Glory Days

It is funny but the supposed experts seem to think that the New York Ranger prospects are not all that good. We have to wonder who are they watching as the Ranger prospects we are seeing are pretty damm good.

Evgeny Grachev is a prospect that every time we see him he does something else to get us excited. Come tomorrow by 2 PM EDT we also expect that Grachev will be named the the 2008-09 recipient of the Emms Family Award for the OHL Rookie of the Year as well as a member of the OHL First Team All-Rookie team.

Tuesday night Grachev gave us a lesson about his willingness to win when he crashed the next with 35 seconds left in regulation to score the tying goal for his Brampton Battalion and tie the score at 3-3. The Battalion eventually went on to lose on overtime 4-3 to the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors to tie their playoff series at 2 games each.

It was the kind of goal we had been wanted to see from Grachev as it was what you want from an impact player; it was the badly needed goal when your team needed it the most. To set the stage, the Battalion were trailing 3-2 with under a minute remaining and having pulled their goalie.

The Battalion won a faceoff (Cody Hodgson) and got the puck behind the net where Matt Duchene threw it out front where Grachev crashed in to blast the puck into the net. Now with this series tied at 2-2 we are going to get good look at how Grachev handles adversity as he needs to elevate his game in order get the Battalion to the Eastern Conference finals.

This series is going to go the distance of 7 games and the team that wins is going to be the one who's best players step up and we will get to see how Grachev handles what is now a best of 3 series.

We talk about how the playoffs are where players will earn their good or bad reputations. Right now anyone who is wondering about Michael Del Zotto needs to think twice about it as Del Zotto is playing his best hockey of the season for his London Knights.

Del Zotto told us in November that his main goal this season was winning a championship not how many points he scored because as Del Zotto put it "winning will take care of the points." Did we mention how smart Del Zotto just so happens to be as his bold prediction is coming true.

Del Zotto notched his 14th point of the OHL playoffs as his London Knights eliminated the Saginaw Spirit in 4 games with a 5-3 win and now advance to the OHL Western Conference finals. In 9 playoff games, Del Zotto is 2-12-14 +7 and just 2 PIMs which are all career highs with the exception of goals but we are sure before Del Zotto is done that too will change.

Now Del Zotto and the Knights get a chance to rest up as the other conference semifinal between Windsor and Plymouth is tied up at 2-2. This will be the 5th trip to the conference finals for the Knights in the last 6 years.

Oh did we forget to mention the advantages of Del Zotto playing for Dale Hunter the former NHL player? Just look at the changes and improvements to Del Zotto in the playoffs and say thank you to the former Ranger foe.

During the first 2 games of their WHL playoff series against the Tri-City Americans, Tysen Dowzak and his Kelowna Rockets basically helped to beat themselves into a 0-2 series hole with their play.

Coming home to Kelowna, the Rockets badly need to get better efforts from both forwards and defense if they had any hope of getting back into this series. Dowzak and his fellow blueliners put on a defensive show as they limited the Americans to just 16 total shots on goal as the Rockets blew out the Americans 7-2.

Dowzak and his teammates also were very strong on the penalty kill limiting the Americans to just 1 for 7. That defense helped generate offense as the Rockets were on the attack taking the game to the Americans as the Rockets got 7 goals from 7 different players.

If one ever needed a class on how important special teams are to a team's playoff chances then watch the tape of this game. In addition to the penalty kill, the Rockets went 4 for 9 on their power play which was the final difference maker for this win.

Now if the Rockets play like this then this series just like the Brampton series will wind up going 7 games. They do not get a chance to savior this win as they go back to work on Wednesday for Game 4.

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We would be remiss if we did not not only congratulate Ryan Callahan for winning the McDonald award but we also want to congratulate Ranger fans and the Blueshirt Bulletin as well. Callahan there is no need to explain why he deserves this award.

We congratulate the Ranger fans for once again proving that to the Ranger's management that it is the homegrown talent that means more to the fans than the fat contract free agents. Callahan's win makes it 5 straight wins by a Ranger draft pick for this important of team awards.

