Surfs Up Rocket Style

It figures that some New York Ranger or New York Islander has to come long and make us do a re-write of a post we were just about finished with. That is quite alright as we would rather have happy news to report than tell you how boring a night Wednesday was.

Shane McColgan (NYR 2011 5th) did not receive the invite that he had hoped for from Team USA but we are more than happy with the way he has been playing this season with the Kelowna Rockets of the WHL.

McColgan scored his 8th goal of the season at 2:09 of the 3rd period breaking a 2-2 tie and sending his Rockets to a 5-2 win over the Lethbridge Hurricanes. It was McColgan's first game winning goal of the season and he picked a great time to score it as Lethbridge had just tied the game up 1:42 earlier.

McColgan's goal triggered 2 more goals from the Rockets in the 3rd as they won this game going away. McColgan finished the night with a +3 to go along with his goal as McColgan is now 8-23-31 on the season.

On the other side of things we can't help but feel bad for John Persson (NYI 2011 5th) and his Red Deer Rebels as injuries, illnesses, and suspensions have taken their toll on the Rebels. The Rebels saw their winless streak stretch to 11 games (0-9-0-2) as they lost on the road to the Swift Current Broncos 2-1.

It is hard to believe that the Rebels on November 12th had just won their 6th straight game and were challenge for the top spot in the WHL's Eastern Conference. Losing to Swift Current has them now in 8th place just 2 points ahead of the 9th place Broncos they just lost to.


Danny Hobbs (NYR 2007 7th) was scoreless as his UMass Minutemen defeated the Yale Bulldogs 3-1 in a non-conference game. Hobbs was used as the 3rd line RW as UMass enters their holiday break with a win that breaks their 5 game winless streak.

(McColgan- Kelowna Rockets)

The End Of A Good Tuesday

Wow Tuesday during the day was a much better day than Tuesday evening for both fans of the New York Rangers and the New York Islanders.

We started our day with the news that Christian Thomas (NYR 2010 2nd) was named the CHL Player of the Week and then in the afternoon Islander fans got to see Brock Nelson (NYI 2010 1st)win his 2nd straight "Red Baron WCHA Offensive Player of the Week.

Anyone want to guess which 2 prospects were our players of the week? Kind of seems silly for us to name Christian Thomas for the Rangers and Brock Nelson for the Islanders given their winning player of the week awards from others. It is though nice to see players we have been saying are going to be NHLers get some recognition though.

We also can not leave out Michael St. Croix (NYR 2011 4th) who made this week a hat trick for the prospects winning WHL prospect of the Week. It almost made the games played Tuesday night seem unimportant.

Game Action

Samuel Noreau (NYR 2011 5th) and his Baie-Comeau Drakkar took on Kirill Kabanov (NYI 2010 3rd) and his Shawinigan Cataractes with the Drakkar holding off the Cataractes 3-2.

Neither player scored as Kabanov and his linemates had a rough night defensively being on the ice for 2 of the Drakkar goals. Kabanov is pointless in his last 3 games and limited to 2 shots.

Noreau had 2 shots, 2 hits and his 5th fighting major of the year which ties him with Dylan McIlrath for the Ranger prospect lead.

Speaking of Dylan McIlrath (NYR 2010 1st), his Moose Jaw Warriors hosted John Persson (NYI 2011 5th) and his Red Deer Rebels in WHL action. McIlrath did not score but was a +2 as the Warriors held off the Rebels 6-5.

The win moved the Warriors into first place of the WHL's East Division with 41 points trailing the Edmonton Oil Kings for the conference lead due to the Oil Kings having 1 fewer loss. Persson had a secondary assist to extend his scoring streak to 4 games (1-3-4) and still leads the Islander prospects in scoring at 12-20-32.

What Persson could not do is stop the Red Deer winless streak which is now 10 games (0-8-0-2) with no answer on how to end this streak.

In Edmonton, Michael St. Croix (NYR 2011 4th) saw his scoring streak come to an end at 7 games (9-10-19) but his Edmonton Oil Kings won their 7th straight 6-2 over the Calgary Hitmen. The win moved the Oil Kings into first place in both the WHL's Central Division and the Eastern Conference for the first time in franchise history.

