Inserting Round Peg Into Round Hole

For New York Ranger fans, Chris over at Blue Seat Blogs summed it up best when he wrote:

"What may be overseen in the impressive and promising rebuild, is the fact that the Rangers have not only drafted well, but have also built to suit a game plan"

On draft day the moves may not have looked liked they made a whole lot of sense but when you start looking at the bigger picture and look at how draft picks were selected to fill open holes or fix what they already had.

No other draft pick fits this game plan more than Dylan McIlrath, the Rangers 2010 first round pick who many a fan even today still questions why Cam Fowler was passed over for the more physical McIlrath.

That answer was because the Rangers already had Micheal Del Zotto and understood his defensive liabilities required someone who could cover up for those weaknesses. And yes Gordie Clark conceded that nobody with the Rangers had any idea that Del Zotto would slump like he did.

The Rangers have stopped with the "we are going to take the best available" mindset and now try to look at and for players who will mesh with what they have. No more of the trying to force square boxes into the round holes as the Rangers are going after players built to play the system that John Tortorella wants to use.

You can see that in picks like Chris Kreider who is supposed to be a speedy power forward who can be paired up with a playmaker like Derek Stepan and a sniper like Christian Thomas.

And yes there are going to be times when they just get flat out lucky as they did with the Fedotenko/Boyle/Prust line or the McDonagh/Sauer pairing. Being lucky does more to strengthen the argument to build the team from the blueline out; to look for players who will be able to mesh and improve the skills that their teammates have.

Sure it took forever before the Rangers realized that they could not just keep tossing money at a problem and thinking "this is how we fix things". It is going to drive all of us crazy trying to figure out what Gordie Clark and friends are going to do next but it seems they try to balance out the draft.

2011 the top of the draft was skill with some power then they went offensive skill before going back for physical size. Miller and Fogarty will require time but the sleeper of this draft just might be Ceresnak.

But because they turned 2 second round picks into Tim Erixon then this draft could be a winner before the 2011-2012 season is over. If 2 years ago that someone was going to tell you that the Rangers could have a blueline that included 4 NHL first round picks you would have laughed them all the way to Jersey (wait until McIlrath shows up to make it 5).

2010 was size and toughness as the theme with McIlrath, Yogan, Wilson and McNaught mixed in with Thomas for skill and Fasth for energy. Think the Rangers could come away with 5 players here with McNaught the only one who does not make it.

2009 was basically all skill players other than Maggio who was not signed and Pashnin who will remain in Russia for a while longer. Turning Werek into Lindberg who addresses faceoffs has to be a plus

2008 is where everything began but it also was where the learning pains came from too as Del Zotto, Stepan, and Grachev were all great ideas but the mistakes of rushing prospects are crystal clear with the slump of Del Zotto and the exit of Grachev. Kundratek and Weise remain with promise to give them 5 players out of a draft.

All these players going to turn into superstar players? No in fact what you have here really is a blueprint for a roster that is built to compliment each other.

The one thing that stands out is that because this is a roster meant to build an entire team then if one part does not fit then you can address that individual part sooner than later.

That works for us.

GOOD NEWS FOR RANGER FANS

If you are a Ranger fan who does not live where they can get MSG then we got some good news this evening when we were able to confirm that in the USA the NHL Network will be covering the Ranger prospect games live from Traverse City.

We are told it will be the Ranger MSG feed so all the stuff the Rangers have said they would do other than pre and post game shows will be seen.

A shame that the NHL does not realize that they have an audience begging for live hockey not repeats of the 2011 playoffs otherwise they would televise all of Traverse City as well as the Vancouver prospect's tournament.

(McIlrath courtesy of the Moose Jaw Warriors)

Score One For St. Croix

If you are a New York Ranger fan and you are trying to get a good read on 2011 4th round pick Michael St. Croix then good luck to you. We say that because when it comes to St. Croix the scouts are very much divided as to his potential.

You will not find any grey areas when it comes to what the scouts think of St. Croix as they are going to either like what they see or they won't. Ask 10 scouts and 5 will say NHL future while the other 5 say not a chance.

