Going Every Which Way But That Way

With about 20 different games going on involving New York Ranger and New York Islander prospects, Friday night was one of those nights where picking where to be was a problem. From the debut of Kirill Kabanov (NYI 2010 3rd) in Lewiston to Carl Hagelin (NYR 2007 6th) and his Michigan Wolverines on their annual trip to Alaska, we really wish we could show you a day in the life of a scout whether they are NHL or not.

Thankfully we have plenty of friends who made sure we got all the information on what was an extremely busy night of hockey.  The best thing about hockey though is you never know who is going to wind up your heroes or your goats.

For the New York Islanders, the hero is David Toews (2008 3rd) who after being out for a month with a high ankle sprain made sure everyone knew he was back when he scored at 2:29 of overtime to give his Brandon Wheat Kings a 3-2 win over the Spokane Chiefs.

We are happy for Toews as he was showing all the signs of breaking out offensively for the Wheat Kings before he got hurt. The rest of the night was mostly up with some down but here the Islander prospect report is right here.

On the Ranger side, it was a very mixed night as there was good news, bad news, so-so news and the unexpected return of Dan Maggio (2009 6th) for the Guelph Storm.

We had several choices for the Ranger prospect first star but in the end, Max Campbell (2005 5th) of the Western Michigan Broncos sneaked in and took the honors with a goal and an assist as the Broncos came from behind and defeated in-state rivals Michigan State 4-3.

Still as we also enjoyed seeing that Brandon Dubinsky scored 2 goals to reach double figures in the Ranger's win adding more fuel to our argument that the Ranger's best draft picks have been their 2nd round ones; the rest of the Ranger report can be found here.

(Images: Kabanov/Moncton Wildcats, Toews/Brandon Wheat Kings, Campbell/Western Michigan)