Player Of The Week

Picking this week's New York Ranger prospect of the week was never this easy as it was this week. Steven Fogarty (2011 3rd) of the Penticton Vees in the BCHL made the choice for us after a 4 game week in which he went 5-7-12.

It was an amazing week for Fogarty who continues to impress us with his play with each passing week. Maybe the biggest thing that stood out about Fogarty's performance was that his best game was on Sunday when he went 2-2-4.

Sunday was the 4th game in 5 nights for the Vees and yet Fogarty earned himself a first star of the game with his best game of the season. One of the key areas a scout looks for out of a prospect is how does he handle playing when he is supposed to be exhausted both physically and mentally.

The Vees started their week with a game on Wednesday against the Trail Smoke Eaters and Fogarty put up 3 assists in helping the Vees to a 9-3 win. Fogarty set up the first and third goals of the game for the Vees in the first period.

Fogarty added a secondary assist on the Vee's 9th goal of the game which at the time gave him 9-12-21 and a 3 game scoring streak. The win was also the 3rd straight for the Vees.

On Friday, Fogarty had his first 2 goal game of the season as the Vee's defeated the Salmon Arm Silverbacks 6-2. The game's 2nd star scored the Vee's 3rd goal of the game on the power play in the 2nd period which eventually turned out to be the game winning goal.

In the third period, Fogarty finished off the scoring for the Vees by scoring his 2nd goal of the game and the Vee's 6th. Fogarty extended his point streak to 4 games as the Vees won their 4th straight.

On Saturday it was the Vees taking on the Merritt Centennials on "Teddy Bear Toss" night and the Vees won again this time 4-1. It was a special night as Steven Fogarty joined the list of New York Ranger prospects who have a "Teddy Bear" goal on their resume.

Fogarty's 12th goal of the season at 7:37 of the period was Penticton's first goal of the game and the Teddy Bears flew. Fogarty joins current Ranger's Brandon Dubinsky and Ryan Callahan as "Teddy Bear" scorers which is a good omen for Fogarty's future.

The bears were donated to the Salvation Army to be given out to local children during the holiday season. But Fogarty was not finished for the evening as he added a primary assist on the Vee's 2nd goal of the game and a secondary on the Vee's 4th goal of the game.

For Fogarty, the 1-2-3 night extended his scoring streak to 5 games and the Vee's winning streak to 5 games as well. On Sunday, Fogarty put the exclamation point on his week with his best performance as a member of the Vees.

Fogarty went 2-2-4 to lead the Vee to their 6th straight win 8-5 over the Trial Smoke Eaters. Playing their 3rd game in 3 nights and 4th in 5 that Fogarty played his best game says a lot about Fogarty's conditioning as well as his mental toughness.

Sunday was Fogarty starting with 2 primary assists in the second period and ending the period with his 13th goal of the season as Penticton scored 5 unanswered goal to take a 5-1 lead after 2. The goal also turned out to be the game winner which was Fogarty's 2nd in the week and 3rd on the season.

In the third after Trail had scored 3 goals to cut the Vee's lead to just 2 goals at 6-4; Fogarty put an end to the Smoke Eater's comeback with his 14th of the season and a 7-4 Vee lead.

Fogarty was named the game's first star as he extend his scoring streak to 6 games and the Vee's winning streak to 6 games. The end of a very special week for the young man who hails from Edina Minnesota.

As for the New York Islanders, no prospect had a standout week as just good single game performances. It was more end of streaks for the Islander prospects.

(Fogarty- Penticton Vees, Teddy Bears- Jason Moonie)