It was a quiet day for the 4 prospects who saw action but for some they were playing early games after seeing action the night before. Sometimes the folks who set up the game schedules forget that the players are teenagers not machines.
Dylan McIlrath (NYR 2010 1st) is not going to grow up fast enough for Ranger fans to rescue them from what passes as the current Ranger blueline corp. After a very slow start to his season, McIlrath has turned his game around and that can be directly linked to how his Moose Jaw Warriors have turned their season around.
If you have any doubt about the go look at McIlrath's season record, McIlrath recorded his first point of the season on October 13th and since then the Warriors have gone 8-1-0-1 including 6 straight wins after the Warriors defeated the Seattle Thunderbirds 2-1 in the shoot out.
McIlrath did not score but his defensive play was such that he was named 3rd Star of the game after the 2 goalies in this excellent defensive game. The Warriors after a 2-7 start are now 10-8-0-1 good for 2nd place in the WHL's East Division.
Toews himself missed 11 games with a high ankle sprain and his return on Friday night helped the Wheat Kings to stop a 2 game losing streak. Toews had a struggle of his own on Sunday as the Wheat Kings playing their 3rd game in 3 days saw their 2 game winning streak stopped by the Regina Pats 4-1.
We will always be critical of the 3 CHL leagues when they pull these 3 games in 3 days (more like 2.5 days since Sunday games are late afternoon affairs) so we will not be harsh on the Wheat Kings for playing so we will leave it at they lost.
Daniel Maggio (NYR 2009 6th) earned his 4th assist of the season as a secondary assist on a Guelph Storm shorthanded goal as the Storm defeated the Ottawa 67's 6-4. In just his 2nd game back for the Storm, Maggio has added some badly needed veteran stability to the Storm roster.
Maggio's return is not the only reason why the Storm have a 2 game winning streak but Maggio as he gets back into game shape is going to give the Storm a defender who plays a 2 way game while not being afraid to drop the gloves.
Casey Cizikas (2008 4th) and his Mississauga St. Micheal's Majors we hope learned the harsh lesson as the team with the best record in the OHL lost to one of the worst teams as the Erie Otters came away with a 2-1 shootout win. Cizikas was scoreless and missed on his shootout attempt.
No excuses here as no way should the Majors lose to a team that played the night before then had to travel to play in this game. Have a feeling that I would not want to be attending the Major's practice on Monday if I was a member of the Majors.
(Images: Maggio/Guelph Storm, Toews/Brandon Wheat Kings)
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