Ranger's management has said that Ranger fans do not support no-name unknowns; Ranger fans sent a long loud message about the kind of players they want wearing Broadway Blue AGAIN. They want those who will never say quit and will bring pride to the Ranger uniform.

We also congratulate the Blueshirt Bulletin because the only ones who believed that Callahan was ever going to make it to the NHL was us at the Blueshirt Bulletin. Everyone else said he was too small for the NHL but during the 2005-06 season we told the Ranger fans that Callahan was everything that Ranger fans wanted in a player from his heart to his ability to score goals.

(Grachev:Brampton, Del Zotto/Stu Switzer (Phatso Photography), Dowzak/Tim Swanky)

1 Up 2 Down

Nat Loh made a good point in his comment about how if things keep going the way they are we just might have to rename the Staal Standard after Michael Del Zotto or Evgeny Grachev. Right now we would have to say that Del Zotto is starting to blow everyone out of his path the way he has been playing.

In our previews about the prospects in the playoffs, we have harped upon the need for them to be active and involved in order for their teams to win. As we have seen the more active they have been the better the results have been for the prospects.

Michael Del Zotto had an assist on London's first goal as the London Knights defeated the Saginaw Spirit 4-1 to take a commanding 3-0 series lead. It was more than Del Zotto's assist that stood out as his play with defensive partner John Carlson has allowed each to play their game at their very best.

While Del Zotto was having his 3 point night yesterday, Carlson was back covering for him. Today as Carlson was having his 2 assist game, there was Del Zotto playing the defensive role.

This is a pairing that goes beyond describing as lethal as Del Zotto's 2-11-13 and Carlson's 1-10-11 is 2nd and 3rd among OHL defensemen in playoff scoring. In fact Del Zotto is now the 3rd leading playoff scorer on the Knights (AND 12th overall in the OHL) as he set a new career high in playoff points.

The key has been Del Zotto's skating as both he and the Knights have more speed than the Saginaw Spirit and it is the biggest reason why on Tuesday Del Zotto and the Knights go for the sweep.

We also got tipped off to this clip of Del Zotto from February when he scored a shootout goal.



Evgeny Grachev actually has gone now 2 games in a row without scoring as the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors may have figured out a way to slow Grachev and his Brampton Battalion down. The Majors defeated the Battalion 5-1 on the Battalion's home ice to cut the Battalion series lead down to 2 games to 1.

Grachev had chances to score but the Major's goalie JP Anderson came up huge denying Grachev on several occasions including 3 different times during a Battalion 5 on 3. The Troop simply did not not take advantage of their power plays (1 for 8) and were outworked by the Majors.

The key was that the Majors wanted it more than the Battalion and it showed on the ice in the effort put out by the two teams. This in it's own way could be a good thing for Grachev as now we get to see how he responds to a "mini-slump."

We said in the series preview that if Grachev put up numbers then the Majors were going to lose the series, so far in 3 games Grachev (and to be fair his linemates as well) have not produced which is why this is a series instead of a 3-0 lead for the Battalion.

Game 4 will be in Mississauga on Tuesday so this will be good but we think Grachev will respond to the challenge.

Out west, Tomas Kundratek and his Medicine Hat Tigers are in a lot of trouble that is their own doing. The Tigers dropped Game 2 of this WHL series 8-6 to trail the Brandon Wheat Kings in this season 2-0.

The Tigers had a 5-2 lead in the first period and then the Brandon Wheat Kings scored 5 straight goals of their own to take a 7-5 lead. Kundratek set up Linden Vey for a goal that made the score 7-6 late in the third period but the Wheat Kings added the empty netter for the final score.

Here is what is going to make a lot of people scratch their heads as the key to the win was actually the Wheat King's defense. Kind of hard to understand in an 8-6 game but what happened was when the Tigers went up 5-2, the Wheat Kings clamped down on them and forced turnover after turnover which led to scoring chance after scoring chance.

