Back To Something Close To Normal

The holidays are over, the prospects are heading back to there teams and several dogfights in the 2nd half are going to make for some great hockey

We like it when a prospect responds in a positive manner to criticism as Jason Wilson (NYR 2010 5th) of the Niagara IceDogs has done since coming back from the OHL holiday break. Wilson was called out by a local writer saying that fans and media were expecting more from Wilson.

So against the Belleville Bulls, it was Wilson who set the tone and earned himself a first star with a goal and +2 to lead his IceDogs to a 3-0 win.

Jeff Blay of the IceDogs sent us this game report:

After Darren Archibald took a bone-crushing hit early in the first, IceDogs over-ager Jason Wilson took exception and proceeded to hit every Belleville player in sight before parking himself in front of the Bulls net and tipping in a Simon Gronvaldt shot at the 1:42 mark to make it 1-0 Niagara. 

Good for him now let us see him does this consistently in the 2nd half. Wilson is now 7-10-17 +7 as since December 4th has gone 1-7-8 in his last 9 games.

 It has not been the easiest of seasons for Dan Maggio (NYR 2009 6th) as he was traded from Sudbury to Guelph to start the season but then things went wrong for the young defender. 

Guelph got off to a horrible start the led to the coach/Gm first being stripped of his GM title then eventually fired as coach. Maggio suffered an elbow injury that cost him time, came back and got a 2 game suspension for a dirty check. 

Then Maggio injured his ankle and while he was recovering, the new GM in Guelph after firing the coach sent Maggio home before trading him to the Oshawa General. We have had a good relationship with the Guelph Storm but when a team spreads rumors that player is troublesome via the local media then we have a problem. 

This is what WE know, Dan Maggio has attended 2 New York Ranger prospect camps, 2 Ranger prospect camps as part of Traverse City and not once have we heard word one about Maggio being a problem. Say what you want about John Tortorella but if a kid prospect was a problem child then rest assured Tortorella's foot would be inserted so far up said prospect's backside that it would still have the footprints showing even today. 

Another thing is the Oshawa Generals are owned by Adam Graves, Peter DeBoer (coach of the Florida Panthers), and  Rocco Tullio. They are coached/GM by Chris DiPiero who is assisted by former Ranger Joey Cirella not one of these guys would add a "problem child" to their roster. 

Wait let us also toss in that the Generals have on their roster Calvin DeHaan (NYI 2009 1st), Tony DeHart (NYI 2010 5th) and Christian Thomas (NYR 2010 2nd). The Generals gave up a total of 4 draft picks for Maggio which sounds kind of steep for a "troublesome" young man.

Maggio had not played since Novemeber 27th having injured his ankle on that day so it was in many ways poetic justice that Maggio made his return against the same Guelph Storm. Maggio did not have a bad game in his debut with the Generals as even though he did not score he was a +2.

Christian Thomas scored his 26th goal (4th best in the OHL) of the season just 48 seconds into the game, added his 22nd assist to give him 50 points (16th in OHL)  for the season as well as a +16. Tony DeHart was    scoreless but a +2 as the Generals lost 6-5 in the shootout.

The keys to this game was special teams as the Generals giving up 3 power play goals (they were missing Calvin De Haan on defense), allowing a shorthanded and missing on their shootout attempts. Maggio deserved a better fate. 

A 7 game road trip is a tough test for any team but with one game remaining on a trip that Dylan McIlrath (NYR 2010 1st) and his Moose Jaw Warriors have gone 5-1; it is time to start including the Warriors in the discussions of WHL contenders.

Thursday night it was the Kelowna Rockets who found out about the Warriors and their relentless attack. McIlrath did not score but was a +3 as the Warriors used a 4 goal 2nd period to win 4-2.

The Warriors are one of the biggest teams (in size) in the WHL and honestly you do not want to get into a slugfest with them as they have 7 players who have at least 3 fighting majors. McIlrath is also not the only 6'5 in the lineup for the Warriors as Cody Beach is 6'6.

