Mid-Week Report

The Prospect Of the Week

Of all the Ranger 2007 draft picks, Danny Hobbs was the last pick by the Rangers as the second of their 7th round picks but last week Hobbs gave us a glimpse as to why the Rangers selected him.

Last weekend against the Cedar Rapids Roughriders, Hobbs put together his best weekend of the season by scoring 3 goals and an assist to help his Ohio Junior Blackjackets sweep the series. Hobbs got credit for the game winning goal on Saturday and if not for a late goal on Friday by the Roughriders would have also had the game winner in that game as well.

Those 2 very key goals have helped the Junior Bluejackets as they are now 8-2 in their last 10 games including a franchise best 5 game winning streak.

For Hobbs who has signed a letter of intent to attend UMass/Amherst next season is finally on a roll. With points in 3 straight games (3-2-5), Hobbs is raising his game up a notch which was one of the goals we set for him.

Now let us see him keep it up as Hobbs is within 2 goals and 2 points of tying his last season's performance so we are going to root for Hobbs to score 12 more goals over his team's remaining 25 regular season games.

The All-Star Performs

In a game where 2 future NHL number 1 picks got most of the attention it was the Rangers own first round pick who got the job done. Bobby Sanguinetti had 2 goals as his Eastern Conference team scored an 8-7 shootout win in the OHL All-Star Classic.

It was Sanguinetti's first 2 points in 3 All-Star appearances but his goals made an impression. The first goal was an unassisted goal just 49 seconds into the game to get the Eastern Conference going with a 1-0 lead.

The second goal was the result of his Brampton Battalion teammate Cody Hodgson setting up Sanguinetti at 14:10 of the 2nd period to give the East a 4-3 lead. The lead did not last as the game went back and forth until it was ended by the East with a shoot out win.

For Sanguinetti those goals should send a message that he belongs with some of the best young prospects in the game. While most of the attention was centered on prospects like Steve Stamkos and John Tavares, Sanguinetti showed very clearly that when he moves up to the next level that he too will become an impact player for the Rangers.

Game Action

Ryan Hillier scored his 28th goal of the season as his Halifax Mooseheads escaped with a 5-4 overtime win over the Lewiston MAINEaics. The Mooseheads had blown several leads during this game including 4-2 3rd period lead before winning in overtime.

David Skokan and his Rimouski Oceanic fought hard but lost on the road to the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles 3-2. Skokan was held scoreless and went 7-7 on his faceoffs.

The Oceanic trailed the entire game giving up 2 first period goals and having to play catch up the rest of the game to one of the QMJHL's better teams.




(Pictures courtesy of: Danny Hobbs/Ohio Junior Bluejackets, Bobby Sanguinetti/Brampton Battalion, Ryan Hillier/Halifax Mooseheads)