.87 GA and a 0.904 save percentage.

The numbers are really not all that bad considering that Owen Sound is rebuilding and Stajcer does not always get a lot of support from his teammates.

Mitch Gaulton (2008 6th) and his Erie Otters saw their 4 game winning streak come to a crashing halt as they got whipped 5-2 by the Windsor Spitfires. The Spits fired 55 shots on goal and if not for Erie goalie Jarslov Janus this score wound have been a lot worse.

Gaulton had an assist to give him a 3 game scoring streak and points in 4 of his last 5 games. Gaulton is playing better and it is good to see as to earn a contract from the Rangers he is going to need to show still even more given the glut of defensemen in the system.

(Pither courtesy of Terry Wilson/OHL Images, Luke Walker courtesy of the Portland Winterhawks, Horak courtesy of Bob Frid/Freemotion Photography)

The Werek Wrecking Machine

noreply@blogger.com (Jess Rubenstein) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 07:36:00 +0000

Tonight's First Star - Ethan Werek

It seems like it was just yesterday that we were singing the praises of Ethan Werek (2009 2nd) after a 3 point night. We wondered how long it would take for him to have another night like he did.

The answer was simple just one day and one game later as Werek had his 2nd straight game with 3 points as well as the "First Star of the Game" as Werek led his Kingston Frontenacs to a 4-1 win over the Belleville Bulls. Werek did slip a little as he was only a +2 against the Bulls but we will not hold it against him.

Yesterday Werek was the goal scorer but against the Bulls it was Werek the playmaker as Werek had 2 assists and 1 goal on the evening. Werek got his evening going by setting up teammate Corey Durocher for a shorthanded goal at 4:59 of the first period for a 1-0 Kingston lead.

After Andy Bathgate (grandson of Ranger Hall of Famer of the same name) tied the score in the second period, Werek went back to work in the 3rd period. Werek set up the game winning goal as he fed Mitch Lebar just 46 seconds into the 3rd period for a 2-1 lead.

The Frontenacs added another goal exactly 59 seconds later at 1:45 then Werek put the Bulls away for good when he scored his 13th goal of the season at 3:39 for the 4-1 lead and the Frontenacs were well on their way for their 2nd straight win and pulled to within 1 game of a 500 record at 10-11-0-2 which is good for 2nd place in the OHL's East Division.

Somewhere out there one of our newest Facebook Friends Jayson Letsch has got a huge smile on his face as if he was happy with Werek yesterday then he should he even happier today. Werek now has a 4 game goal scoring streak (5 goals), 8 points in those 4 games and goal number 13 means he leads all Ranger prospects in goals (13-10-23).

Second Star - Danny Hobbs

OK so we are going to eat some serious crow here as when UMass Head Coach Don Cahoon told us that he saw Danny Hobbs (2007 7th) as a serious offensive weapon this year we thought he was just being nice to us and was not trying to hurt out feelings. Turns out that the coach knew something we really did not have a clue about which was the "Danny Hobbs Coming Out" party."

Hobbs set up Casey Wellman for the game tying goal with just 11 seconds remaining in regulation as the 10th ranked UMass Minutemen went on to score in overtime to defeat the University of New Hampshire 4-3. Hobbs had another assist earlier in the game (setting up Justin Braun on UMass's 2nd goal of the game) as part of a personal career night for the sophomore from Shawville, Quebec.

When you only had 2 points during your freshman season it is not hard to pass your totals but Hobbs has in a matter of 3 games. Hobbs has a 3 game scoring streak (1-3-4), his 2 assists were a single game high in points for him as well as a new career high in points.

Even better is that UMass is off to their best start in over 8 years at 7-1 as the team expected to be at the bottom of the Hockey East conference is sending a message they are for real.

Third Star - Mitch Gaulton

Nothing is nicer to see then when you say you would like to see something from a prospect and he goes out and delivers. On Thursday we mentioned that we wanted to see some more offense from Mitch Gaulton (2008 6th) of the Erie Otters.

Gaulton picked a great time to score just his 2nd goal of the season as the young defenseman from Grimsby, Ontario scored the game tying goal at 11:45 of the second period as the Otters won their 4th straight game 3-2 over the Oshawa Generals.