Kundratek and company simply can not solve the Wheat Kings who are a team that we realize that most of you know nothing about. For starters they are coached by former Flyer's coach Kelly McCrimmon, they have 6 guys who scored 20 or more goals during the regular season.

They had the second best record in the WHL's Eastern Conference finishing with 103 points on the year. They will have 2 players go in the Top Ten of the next NHL Entry Draft in Brayden Schenn and Scott Glennie (0f course would Glennie fall to where the Rangers could draft him we would not cry).

In any case, as much as we like the folks in Medicine Hat they are not going to be able to overcome this hole especially now that the 4 out of the next 5 possible games will be played in Brandon.

Hartford will be adding another defenseman at the end of this week.

(Del Zotto courtesy of Stu Switzer of Phatso Photography)

A Deadly Del Zotto Deals Out a Defeat

2008 is going to become known as the year of outstanding Ranger prospects as the 2008 draft class may wind up becoming the best in Ranger's history. 5 of those picked are legit prospects towards becoming NHL players; normally a draft is a winner if you get 2 NHL players.

Evgeny Grachev rightfully gets a ton of the publicity because of his play but the player selected in the first round Michael Del Zotto is a very solid player in his own right. Del Zotto in fact is fast becoming a huge difference maker for his current team the London Knights.

If anyone has ever gained from being traded it was Michael Del Zotto; coming to the London Knights has allowed him to work on his overall game. Del Zotto is never going to be a defensive stopper but his defense is improving with each passing game.

Saturday night, Del Zotto had a goal along with two assists as his London Knights held off the Saginaw Spirit 4-3 to win game 2 of their playoff series and move to a 2-0 series lead. It was Del Zotto's 4th game where he provided the key points for the Knights during the playoffs.

Del Zotto got his night going by scoring a power play goal at 6:51 of the first period to tie the score at 1-1. It was Del Zotto's second goal of the playoffs and it was just the beginning for Del Zotto.

With the Knights up on a 5 on 3, Del Zotto then fed good friend John Tavares for Tavares's 5th goal of the playoffs again on the power play at 12:39 of the second period which put the Knights up 3-1. Less than a minute later and still on the power play, Del Zotto earned a secondary assist on yet a 3rd power play goal for the Knights at 13:23 and a 4-1 Knight lead.

It turned out to be the biggest goal of the game as Saginaw mounted a furious comeback in the 3rd period and if not for a goal post would have tied the game to force overtime. The Knights took their foot off the gas pedal and it almost cost them big time.

The Knights biggest weapon is their skating skill and Del Zotto is one of the best skaters, to quote Morris Dalla Costa of the London Free Press:

Make no mistake about it, all the hockey people knew Del Zotto's value. He is one of the most talented offensive blue-liners in the league. He too was a game-breaker.

Memo to Larry Brooks of the New York Post, Del Zotto was never a mistake and 7 games into the 2009 OHL playoff season, Del Zotto is 2-10-12 which ties his career high but we also think Del Zotto is just beginning to find his game.

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If Tysen Dowzak and his Kelowna Rockets drop their series to the Tri-City Americans they will only have themselves to blame especially the way they gave away Game 2 of this series. The Rockets gave away a 2-0 lead allowing 3 third period goals to the Americans to lose 3-2.

The Rockets now trail this series 0-2 and can only blame themselves for this hole that they find themselves in. When you are up 2-0 then go for the kill and do not give the other team any hope of coming back which is of course what the Rockets did.

Dowzak had too quiet of a night but he was not alone as the leaders of the Rockets were too quiet. The Americans despite trailing 2-0 owned this game with scoring chance after scoring chance.

Tomas Kundratek and the Medicine Hat Tigers got whipped 6-3 in their season opener against the Brandon Wheat Kings. The nicest thing we can say is that Kundratek did not have as bad a game as some of his teammates.

However this one is going to put the Tigers in a huge hole because the WHL had to schedule this series to start in Medicine Hat due to arena issues so 3 of the next 4 games will be in Brandon.