Think St. Croix is not too broken up over his scoring streak ending as he had several very good chances to score. St. Croix remains the leading scorer among Ranger prospects at 16-25-41.

A rare Tuesday evening game for Chris Kreider (NYR 2009 1st) and his 3rd ranked Boston College Eagles as they were hosting the Providence Friars. The Eagles really did not have any trouble defeating Providence scoring 2 first period goals and cruising their way to a 4-1 win.

Kreider had 3 shots and earned an assist on an empty net goal which sealed the win for Boston College. Kreider is now 12-10-22 which is 2 points away from tying his career high in points.

We almost missed Steven Fogarty (NYR 2011 3rd) going scoreless as his Penticton Vees needed 2OT to defeat the Westside Warriors 3-2. The Vees have won 12 straight games with their last loss coming on November 5th.

Hard not to like a team that is 24-3-0-2 on the season.

Finally Cody Rosen (NYI 2010 7th) did as he has for the previous 18 Clarkson games which is not see any action. Clarkson uses only one goalie so Rosen has seen all of 4 games over the last 3 seasons.

(Thomas- Aaron Bell of OHL Images, Nelson - WCHA)

Two For The Price Of One

Now here is the way for the New York Ranger fans to start their hockey week. 2 Ranger prospects earning "Player Of The Week" honors for their respective leagues. 


First up Michael St. Croix

CALGARY, AB. - The Western Hockey League announced today that Edmonton Oil Kings’ forward Michael St. Croix is the WHL Player of the Week.

St. Croix collected eight points, scoring three goals and five assists to go with a +5 rating, in three games over the past week helping the Oil Kings to a 3-0-0-0 record. 

On Tuesday, November 29, the Oil Kings hosted the Spokane Chiefs at Rexall Place in Edmonton.  St. Croix scored one goal, added two assists and was named the games 1^st Star in the Oil Kings 4-1 win over the Chiefs.  On Thursday, December 1, in Edmonton, St. Croix collected one assist in the Oil Kings 6-1 victory over the Calgary Hitmen.  The Oil Kings welcomed the Saskatoon Blades on Sunday, December 4; St. Croix scored two goals, two assists and was named games 1^st Star as the Oil Kings down the Blades 8-3.  

St. Croix currently sits 11^th overall among all WHL scorers with 41 points (16 goals, 25 assists) in 29 games played.  The Oil Kings have won six straight games and sit 2^nd in the WHL Central Division and Eastern Conference with an 18-8-1-2 record for 39 points, just two back of the leading Kootenay Ice.

An 18-year-old from Winnipeg, MB, St. Croix is in his third full season with the Edmonton Oil Kings.  The Oil Kings made St. Croix the 4^th overall selection in the 2008 WHL Draft and the New York Rangers recently selected the forward in the 4^th round of the 2011 NHL Draft.

 And over in the OHL we have Christian Thomas of the Oshawa Generals.

Toronto, ON – The Ontario Hockey League today announced that forward Christian Thomas of the Oshawa Generals is the OHL Player of the Week after scoring three goals and six assists for nine points in just two games with a plus-minus rating of plus-6.

Thomas had his two best offensive games of the season this past week beginning on Friday night recording a five-point game as first star of an 8-4 win over the Sarnia Sting. In that contest he recorded a natural hat-trick in the first period scoring all three goals in a span of three minutes and 34 seconds. He also picked up two third period assists in quick succession on goals by Andy Andreoff and Nicklas Jensen scored just 43 seconds apart. Thomas ended his week with the first four-assist game of his career as second star of a big 9-1 win on Sunday over East Division rivals the Peterborough Petes.

Thomas, a 19-year-old from Toronto, ON, is playing in his fourth OHL season. The New York Rangers prospect was selected 40^th overall in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft and has 11 goals and 13 assists for 24 points in 20 games so far this season. Thomas has also been invited to Canada’s National Junior Team Selection Camp which opens December 10 in Calgary, AB.