We have said this before if the Warriors can add another proven scorer to their lineup then they will be a very legit threat for the WHL title. As it is the Warriors control their own destiny with 5 games remaining against conference leading Saskatoon.

Win or lose what we are really seeing is the development of Moose Jaw right before our eyes as he was already good defensively but now he is introducing a shot from the point that is powerful and heavy. McIlrath is also going to the net with more confidence and we would not be surprised if Moose Jaw did not put him in the slot to be that wide body on the power play.

Imagine someone trying to move him out of the crease or a goalie trying to see past McIlrath's 6'5 frame? McIlrath still has some work to do before he comes out as a Ranger but the development is now speeding up which is good news for the Rangers and bad news for everyone else.

(Wilson and Maggio /Aaron Bell and Terry Wilson, McIlrath/The Hockey News)

That is Why There Are 3 Periods

So imagine how many members of the media thought the gold medal game was over when Canada pushed their lead to 3-0 in the 2nd period? We will fess up and admit that we had written up about how Canada owned everything Russian in the first 2 period as even we were handing the Canadians the gold medal.

40 minutes of Canadian domination wiped out in just 5 minutes by the Russians and then before you can realize what happened the Russian did what really nobody but Russian fans thought was possible and won the gold medal 5-3.

For the 2nd straight year mighty Canada has to explain to a shocked fanbase why they lost. This one is going to be even harder for Canada to deal with because they really looked like they had this game won.

Nobody thought Russia had a chance to even medal when they lost their first 2 games including 6-3 to this very same Canadian team in their opening game. Here is a very scary thing to think about; the Russians junior program was supposedly one huge mess with next to no funding back home.

If this was disorganized then pray that the Russians never figure out how to become a well run program.

The person the we are the happiest for is Igor Bobkov who plays for the London Knight in the OHL. Bobkov is one of the nicest kids we have ever met. Always a smile on his face, never complained when he lost his starting job with the Knights; just promised to work harder.

Bobkov in many ways is a symbol about hockey is supposed to be about. The last person anyone thought would be a factor in the gold medal game comes in at the 6:27 mark of the 2nd period after Canada scored their 3rd goal.

The afterthought did what you pray your backup goalie is going to do; stop the bleeding and give you a chance to get back in the game. Bobkov did exactly that stopping all 20 shots he faced as the only Russian player playing the CHL winds up the most surprising player of the game.

5 goals in the 3rd period all at even strength and this one is going to hurt Canada even more than losing to the USA last year in overtime.

Our Prospects

Calvin De Haan (NYI 2009 1st) had an assist for Canada while Casey Cizikas (2009 4th) was scoreless. Yes Canada lost but it was not because Canada did anything wrong but rather that the Russians refused to quit.

De Haan finished 0-5-5 +2, Cizikas 2-1-3 and Brock Nelson (2010 1st)  0-1-1 -1 for the Islander prospects

In the Bronze medal game, Chris Kreider (NYR 2009 1st) showed off some of his game dominating skills with a 2 goal effort as Team USA defeated Sweden 4-2 to earn back to back medals. The real winners actually were the Ranger fans as while Chris Kreider was showing off his offensive game; Ryan Bourque (NYR 2009 3rd) showed he is a strong 2 way player.

But Ranger fans have to be happy after seeing Jesper Fasth (NYR 2010 6th) introduce himself to the Ranger Universe as he winds up the leading scorer for the Ranger prospects at 4-2-6 +4 to Chris Krieder's 4-2-6 Even.

Ryan Bourque was 0-3-3 -1 while Roman Horak was 0-1-1 -2.

Ryan Bourque as a junior winds up with 2 gold medals and 2 bronze medals which to us says a lot about his

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WJC Thoughts

The question that will be up for debate is did Team USA disappoint or underachieve? In our eyes it was both as returning 8 players, a team built upon an Under-18 team which was a 2 time gold medal winner should have been better. 

We also died of laughter watching IIHF President Rene Fassel and USA Hockey's Executive Director Dave Ogrean lauded the attendance of the games. It was the best attended IIHF international hocker every in history better than the Salt Lake Games. 