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Mitch Beck of Howlings passed along that Corey Cowick's stay with Hartford is over before it ever got started. Cowick failed his Wolfpack physical due to a previous shoulder issue and has returned to Ottawa.

(Del Zotto courtesy of Stu Switzer of Phatso Photography)

Different Day Same Result

Game two of the Brampton Battalion's series against the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors was what you expect from playoff hockey. It was back and forth heavyweights throwing bombs trying to land that knockout punch and the last save of the game decided the outcome.

Evgeny Grachev's Battalion earned a very hard fought 2-1 win on the road over the Majors and lead the series 2-0. Grachev actually had a very quiet game which given his play this season is news in itself.

Grachev did not score and even took a high sticking penalty in the third period that could have cost his Battalion the game. The Troop killed of the penalty as they did all 4 Major power plays.

In this game the star was both goalies as the Battalion's Thomas McCollum (Re Wings 2008 1st) and the Major's rookie J.P. Anderson put on a show and a half. The corny story was that this was a game that neither goalie deserved to lose fits here as both made spectacular saves that kept this to a 2-1 game.

The two teams have Saturday off before Game 3 in Brampton on Sunday.

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Tysen Dowzak and his Kelowna Rockets opened their WHL second round series with the Tri-City Americans with a 4-3 loss that they can blame themselves for this loss.

The Rockets fell behind 3-1 into the 3rd period rallied to tie the score but fell on a power play goal with under 2 minutes to go in regulation. The difference in this game was special teams as the Americans scored 2 power play goals that proved to be the difference.

Dowzak did not play badly and actually wound up a +1 but Dowzak is going to need to become even more active than he has been. To beat a strong team like the Americans, the Rockets need to use their huge size advantage on defense against them.

Already in game 1, the Americans suffered injuries to key players Jason Reese and Mitch Fadden and as cold as this sounds; the Rockets have to keep pounding the Americans into submission and that has to be what Dowzak must do.

Dowzak is one of the strongest prospects we have seen in years and the Rocket staff has been wanting him to become more aggressive physically and we have to agree after watching Game 1. If Dowzak at 6'5 220 starts punishing the Americans then the Rockets will have a better chance at winning this series.

And before anyone thinks otherwise, we are talking about hard CLEAN hits as the last thing that Dowzak has done was be a cheap shot hitter.

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This is Corey Cowick of the Ottawa 67's of the OHL and as of Friday, a member of the Hartford Wolfpack who added the 6'2 200 left wing on a ATO (Amateur Tryout). Cowick is a undrafted 20 year old who had his "breakout" season with a 34-26-60 +21 mark (7-2-9 +3 in playoffs).

We know him from his times with the Oshawa Generals and on the surface, Cowick is the classic late bloomer. Prior to joining the 67's, Cowick was better known as a fighter than scorer but that changed with he was placed on the 67's top line.

A popular player who earned team awards from the 67's in leadership, as a student and for his off ice appearances. As a person this is the kind of person you want to have on your roster.

The Good is that Cowick is an "in your face" player who is not afraid to get his hands dirty. Cowick will go into the corners, will attack the net and will take the beating if it helps his team. The thing that is a concern is how Cowick had a great first half but struggled down the stretch (4 goals from Feb-Mar 19 games)

The Good is that Cowick had 11 power play goals on the season which always is a need on the Rangers. The concern is that Cowick only put up 4 game winners and none after January 2nd.

From a potential standpoint we do not see Cowick as more than a 3rd line player who will add grit while chipping in the occasion goal. We want to see him work on his body improving his lower half to help increase his balance.

Cowick is a smart kid and we doubt that he will be outworked but at the same time he does have a long way to go to make it to the NHL. We will not be shocked if he eventually make it but we seem him more as a role player than a Top 6.

Cowick is also an interesting case as he is still eligible to be drafted in the next draft which is a very rare case given his age and status so the Rangers may have him now but could still potential lose him to another team.

