A So-So Saturday Night

It has to be Saturday night as for some reason New York Ranger and New York Islander prospects can give us great performances on Friday nights but for the 2nd Saturday in a row there was not a whole lot of things to cheer about.

Ranger fans can find reasons to somewhat cheer as they got points from 3 of the 4 prospects to see action. Danny Hobbs (2007 7th) who happens to play on the team with the worst record among the prospects UMass/Amherst had a 1-1-2 night to lead UMass to a 5-2 win over the Quinnipac Bobcats.

Hobbs scored his 1st goal of the season and added his 5th assist to help give the Minutemen a 3 game unbeaten streak. After starting the season 0-5-2, Hobbs and UMass are now 2-6-3 which may not seem like much but it is much better than the alternative.

Christian Thomas (2010 2nd) scored his Ranger prospect leading 18th goal of the season then finished off the game with the shootout winner as his Oshawa Generals escaped the Sarnia Sting with a 5-4 shootout win. Thomas is now 18-16-34 on the season and is hoping for a call on Monday from Hockey Canada.

Max Campbell (2007 5th) had an assist but it was not enough as his Western Michigan Broncos lost to 5th ranked Miami of Ohio 5-1. Campbell is now 6-8-14 in 14 games and is roaring in a comeback season for him.

Dan Maggio (2009 6th) was scoreless as his Guelph Storm lost for the 5th straight game, this time 5-3 to the London Knights. One has to feel for him as this is the second straight year he was on an underachieving team.

Scott Stajcer (2009 5th) sat out Owen Sound's 6-0 shut out of the Sudbury Wolves with his "undisclosed injury". It will be interesting to see if Stajcer returns for tomorrow's game against Mississauga.

Now the New York Islander prospects on the other hand had 9 prospects in action and only Calvin De Haan (2009 1st) had any points. De Haan had an assist for his 20th point of the season in Oshawa's shootout win over Sarnia.

De Haan is 2-18-20 on the season and we expect that Monday he will be named to Hockey Canada's World Under-20 roster. Teammate Tony DeHart (2010 5th) missed the game for undisclosed reasons.

Nino Niederreiter (2010 1st) was held scoreless as his Portland Winterhawks lost in the shootout to the Tri-City Americans 3-2. What people would like to know is how come Niederreiter was not used as one of the Winterhawk shooters in the shoot out?

David Toews (2008 3rd) was scoreless as his Brandon Wheat Kings saw their winless streak stretch to 7 games after they lost to the Moose Jaw Warriors 4-3.

Anders Lee (2009 6th) of  11th ranked Notre Dame, Brock Nelson (2010 1st) and Jason Gregoire (2007 3rd) of 10th ranked North Dakota were all scoreless as the 2 teams skated to a 2-2 tie in the 2nd game of the Subway Holiday Classic.

Matt Donovan (2008 4th) did not score as 13th ranked Denver won the Denver Cup with a win over instate rivals Air Force 2-1.

Jason Clark (2010 3rd) and his Wisconsin Badgers defeated Michigan State 4-1 in their 2nd game of the College Hockey Showcase.

Blake Kessel (2007 6th) and 6th ranked New Hampshire defeated Merrimack 2-1 in Hockey East action.

Corey Trivino (2008 2nd) and his 2nd ranked Boston University Terriers settled for a 4-4 tie with Brown.

Cody Rosen (2010 7th) watched as his Clarkson Golden Knights defeated Lake Superior State 2-1 in the 2nd game of the Denver Cup. Clarkson finished the tournament 1-1.

(Images: Hobbs/Dennis Pause, Thomas/Oshawa Generals, De Haan/Aaron Bell/OHL Images)