A Polling We Will Go

With just one game on the schedule for the New York Ranger and New York Islander prospects we thought we would throw our 0.02 about where the prospect teams are in the CHL at the moment.

These are just the teams who have Ranger and Islander prospects on them so yes we know that other teams are not here. But after the month of October this is how we see the prospect teams in the CHL.

1-Quebec Remparts QMJHL (Ryan Bourque NYR 2009 3rd) - when you are 15-1-0-1 no matter what league you are doing really good. But when you have only given up 36 goals in those 17 games then you are outstanding.

2- Mississauga St. Micheal's Majors OHL (Casey Cizikas NYI 2009 4th)- The Majors are not content just hosting the 2011 Memorial Cup, they look like they want to enter it as OHL champs. Strong at both ends of the ice but with a balanced attack.

3- Niagara IceDogs OHL (Jason Wilson NYR 2010 5th)- The surprise team for many in the OHL, the IceDogs have a strong attack but Marty Williamson behind the bench means you work hard or you watch the game from the stands.

4-Portland Winterhawks WHL (Nino Niederreiter NYI 2010 1st) - the Winterhawks were good before Nino, now they are dangerous despite remaining young. Get them one veteran center and this is your Memorial Cup favorite no check that your Memorial Cup winner.

5- Oshawa Generals OHL (Christian Thomas NYR 2010 2nd, Calvin De Haan  NYI 2009 1st, Tony DeHart NYI 2010 5th)- This is a team that has struggled over the last couple of seasons but we have a feeling they are about to go on a run. De Haan and Thomas key an offense that makes this team a threat to win every night.

6- Chilliwack Bruins WHL (Roman Horak NYR 2009 5th Brandon Manning TC 2010)- People are going to think this is too high but this is a very dangerous team that is just now learning how to win under coach Marc Habscheid who has won everywhere he has been. They need more another scoring line to become serious contenders.

7- Vancouver Giants WHL (Randy McNaught NYR 2010 7th)- This is a franchise that is used to winning and everytime people think they are going to decline they just reload and keep winning. Coach Don Hay takes projects and turns them into hockey players. Come playoff time they will be there.

8- Kingston Fronteancs OHL (Ethan Werek 2009 2nd)- The Fronts are a good offensive team but they need to become a better defensive team. They get themselves into too many offensive shootouts and if they could tighten up on defense would move up the ladder.

9- Owen Sound Attack OHL (Scott Stajcer 2009 5th)- Yes they have a better record than 3 of the teams ranked right in front of them but when your starting goalie is in a slump so does your team. If Stajcer can regain the form that he had at the start of this season then the Attack will jump right back up this ranking but if he does not then they will sink really fast.

10- Moose Jaw Warriors WHL (Dylan McIlrath 2010 1st)- As October was ending so was the early season slump that had them at the bottom of the WHL standings. Since October 13th, the Warriors are 6-1 which is why despite having a 7-8-0-1 record they are here in the rankings as this is the Moose Jaw team we were expecting to see.

The Rest


Brandon Wheat Kings WHL (David Toews NYI 2008 3rd) - the injury bug has just ravaged this team in October but they should start getting people back as early as this week.

Guelph Storm OHL (Daniel Maggio NYR 2009 6th) - like the Wheat Kings they have been badly hurt by the injury bug but unlike the Wheat Kings help is still a couple of weeks away.

Erie Otters OHL (Andrew Yogan NYR 2010 4th)- everything you could imagine going wrong has for this franchise as even the clock has started on when Robbie Ftorek will get fired. Yogan is out at least until January if not longer.

Lewiston MAINEaics QMJHL (Kirill Kabanov NYI 2010 3rd)- the darkhorse who nobody know what will happen with Kabanov. The MAINEaics are a decent team as is but if they can turn Kabanov into the player everyone thinks he can be then this team just might change up the entire QMJHL. If Kabanov stays as the "kid with the bad rep" then they will just be another contender.

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Ethan Werek and his Kingston Frontenacs were the only ones in action on Monday as they won one on the road as they defeated the Ottawa 67's 4-2. Werek scored his 10th goal of the season in the first period off a feed from Nathan Moon to tie the game at 1-1. 

Werek ties Christian Thomas for 2nd among the Ranger Prospect scorers at 10-9-19 but what we like is that Werek is on a pace to score 45-50 this season. Can we call him a Top 6 forward prospect now?

(Images: Bourque/Quebec Remparts, Casey Cizikas/Aaron Bell/OHL Images, Jason Wilson/JoeSmithphotography.ca, Randy McNaught/New York Rangers, Calvin De Haan/ Aaron Bell/OHL Images)