He's A Super Sized Super Scorer

On Super Bowl Sunday, it was only fitting that Christian Thomas played as the New York Ranger's 2010 2nd round pick has been super all season long.

Thomas earned the game's third star after a 3 assist performance to help his Oshawa Generals win their third straight game 5-4 over the Sudbury Wolves. Thomas has been a huge reason why the Generals have that streak as the young sniper is 3-6-9 with a 3 game scoring streak.

Thomas had 1 primary and 2 secondary assists as the Generals used a 3 goal 2nd period to jump out to a 4-2 lead and then held off the Wolves. The win also keeps the Generals just 4 points behind the Ottawa 67's in the race for the OHL's East Division and the 2nd seed in the OHL's Eastern Conference.

Thomas is now 37-32-69 which is a new career high in points and moves him into 10th place among OHL scorers. With 18 games remaining Thomas has a shot at a 51-44-95 season.

Calvin De Haan (NYI 2009 1st), Tony DeHart (NYI 2010 5th), and Dan Maggio (NYR 6th) were all scoreless for the Generals. The Islanders duo were each a +1, Maggio a -2 with DeHart taking a tripping call that helped lead to Sudbury's 4th goal.

Still the Generals are now just 2 points away from clinching their first playoff spot since the 2007-08 season. Their first chance to clinch will be on Thursday when they face the Brampton Battalion.

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Monday night will bring us the opening round of the 59th Beanpot Tournament and the game to watch is going to be Chris Kreider (NYR 2009 1st) leading his top ranked Boston College up against Corey Trivino's (NYI 2008 2nd) Boston University Terriers. 

The Terriers will remember this moment from last year's Beanpot Championship when Chris Kreider scored this goal on them




(Thomas/Aaron Bell/OHL Images)

A Really Dull Saturday Night

Want to talk about a quiet night for both New York Ranger and New York Islander prospects? Well say hello to our Saturday night when goals were really had to come by and only Roman Horak did anything that stood out for stars.

Roman Horak (NYR 2009 5th) earned the game's second star with a goal and a assist as the Chilliwack Bruins ended a 7game winless streak with a 4-3 win over the Kamloops Blazers. Horak's 22nd goal of the season 24 seconds into the 3rd period gave Chilliwack a 3-2 lead as the young center from the Czech Republic set a new career high in goals.

Horak also had a secondary assist on Chilliwack's 2nd goal helped to earn him the game's second star as Horak is now 22-26-58. It was the only star awarded to any of the Ranger or Islander prospects.

The other highlight we have is Max Campbell (NYR 2007 5th) and his Western Michigan Broncos setting a new school record after they defeated Bowling Green 3-1 to extend their unbeaten streak to 13 straight games. The longest active unbeaten streak in the NCAA breaks a Western Michigan record set back in the 1985-86 season.

Campbell did not score as he took 4 shots and now for the Broncos the schedule really gets tougher. Currently in 4th place in the CCHA, the Broncos will over the next 3 weekends face 1st place Miami (13th), 3rd place Michigan (9th) and 2nd place Notre Dame (10th).

Speaking of Miami and Michigan as Carl Hagelin (NYR 2007 6th) and his Michigan Wolverines were shut out 3-0 by the Miami Redhawks. The Redhawks swept the weekend series and leaped past Michigan and idle Notre Dame to take over 1st place in the CCHA.

Michigan lost their 3rd straight game and fell into 3rd place in thre CCHA.

In Hockey East action, Blake Kessel (NYI 2007 6th) and his 6th ranked New Hampshire Wildcats defeated Maine 5-4 to take sole possession of 1st place in the conference. Kessel coming off a 3 assist night was scoreless.

12th ranked Merrimack crushed Danny Hobbs (NYR 2007 7th) and his UMass/Amherst Minutemen 11-2. Hobb scored his 7th goal of the season at 16:44 of the first period to tie the game at 1-1 but that was the end of Minutemen highlights as Merrimack scored 6 unanswered goals.

Hobbs is 7-13-20 on the season.

In the WCHA, Matt Donovan (NYI 2008 4th) had an assist for his 20th point of the season as his 3rd ranked Denver Pioneers earned a split of their weekend series after defeating rival Colorado College 5-3. The teams split the weekend series with each team winning on home ice.

QMJHL

Kirill Kabanov (NYI 2010 3rd) scored his 7th goal of the season to help his Lewiston Maineaics shut out the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles 5-0 for their 5th straight win. Kabanov is now 7-10-17 in 23 games for the Maineaics.

Ryan Bourque (NYR 2009 3rd) had an assist on what turned out to be the game winning goal as his Quebec Remparts defeated the Gatineau Olympiques 6-3. For Bourque his 24th assist on the season on Quebec's 4th goal of the game gives him 48 points on the season in 37 games.

