First Star Casey Cizikas
Casey Cizikas (2009 4th) as we have been saying all along is our Islander prospect of the year even better than Nino Niederreiter and Calvin De Haan who are 1st round picks. The captain of the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors came up big when Canada needed him the most scoring what proved to be the game winning goal as Canada held off Switzerland 4-1.
It was Cizikas second goal of the World Under-20 Championships as the 2 way forward stepped up with a 4 shot +2 performance to help Canada advance to a semi-final game with Team USA. The goal was part of a 2 on 1 odd man rush in the 2nd period with the scored tied at 1-1.
Cizikas caught the Swiss goalie Ben Conz cheating towards Louis Leblanc and if you read the "book" on Cizikas then you also expected pass so of course Ciziikas shot glove side high and roofed the shot. Big time goal and a shock to everyone but those who have watched Cizikas play. The Islanders are getting a future big game player here.
Since the first time we saw Anders Lee (2009 6th), we knew this is what the future of NHL power forwards will become. 6'3 220 that is more built to be a linebacker than a forward but as big as Lee is, at the same time he has some of the softest hands we have seen in quite a while.
The talented freshman for 12th ranked Notre Dame had a 1-1-2 7 shot +2 game for the 2nd straight game as Notre Dame went to a 3-3 overtime tie (Notre Dame won the shootout 1-0) with 11th ranked Boston University in the 3rd place game of the Shillelagh Tournament. Lee scored his 12th goal of the season to start Notre Dame's comeback in the 3rd period from down 3-1.
Lee had set up T.J. Tynan for Notre Dame's first goal of the game in the first period. Overall Lee is now 12-10-22 in 22 games.
Corey Trivino (2008 2nd) in the very same game had a 3 assist game for Boston University. 2 primary and 1 secondary assist as the junior center was a huge reason why the Terriers were able rebound from a 6-1 loss the night before to Brown. Trivino is now 3-9-12 in 17 games for the Terriers.
Rest of the Prospects
Calvin De Haan (2009 1st) was scoreless but helped to keep Switzerland to just one goal in Canada's 4-1 win at the WJCs. The Swiss could never get a good flow to their offensive game and credit has to go to the Canadian blueline
On the flip side, Nino Niederreiter (2010 1st) would most likely want to forget his game against Canada as the Swiss captain was held in check. Limited to just 4 shots, no points and a -1 for the game, Nino was not around at the end as he was hit with a misconduct right after Canada scored their last goal of the game.
With the New Year just 2 days old, the first shocker of the college hockey year had to be St. Lawrence (5-8-3) upset 2nd ranked New Hampshire 2-1 in overtime on their home ice. 2007 6th round pick defenseman Blake Kessel was scoreless on 4 shots and a -1.
On the New York Ranger side, Roman Horak (2009 5th) made his first point of the World Under-20 Championship meaningful as Horak set up Ondrej Platt for the game tying goal at 10:44 of the 3rd period. The Czech Republic scored the game winner with 1 minute left in regulation to guarantee a spot in the 2012 Top Division and demote Germany to Division 1.
Finally Dylan McIlrath (2010 1st) did not score, was a -2 but recorded his 5th fighting major of the season when he fought Sena Acolaste of Prince George. We are really disappointed that nobody has video of this fight yet because despite his 5'11 size, a McIlrath/Acolaste fight would be a legit battle of WHL heavyweights.
Oh yea Prince George stopped McIlrath's Moose Jaw Warriors 5-1 to end the Warrior's 3 game winning streak. But if anyone has a video of this fight please let us know so we can share it.
(Images Cizikas/Aaron Bell/OHL Images, Lee and Trivino/New York Islanders)
1 comment:
Video of the fight:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXARe6ZJGJE&feature=player_embedded
Post a Comment