For Gaulton it was his first goal in 15 games but his Otters appear to have turned their season around as they have reached the 500 mark (9-9-2-1). Gaulton has been a key reason as to why the Otters have their 4 game winning streak as he has been 1-3-4 +7 during this stretch.

The Rest of the Ranger Prospects

It was a wild affair in Sudbury as the Sudbury Wolves and Mississauga St. Micheal's Majors took turns blowing leads before the Majors eventually won in the shootout 6-5. Daniel Maggio (2009 6th) did not score but somehow in all this offense managed a +1.

In this one the Wolves had a 3-1 lead only to see the Majors come back and score 4 unanswered goals to take a 5-3. The Wolves then scored 2 goals to tie the game and send it into overtime before the eventual loss.

Sam Klassen (UFA 2009) did not score but was a +1 as his Saskatoon Blades had to go to the shootout before defeating the Brandon Wheat Kings 4-3. The Blades lead the WHL with 37 points and are currently 9-0-0-1 in their last 10 games a very impressive mark.

Tomas Kundratek (2008 3rd) had an assist but took what proved to be a costly crosschecking penalty as his Medicine Hat Tigers lost in the shootout to the Calgary Hitmen 3-2. It was nice to see the Tigers play 2 good games back to back for a change.

Kundratek now has 10 points on the season all assists.

Derek Stepan (2008 2nd) had an assist while Ryan McDonagh (Trade 2009) was held scoreless as their 21st ranked Wisconsin Badgers improved to 5-3-1 with a 5-1 win over the Alaska Anchorage Sea Wolves.

For Stepan it was his 3rd assist on the season (3-3-6) came on Wisconsin's 4th goal while McDonagh's penalty's led to the Sea Wolves only goal of the game.

Carl Hagelin (2007 6th) scored his 4th goal of the season at 12:07 of the 3rd period but it was not enough as his 6th ranked Michigan Wolverines lost 3-2 to instate rival 14th ranked Michigan State. It was the first time since 2001 that the Wolverines had lost 3 straight home games.

Hagelin is now tied for 2nd in Michigan team scoring but his Wolverines are a shocking 4-5 this season. Hagelin is 4-4-8 on the season

Max Campbell (2007 5th) and his Western Michigan Broncos let a 1-0 3rd period lead slip away and lost to Ohio State 4-2. Campbell had a bad evening as he was a -2, took a minor and was 3-6 on his faceoffs.

Craig Cunningham (Traverse City) set up the game winning goal with his 20th assist of the season and prospect leading 32nd point as his Vancouver Giants defeated the Red Deer Rebels 4-1.

Sadly this game is going to be more about the end of the game fights (6 fighting majors at 19:54) which will lead to fines and suspensions for both teams.

(Werek/Ian McAlpine, Hobbs/Dennis Pause, Gaulton/OHL Images)

The Werek Wrecking Crew Returns

noreply@blogger.com (Jess Rubenstein) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:03:00 +0000

Every season there is one prospect who just grabs our attention not just for his on ice play but for the things he does off the ice as well. This year it is Ethan Werek the Rangers 2nd round pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.

We knew about Werek way before the Rangers selected him in the draft as we got introduced to his play during his OHL rookie season when we were following Michael Del Zotto and Evgeny Grachev. Werek's Kingston Frontenacs were in a rebuilding mode having hired former NHLer Doug Gilmour as their coach.

In back to back games against 2 of the better OHL teams Werek had goals in both games so we kept watching him as he wound up on a 4 game goal scoring streak. If not for Evgeny Grachev then our vote for OHL Rookie of the Year would have gone to Werek who finished the season 32-32-64.

When we saw that the Rangers had stolen this 6'2 200 lb power forward in the 2nd round; we actually felt that Werek was a better pick than first rounder Chris Kreider and in many ways still do. Werek may not have Kreider's speed but Kreider does not have Werek's heart or his intelligence.

