OHL Weekly Ramblings - May 2nd

[Dean Youngblood]

This past week has been a relatively quiet one as we have been waiting for the OHL Championship Series to get underway since last Wednesday. However, expect lots of information and news in the OHL as the Finals begin Tuesday and the OHL Priority Draft begins Saturday.




Attack’s Matt Petgrave named OHL Player of the Week

The OHL has announced that Matt Petgrave is the OHL Player of the Week ending May 1st. Petgrave led the Attack with three goals and added an assist for four points with a plus-minus rating of plus-3 in the final two games of the Rogers Western Conference Championship Series.

OHL Playoffs
OHL Championship Series Set to Go

Last Wednesday the Owen Sound Attack eliminated the Windsor Spitfire with a dominating 10-4 win in Game 5 to win the Wayne Gretzky Trophy as the Western Conference Champions. The day prior, the Mississauga Majors continued their playoff dominance by ending the Niagara IceDogs season en route to winning the Bobby Orr Trophy as the Eastern Conference Champions.

The OHL Championship Series is now determined. The Mississauga Majors will host the Owen Sound Attack tomorrow night (Tuesday) in game one. This series features some very good prospects and sets up to be a great Championship series. Owen Sound’s Joey Hishon (COL), Jesse Blacker (TOR), Scott Stajcer (NYR) and Garrett Wilson (FLA) highlight the Attack’s NHL prospects. The Mississauga Majors are stacked with NHL prospects as Justin Shugg (CAR), Devante Smith-Pelly (ANA), Casey Cizikas (NYI), Rob Flick (CHI), Brett Flemming (WSH), Gregg Sutch (BUF), Maxim Kitsyn(LAK) and JP Anderson (SJS) all represent NHL clubs.

Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors (1) vs. Owen Sound Attack (1)
Season Series: Majors 2-0
Preview: Owen Sound has the statistical advantage between the pipes and they are going to need it. Michael Zador (OSA) sports the OHL’s best numbers (1.10GAA and .958 SV %) in the playoffs. The Majors JP Anderson sits second with a sparkling 1.68 GAA and .931 SV%. The Attack and Majors finished atop their Conference standings in the regular season but the Majors enter the Series as the heavy favourites. Owen Sound will need their goaltender to play unbelievable if they expect a chance to win. Joey Hishon will need to be better than he has been in the playoffs. Owen Sound will rely heavily on Joey Hishon and defenseman Jesse Blacker to lead the way offensively. Mississauga owns the league’s second best powerplay and the OHL’s best penalty kill so Owen Sound will have to remain discipline and take advantage of any power play opportunities they earn. Mississauga will host the Memorial Cup so both the Attack and Majors enter that tournament. However, these teams will play hard to prove that they deserve to represent the OHL as championships.
DY’s Prediction: Majors in 6 games



Attack In Uphill Battle With Majors

Bob Duff of Yahoo! Sports discusses the challenges that face the Owen Sound Attack with their head coach. Attack in uphill battle with Majors

Major Success
The Majors don't want to wait until the Memorial Cup to win a championship. They want it NOW! Video release of Major Success

OHL Leading Playoff Scorers
1. Tom Kuhnhackl (WSR/PIT) 18GP-11G-12A-23P
2. Alexander Khokhlachev (WSR/2011) 18GP-9G-11A-20P
3. Christian Thomas (OSH/NYR) 10GP-9G-10A-19P
4. Ryan Ellis (WSR/NSH) 18GP-6G-13A-19P
5. Garrett Wilson (OS/FLA) 15GP-9G-9A-18P
Italics – eliminated from playoffs




OHL Priority Draft Watch

With only days remaining until the OHL Priority Draft begins the scouts will be in full work mode as they attempt to rebuild their future with the OHL's top prospects.

On Saturday, May 7th the OHL Priority Draft will be held online starting at 9am EST. Unfortunately, I will be participating in a golf tournament on Saturday but will be checking the website for updates on the selections and will post my thoughts following the draft.


Five to Watch in the 2011 OHL Priority Selection

The OHL Network has featured a series highlighting the top prospects eligible for the OHL draft. This week’s edition is highlighted by Max Domi who has made headlines by stating his intentions to take the NCAA route. Max Domi will be selected in this year’s draft (regardless of his intentions) but how soon will he be taken?

OHL Draft Eligible Players’ Highlight Videos
Expect some of these players to go high in the draft on Saturday.

Jordan Subban ( Toronto Marlboros)
Max Domi (Don Mills Flyers)



OHL Draft Thoughts

Brandon Sudeyko breaks down a few things that people need to considered before the OHL Priority Draft begins.

[Dean Youngblood]

NHL Entry Draft Watch

2011 Draft Class Hierarchy
The second part of my 2011 Draft Class Hierarchy series was released last night. The series aims to feature the Top Prospects (in order) available to NHL teams this June.