OHL

Ethan Werek (NYR 2009 2nd) had 2 assists but his Kingston Frontenacs left their defense home losing to the last place Barrie Colts 8-6. Werek who now has a 3 game scoring streak improved his stats to 17-20-37

Jason Wilson (2010 5th) was scoreless as his Niagara IceDogs extended their unbeaten streak to 5 games with a 2-0 shut out of the Brampton Battalion. The IceDogs won despite being out shot 37-24.

WHL

Dylan McIlrath (NYR 2010 1st) sat out his Moose Jaw Warriors game with the Medicine Hat with what was called a "lower body injury" but we can confirm was a knee injury. Moose Jaw Coach Dave Hunchak said on the Moose Jaw pregame show that "McIlrath was hurt after a blind side hit which tweaked his knee."

Hunchak also said that McIlrath will be checked out by the Moose Jaw doctors upon the team's return home on Monday. We will update his condition when we get more information.

David Toews (NYI 2008 3rd) was scoreless as his Brandon Wheat Kings lost to the Swift Current Broncos 5-3. The 2 teams exchanged spots in the WHL's Eastern Conference standings again with Swift Current moving back into 7th.

Finally in what had to be the longest and perhaps strangest lopsided win we have ever seen; Nino Niederreiter (NYI 2010 1st) and his Portland Winterhawks whipped on the Tri-City Americans 8-2.  Niederreiter was scoreless on "Portland Buckaroo" night as the game turned into a fight fest in the last minute of the game.

Hey Mike Johnson and Jim Hiller cmon guys really 4 fights in the last minute? Maybe what really needs to happen is coaches are given 1 game per fight suspension in the game's final 5 minutes.

Maybe just maybe circus acts like tonight's last minute would be prevented.

(Horak/Chilliwack Bruins)

Friday Night Fun

SATURDAY UPDATE- We have no idea as to the severity or even if it is the same injury but Dylan McIlrath left his game last night during the 2nd period with a knee injury and did not return,

We are awaiting official confirmation from Moose Jaw on the injury. (Thanks Gregg Drinnan of Taking Note)


For the New York Ranger and New York Islander prospects, Friday night was one of those nights where you had a little bit of everything from great offensive performances to a horror fest.

If you are a fan of the Barrie Colts then you are so glad that you do not have to see Christian Thomas (NYR 2010 2nd) anymore this season. Thomas for the 2nd time this season had a 2-2-4 game against the Colts as his Generals held off the Colts 6-5.

To say that Thomas has owned the Colts is an understatement as in 4 games this season Thomas was 7-5-12. At a nice 37-29-66 in 49 games, Thomas is on a pace to wind up 53-41-94.

The rest of the Ranger prospect report borders on more like April's Fools as you had 3 prospects combine for 21 shots and no goals or watching a normally responsible team totally lose their cool and wind up with 92 minutes in penalties.

The Ranger report can be found here 

The New York Islander side of the story is actually boring compared to what the Ranger prospects did but overall it was a good night for them.

Nino Niederreiter (2010 1st) scored 2 first period goals to help his Portland Winterhawks to a 3-0 first period lead enroute to a 5-2 win over the Edmonton Oil Kings that was a lot closer than the score indicates.

Niederreiter got Portland going when he scored his 23rd goal just 3 seconds into a Portland power play at 2:08 of the first period for a 1-0 lead. With Portland up 2-0, Niederreiter was hauled down on a breakaway and awarded a penalty shot that he converted on for his 24th goal and a 3-0 Winterhawk lead.

The Islander prospects report is right here.

Call us late to the party but tonight was our first look at a player that has been generating some serious buzz in Nail Yakupov of the Sarina Sting. If you have not heard of this very talented young player then write his name down because already people are talking him up as the first pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.

He is only 17 and while he is 5'10 170 we can project him out at about 6 ft 190, a right wing who is a scoring machine. 48 games this season and he is 38-38-76 with  45 PIMS.

He was the offense for Sarina against the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors with a goal and 2 primary assists. The Majors are the best defensive team in the OHL and they had their hands full with Yakupov who is 14-11-25 in his last 14 games.

The only first year player in the top 20 in scoring in the OHL (currently 5th) and we wonder what kind of numbers he would be putting up if he was playing on a team like Mississauga or Niagara instead of Sarina.

(Thomas courtesy of Aaron Bell/OHL Images, Niederreiter/Portland Winterhawks, Yakupov/Sarina Sting)

“They’re very lucky . . . very lucky.”

There is a part of hockey life at the junior level that rarely ever gets talked which is the travel. Unlike the NHL where charter airplanes with all the creature comforts are the norm; life as a junior is many a trip via bus.

It is not just riding long distances by bus but it is also traveling late at night and in the dead of winter. It means as we are having one of the worst winters in years some scary situations.