Our own notes from 2010 said that he needed a lot of work with his skating which is not really a big deal as these days it is harder to find prospects who don't need help with their skating. St. Croix suffers from being a "generic" player which means between his size (5'11 180) and his game that he does not stand out enough that he has to find a way to stand out.

St. Croix was originally seen as a late 2nd, early 3rd in the 2011 NHL draft but we hope that St. Croix does what many of those who fall into the 4th and 5th fail to do and use this drop to motivate him to get better.

In his 2011 season debut for his Edmonton Oil Kings, St. Croix got off to the right start with a power play goal as Edmonton jumped out to a 3-0 lead before holding off the Medicine Hat Tigers 3-2.  St. Croix scored in the 2nd period to give the Oil Kings at the time but this is what he has to do all year if he wants that contract.

At the junior level 9 power play goals will not help you stand out so we want to see this number doubled this year. FYI write down this name Griffin Reinhart (6'4 205) looks very promising for the 2012 draft.

New York Islander 2011 5th round pick John Persson would prefer if you used John not Johan as many places have listed him as. The Red Deer Rebel left wing had the day off as his Rebels in a wild one defeated the Swift Current Broncos 5-4 in overtime.

Sadly this game saw 6 players ejected for either fighting or major penalties and sorry if you do not like our soapbox but this is not helping your team win.

In the OHL, JT Miller (2011 NYR 1st) again was a healthy scratch as his Plymouth Whalers skated to a 3-3 tie. Yes that is correct a tie as the OHL does not play overtime or use the shootouts during the preseason.

Again no big deal as most CHL teams held out those prospects who are going to be leaving for NHL training camps. The smarter run teams act like they will not see their players for a long time and look for replacements.

Good idea with good intentions that also help the NHL team protect their draft picks. Though JT Miller in a way we feel for as he is going to have the weight of the world on his shoulders this season.

Can we start by setting reasonable expectations for Miller like 20-25 goals and maybe 50 points for a player in his first year at this level? Take anything above that as gravy.

We apologize but the OHL does not put out game sheets during the preseason either so we can't tell you if either Andrew Yogan (2010 3rd) or Peter Ceresnak (2011 6th) played for their Peterborough Petes in a 5-1 loss to the Mississauga St. Michaels Majors.

The only thing we do know is that the Ranger prospects are expected to leave their junior teams no later than Thursday to report to New York so the prospect team can fly out together on Friday.

And if you had any doubts about how bad the Ranger prospects want to win Traverse City then one of the prospects who talks to us all the time said that if it was up to him then they would report Wednesday and get in a couple of practices before leaving for Traverse City.

We are happy that the Rangers are going to televise the Traverse City tournament but we would like if they took some of the circus out of the coverage. Yes interview the kids but between periods or before or after the games.

Our message to the Rangers is to not lose sight about the real reason behind playing at Traverse City which is the building blocks of tomorrow. Yes this will be unpopular but we want the players focused on winning the tournament not preparing for an interview.

We think that if you really want to get the Ranger fans pumped for the 2011-2012 season then win Traverse City. Winning Traverse City goes a longer way at building bonds among the prospects (which is why they play in this tournament) but it will do a lot to generate fan excitement.

Not trying to throw water on the coverage as we are glad the Rangers are putting in the effort, we really are but our concern about turning the coverage into a circus will distract the players.

To the fans it is a look at the prospects but to us and the kids it is much more. We want to see the Ranger prospects win it, get to skate around with that trophy and earn the right to bring that trophy to the Ranger training camp.

Yes winning even Traverse City matters.

Stick Tap to our friend Gregg Drinnan who shared this one

F Adam Hughesman of the Tri-City Americans has signed an ATO with the NHL’s New York Islanders. Hughesman, a 20-year-old from Winnipeg, is coming off a season in which he totalled 81 points, including 39 goals, in 60 games. He is preparing for his fifth full season with the Americans

Good signing for the Islanders as been wondering why nobody had not invited Hughesman as one thing about those who play for the Americans is that they work their tails off or coach Jim Hiller sends them to the press box.