What they really should be doing is thanking Canada for being so hockey crazy because that is why over 330,000  attended these games. If Canada was playing in a hockey tournament on Pluto there would be Canadians traveling to watch the games. 

Americans did not show up and support this tournament; the Canadians did and sorry USA Hockey if this hurts your feelings but it is the truth. Thats who you should be thanking for why so many fans showed up, they all were wearing a Maple Leaf.

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Only one game tonight but Jason Wilson (NYR 2010 5th) missed it sitting out the 2nd game of his 2 game suspension (automatic for 3rd man in) as his Niagara IceDogs missed out on a chance to pull within 7 points of division leading Mississauga losing 4-2 to the Erie Otters.

(Bobkov courtesy of Aaron Bell/OHL Images)

ET Came Home?

Oh what a strange day Tuesday was for New York Ranger and New York Islander prospects. For some it was a good day, for others it was disappointing and for one well we have no idea because he was not in the lineup for reasons unknown.

It was if ET came back and messed with every's mind because you have to look between the lines to see what is happening. How about we start with what is supposed to be the gold and bronze medal games being more like the opening games of the 2012 World Under-20 Championship which are going to be held in Edmonton/Calgary.

See the outcome of the gold/bronze games will decide where the 4 teams involved will be seeded for next year's tournament. If Canada wins the gold and the USA loses the bronze medal then guess who will be in the same group for next year's tournament?

Kudos to the IIHF for setting things up this way because it adds that much more value to the medal round games.  Using the IIHF formula to rank teams then this right now BEFORE the medal games is how next year's groups will look like (seeding in parentheis)

Group A Gold Medal winner CAN/RUS (1), loser of bronze game SWE/USA (4), Switzerland (5),
Slovakia (8), Latvia (9)

Group B Silver medal CAN/RUS (2), Bronze medal winner SWE/USA (3), Finland (6), Czech Republic (7), Denmark (10)

Wonder how the organizers of next year's games are rooting for the outcome of this year's games?

The 5th and 7th place games were played on Tuesday as traditional national rivals faced off starting with Nino Niederreiter's (NYI 2010 1st) Switzerland needed the shootout before defeating Finland for the first time since 2002 (5 straight).

Niederreiter set up the tying goal in the second period for his 4th point of the tournament (2-2-4) but missed on his shoot out attempt. For Switzerland, the 5th place finish followed by last year's 4th place finish says the Swiss are for real.

Niederreiter returns to Portland of the WHL along with teammate Sven Bartschi (who should be back next year for the Swiss).

Also heading out west will be Roman Horak (NYR 2009 5th) but the question of the day is why Horak was not in the lineup for the Czech Republic in their final game against neighboring Slovakia. The 2011 tournament has been one giant disappointment for Horak as he registered just one assist in 5 games.

We really doubt that Horak was a healthy scratch but if he was injured that would be another hit to a Ranger prospect pool that has lost over 120 games to injury.

For the record, the Czechs defeated the Slovaks 5-2 to claim 7th place.

Maybe Kirill Kabanov (NYI 2010 3rd) should get stranded in London airports more often as the prospect who nobody knows what to expect made a rather nice return to his Lewiston MAINEaic lineup with a goal and an assist as the MAINEaics romped all over a very shorthanded Drummondville Voltigeurs 7-0.

What was nice of Kabanov's effort was that he stepped up his game when his own team was shorthanded when first liner Stefan Fournier missed the game and Kabanov moved up to replace him.

Kabanov got both of his points in the first period as he earned a secondary assist on Lewiston's second goal then blasted a one-timer at the 14:40 mark of the first period for a 3-0 lead. Kabanov is now 4-5-9 +5 in 14 games with the MAINEaics.

We have seen some cruel ways to lose games this season but we think none are going to top the way David Toew's (NYI 2008 3rd) Brandon Wheat Kings lost their 4th straight game 6-5 to the Prince Albert Raiders. The Wheat Kings had taken a 5-4 lead at 19:06 of the 3rd period thanks in part to Toew's 2nd assist of the game.