Islander fans we have a feeling that tomorrow you will see Brock Nelson be named WCHA Offensive Player of the Week for the 2nd straight week.

Late news from USA Hockey is inviting JT Miller to try out for Team USA for the World Under-20 team to play in the 2012 Championships. Miller joins Peter Ceresnak (Slovakia) and Christian Thomas (Canada) with invites.  

(St. Croix - Edmonton Oil Kings, Thomas- Oshawa Generals)

A Real Super Sunday

Sunday was a great day for 2 New York Ranger prospects as Michael St. Croix (NYR 2011 4th) and Christian Thomas (NYR 2010 2nd) put up 4 points each to help their respective teams to huge wins. It is just December but we have seen plenty of great games but the last 3 days have been beyond anything we have seen before.

First up Michael St. Croix earned the first star with a 2-2-4 game in helping his Edmonton Oil Kings to a 8-3 win over the Saskatoon Blades. It was supposed to be a match up of two of the top teams in the WHL's Eastern Conference but it turned into a message to the rest of the WHL that the Edmontion Oil Kings are a real contender in the WHL.

The Oil Kings after their big win on Sunday have a 6 game winning streak going and St. Croix has been a big reason why. St. Croix had a 5 point game to help the streak get started and all together during the win streak St Croix is 9-9-18.

Against the Blades, St. Croix got the Oil Kings going when he set up Tyler Maxwell for the game's first goal at 12:01 of the first period. The Blades were able to score the tying goal late in the first period and they had no idea what was going to hit them in the 2nd period.

In the 2nd period, after the Oil Kings had taken a 2-1 lead, it was St. Croix scoring his 15th goal of the season on the power play at 8:54 for a 3-1 lead. The Blades struck back at 11:50 to make it 3-2 but St. Croix struck again only 26 seconds later for his 16th goal and what eventually proved to be the game winning goal.

As St. Croix has been doing as of late scoring in bunches during game, St. Croix made it a 4 point evening 3:51 later when he set up Rhett Rachinski to make it 5-2. St. Croix is now 16-25-41 good for 11th in the WHL but tops among Ranger prospects.

One stat from this game just stands out for us and that is the Oil Kings went 5/3 on their power play. Yes 5 goals on 3 power plays as the Oil Kings cashed in on 2 two man advantages as well as 3 power play goals during a 5 minute major.

We wondered how Christian Thomas was going to follow up his 5 point game on Friday as was it a break out game or just a 1 shot deal? The Peterborough Petes with Andrew Yogan (NYR 2010 3rd) and Peter Ceresnak (NYR 2011 6th) found out the hard way that Christian Thomas may have gotten on a roll.

Thomas the game's 2nd star had a 4 assist game in which all 4 assists were the primary assists as Thomas's Oshawa Generals smoked the Petes 9-1. The Generals jumped out to a 1-0 lead just 2:40 into the game but that was just the beginning.

Thomas got rolling setting up Andy Andreoff at 11:10 of the first to make it 2-0 and after the Generals had scored scored to make it 3-0; Thomas got assist #2 when he set up Peter Heremenegildo at 17:49 for a 4-0 lead.

36 seconds later at 18:25, Thomas set up Andreoff for another goal and a 5-0 lead ending the first period. Thomas got assist number 4 on the General's 7th goal of the game at 13:06 of the 2nd period. The 4 assists in a game are a new career high for Thomas who is now on a 6 game tear of his own 6-8-14 which has more than doubled his point output.

As for Yogan and Ceresnak, not going to trash either prospect as Yogan did not make it until the end getting 12 minutes in penalties at 9:27 of the 3rd. The Petes as a team lost their composure so singling out anyone makes little sense.

Andrey Pedan (NYI 2011 3rd) we have to admit for most of the season has not shown us any real reason why the Islanders used a 3rd round pick on. The player we have seen has been one who lacks discipline on the ice taking bad penalties at the wrong time which cost his Guelph Storm.