Tri-City has worked hard at becoming an annual playoff contender and Hughesman has shown forward progress since joining the Americans

(St. Croix courtesy of the Edmonton Oil Kings)

Start With The Kids

While the hockey world tries to figure out how to prevent any more tragedies like we have had during this off-season, there is only one way to start the changes and that is with the kids.

Trying to change a mindset whether we are talking about fighting, hits to the head, depression or how make the adjustment to a life after hockey is not going to happen overnight. Thinking we can simply put in a set of rules and expect things to instantly happen is not going to happen.

Tie Domi wants to see us talk more about depression then great idea Tie; so start by getting involved in the OHL/CHL and tell kids like your own son Max that it is OK to say to someone I am not feeling good about myself. Trust me Tie when someone with your reputation walks into a locker room and says that you are not weak if you reach out for help is going to carry a whole lot more weight than any blog post from some guy on the west coast or a rule from the CHL.

I read a great entry from a guy named Mark Willoughby who writes a blog called "The View From 111" called "When the Music Stops" which talks about what happens when a player's playing days are over. Mark makes some great points but I fear that his message would be lost in today's NHL.

Check it out as it is worth reading as Ranger and Islander fans can very much relate to what Mark says. We see it happen every year it seems.

Georges Laraque says that you can not take fighting out of the game and I disagree because in most of the hockey world, fighting is against the rules. But Georges is right on one giant area which is the post-hockey life as the majority of hockey players are very unprepared for it.

Laraque's heart is in the right place but he is wrong if he thinks a committee of former tough would make it easier for another tough guy to reach out. But that committee of tough guys would have an impact on the kids who are dreaming of playing in the NHL.

Just about every game played this weekend in the WHL had at least 1 fight or major penalty in it. We are not talking 1-2 games but rather 16 games. The thought of being automatically ejected for fighting in the preseason had zero effect at preventing fights.

Players believe that what they lack in skill they can make up in with being able to fight but we are only kidding ourselves if we do not think that blows to the head do not come with a price tag. The kids look at the players in the NHL as their role models so why not use those role models to fix the game.

Have former players like Denis Gauthier, Jim Pepliniski, Jeff Beukeboom and Domi talking to the current juniors as the names have a great impact. They can talk about injuries, fighting, education and just about any topic with a greater chance of making an impact than most people.

We know that there is enough factual evidence that can link chronic pain to depression. Trust me walking around always in constant pain gets to you and anyone who tries to tell you otherwise is only fooling themselves.

Superman is just a comic book and after awhile when you have been in pain for an extended period it gets to you. Nobody can honestly be in pain for long periods of time and it not change you mostly for the bad.

Please do not take this as we do not believe that the NHL/NHLPA should not try to prevent any more tragedies but rather a reality that all the changes people are talking about are going to take time to happen. Training today's kids now will help (we hope) the NHL transition the mindset that players have.

At the very least it is worth talking about today so even 1 person can feel safe reaching out making it worth the effort.

Wade Belak

As the services were held for Belak down in Nashville, the argument about how much information the public has a right to know is breaking out. In a article at the Globe and Mail, Bruce Dowbiggin asks whether the people really need to know the exact details of Belak's death.

Part of us says yes and another part of us says no but sadly the reason why we say yes is because in this age of Twitter and Facebook; there is way too quick a rush to publish the "story." No need to wait to get confirmation just go onto to Twitter and break the story so the family can find out via the social networks that someone they love is dead and it was not pretty.

The public does need to know the truth about how and why of Belak's death if for no other reason to show that if in fact depression did play a role in his death that there were other options. The more we bring depression out there for discussion then hopefully something good can one day come out of these heartbreaking tragedies.

At the same time, we do wish that our peers in the media would remember that we are talking about the pain and suffering of someone when they rush to get the news out. A bit of compassion as well as getting total confirmation would be nice to see practiced once in a while.

Speaking of compassion, Belak was scheduled to take part in Canada's version of Dancing with the Stars", the Battle of the Blades. He was doing so in order to help raise money to help the Toronto Western Hospital’s Tourette Syndrome Clinic.

It was a cause near and dear to Belak's heart as one of his daughters has Tourettes which is just another example that even athletes can not escape the heartbreaks of illness and disease. The Nashville Predator fans are trying to raise $3,333 to donate on Belak's behalf.