(Grachev: Brampton, Dowzak: Hartford, Cowick: OHL)

The Great Grachev

The easy thing would be to brag about how smart we are after we wrote this yesterday in previewing the Brampton Battalion and Mississauga St. Michaels Majors series:

We say that the biggest difference in this series is going to come down to the play of Grachev mainly because the Majors are going to have their hands full trying to stop the 6'5 Ranger 2008 3rd round pick. If Grachev puts up the kinds of numbers that he did in the first round (4-4-8 in 4 games) then the Majors do not have an answer for Grachev.

We would thank Evgeny Grachev for proving our point in the series opener by scoring the first goal of the series and adding an assist as Grachev's Brampton Battalion won game 1 with a 3-0 shutout. Grachev earned the Game's 2nd star for his efforts but here is the best part; the points Grachev put up do not tell the story about his play.

This just may have been Grachev's most complete game this season which is scary considering how well Grachev played. Grachev was a force physically like we had not seen him before hitting any Major player who came within his sights.

The pre-series talk was about how the Majors were going to play a physical game and beat up on the Battalion. So Grachev's line of Grachev, Cody Hodgson and Anthony Peluso just attacked and kept attacking which led to a first period where the Battalion sent a huge message about they were not afraid of the bigger Majors.

Grachev's goal was more of an "excuse me" type of goal as Grachev got credit for a a goal that deflected in off his skate (and was ruled good) It was an even strength goal at just 3:57 of the first period and Grachev's 5th of the playoffs as well as his first game winner.

In fact it is interesting to breakdown Grachev's 5 goals; one power play, one shorthanded, one game winner (also one first goal) and one insurance goal. And of course the most important stat: all 5 were key game turning goals.

Grachev also earned a secondary assist on Josh Day's goal at 11:18 which gav the Battalion a very important 2-0 lead barely halfway though the first period. We also have to mention that Grachev would have had a second goal if not for a beauty of a save by Major goalie J. P. Anderson in the second period.

5 games 5-5-10 for the Ranger's 2008 third round pick and as we said yesterday, if the Battalion get this kind of contribution from Grachev then the Battalion will win this series.

Then our other "genius maker" Michael Del Zotto had a strong game of his own as his London Knights just outskated the Saginaw Spirit 7-3 in a game that was not even as close as the score.

Del Zotto had an assist as well as a +3 in this game to bring his playoff totals to 1-8-9 +5. On such a loaded roster like the Knights have Del Zotto sometimes gets overlooked but his contributions can not be ignored.

Del Zotto is not a good skater, he is an excellent one and when he makes it to the Rangers then he will become a difference maker. As we keep saying, Del Zotto is going to have a major impact on how far the London Knights go in the playoffs.

If Del Zotto remains on his current pace then we can expect our dream matchup of Grachev's Battalion against Del Zotto's Knights in the OHL Finals.

In either case Ranger fans will win because the longer these two prospects get to play the more they will speed up their development towards a trip on Broadway.

(Grachev: Brampton, Del Zotto: Stu Switzer (Phatso Photography)

The Next Step

When Evgeny Grachev and the Brampton Battalion finish whipping on their second round opposition the Mississauga St. Michaels Majors, they will be able to thank those who picked the Majors all the fuel to the Brampton locker room.

This is a series that we expect to be on the same scale as the Ranger/Islanders as the 2 teams will have to travel all of 12 miles to reach the other's arena. The road trips during this series just might be the shortest in OHL history due to distance.

That being said it seems that several "experts" tend to think that the Majors are going to win this series. Well this group of experts here at PP have two words for you: Evgeny Grachev.

We say that the biggest difference in this series is going to come down to the play of Grachev mainly because the Majors are going to have their hands full trying to stop the 6'5 Ranger 2008 3rd round pick. If Grachev puts up the kinds of numbers that he did in the first round (4-4-8 in 4 games) then the Majors do not have an answer for Grachev.