On Thursday night Werek earned yet another "First Star of the Game" as he had 2 goals and an assist along with a +3 to lead the Frontenacs over the Brampton Battalion. The nice thing about covering Frontenac games is we can show you why we like someone's effort via the good old YouTube.

It does not take long to find Werek highlights (Kingston is wearing black and Werek wears #25) as he sets up teammate Erik Gudbranson for a shorthanded goal at 4:32 of the first period for a 1-0 Kingston lead. Werek and Co had kept Brampton pinned in their own end when Werek spotted Gudbranson pinching in and hit him on the fly.

In the second period with Kingston up 2-1, Werek scored his 11th goal of the season as followed teammate Michael Farrell into the offensive zone and Farrell hits Werek with a great pass right onto his stick in the slot for a 3-1 Kingston lead. The goal was at 17:46 of the second period.

In the 3rd, Werek capped off the Kingston evening with his 12th goal of the season as Farrell again find Werek open but on this one it was Werek who did the hard work. Werek deked past the Battalion defender and just fired a shot that beat Battalion goalie Patrick Killeen for a 5-1 lead at 6:55 of the period.

Now why this is really standing out for us is just 6 days earlier the same 2 teams met and Werek had several great scoring chances stolen from him by some great play by the same Patrick Killeen. This time it was Werek making sure he got the better of the encounter.

Werek now has goals in 3 straight games as he is now 12-8-20 with a +5.

In the only other game featuring Ranger prospects, Luke Pither (Traverse City) and his Barrie Colts had little trouble with Daniel Maggio's (2009 6th) Sudbury Wolves shutting them out 5-0. Pither had a very quiet night but Maggio in the losing effort actually had a pretty decent game.

As crazy as this will sound we thought Maggio played a decent defensive game with a couple of correctable areas that we believe in time he will fix. First Maggio is not afraid to stand his ground in his own zone, he is not going to let anyone just set up shop as Maggio will fight you for the slot area.

The other area is that despite the score being so lopsided we did not see Maggio's effort change, he played hard as if it was a 0-0 game. He has the misfortune of being on a struggling Sudbury team going though some very rough times.

We do want to see Maggio though take more charge in his own zone, with his size 6'3 202, Maggio should try to use it to dominate in the zone. Having Jeff Beukeboom as one of his teachers is going to help him as he develops.

We also want to see Maggio work on his passing skills a bit more or more importantly a faster decision making process for him. Make a decision and get that puck out of the zone helps not only protect the defense but can help generate offense.

One other thing which is Maggio showed signs of having some offensive skill earlier in the season; it has disappeared and when your team has trouble scoring sometimes you need to take it upon yourself to help generate offense. Maggio in 21 games is 5-7-12 but only has 1 assist in his last 7 games.

We want to see Maggio with at least 10 more goals this season (gives him 15) as we think he has it in him.

Before we go we want to share a picture our friends from the OHL Images let us have. Now on the week where Brian Leetch was rightfully given his place in the Hockey Hall of Fame; let us not forget the other half of perhaps the best defensive partnerships in Ranger's history Jeff Beukeboom.

We have often wondering how things might have turned out if Beukeboom had not seen his career cut short by that sucker punch from Matt Johnson in 1998. Still here we are in 2009 and "The Beuk" is now an assistant coach.

Beuk has a bright future ahead of him if he decides to become a head coach. We are watching Daniel Maggio improve as the season goes along and a lot of the credit belongs to Beuk.

(All images courtesy of OHL Images/Aaron Bell/Terry Wilson)

Smiley Gives Us A Reason to Smile

noreply@blogger.com (Jess Rubenstein) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:24:00 +0000

We have not had many chances to talk much about Mitch Gaulton (2008 6th) this season in part because he has been having a quiet season and because others have been putting up better offensive numbers. It is a shame too because Gaulton is one of the nicer prospects one would get to meet.

Those of use who have followed him gave him the nickname of "Smiley" in part because he always has a happy smile on his face but mainly because of his positive attitude despite going though some really tough times.

So it was nice to see on Veterans Day that Mitch had his best all around performance of the season as Gaulton recorded one assist with a +4 to help his Erie Otters win their 3rd straight game 5-2 over the Saginaw Spirit.