The lead lasted all of  14 seconds as Prince Albert scored at 19:20 to tie the game at 5-5. It looked like the Wheat Kings were going to at least salvage one point by going into overtime but the Raiders scored with just 15 seconds remaining in regulation at 19:45 for a 6-5 win.

Toews as we said had 2 assists and he had a good view as he was on the ice for the game winning goal. Really feel for Toews and his Wheat King teammates as it is not like they are not trying but this one might be the straw that breaks their season.

Toews is now 9-13-22 -9 for the season.

Dylan McIlrath (NYR 2010 1st) was scoreless but a +2 as his Moose Jaw Warriors rebounded for a loss to Prince George by defeating the Kamloops Blazers 4-2.

The Warriors have 1 game remaining on a road trip that so far has been a huge success winning 4 out of 5 games with 1 more game remaining before getting to return home.

Call us a biased point of view because of McIlrath but while everyone talks about which teams are serious playoff contenders, nobody is talking Moose Jaw which to us is a mistake. Moose Jaw has pulled to within 2 points of 3rd place in the WHL's Eastern Conference and if they could get themselves one more scorer (Hello Brayden Schenn) then watch out.

For just the 2nd time this season Cody Rosen (NYI 2010 7th) appeared in goal for the Clarkson Knights. Rosen came on in relief in the 3rd period with Clarkson trailing 4-0 to 5th ranked Minnesota-Duluth and at least held serve stopping all 8 shots as Clarkson lost 4-2.

Rosen is just a sophomore for Clarkson but honestly we can see why the Islanders risked a 7th round pick on him. The Islanders can let him stay in college for a couple of years then a season or 2 in the AHL and either they have a goalie or someone they can use to fill a hole in the franchise.

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There are a couple of people who have been giant helps in how to become a better writer/scout over the years. We talk all the time about how NHL scouts, coaches and others who have taught us how to look at and evaluate the prospects. 

We also owe people like Bruce Berlet who covers the Ranger farm team the CT Whale and Gregg Drinnan of Taking Note who have forgotten more about how to be real journalists than most of today's "experts". We are long overdue in giving them the credit for helping us improve especially after Drinnan is being denied access to anyone with the Kamloops Blazers. 

It sadly seems the new way to try to bully writers into writing what the sports teams want instead of being journalists. It is also a violation of WHL policy but the WHL has only offered to sit in on a meeting. 

As someone who has seen what kind of coverage WHL teams; this is not going to help your attendance because it is not the words of Drinnan that convince fans to buy tickets. It is the product you put on the ice so remove the ban as in the long run instead of one writer being critical of your franchise you will wind up with several. 

Finally as much as we have been really critical of the empty seats at the Buffalo World Under-20 Championships we could not help but to rub some salt into their empty seats when we saw this nugget on the IIHF website. 

50,000 fans expected for an outdoor hockey game in Mexico; this is not a joke it is actually going to happen when Mexico opens the World Under-20 Division 3 Championships against Bulgaria on Sunday. Yes Mexico has a hockey program as Division 3 consists of the host Mexico, Serbia, Bulgaria, New Zealand, Chinese Taipei, North Korea and Turkey. 

And while you are laughing, Mexico is actually ranked 32nd out of 49 nations that take part in the World Championships. The wonderful thing about hockey is that you can dream the impossible 

¿Usted cree en milagros? SÍ

Cmon now you have to know what that is?

(ET/Amblin Entertainment, Niederreiter/Portland Winterhawks, Horak/Chilliwack Bruins, Kabanov/NHL Media, Toews/Brandon Wheat Kings, McIlrath/Moose Jaw Warriors, Rosen/Clarkson Golden Knights)

A Total Butt Kicking

Boy you think we would have seen this one coming but right off the bat; we was flat out wrong and Dave Cameron made us eat every single word. What is more frustrating in watching the total and complete butt kicking that Canada laid on Team USA tonight is anyone who has watched the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors this season would have known this game was over the moment Cameron showed up at the HBSC arena.