If interested in helping out the Pred fans then go here. 3 Bucks is not alot but more than anything when Boogaard went down; Pred fans were there for Ranger fans, we are after all a family in this hockey world.


Sunday Action

If the games counted the first player of the week would be Brendan Kichton (NYI 2011 5th) as the 5'11 defender went 2-2-4 +3 in his 2 appearances which were both wins for his Spokane Chiefs. Kichton is one of the veteran players on the Chiefs and is coming off an 81 point season last year.

We can see why the Islanders used a 2011 5th rounder on him as while Kichton had just 2 secondary assists on Sunday against the Portland Winterhawks; it was when he scored that earned our admiration. The first assist came at 5:34 of the 3rd period just 2:24 after Portland had scored to cut Spokane's lead to 2-1.

It was a back breaker of a goal for Spokane and then Kichton's 2nd assist during a power play at 13:45 made the score 4-1 and that was the game with the Chiefs winning 5-1. If the Chiefs who have any hope of contending in a tough WHL US division then Kichton has to improve on his 81 points from last season.

A side note on the Spokane Chiefs who have Liam Stewart trying out for a spot on their roster. Stewart is the son of rock start Rod Stewart and model/actress Rachel Hunter, he is a 6'1 180 left wing who grew up in California but when his US playing days are over will be heading over to his father's Great Britain to play.

The Islander's other 2011 5th round pick John (Johan) Persson dressed for his Red Deer Rebels as they hosted the Prince George Cougars. Persson was scoreless as the Rebels earned a sloppy 2-1 win in a game that had no fights bit a total of 20 power plays (combined the teams were 2 for 20).

Michael St Croix (NYR 2011 4th) did not dress for his Edmonton Oil Kings as they lost on the road to the Swift Current Broncos 4-2.

Christian Thomas (NYR 2010 2nd) did not dress for the Oshawa Generals as they opened their exhibition season with a 6-3 road loss to the Belleville Bulls. 

We are now 5 days from Traverse City and on Saturday we doubt any Ranger high draft pick will be sitting on the sidelines unless they are hurt. Remember that MSG is televising all 4 games the Ranger prospects play.

(Kichton courtesy of the Spokane Chiefs)

Give Us Five

Saturday night saw the 5th round prospects of both the New York Islanders and New York Rangers as making key contributions in helping their teams win exhibition games. We have to start with the Spokane Chief's Brendan Kichton (NYI 2011 5th) who made his season debut a very good one.

Kichton started a 5 goal 3rd period outburt with the 1st of 2 goals to help Spokane come from behind for a 6-4 win over the Everett Silvertips. Kichton, a 5'11 defender is coming off a 23-58-81 +55 season and will need to improve on those numbers for Spokane to challenge Portland for the US Division.

With Spokane trailing 3-1, Kichton struck off a feed from Marek Kalus at the 3 minute mark. 1:29 later Spokane tied the game at 3-3 but Everett regained the lead at 8:16.

Kichton then tied the game up at 4-4 on his 2nd goal at 11:50 and from there Spokane went on to score 2 more goals for the win. Kichton was 2-0-2 +2 for the game.

Regan Bartel the voice of the Kelowna Rockets called it perfected when it came to Shane McColgan when he said he had to do a little of everything.

And McColgan did exactly that to help his Rockets blow out the Victoria Royals 7-2. It was McColgan who got the Rockets going with his 1st goal of the exhibition season at 7:07 of the first period and the Rockets just piled it on from there scoring 4 times in the first.

McColgan also took 2 penalties one that he will need to avoid and the other which led to a Kelowna power play. The first was an unsportsmanlike in the last minute of the first period with Kelowna up 4-0, coaches never like those.

The second was a cross checking that led to McColgan taking 2 Royals with him so we can not complain about it. McColgan also had a primary assist on Kelowna's 6th goal of the game which killed off any hope of a Victoria comeback.

McColgan finished 1-1-2, +2 4 PIMs for the Rockets as he will practice for a couple more days before departing to play in Traverse City.