 And to be honest when I read about the near miss the Everett Silvertips experienced on Thursday morning it really was some sheer good luck and the quick actions of a bus driver that this is not an article talking about those lost or injured.

The bus travel goes with the game and there is really nothing one can do about it if they want to play hockey in any of the CHL leagues.

Driver Tom Jessen had the bus in the right-hand lane just moments before having to take evasive action. Realizing the situation, Soetaert said, Jessen cut across the left-hand lane and the bus ended up with its nose in a snowbank.

As Nick Patterson of the HeraldNet reported

"Everett's team bus narrowly avoided a major accident on the highway while traveling home from the game early this morning. Icy road conditions caused a multi-vehicle accident on the Coquihalla Highway near the former tollbooth location between Merritt and Hope, an accident that included several semis. The accident happened ahead of Everett's bus in a location where the ability to see the road ahead was limited, and the icy roads made reacting nearly impossible. However, quick thinking by Everett's bus driver prevented the bus from becoming part of the accident as he brought it to rest in the snowbank by the side of the highway.

Now to many of you this may not seem like a big deal but just in the WHL alone are 22 teams who have to travel to and from games and that we do not hear more stories like this or worse is a miracle.

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In prospect action Jason Wilson (NYR 2010 5th) continued to put up points for his Niagara IceDogs as he set up the IceDog's first goal of the game as they went on to defeat Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds 6-2. It was Wilson's 17th assist on the season as well as his 30th point. 

Wilson since December 4th has been just as productive as the leading Ranger prospect scorers. Wilson has 21 points in his last 20 games (7-14-21) as the IceDogs continue to chase the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors for the top spot in the OHL's Eastern Conference.

The IceDogs with their win remain 8 points behind the Majors and in 3rd place in the conference. They are unbeaten in their last 4 regulation games and 7-1-0-2

Speaking of the Majors, they escaped from the Windsor Spitfires thanks to a 4-3 shoot out win that extended their winning streak to 5 games. It was a rare quiet night for Casey Cizikas (NYI 2009 4th) as he was held scoreless and a -1. 

Cizikas is coming off a 10-7-17 January as the leading scorer among Islander prospects has been so consistent this season that it is a story when he does not score. 

(Silvertip logo/Everett Silvertips, Wilson/Terry Wilson OHL Images) 

I Got Your Size Right Here

If I am Christian Thomas or Ryan Bourque then I am using the play of Mats Zuccarello with the New York Rangers as some serious motivation. Nothing against the Wonderkid from Norway but Thomas to us is a much better scorer and Bourque a much better forechecker.

And on Wednesday night the duo had big games to help lead their team to wins that both their teams needed. Both recorded a goal and an assist as it was a good night for Ranger prospects as well as for a couple of Islander prospects too.

First up is Ryan Bourque (NYR 2009 3rd) as his Quebec Remparts more than paid the Victoriaville Tigre for a 6-2 loss on Sunday as the Remparts just stomped the Tigre 10-0. The Remparts got goals from 9 different players in this game which was over after a 4 goal first period.

Bourque registered his 23rd assist on Vincent Barnard's goal at 7:40 of the 3rd period to give Quebec a 5-0 lead and open the floodgates. Bourque added his 24th goal at 17:35 on Quebec's 9th goal of the game.

It was a good all around game for Bourque as he was a +3 to go along with his 1-1-2 night. The 2 points also helped Bourque improve to 24-23-47 which is good for 3rd among Ranger prospects.

In Belleville, Christian Thomas (NYR 2010 2nd) continued his outstanding season as he scored his Ranger prospect best 35th goal of the season and added his 27th assist as his Generals came from behind with 3 third period goals for a 5-3 win over the Belleville Bulls.

Thomas got the Generals going scoring at 1:56 of the first period just 27 seconds after Belleville had taken a 1-0 lead. It was an unassisted goal for Thomas who then earned a secondary assist on the General's 2nd goal of the game at 5:17 on the power play.

Calvin De Haan (NYI 2009 1st) had a secondary assist on what proved to be the game winning goal for the Generals as he teamed with Alain Berger to set up Nicklas Jensen at 11:00 for a 4-3 lead. It was De Haan's 27th assist and 29th point on the season.

Dan Maggio (NYR 2009 6th) did not score but was a +2 on the night. Maggio was kind enough to talk to us for the next edition of the Blueshirt Bulletin.

Tony DeHart (NYI 2010 5th) did not score but did contribute his 3rd fight of the season when after a hip check the Bulls Stephen Silas dropped the gloves with DeHart. Nod to DeHart in this one as you can see here:

Out West, Roman Horak scored twice but his Chilliwack Bruins wound up losing 6-4 to the Kelowna Rockets to extend their winless streak to 5 games. Horak scored his 20th and 21st goals of the season to equal what he did as a WHL rookie last season.

