Not A Pretty Night For Ranger Prospects

Just three New York Ranger prospects were in action on Wednesday evening all of them in the WHL but the results weren't all that great. Matthew Rempe may not have scored but he made sure his 6'9 presence was felt for his Seattle Thunderbirds.

The Thunderbirds were in Portland for game three of their WHL playoff series and this was a must-win game for the T-Birds, it was exactly what they got as T-Bird goalie Thomas Milic was fantastic stopping all 28 shots that the Winterhawks fired on him earning a 5-0 win.

Rempe was scoreless but that doesn't mean he wasn't effective, the 6'9 forward was used on all three penalty kills as the four Seattle power plays. It was interesting how he was used as he only played seven shifts apiece over the first two periods but in the third, he was out there on 12 different shits and was 4-4 on faceoffs.

Several Winterhawks stepped away rather than be hit by the 6'9 240lb forward and I just loved his poise in the third when the game was getting out of hand and the Winterhawks were trying to goad him into a fight. Rempe did not take the bait to keep his team off the penalty kill. 

He does however deserve "check of the night" as Rempe wiped out both a Winterhawk and a linesman with a hit at the blueline. And kudos to him for being aware of the forecheck as he almost forced the Winterhawks to put the puck into their own goal during a power play. 

Game four will be in Seattle on Friday with game five right back in Portland on Saturday.

Felt really bad for Ryder Korczak of the Moose Jaw Warriors as he showed up ready to play game four against the Winnipeg Ice. His teammates not so much as Korczak had assists on all three Moose Jaw goals as the Warriors dropped game four 5-3 and trail in the series 3-1.

Korczak set up the Warriors' first goal at 19:57 of the first period as he sent his teammates into the first intermission tied at 1-1. It was a primary assist for the young center and his seventh of the playoffs. 

In the second period with the Warriors trailing by two at 3-1, Korczak set up the Warriors' second goal of the game, a power-play marker that cut the lead to 3-2. 

But it wasn't enough as Korczak's final point was a secondary assist on Moose Jaws' third goal of the game in the third cutting the Ice's lead to 5-3. The Ice takes a commanding 3-1 series lead into Friday's game five back in Winnipeg. 

Korczak thanks to the 0-3-3 improved his season numbers to 2-9-11 and he was 22-6 on his faceoffs improving his playoff totals to a very nice 65.8%

But we have to bid a fond farewell to Jayden Grubbe and his Red Deer Rebels after they were eliminated from the playoffs in four straight after a 4-2 loss to the Edmonton Oil Kings. Don't let the score fool you, the Rebels who struggled to finish the season never really had a serious chance in this series. 

Grubbe was scoreless in the final game as he was 2-2-4 in the playoffs and 14-21-35 during the regular season. Sorry I just don't see a Ranger's ELC at this point in time but he will have one last chance next season.