In Moose Jaw, the big question was how would the Warriors respond after playing a terrible game against Regina Pats on Friday. The answer was it was not pretty but Moose Jaw doubled up Regina 6-3 holding the Pats to just 20 shots for the game.

Moose Jaw did not dress Dylan McIlrath (2010 1st) but did Traverse City invitee Colin Bowman who played a much better game on Saturday. Bowman had a primary assist and 2 secondary assists for the Warriors who evened up their record at 1-1.

That Moose Jaw held McIlrath out of both exhibition games was more for the Warrior's benefit than it was McIlrath. Moose Jaw we believe is expecting the Rangers to keep McIlrath for most of the Ranger training camp and they would not have him available for the beginning of the Warrior's regular season.

In the OHL, the Plymouth Whalers did not dress most of their regulars including 2011 New York Ranger 1st round pick JT Miller but were able to defeat the Windsor Spitfires 2-1.

We do not have a scoresheet but we do not believe that the Niagara IceDogs dressed 2011 Islander 1st round pick Ryan Strome or 2011 Islander 7th round pick Mitchell Theoret. The IceDogs shut out the Erie Otters 2-0 in the opener for both teams.

2011 Islander 3rd round pick defender Andrey Pedan scored his 1st goal of the exhibition season to give his Guelph Storm a short lived 4-3 lead in the 3rd period but Guelph went on to defeat the Mississauga St. Michaels Majors 6-4.

Pedan scored an unassisted goal which came as a bit of a surprise given that Pedan had all of 2 goals last season. Pedan is a 6'4 Russian defender who we are told should have a breakout season for the Storm this year.

And write down this name (we said you needed to do it last year) Nail Yakupov who plays for the Sarina Sting in the OHL. Unless lightning strikes or a serious injury here is your 2012 NHL Entry Draft first pick.

Yakupov brought his entire family over from Russia and if the somewhat homesick kid could score 49 then imagine what he is going to do this year. And even better is that this year he is going to have a supporting cast so 60-70 goals is not out of the question.

Wade Belak

Services for Belak will be held Sunday in Nashville and there were 2 articles that we felt was important to bring to your attention. The first features a very upset Tie Domi who wants people to focus more on depression than that Belak (as well as Rypien and Boogaard) was an NHL enforcer.

It is hard to argue with Domi who might know about the enforcing part but if you read the article you can get a sense that he is might also trying to be convincing himself. Domi was a mentor to Belak when both were Maple Leafs so our heart goes out to him as well.

The other article actually hits us harder when we see who the focus is on and that is former Ranger Colton Orr. The question asked "Should Colton Orr ever play another game in the NHL?"

Our answer comes more from our heart than our heads but the answer is a very loud "NO." Enough already if the players and the NHL are not willing to do more about the concussion issue then take it out of their hands.

It is not going to be hard to draw a line from concussions to depression as despite what many may think one thing that can help lead to depression is having something you love be taken from you not because of your own choice.
Tie Domi is right on one thing and that is we all need to start to speak up about depression as it happens to more people than anyone wishes to admit.

(Kickton courtesy of the Spokane Chiefs, McColgan courtesy of the Kelowna Rockets)

Welcome Back Friday Night Hockey

It does not matter who you root for New York Ranger or New York Islander but it is safe to say that we all needed real live hockey to end what has been an off-season of tragedy.

The WHL started their exhibition season on Friday night starting with the annual Everett Silvertip Pre-Season Classic. And we are sorry to say but in the very first game, the need for cracking down on cheap shots as well as fighting was made crystal clear.

5 WHL games and 5 games with at least a fight or a checking to the head major is not the way to get your season off to a good start.

We had been hoping to see Islander prospect Brendan Kichton (2011 5th) but he was held out as his Spokane Chiefs took on the Seattle Thunderbirds in afternoon action. Spokane at one point led 3-1 but Seattle rallied to tie the game before Spokane scored a late 3rd period power play goal for the game winner.

What bothered us was the play of Spokane's Darren Kramer and Mike Aviani as the duo combined for  41 PIMs. Kramer took 2 minor penalties before getting ejected in the 3rd period for fighting while Aviani caused a 2nd fight 8 seconds after Kramer's fight when he was called for a checking to the head major.

