Not a Sunny Sunday

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)