Thursday, November 24, 2011

Deuces Wild And Some

The night before Thanksgiving in the United States may bring mixed blessings for New York Ranger fans.  On one hand we had some very good offensive performances but we need to start with the possibility of a suspension for Dylan McIlrath (NYR 2010 1st).

McIlrath of the Moose Jaw Warriors was hit with a "checking to the head" major at 16:10 of the second period of the game with the Calgary Hitmen.  The penalty along with the automatic game misconduct is subject to review by the WHL office and we are expecting under the current climate that McIlrath will be suspended for 2-5 games (IF he is lucky).

As for the rest of the evening you have to like a night where everyone else has at least 2 points on the evening but nobody had a night like Michael St. Croix (NYR 2011 4th) did.

Michael St. Croix had one of those nights where all you can do is sit back and just marvel at what you have just watched. St. Croix had a 3-2-5 night to lead his Edmonton Oil Kings to a 10-3 win over the Lethbridge Hurricanes.

St. Croix got his night going with his 8th goal of the season at 6:12 of the first period tying the game at 1-1. After Lethbridge had tied the scored at 14:29, St. Croix got his first assist of the night when he set up Josh Lazowski just 11 seconds later for a 3-2 Edmonton lead that they never looked back.

St. Croix earned his 3rd point of the period when he fed Griffin Reinhart at 17:54 for a power play goal and a 5-3 Edmonton lead. 8 goals in the first period between the teams but in the 2nd there was no scoring until St. Croix netted his 9th goal of the year at 10:09 and a 6-3 Edmonton lead.

In the 3rd period, St. Croix got the hat trick at 7:30 unassisted for a 9-3 lead. It was St. Croix's 2nd career hat trick and first 5 point night.

Funny thing was we were wondering if St. Croix was in another slump as he had just 2 assists in his previous 5 games.  On the season St. Croix is now 10-18-28 which puts him 3rd among Ranger prospects.

JT Miller (NYR 2011 1st) may not want to see November end as he has had quite the month. Miller had a 2 assist evening to help his Plymouth Whalers defeat in-state rivals Saginaw 7-3 in OHL action.

Both assists (a primary and a secondary) came in the second period as Miller extended his scoring streak to 8 games (3-11-14) and overall season numbers to 11-21-32 (2nd among NYR prospects). The streak coincides with the Whalers 10-0-0-1 streak that has them sitting in 1st place in the OHL's West Division and 2nd overall in the OHL.

Steven Fogarty (NYR 2011 3rd) and his Penticton Vees are also red hot as they won their 7th straight game 6-1 over the Vernon Vipers in BCHL action. Fogarty had a 2 point night of his own starting with an unassisted goal (15th) which got the Vees going.

Forgarty also did his scoring in the same period as he added his 17th assist  on Penticton's 3rd goal in the first period. The 2 points of Fogarty's extended his own scoring streak to 7 games (8-11-19) and a goal scoring streak of 4 games (6 goals).

Fogarty is now 15-17-32 which ties him with Miller for points but Fogarty has the lead based on his 15 goals which leads Ranger prospects.

Shane McColgan (NYR 2011 5th) had 2 secondary assists to help his Kelowna Rockets defeat the Prince George Cougars 7-3. For McColgan the points extended his mini streak to 3 games (0-4-4) as the Rockets are on a 4-0-1-0 run of their own.

Brendan Kichton (NYI 2011 5th) was the lone New York Islander prospect in action and just like the rest he too had a 2 point evening to help his Spokane Chiefs to 3-2 win over the visiting Swift Current Broncos. Kichton was the game's 3rd star after scoring Spokane's 1st goal of the game and setting up their 2nd.

Kichton is now 3-14-17 as the Chiefs have a 2 game winning streak with Kichton registering points in both games. 

We hope everyone enjoys their Thanksgiving in the USA but say a prayer for those who are not able to sit down with their loved ones.

(St. Croix- Edmonton Oil Kings)

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