This is the area where hockey needs to crack down as 2 plays 8 seconds apart mar what was a pretty good game where the Chiefs used 10 first year players. The first game of the Classic and already a total of 19 penalties leading to 105 PIMs is not the right message to send to WHL fans.

Aviani should consider his preseason over if the WHL means what it says about a crackdown on hits to the head. If not then the WHL is opening the door for some serious criticism. It seems that automatic game misconducts are not enough to deter fights in the preseason; maybe automatic 2-3 game suspensions would.

The Mike Stothers era in Moose Jaw got off to a very bad start as the Warriors were outplayed in every area of the game losing on the road to the Regina Pats 5-3. The score is not even close to how bad the Warriors played as the biggest problem was the 3 players wearing letters for the Warriors.

Between the captain and the 2 assistants, the Warrior player leadership combined for 5 minors, a major and a game misconduct totalling 25 PIMs. This was not the way to start a new coaching era and the Warriors looked very bad

Traverse City Invitee Colin Bowman took back to back penalties (0:16 and 4:02) while wearing the "C" to start the game. Then Dallas Ehrhardt who was wearing "A" took an elbowing major to give the Rebels a 7 minute power play that they scored on.

Bowman took a 3rd penalty right after Ehrhardt's penalties ended which Red Deer scored on to take a 2-0 first period lead. This one was over in the first period as the Rebels out everything the Warriors including a 21-3 advantage in shots.

Dylan McIlrath did not dress for this one but it is very doubtful he would have made much of a difference. The 2 teams will travel to Moose Jaw to play in Moose Jaw's new arena hopefully with a much better effort if not outcome.

Shane McColgan (NYR 2011 5th) did not dress as his Kelowna Rockets hosted the Vancouver Giants in their exhibition opener but at least they sent their fans home happy with a 4-3 overtime win. It was a pretty good back and forth event with both teams giving up leads.

Saturday is expected to be a very busy day but if you are looking for some hockey we do expect prospects of both Rangers and Islanders in action. Several of the games will have radio coverage and we are awaiting word as to whether or not games will be webcast.

We will pass the word on webcasts on the FB and twitter feeds.

Saturday will also mark the expected debut of NYR 2011 1st round pick JT Miller as well as NYI 2011 1st round pick Ryan Strome. No word yet if either game will be available for webcast.

(Colin Bowman courtesy of the Moose Jaw Warriors)

Word Up

Training camps are now in full swing as we get ready for the first weekend of exhibition hockey involving New York Ranger and New York Islander prospects.

We got a chance to ask the voice of the Kelowna Rockets Regan Bartel how 2011 5th round pick Shane McColgan was doing this week via twitter and here are Regan's responses:

"He's been good. Again, he needs to distribute the puck more to be real affective imo. Great skater and good pp guy."

"17 and leading the team in scoring. No question he is fun to watch. Media friendly, so he wins bonus points with me"

Make sure you check out Reagan's Rant to keep up with the daily happenings of McColgan and his Kelowna Rockets.  The Rockets are headed to Vancouver to open up their exhibition season with a game against the Vancouver Giants Friday night.

In Moose Jaw, the Moose Jaw Warriors Director of Hockey Operations Alan Millar sent us his mini scouting report on Traverse City invitee Colin Bowman.

"Bowman is a well rounded, solid, complete defensemen. He plays in all situations for our hockey club. Collin is a key member of our team and an excellent leader.

Rangers fans would like Bowman's solid, reliable play. He competes hard in all situations and is very reliable at key times during a game, including, when the game is on the line."

Millar is in his second season running the Moose Jaw Warriors and Bowman was one of his key trades at the beginning of his putting together a team. Bowman wears an outfit by "A" on his uniform with good reason.

The Warriors open their exhibition season also on Friday on the road in Regina as the teams will play a home and home this weekend. Fellow prospect Dylan McIlrath is expected to play in 1 of the games this weekend.

Our thanks to Marnell Rasmussen for getting Millar to take the time to talk to us.