Give Gaulton and his Otter teammates a lot of credit for how well they have handled all that has happened with the Michael Liambas suspension and the media circus that has followed it. Instead of falling apart the Otters have played some of their best hockey of the season rallying as a team to not only win 3 straight games but also to go 6-3-1 in their last 10 games.

Gaulton's assist was a secondary one on the Otter's first goal of the game but it was his play in the 3rd period that caught our eye. With the Otters trailing 2-1 entering the 3rd period, Gaulton and company turned up the pressure scoring 4 unanswered goals including 3 in a span of 4:13 to break open what had been a close game.

Now we hope to see more of this out of Gaulton as the season goes on as we know he has a lot more offense in him than he has shown so far (1-8-9 in 17 games).

We admit it; when it comes to Tomas Kundratek (2008 3rd) and his Medicine Hat Tigers that we have no idea what to expect when they play. When this team shows up ready to play they can play with the best teams in the WHL but at the same time when they don't they will drive you nuts.

Case in point, on Wednesday night the Tigers were hosting the Tri-City Americans who entering this game had the best winning percentage in the WHL and the 2nd best overall record. In all honesty we were expecting the Tigers to get beaten badly by the Americans.

So of course Medicine Hat scores 6 unanswered goals over the last 25 minutes of the game to whip the Americans 6-1. Kundratek did not score but was a +1 and a big part of a Tiger penalty kill that held the Americans to just 1 for 7 on their power plays.

Perhaps the best way to describe the Tigers is to compare them to the Rangers of 2008-09 as they could beat the best in the NHL then turn right back around and lose the next night to the worst in the NHL. An inconsistent team if there ever was one; on one hand the Tigers lead the WHL in goals scored with 103 but at the same time, they also have given up the 3rd most goals in the WHL.

Craig Cunningham (Traverse City) and his Vancouver Giants have for the most part owned Roman Horak's (2009 5th) Chilliwack Bruins over the last couple of seasons. Wednesday was no different as Cunningham set up what proved to be the game winning goal on the power play in the 3rd period as the Giants won going away 5-1.

The Giants scored 4 goals in the 3rd period in this one to break open the game as they held the Bruins to just 6 shots on goal to win their second straight game. The Bruins dropped their 2nd straight.

Cunningham leads Rangers prospects with a 12-19-31 mark and Horak in his first season in North America is a respectable 6-11-17.

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The Flu is Bugging the QMJHL

A lot of people have gotten upset that some teams in sports have reportedly gotten shots for the H1N1 flu ahead of the general public. At first we thought the same until we start doing a little thinking after watching the QMJHL postpone a game here and a game there and now 3 games this weekend.

We got this from the QMJHL today:

BOUCHERVILLE, Wednesday, November 11, 2009 – The Commissioner of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, Gilles Courteau, today announced that three additional games have been postponed due to the H1N1 virus.

The following games have been postponed: Shawinigan at Acadie-Bathurst (Friday), Baie-Comeau at P.E.I. (Friday) and Shawinigan at P.E.I. (Saturday). An announcement will be forthcoming as to when the games will be replayed.

"Since a few players from both the Shawinigan Cataractes and P.E.I. Rocket organizations have contracted the virus, we have decided to postpone three games as per outlined in our prevention protocol. These steps have been taken after consulting with our chief physician, Dr. Sylvain Boutet, and both team doctors. Thankfully, none of the players need to be hospitalized. Our goal is to remain proactive in regards to the health and security of our players. We will not take any unnecessary risks. I would like to thank both organizations for their cooperation in this matter," said the Commissioner.

We heard that half of the Prince Edward Island Rocket is out with the flu and started doing some math. Actually more often than in the NHL, players in the juniors do a ton of public appearances as a group.

They visit schools, hospitals, senior care centers and other places where the public gather. They play in front of a few thousand people so if say half the Rocket team is carrying the flu bug wonder how many people they could potentially expose the virus to in just a couple of days?

Scary thought when you look at it huh?

(Gaulton courtesy of OHL Images, Kundratek courtesy of the Medicine Hat Tigers)

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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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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)