But Chilliwack's season is heading south as they are now 3-6-0-1 in their last 10 games. As the 9th team in a conference of 10 the only thing even keeping the Bruins alive for a playoff spot is that other teams from 7-10 are all trying to give away the last 2 playoff spots.

Horak is 21-34-55 but a -16 on the season so at the rate his Bruins are playing; Horak might be heading to Hartford a lot earlier than anyone expected.

Then again in the WHL's Eastern Conference someone forgot to tell David Toew's (NYI 2008 3rd) Brandon Wheat Kings that they were dead in the water. Toews earned his 16th assist and 27th point of the season as the shorthanded Wheat Kings handed the Swift Current Broncos their 7th straight loss 3-2.

The win moved the Wheat Kings into 8th place in the WHL's Eastern Conference and 1 point behind the Broncos for 7th place with a game in hand. That the Wheat Kings are even in the playoff hunt is a great story as they won despite only dressing 16 skaters.

(Thomas, De Haan. DeHart and Maggio/Oshawa Generals, Bourque/Quebec Remparts, Horak/Chilliwack Bruins, Toews/Brandon Wheat Kings, Video courtesy of HockeyFights.com)

Too Funny

Every time someone asks why I spend my time covering prospects I point to nights like tonight when emotional reporting overcomes objective factual reporting. Or in other words it was the Pittsburgh Penguins taking on the New York Rangers so some kind of silly drama has to come out of this game.

To wit, Jordan Staal receives a match penalty and the automatic game misconduct for "sucker punching" Brandon Prust



The Ranger fans swear that Brandon Prust was the victim of a cheapshot while the rest of "media" and hockey world calls what he did a dive. OK prove that he dove or prove that he did not dive.

See there is your problem only Brandon Prust knows whether or not he took a dive. Prust says he did not; what you were expecting him to go "why yes I dove because I knew it would help the team?:"

Here is a radical thought for people which is; sometimes you take one for the team if it gives you a badly needed spark. Lets be honest at that point in time the Rangers had blown a 2-0 lead allowing the Penguins to score 3 unanswered goals so yes the possibility does exist that Prust took one for the team.

Prust is a throwback player who you have to love because if the team needed someone to jump off a cliff to help them win; you can count on Prust to be the first one with his hand raised.

Taking that punch woke up the Rangers who went on to score the tying goal on the power play. You go right ahead and to say that Prust dove because the problem here is you forget that it was the action that was called.

Staal was thrown out for "intent to injure" because he threw a punch at an unsuspecting Prust. It was not called a fight, it was called an "intent to injure"

It does not matter if Prust dove or not; Staal broke Rule 21.1

A match penalty shall be imposed on any player who deliberately attempts to injure or who deliberately injures an opponent in any manner.

Staal threw the punch at an unsuspecting Prust, that is the call he was hit with by the refs. Even if Prust had remained on his feet the call is still the same; Staal threw a punch at an unsuspecting player.

In fact everyone who is pointing out how squeaking clean Jordan Staal is as a player is making the case for it to be a sucker punch. Prust was not expecting a punch from a guy who never throws one.

And while you are demanding that the NHL front office rescind the automatic one game suspension then let us ask you this one; had the roles been reversed and it was Prust who threw the punch how fast would you be demanding his head on a platter (nevermind how big the freak out if we were talking Sean Avery)?

The only thing that matters here is that Jordan Staal threw a punch at an unsuspecting player who had no way to defend himself. No matter how you want to spin it or twist it or explain it away it is still going to come back to the one key point:

A match penalty shall be imposed on any player who deliberately attempts to injure or who deliberately injures an opponent in any manner.

Nobody forced Jordan Staal to throw that punch but he did and should take the suspension that goes with it. It should not matter how squeaky clean Staal is, the rules are supposed to be applied equally.

Just because you "think" Prust dove does not get Staal off the hook. Heck I have my own doubts as to whether or not Prust dove but that does not matter since it was the action not the reaction that matters here.

The NHL really does not have enough evidence to support rescinding the suspension. How can they prove it was a dive?

Answer they can not so Jordan enjoy the night off.

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Just one prospect in action on Tuesday night as Kirill Kabanov (2010 3rd) returned to the Lewiston Maineaic's lineup after missing the previous 2 games with an illness.

Kabanov scored his 6th goal of the season as his Maineaics defeated the Shawinigan Cataractes 4-2 for their fourth straight win.

Kabanov's goal came as he found a rebound right in the crease area and poked it past Shawinigan goalie Gabriel Girard at 6:02 of the first period. It gave the Maineaics a 2-0 lead at the time but eventually the Maineaics held on for the win.

Kabanov is now 6-10-16 in 22 games with the Maineaics.

(Prust/New York Rangers, Kabanov/New York Islanders)