We broke our own rule as we preached that offense wins games but it is defense that wins you championships. If John Tortorella's system is known as "Safe is Death" then Dave Cameron's system should be known as "The Chokeout" cause it chokes the life out of you into submission or unconsciousness.

Team USA you got "Choked Out" by the game plan devised, practiced and implemented by Dave Cameron. Cameron and Team Canada did not pick the most talented team possible; heck he cut several future NHL stars like Ryan Howse and Joey Hishon.

What Cameron kept was the players he felt was the most coachable, the ones he felt would have the most chemistry for the system he wanted to use. The more we look at this the more we realize how wrong we were about Team Canada.

There is a reason why the Majors are the best team in the OHL, heck the best team in all of the Canadian juniors and it is Dave Cameron. Before this season people were talking about how Dave Cameron could improve his stock as a future NHL coach.

Memo to Charles Wang owner of the Islanders, you want to fix your franchise? Then here is your fixer and if you do not grab him at the first opportunity then you will not get him.

Canada by all rights should have little trouble defeating Russia in the gold medal game PROVIDED they bring the same level of intensity and effort that they brought against Team USA. Heaven help Team Canada if the Russians beat them on Wednesday after the whipping Canada gave Team USA.

Forget trying to figure out what went wrong with Team USA as it is not that the team did not show up but rather the surgical precision of a game plan that Dave Cameron and his coaching staff came up with. Give the credit to how Cameron can get a bunch of players to buy into his system of play.

If you are Team USA, you were George Custer and his army at Little Big Horn as you never saw this coming. Be glad that Jack Campbell stood on his head as this outcome should have been much worse than the 4-1 score showed.

Yes there will be a lot of finger pointing and blame suggested by those who support Team USA but honestly does not matter. Dave Cameron out coached, out motivated and out everything Keith Allain but it is not Allain's fault.

He got "The Chokeout"

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If one is going to point fingers then we have to point ours at USA Hockey as they need to take a long hard look at why Buffalo quite honestly was a "ghost town". The empty seats and the fact that it was very clear that Canadian fans greatly outnumbered US fans on our own soil in the biggest of games is something that demands a long hard look.

We know that hockey in the USA has fan support, we have seen sold out arenas in the US WHL arenas, we have seen it at the NCAA levels and heck 113,000 plus at an outdoor game says if you make it interesting people will come. 

They say that 2018 is the next time the USA gets to host the World Under-20 Championships. May we suggest a place like the Seattle Metro Area (Seattle, Everett, Kent) as a possible host. 

You do not have to have 20,000 seat arenas to make it work but you have to have places where fan support will be there; that it is fun and offer much more to do during the time this tournament is held. Hold the preliminary round games in Kent and Everett then take the medal round to Seattle. 

It remains close to the Canadian border so the Canadian fans will still come but it will also draw on US junior/college hockey fans from the Dakotas, Wisconsin, Oregon and yes even California. No offense Buffalo but at you need to hold this event at places where people would want to travel to around Christmas/New Years.

USA Hockey; you have done a great job in developing the players for the support now you need to develop the fan support. Winning yes is one way but hosting a good party is a great way. 

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As for the New York Ranger and New York Islander prospects, Calvin De Haan (NYI 2009 1st) had the only point of the prospects. Casey Cizikas (NYI 2009 4th) was solid defensively. Ryan Bourque (NYR 2009 3rd) did not play badly as he made some solid plays during a Canadian 5 on 3 but what a bad way to spend your birthday.

Chris Kreider (NYR 2009 1st) has had a quiet tournament to go along with his quiet season but against Canada, they never gave him any room to breathe or skate so he was rendered invisible. Sorry fans but using Michael Del Zotto as an example it would be much better to let him develop slowly than rush him to the NHL so when Kreider is dominating this level then sign him.

In our eyes the stocks of Cizikas and Bourque rose as both showed they can play at both ends of the ice.

In Sweden's game against Russia, Jesper Fasth (NYR 2010 6th) had 1 assist and made some strong plays on offense. His defense needs some work but the Rangers can let him stay in Sweden while he grows as a player and person. He will one day be a Ranger IF he continues his developmental curve.

