Too Hot For Even HBO

Forget the HBO series 24/7 Rangers/Flyers** as we have an even hotter show for New York Ranger fans called the "Michael St. Croix Show."  For the 5th time this season, Michael St. Croix (2011 4th) put up a 4 point or more game.

St. Croix with a 1-3-4 evening helped his Edmonton Oil Kings win a modern franchise record 10th straight game 6-3 over the Victoria Royals. The game's first star, St. Croix had 3 primary assists as well as his 18th goal of the season.

If you need more then take a good look at this; since October 9th, St. Croix has gone 17-31-48 in his last 26 games (18-32-50 overall). St. Croix is on a pace to score 103 points which we are pretty sure gets him a New York Ranger contract.

St. Croix set up the Oil King's first, third and sixth goals of the game which were all primary assists while his 18th goal of the season was their 5th goal. St. Croix besides leading Ranger prospects in scoring is now 7th overall in the WHL.

The Oil Kings are leading the WHL's Eastern Conference and have the 2nd best record in the WHL. They are winning with a team effort as they are tied for 3rd for fewest goals given up in the WHL.

Kirill Kabanov (NYI 2010 3rd) was scoreless but his Shawinigan Cataractes defeated the Gatineau Olympiques 4-1 for their 3rd win in a row. Kabanov had 2 good scoring chances as well as 1 hit for his evening.

Shane McColgan (NYR 2011 5th) was scoreless as his Kelowna Rockets defeated the Regina Pats 3-2 in overtime. McColagan had 2 minor penalties including 1 for "diving" as the Rockets won for the 1st time on their 6 game road trip (1-2-0-1).

John Persson (NYI 2011 5th) scored his 1st goal in his last 7 games but it was not enough as his Red Deer Rebels lost to the Medicine Hat Tigers 5-2. Persson is 13-22-35 which leads all Islander prospects in scoring but he is not getting much help from his Rebel teammates these days.

Brendan Kichton (NYI 2011 5th) set up Steven Kuhn for the game winning goal with just 46 seconds remaining in overtime to give his Spokane Chiefs a 3-2 overtime win over the Everett Silvertips. Credit to the Silvertips for not once giving up in this game and earning that point they got as they were out shot 47-16.

Kichton is 6-24-30 on the season after his game winning assist.

Team Canada

First we want to congratulate Ryan Strome (NYI 2011 1st) for earning a spot on Team Canada's team that will be playing in the 2012 World Under-20 championships. Christian Thomas (NYR 2010 2nd) did not earn a spot on the roster and OK we can understand it was a long shot for Thomas to make the team.

But we can not understand what was Canada's logic in naming their players. Cutting Ty Rattie of the Portland Winterhawks was despite our "home town" team support a huge head scratcher to us.

Canada cut a kid who is having a monster season for leading the WHL in goals with 32 and 3rd overall in scoring at 32-27-59 in 32 games. Cutting Rattie based on a 72 hour camp might not be one of the smartest ways to pick a team; Rattie is one of the most underrated players in the entire CHL.

Anyone who has seen a Winterhawk game will tell you that Rattie gives you 100% from start to finish. Cutting him was a giant mistake in our eyes as Canada we believe will regret this one.

The other player is Brett Bulmer of the Kelowna Rockets who we see a ton of him because of Shane McColgan and like Rattie have to wonder what Don Hay and the Canadian staff were thinking. Bulmer is a clutch scorer who is not afraid of getting his uniform dirty on the defensive side.

On behalf of Team USA, thank you Canada because you in our eyes picked a team using the "playing not to lose" method. Team USA is going to have several less headaches to worry about and we can not help but think that the fear of losing a 3rd straight gold medal (2nd on Canadian soil) clouded their judgement.

(St. Croix- Edmonton Oil Kings)

** yes we know the title of the HBO series is backwards but call us old school as hell will freeze over before we ever put the Rangers behind the Flyers in anything.