Labor Day Weekend

In addition to the games we have already listed there will be 2 WHL exhibition tournaments going in. First up in Everett the Silvetips will be hosting their 5th Annual Pre Season Classic with all 5 of the WHL's top US Division in action.

The Islanders will have Brendan Kichton (2011 5th) in action with his Spokane Chiefs while the Rangers do not have anyone playing in this tournament. The Games start Friday afternoon and go through Sunday with 2 games per day.

The Edmonton Oil Kings are hosting their Pre Season Invitational on Sunday and Monday with each team playing 2 games. The Rangers will have their 4th round pick Michael St. Croix in action for the Oil Kings.

The Islanders will see Johan Persson (2011 5th) in action for the Red Deer Rebels but sorry the Rebels and Oil Kings will not be playing each other.

In the OHL, we will see plenty of game action starting on Saturday night when Islander 2011 1st rd pick Ryan Strome is expected to play for his Niagara IceDogs vs. the Erie Otters. 2011 7th rd pick Mitchell Theoret is also expected to see action.

The New York Rangers 2011 1st rd pick JT Miller is expected to play in at least 1 of the home and home series his Plymouth Whalers will be playing against the Windsor Spitfires. Our expectation is that he plays on Saturday in the home game.

We have not heard if Christian Thomas will dress for Oshawa on Saturday when his Generals take on the Bellville Bulls. Same can be said for the Peterborough Petes with Andrew Yogan and Peter Ceresnak.

Information regarding the coverage of the exhibition games has not been finalized so if we here anything please check out facebook page( Jess Rubenstein) and our Twitter feed( theprospectpark) for any information and/or reports.

Miscellaneous Info 

The WHL wanted us to know that they are also requiring their players to switch to the soft cap shoulder and elbow pads this season. They made the move back on June 15th which leaver the QMJHL as the only league not making the switch (as of now).

Gregg Drinnan who has been both a friend and mentor for us here has taken the lead for the movement to ban fighting at the junior level. Several parents have emailed him about this subject including this mother who deals a lot with Alzheimer’s patients.

We see that within 2 years the call for the end of fighting at the CHL level will pay off as the more reports coming out on the effects of head trauma then the harder it is going to be for the CHL to ignore.

And yes we do see the NCAA taking full advantage of this as a recruiting tool with parents who are concerned about the health and well being of their children.

Finally this one was just too funny to pass up as it turns out that a former player of Glen Sather Jason Bonsignore just went on a rant which included some not so nice comments regarding Glen Sather.

You can read some of the comments here or listen to the entire interview here look for August 31 hour 3.  Then there is this kind of so-so defense of Glen Sather by David Staples who has covered the Oilers almost forever is seems.

Bonsignore was the 4th pick in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft and to be honest in our book the Hugh Jessiman of his day. Because there was no Center Ice back in the 90's you watched what you could and sorry Jason; Sather may have been many things but you just were a huge bust as the 4th pick.

Sather was a mean SOB in those days but there is no sympathy for you especially when you look all 2 picks later and how Ryan Symth was able to find a career under that big meanie head Glen Sather.

(McColgan courtesy of the Kelowna Rockets)

Confession Of A Dinosaur

Today was going to be about saluting the OHL for a couple of the rule changes they were going to put into effect for the 2011-2012 hockey season. Then it was going to be a soapbox entry about how the hockey needed to change now after the news of Wade Belak's passing.

But before this place joins the chorus wanting to see badly needed changes to hockey then I too must confess my own sins. See I am one of the dinosaurs who needs to "see the light" and realize just how damaging fighting is to the game and life itself.

I know all too well how fighting is the supposed "best way" for men to solve their personal problems. It was how I was raised by my father which I freely admit is my lame excuse to justify my actions.

Dad's solution to my coming home crying after being bullied was to tell me to take my baseball bat to school the next morning. His message was loud and clear that the only way to stop being the victim was to stand up for myself.

I had watched dear old dad break a guy's jaw with one punch and nobody dared mess with my father. If it worked for dad then it had to work for me right?

I will not sit here and lie that I did not enjoy seeing someone else being scared as I did. And the seal of approval from dad when he talked to the boy's dean was the icing on the cake.