A first pair defender needs to be on the ice not sitting in the penalty box which is what Pedan has done for most of the season. Against the Saginaw Spirit, Pedan put on a solid performance at both ends of the ice earning 2 assists while being named the game's 2nd star in Guelph's 5-1 win.

After Saginaw had taken a 1-0 lead, it was Pedan who set up the tying goal in the first period then posted a secondary assist on the Storm's 3rd goal. Pedan is now 5-11-16 while on a 3 game 0-5-5 streak.

In Brampton, Ryan Strome (NYI 2011 1st) and Mitchell Theoret (2011 7th) along with their Niagara IceDogs were shut out by the Brampton Battalion 3-0. The IceDogs, Battalion and 2 other teams in the OHL's Central Division are separated by 2 points from 1st to 4th so even this early in the season this was a game the IceDogs might regret losing.

Brendan Kickton (NYI 2011 5th) and his Spokane Chiefs were playing the last game of a 5 game in 6 days swing of the WHL's Eastern Conference taking on the Lethbridge Hurricanes. The bus ride back to Spokane is going to have the Chiefs trying to figure out how they lost 1-0.

The Chiefs dominated this game controlling the pace as well as a decided 38-18 advantage in shots. The Chiefs also had 2 penalty shots that they missed on. The only difference in the game was that Lethbridge scoring a power play goal in the 3rd period.

Dylan McIlrath (NYR 2010 1st) and his Moose Jaw Warriors had a great chance to move into a tie for first place in the WHL's Eastern Conference. The only thing standing in the way was the worst team in the conference the Prince Albert Raiders so you know what happened.

The Raiders beat the Warriors 3-1 in a penalty filled contest that should cost a couple of people some games off. McIlrath earned 17 minutes in penalties thanks to an instigator penalty we do not believe he deserved but was a reputation penalty.

In the QMJHL, Samuel Noreau (NYR 2011 5th) returned to the Baie-Comeau Drakkar lineup after a 1 game absence but the Drakkar lost to the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada 4-3. Noreau was scoreless with a penalty for boarding to show for his efforts.

Finally thanks to Terry Doyle of LoosePucks.com we were able to confirm that Peter Ceresnak has been named to Team Slovakia's entry for the World Under-20 Championships. The Rangers and Islanders are going to be well represented this season.


(St. Croix - Edmonton  Oil Kings, Thomas - Oshawa Generals, Pedan - Terry Wilson of OHL Images)

Everyone Wants To Be A Star

When it comes to the New York Islander or New York Ranger prospect there is nothing nicer on the weekends than having a red hot prospect on a roll.

Islander First Star Brock Nelson

Brock Nelson (2010 1st) is the reason why the North Dakota Fighting Sioux have turned their season around. For the 4th straight game, Nelson carried the Fighting Sioux to another victory as for the 2nd night in a row it was Nelson with 2 goals.

Nelson has been on such a tear as of late from a 4 game goal scoring streak (6-4-10), to leading the NCAA in power play goals (9) and now after tonight 11th in the NCAA at 14-8-22.

The Islander prospects had a good productive showing but few had any wins to show for their efforts. Check out the Islander prospect report here.

Ranger First Star JT Miller

JT Miller (2011 1st) had gone 3 games without scoring so we started wondering if he had hit a "rookie wall" after playing so much hockey as of late. It was a fair question to ask of a player coming from the US NTDP who was moving up a level and dealing with a big jump in travel.

Sometimes we think Miller reads us and looks for ways to teach us not to question his game. Consider us "taught" after Miller registered a season high 4 assists to help his Plymouth Whalers to a 7-5 win over the Guelph Storm.

Miller with 3 primary and 1 secondary assist earned the game's 2nd star but what impressed us was that all 4 of Miller's assists came on key plays in the game. To see the breakdown of how Miller did as well as the rest of the Ranger Saturday night; check out the Ranger report right here.

(Nelson- Grand Forks Herald, Miller- Plymouth Whalers)

The Good The Bad And The Really Ugly

On the first weekend in December we got performances out of New York Ranger and New York Islander prospects that made us wonder if it was mid-season or pre-season we were getting to see.