The Majors are not a bad team and actually have some very good depth up front but what they lack in our eyes is big game players like Grachev along with his teammates Cody Hodgson, Matt Duchene and goalie Thomas McCollum. You are talking 3 NHL first rounders along with Grachev who was a steal in the 3rd round in your lineup and very few teams in the OHL can matchup like that.

Toss in this OHL quirky way of scheduling playoff games as they do not follow the traditional 2-2-1-1-1 setup but rather a 1-1-1-1-1-1-1. In our eyes that also favors Brampton because of those 4 players we already mentioned since they have played games all over the world.

The other thing that people are forgetting is while they are talking about how the Majors are playing their best hockey of the season, the Battalion are only the team that (a) finished 15 points better in the standings than the Majors, (b) were the 2nd best team (4th overall) in the OHL Eastern Conference and (c) are on the same kind of roll as the Majors are.

We say Brampton in 6 games because Grachev is now on a mission to become a champion.

On the flip side, Michael Del Zotto is almost being ignored as his London Knights prepare to face the Saginaw Spirit in the OHL second round. Good for Del Zotto, bad for Saginaw as we pointed out that Del Zotto was a key factor in why London dispatched Erie in just 5 games.

Erie tried to play a very physical almost borderline dirty game (both teams were guilty of cheap shots for the record) against the Knights and it failed them. People have already forgotten that it was Del Zotto who set up 3 game winning goals in the Erie series.

In fact giving credit where it was due Del Zotto was the best defenseman for the Knights even better than John Carlson who we wanted the Rangers to draft in the 2008 Entry Draft. Just like Grachev is the key to the Battalion advancing so is Del Zotto for the Knights.

The difference here is that the Spirit are a physically stronger, more defensive minded team that will be so focused upon stopping John Tavares and Nazem Kadri that Del Zotto is going to have a lot more open ice.

It is an eerie parallel but we can not help remembering the 94 Ranger playoff run where everyone talked about Messier but it was Leetch who did most of the damage in the entire run. That is what we see out of Del Zotto as if he plays like he did in the first round, staying out of the penalty box and most importantly producing on the power play then the Spirit are in trouble.

If Del Zotto matches his efforts of the first round then the Knights move on in 6 games but his key is to play active and attack the net. An attacking Del Zotto creates space for his goal scoring teammates; even better is that it makes the Knight power play just lethal.

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In the WHL, they have not announced the schedule for Tomas Kundratek and the Medicine Hat Tigers/Brandon Wheat Kings series but we are going to be hard pressed to think that the Tigers are going to defeat the Wheat Kings who swept out Kootenay in the first round.

The Wheat Kings are too big, too balanced and more depth for the Tigers to defeat. Not taking anything away from the Tigers but they caught a monster of a break when Swift Current lost their leading scorer, their best defender and their team MVP for the series.

The Wheat Kings are led by Brayden Schenn who we project is going to go no worse than 6th overall in the 2009 Entry Draft. Put it this way, he has put up Grachev numbers (32-56-88) but with only a 6' body in the toughest junior league there is.

We see the Wheat Kings winning in 5 games unless the Tigers can recreate the injury bug that devasted Swift Current.


Tysen Dowzak and the Kelowna Rockets are heading to Tri-City to face the 2nd seeded Americans in what should be a very evenly matched series that we will be shocked if it does not go the full 7 games. The Americans like the Rockets are a balanced team that blends experience with some size but in our eyes the Americans have the edge in goal with Chet Pickard (1st rd pick of Preds).

The Americans also have a Messier in their lineup, this one is Jordan Messier who is the 2nd cousin of the Ranger legend. A good look at the picture and you can see the Messier glare.

Kelowna has been playing some pretty good hockey over the second half of the season and in our eyes one of the best teams in all of the CHL over the last couple of months so we will say they can overcome the Americans and make it to the conference final in 7 games.

(Grachev:Brampton, Del Zotto Stu Switzer (Phatso Photography), Messier: Tri-City/WHL)