Funny thing how things change when you go from prey to predator; people want to be your friend, girls like you more and even better people stopped picking on you. When it came to hockey, it was the only way for a slow fat short kid with no talent to get playing time even though I lost more fights than I won.

All that mattered was I was the tough guy who people did not mess with but everyone wanted to be friends with. Yea I was so cool with the black eyes or the messed up face.

Fighting is painful and you are not allowed to show pain or else that the "tough guy"image image does not work. So you take things for the pain which on the street tend to be the wrong things to take.

I can tell you how I know all too well what Derek Boogaard went though because I have my own demons thanks to addiction. Oh yea how cool it is to punish your body because you think you have to fight the world.

So when I read about Derek Boogaard, Rick Rypien and now Wade Belak while you folks are having trouble understanding why, there I am going that could have been me. What might bother you is that I use those guys dying from their diseases to remind me what I could wind up as.

I also know first hand why going for help is the hardest thing for a guy to do because they are afraid of being labeled whether it is "druggie" or "psycho case." I can tell you that it is a lot easier to find denial than it is to ask for help.

Even sadder is that even after getting clean and sober that it was cooler to show off the scars as badges of honor rather than admit how stupid I was. All because I thought fighting was the way to solve problems.

It does not work and honestly we do need to have this discussion about fighting just as badly as we do head shots. It should not have taken 3 guys dying like they did but it has and we have a responibility to the kids to do whatever we can to protect them from winding up like Boogaard and Co.

And even if the cost is acknowledging my own hypocrisy of using fight videos as part of telling the prospect's story then so be it. There will no longer be any more fight videos used to describe how a prospect played.

But we do need to address fighting especially at the junior level as friend Gregg Drinnan wrote the other day:

"Sooner, rather than later, junior hockey operators are going to realize that the evidence showing the destructiveness that can be caused by blows to the head continues to mount, and that they are going to have to act to get pugilism out of the game."

"In hockey, the powers-that-be are working to get checks to the head out of the game but, at the same time, if you are playing major junior or above in North America, you are allowed to punch an opponent in the head during a fight."

Neate Sager over at Buzzing the Net offered up the best argument against fighting after he published an article which started with a call to end fighting from Dr. Robert Cantu AKA the Sports Concussion Expert

Sager wrote:

That being said, one wonders how much longer fighting can exist in the Canadian Hockey League when the medical evidence and wider public awareness of a disease such as CTE each continue to mount. An outside factor such as the class-action suit former quarterback Jim McMahon and some of his contemporaries have brought against the NFL could also force various leagues' hand. There is a chicken-and-egg element to it, wondering if it would take the NHL to act first before its longest-standing feeder system takes decisive action. But saying the NHL permits fighting is not enough of a reason to justify having it in the CHL."

How do you get a kid to stop fighting when the main hockey highlights shown on ESPN are the fights? It is a mindset programmed into the NHL game that has to change not only among players but the fans and media too.

It is not a change that is going to happen overnight but it has to start sooner than later or the number of players dying is going to increase. We are less than 9 days from the start of Traverse City and we should be getting excited about the upcoming season not having to make sense of yet another player dying.

It was interesting today as before the word of Belak's passing took over was that the OHL introduced some rule changes that one has to say is a start towards fixing the game. The first is the decision that all OHL players will wear soft cap shoulder and elbow pads for the 2011-12 season.

The old style shoulder and elbow pads were made of hard plastic which protected the player but became a weapon since it did not protect the player getting hit by one. The goal of course is to reduce head injuries but we want to see harsh standards when it comes to suspensions.

In our book the quickest way to get players to stop going for the head is to suspend his coach along with the player. When you start costing a coach 10 game's pay you will see a zero tolerance for head shots from the coaches.

The OHL also is going to put an end to goalie fights as an automatic game misconduct and minimum two game suspension will be handed out to any goalie who leaves their crease and gets into a fight. It is a start and hopefully we will see less fighting this season.

One last thing that needs to be said is make sure you tell those who mean the most to you that they do. Blink and they are gone before you get that chance so do not take for granted the hug you could have given or the hand you chould have shaken only takes a second but it can last a lifetime.