There was an outstanding 5 point night out courtesy of Christian Thomas (NYR 2010 2nd), a couple of good performances out of Brock Nelson (NYI 2010 1st) and John Persson (NYI 2011 5th).

It was also a night of horrors as 2nd ranked Notre Dame got their butts badly kicked by unranked Northeastern while 3rd ranked Boston College, 13th ranked Boston University and Hockey East should be ashamed of the performance by players, coaches and officials in the game the in-city rivals had.

Ranger's Star Christian Thomas

Anyone who was worried about Christian Thomas's (NYR 2010 2nd) season we think can relax. What was a terrible November for the Oshawa General forward has given away to a good December start with a 5 point night against the Sarnia Sting.

Thomas had a natural hat trick in the first period then added 2 secondary assists in the 3rd as his Generals won 8-4. It was also "Teddy Bear Toss" night in Oshawa and Thomas got the "Teddy Bear" goal which caused 4012 animals to hit the ice.

It was the 2nd year in a row that Thomas scored the "Teddy Bear" goal and checking our stats; the first Ranger prospect to do such a feat. Thomas's game as well as the rest of the Ranger report can be found right here.

Islander's Star Brock Nelson

For the 3rd straight game, Brock Nelson (2010 1st) was the big reason why his North Dakota Fighting Sioux came away with a win.

Nelson with a 2 goal performance extended his scoring streak to 3 games as North Dakota defeated Alaska-Anchorage 5-2. Both Nelson goals came on the power play which Nelson just so happens to lead the NCAA in with 8.

If you doubt Nelson is why North Dakota is winning then may we point you to this stat which in North Dakota's last 4 wins, Nelson was 7-3-10 and in their 1 loss they were shut out.

Nelson as well as John Persson played solid games so check out the Islander report right here.

(Thomas-Aaron Bell of OHL Images, Nelson- FightingSioux.com)

The Other Guys

As December begins it is now a key time in the season for the lesser known prospects to start drawing some attention to themselves if they want a contract from either the New York Rangers or New York Islanders.

Mitchell Theoret (NYI 2011 7th) has had his struggles going 12 games without a point after a 3-4-7 start for his Niagara IceDogs.  A 1-1-2 November did not help Theoret's cause for a contract but new month means new hope.

Theoret scored 2 goals (his 5th and 6th) as part of Niagara's 7-2 win over the Erie Otters. Theoret scored the IceDogs 4th and 7th goals in the game as really the IceDogs had little trouble with the Otters.

Theoret improved to 6-5-11 on the season. 

Teammate Ryan Strome (NYI 2011 1st) had a 2 assist evening; a primary assist on the IceDog's first goal and a secondary on Theoret's first goal. Pretty nice when your best player can have a quiet evening and you still have an easy win.

Strome improves to 14-13-27 on the season good for second among Islander prospects.

Sometimes a loss is not as bad of a loss as one might think as was in the case with the Peterborough Pete's 5-4 loss to the Sarnia Sting. For starters it was a shootout loss and the Sting happen to have the 2nd best record in the OHL.

The Petes actually took the game to the Sting and outshooting them 52-29.  For us what is more impressive is that the Petes played this game without their best defenseman Slater Koekkoek who missed the game due to injury.

For us we wanted to see if Peter Ceresnak (NYR 2011 6th) would step up to the challenge of playing against a top team. It was a learning experience for the young Slovakian and we saw some promise as well as room for improvement.

Teammate Andrew Yogan (NYR 2010 3rd) did not score in this game for the Petes but we bet he wishes he could do over his shootout attempt. Yogan was the last shooter for the Petes with a chance to keep the game going but missed.

Still not going to knock Yogan as he has been playing well of late with points in 9 out of his last 12 games.

If Mike Pelino is reaching Yogan then Rangers will have themselves a power forward who can also be a playmaker. 10-11-21 in 25 games after basically missing all of last year are not bad numbers to have as it is not the talent we worry about with Yogan it is his head.