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Thanks to all of you who sent links of Dylan McIlrath's fight on Sunday, we got so busy between watching the semi-finals and (if you are a Blueshirt Bulletin subscriber) interviewing one Dylan McIlrath that we just did not have the time. 

But can someone please tell us how people are getting our Yahoo email address as it is not checked often and we would like to use one that gets a faster response to YOU.

(Cameron courtesy of Mississauga St. Michaels)

Happy Islander Day

Less than 24 hours after the New York Islanders sent Dwayne Roloson to Tampa Bay to start the veteran purge than the Islander prospects showed why if allowed to develop that there is some real hope of better days ahead.

First Star Casey Cizikas

Casey Cizikas (2009 4th) as we have been saying all along is our Islander prospect of the year even better than Nino Niederreiter and Calvin De Haan who are 1st round picks. The captain of the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors came up big when Canada needed him the most scoring what proved to be the game winning goal as Canada held off Switzerland 4-1.

It was Cizikas second goal of the World Under-20 Championships as the 2 way forward stepped up with a 4 shot +2 performance to help Canada advance to a semi-final game with Team USA. The goal was part of a 2 on 1 odd man rush in the 2nd period with the scored tied at 1-1.

Cizikas caught the Swiss goalie Ben Conz cheating towards Louis Leblanc and if you read the "book" on Cizikas then you also expected pass so of course Ciziikas shot glove side high and roofed the shot. Big time goal and a shock to everyone but those who have watched Cizikas play. The Islanders are getting a future big game player here.

Second Star Anders Lee


Since the first time we saw Anders Lee (2009 6th), we knew this is what the future of NHL power forwards will become. 6'3 220 that is more built to be a linebacker than a forward but as big as Lee is, at the same time he has some of the softest hands we have seen in quite a while.

The talented freshman for 12th ranked Notre Dame had a 1-1-2 7 shot +2 game for the 2nd straight game as Notre Dame went to a 3-3 overtime tie (Notre Dame won the shootout 1-0) with 11th ranked Boston University in the 3rd place game of the Shillelagh Tournament. Lee scored his 12th goal of the season to start Notre Dame's comeback in the 3rd period from down 3-1.

Lee had set up T.J. Tynan for Notre Dame's first goal of the game in the first period. Overall Lee is now 12-10-22 in 22 games.

Third Star Corey Trivino 


Corey Trivino (2008 2nd) in the very same game had a 3 assist game for Boston University. 2 primary and 1 secondary assist as the junior center was a huge reason why the Terriers were able rebound from a 6-1 loss the night before to Brown. Trivino is now 3-9-12 in 17 games for the Terriers.

Rest of the Prospects

Calvin De Haan (2009 1st) was scoreless but helped to keep Switzerland to just one goal in Canada's 4-1 win at the WJCs. The Swiss could never get a good flow to their offensive game and credit has to go to the Canadian blueline

On the flip side, Nino Niederreiter (2010 1st) would most likely want to forget his game against Canada as the Swiss captain was held in check. Limited to just 4 shots, no points and a -1 for the game, Nino was not around at the end as he was hit with a misconduct right after Canada scored their last goal of the game.

With the New Year just 2 days old, the first shocker of the college hockey year had to be St. Lawrence (5-8-3) upset 2nd ranked New Hampshire 2-1 in overtime on their home ice. 2007 6th round pick defenseman Blake Kessel was scoreless on 4 shots and a -1.

On the New York Ranger side, Roman Horak (2009 5th) made his first point of the World Under-20 Championship meaningful as Horak set up Ondrej Platt for the game tying goal at 10:44 of the 3rd period. The Czech Republic scored the game winner with 1 minute left in regulation to guarantee a spot in the 2012 Top Division and demote Germany to Division 1.

Finally Dylan McIlrath (2010 1st) did not score, was a -2 but recorded his 5th fighting major of the season when he fought Sena Acolaste of Prince George. We are really disappointed that nobody has video of this fight yet because despite his 5'11 size, a McIlrath/Acolaste fight would be a legit battle of WHL heavyweights.