Out west Michael St. Croix (NYR 2011 4th) extended his scoring streak to 6 games with a secondary assist as his Edmonton Oil Kings rolled to their 5th straight win 6-1 over the Calgary Hitmen. St. Croix saw his goal scoring streak end at 4 games (7 goals) and can't complain as St. Croix had his chances.

St. Croix leads all Ranger prospects with a 14-23-37 as his Oil Kings have the 3rd best record in the WHL's Eastern Conference (Dylan McIlrath and Moose Jaw is 4th).  Edmonton is now off until Sunday when they host the Saskatoon Blades with the winner taking sole possession of 1st place in the WHL's East Division.

Speaking of big games, Chris Kreider (NYR 2009 1st) and his 3rd ranked Boston College Eagles will be looking for revenge when they host 13th ranked Boston University Terriers on Friday night. A national cable broadcast (CBS Sports Network 7:30 PM/4:30 PM), Boston College will be looking to avenge a 5-0 whipping they received from Boston University.

The 2 bitter rivals will face off in a home and home with just Friday's game being televised..

(Theoret- Terry Wilson of OHL Images)

Sharing The Spotlight

An interesting Wednesday night ended the month of November on a positive note for some of the New York Ranger and New York Islander prospects who have been a little forgotten as of late.

Scott Stajcer (NYR 2009 5th) and the Owen Sound Attack all say the right things when it comes to this 2 headed goalie rotation the Attack have been using since the Rangers sent Stajcer back after the European trip. In our eyes despite our very clear bias it is time for the Attack to decide which goalie they want and move the other one.

When we see Stajcer have nights like he did against the Barrie Colts stopping 38 out of 39 shots to help his Owen Sound Attack to a 3-1 win then it is time to decide which goalie to keep. Stajcer the game's first star was the key for the Attack staying in this game holding the Colts at bay during the first 2 periods of this game.

Stajcer faced 17 shots in the 1st period, 19 in the 2 period before his teammates finally tightened up their defense to limit the Colts to 6 shots in the 3rd period. Stajcer was strong throughout this game as he lowered his goals against to 2.32 (4th in the OHL) and raised his save percentage to 0.933 (2nd in OHL).

While Stajcer's W/L record is just 4-3-2-2 on the season, we think it is time for the Attack to move either Stajcer or Jordan Binnington as this 2 headed tandem is not helping Binnington. If we are Owen Sound we have to be concerned that Binnington is not getting better (currently 25th in the OHL) as they had hoped.

And yes we have an agenda here as we want to see Stajcer moved to a team like the Oshawa Generals who are struggling badly on defense with a rookie goalie in the net. We selfishly want to see Stajcer here in the hope of jump starting Christian Thomas (NYR 2010 2nd) but we doubt it happens.

We honestly felt bad for Brendan Kichton (NYI 2011 5th) last night as his solid performance was lost in the shadow of what Michael St. Croix did but Kichton was even better on Wednesday as his Spokane Chiefs took on John Persson (NYI 2011 5th) and his Red Deer Rebels.

The battle of Islander 2011 5th round picks was very one sided as Kichton earned the game's first star after a 1-2-3 performance to lead Spokane to a 5-2 win over the Red Deer Rebels. This one was not a pretty game at all to watch as Spokane was very tired from their game on Tuesday evening while Red Deer has been losing players to injuries, illnesses and suspensions left and right.

You know it is ugly when neither team can reach double figures in shots in any of the periods. Spokane was bad with just 22 but Red Deer got worse as the night progressed managing just 15 shots for the game.

Persson returned to the Red Deer lineup after missing Tuesday's game due to illness and he actually provided some spark for Red Deer as he he set up Colton Mayor at 14:57 of the first period. Red Deer with a 1-0 lead on Persson's 18th assist of the season was for the most part the only highlight for the Rebels.

The lead lasted all of 35 seconds as Kichton earned his first point of the evening with a secondary assist on Darren Kramer's goal at 15:32 which tied the game up at 1-1. That was how the period ended and Kichton needed all of 49 seconds into the 2nd period to break that tie.

Kichton scored his 4th goal of the season on the power play to give Spokane a 2-1 lead that they never were seriously threatened after that. Spokane added 2 more goals to go up 4-1 before Kichton registered his 3rd point of the night setting up Mitch Holmberg for Spokane's 5th and final goal of the game.

The loss extended Red Deer's winless streak to 7 games (0-5-0-2) and Spokane is now 1-1 on their current road trip.

Persson with an assist in a losing effort remains the leading prospect scorer among the Islanders with a 11-18-29 mark. Kichton with his 2nd three point game in his last 3 games is now 4-20-24 which is 4th among WHL defensemen.

We have to admit that we have a soft spot for the Beach Boy of the Ranger prospects cause he may be just 5'9 but Shane McColgan (NYR 2011 5th) has a heart that is twice that.

We also know that the voice of the Kelowna Rockets Regan Bartel calls it like he sees it and he told us before the season that McColgan needed to be a more consistent scorer in order for Kelowna to have a good season.

Well if you checked out the link then you saw that Bartel said that McColgan "played one of his best games of the season and ended the night with two assists."

Kelowna as a team played what most observers said was their best game of the season in defeating the Tri-City Americans 6-2. Tri-City are leading the WHL's Western Conference and saw a 4 game winning streak stopped by the Rockets .

McColgan was involved in 2 key plays that helped Kelowna earn this win as he first set up Brett Bulmer at 1:18 of the 2nd period to tie the game up at 2-2. Then McColgan earned a secondary assist on Colton Sissons power play goal at 13:16 of the 2nd to give Kelowna a 3-2 lead on the way to a 6-2 win.

Remember that consistent remark from earlier? McColgan with the 2 assists gave him a 2-10-12 mark in 11 games for November and overall a 7-22-29 in 25 games this season. McColgan has points in 19 of his 25 games so think he is doing a good job addressing the consistency.

In case you have forgotten this is what Dylan McIlrath (2010 1st) looks like as McIlrath returned to the Moose Jaw Warrior lineup after serving a 3 game suspension for a charging major picked up on November 23rd. McIlrath really does need to consider himself a very lucky young man with all that has happened to him this season.

We are not going to kid anyone and say that McIlrath has played up to what we had hoped he would this season. Our expectations were for McIlrath to dominate the WHL this season not on the offensive end but on defense and we have not seen it.

Pretty sure McIlrath himself will say this season has not gone as planned either but the bottom line he will say is that his Moose Jaw Warriors are winning (3rd in WHL's Eastern Conference) and that is what matters. McIlrath returned to the Warrior lineup with a secondary assist on the only goal Moose Jaw would need as they shut out the Prince Albert Raiders 3-0.

It was McIlrath's 7th assist and 9th point of the season but for the Warriors the win extended their unbeaten streak to 4 games (3-0-0-1). But Moose Jaw if they are going to be a serious contender in the WHL needs a dominating McIlrath as they have lost key defenders to injury as well as suspensions.

Then we had the rare game out of Steven Fogarty (NYR 2011 3rd) in where he did not score anything. His Penticton Vees earned their 10th straight win as they won a defensive battle with the Vernon Vipers 3-2.

The Vees have been averaging close to 5.5 goals a game so it was interesting to see them have to fight for a win. Even better was watching Fogarty upping his defensive game when his own offense was not there.

Fogarty is a legit 2 way center and his play is making the trading of Evgeny Grachev look more and more like a bargain with each game. People ask all the time if the BCHL is a tough league and our answer is to take a look at some of the names who played in this league.

From Brett Hull to Paul Kariya, the BCHL has produced high quality NHL players and down the road you will add Fogarty to that list. Fogarty finished November 9-14-23 and is 15-19-34 overall which is good for 2nd among NYR prospects.

We just have to wait a while for Fogarty to show up but it will be worth the wait.

(Stajcer- Aaron Bell of OHL Images, Kichton- Spokane Chiefs, Persson- Red Deer Rebels, McIlrath- Moose Jaw Warriors, Fogarty- Penticton Vees)