Oh yea Prince George stopped McIlrath's Moose Jaw Warriors 5-1 to end the Warrior's 3 game winning streak. But if anyone has a video of this fight please let us know so we can share it.

(Images Cizikas/Aaron Bell/OHL Images, Lee and Trivino/New York Islanders)

The Hockey Hangover

The toughest game to play is the one right after an emotional win or loss as somehow you have to muster the energy to move on as if nothing happen. That is what they like to tell you but the reality is that is such a bunch of nonsense that it is not funny.

The same goes for trying to cover hockey the day after you have gotten to watch something exciting as we did on Friday. The media wants you to believe that they are neutral and objective but sorry deep down the reason you cover what you do is the love of the game.

The New Years Day version of prospect hockey was nothing to write home about.

Christian Thomas (NYR 2010 2nd) was the only player to register a point as Thomas set up the first goal for the Oshawa Generals as they defeated the Kitchener Rangers 4-2 to extend their regulation unbeaten streak to 4 games. Thomas who has gone 7-5-12 in his last 12 games is now 25-21-46 on the season.

Tony DeHart (NYI 2010 5th) was scoreless for the Generals in the win as the Generals pulled to within 4 points of division leading Ottawa.

Corey Trivino (NYI 2008 2nd) was held scoreless as his 11th ranked Boston University Terriers were upset 6-1 by Brown in the first round the Shillelagh Tournament.

Anders Lee (NYI 2009 6th) did not score as his 12th ranked Notre Dame were upset by Minnesota State in the second game of the Shillelagh Tournament 4-3. That sets up a 3rd place game on Sunday between Notre Dame and Boston University on Sunday.

Matt Donovan (NYI 2008 4th) and his 7th ranked University of Denver outplayed Northern Michigan in every area of the game except the final score as despite outshooting Northern Michigan 46-13 had to settle for a 2-2 overtime tie. Donovan was scoreless.

Aaron Ness (NYI 2008 2nd) was scoreless as his Minnesota Golden Gophers played to a 2-2 overtime tie with Ferris State in the 2nd half of the Mariucci Classic. Minnesota finished 0-1-1 in the tournament.

Jason Wilson (NYR 2010 5th) sat out his Niagara IceDog's 4-3 win over the Peterborough Petes due to being ejected on New Year's Eve for being the "3rd man in" against Belleville. It is a required suspension by OHL rules.

Ethan Werek (NYR 2009 2nd) missed his 7th straight game due to his wrist injury. His Kingston Frontenacs have gone 1-6 with out him after losing their 4th straight 2-1 to the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors.

Werek is waiting for a wrist brace being sent by the Rangers but here is the question why did it take so long?

MEMO TO ALL RANGER PROSPECTS when you get hurt, contact the Rangers and talk to their training staff. Say all we want about not liking Ranger's management/ownership but never once have we ever seen the Rangers not take care of their draft picks.

When you have a chance to have the best training staff as well as the best medical staff in the entire NHL at your disposal then use it. In all the time we have covered Ranger prospects, the Rangers have always taken care of the injured kids, they have paid for any medical treatments even when the Rangers were under no obligation to do so.

It does not matter if you are a 1st or 7th round pick, the Rangers are a first class franchise when it comes to the health and welfare of their prospects. Ask Andrew Yogan, Dylan McIlrath and former prospect Mitch Gaulton if you have any doubts.

New York Ranger Prospect Lost Game Count

Andrew Yogan- 38 (still out ETA ????)
Randy McNaught 30 (out for season additional 33 games)
Daniel Maggio- 24 (still out ETA Mid Janruary)

Scott Stajcer- 15 (still out ETA February)
Ethan Werek- 7 (still out Expected back next weekend)
Dylan McIlrath 6 (knee back in action)

That is 120 prospect games lost and made worse because the Rangers need to decide whether to offer contracts to McNaught, Maggio, Stajcer and Werek.