NEW! [Part Two] 2011 Draft Class Hierarchy
[Part One] 2011 Draft Class Hierarchy


Sunday Top 10 – 2011 NHL Draft Re-Entries

The guys over at OHLprospects.blogspot.com do a great job at explaining the process of how undrafted junior players can re-enter the NHL Entry Draft after being passed over in previous years. The OHL features some FANTASTIC Re-Entries that NHL teams will glad select this time around. Check out the latest Sunday Top 10 NHL Draft Re-Entries


Andrew Fristch – Owen Sound Attack
Kirk Luedeke reminds us not to forget about Owen Sound’s Andrew Fristch for the 2011 NHL Draft


2011 NHL Draft Trailer
Check out the draft trailer “The Ecstasy of Gold” put together by the masterminds over at nhldraftvideo.blogspot.com Great Stuff


Draft Tracker: 5 Questions with Nick Cousins, Soo Greyhounds
Neate Sager sits down with draft eligible Greyhounds’ forward Nick Cousins


Graduation Day
Sportsnets’ Patrick King takes a look at the Windsor Spitfires future direction as Ryan Ellis prepares to take the next step in his young career.


Continuing with Mr. Ryan Ellis. The offensive defenseman made his AHL debut with the Milwaukee Admirals last Friday. Ellis joined his team for game one of the West Division Finals against the Houston Aeros. In his first game, Ellis notched an assist and finished with an even rating. In game two, Ellis did not register any points as the Admirals were shutout in their 2-0 loss.

The Windsor Spitfire organization pays tribute to their star player in this video highlight package.



There will be plenty of additions to this week’s May 2nd Weekly Ramblings as the OHL Championship Series starts tomorrow and the OHL Priority Draft approaches on Saturday.

Enjoy!

[Dean Youngblood]

The Ontario Hockey League has announced its 2010-11 ALL-STAR TEAMS

2010-11 OHL All-Star Teams (voting points in brackets):

First Team:
Centre – Joey Hishon, Owen Sound Attack (63)
Left Wing – Garrett Wilson, Owen Sound Attack (61)
Right Wing – Tyler Toffoli, Ottawa 67’s (47)
Defence – Ryan Ellis, Windsor Spitfires (91)
Defence – Ryan Murphy, Kitchener Rangers (71)
Goaltender – Mark Visentin, Niagara IceDogs (63)
Coach – Mark Reeds, Owen Sound Attack (60)


Second Team:
Centre – Ryan Strome, Niagara IceDogs (48)
Left Wing – Marcus Foligno, Sudbury Wolves (41)
Right Wing – Jason Akeson, Kitchener Rangers (39)
Defence – Dougie Hamilton, Niagara IceDogs (43)
Defence – Marc Cantin, Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors (33)
Goaltender – JP Anderson, Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors (59)
Coach – Dave Cameron, Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors (56)

Third Team:
Centre – Casey Cizikas, Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors (34)
Left Wing – Josh Shalla, Saginaw Spirit (36)
Right Wing – Christian Thomas, Oshawa Generals (35)
Defence – Brett Flemming, Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors (30)
Defence – Jesse Blacker, Owen Sound Attack (28)
Goaltender – Petr Mrazek, Ottawa 67’s (24)
Coach – Michael Vellucci, Plymouth Whalers (20)


The fact that Yakupov is left off all three teams after leading all rookie scorers and finishing 4th in OHL scoring is a JOKE!

[Dean Youngblood]

Tuesday's Additions....

Championship Series Puck Drop
Mississauga and Owen Sound take the ice in game one TONIGHT @7pm EST. Tune in!

OHL Plays of the Week and Third Round Highlights
The OHL has released it's video of the Plays of the week and third round highlights.

OHL Priority Draft Notes
Belleville Makes Minor Deal
The Belleville Bulls have made a trade with Plymouth to move up in the draft on Saturday...

Dealing with the Plymouth Whalers, the Bulls have received their own 4th round pick in 2011 along with Oshawa's 5th round selection. In exchange, the Bulls sent five 2011 draft picks south to Michigan. Included are Sudbury's 5th, Plymouth's 5th, Peterborough's 8th, Belleville's 11th and Windsor's 15th round picks.

TSR's Mock OHL Draft
I have posted this before but check out The Scouting Report's Mock OHL Draft of the first round. I am hoping that I can find time to complete my own Mock Draft prior to the real draft on Saturday.

Knights can't afford to take chances with their picks
The London Free Press breaks down Mark Hunter's plan for the draft on Saturday. Traditionally, London and other teams (Windsor, Kitchener and Plymouth) have draft players that may not report but these organizations spend lots of hours wooing them to report. The article explains that London might be best to avoid this strategy this time around. Good read.

Q & A with NHL Draft Eligible Power Forward Brett Ritchie
Dan Sallows does a Q & A session with one of my favourite sleepers to sneak into the NHL's First Round. Ritchie is currently ranked 36th among North American skaters and is coming off a fantastic Under-18 World Championship where he was Canada's best forward. I have had the pleasure of teaching Brett in a fitness class several times and he is a great kid. Brett's brother Nicholas Ritchie will enter the OHL Priority Draft this Saturday as one of the Top Prospects.

NHL Draft Prospect Ryan Strome appears on NHL Live

[Dean Youngblood]

Late Night Additions....

Majors Take Game One
Mississauga Majors won Game 1 of the OHL Finals 5-2. Devante Smith-Pelly (ANA) and Casey Cizikas (NYI) had very strong games. Smith-Pelly notched 2 goals and Cizikas registered a goal and two assists.

Majors lead the series 1-0. Game 2 is Thursday night.

Soo Greyhounds Ready to Name Head Coach
Kyle Dubas, the newly appointed 25-year old Greyhounds GM has been busy since taking over last month. Dubas is expected to announce that former NHL journeyman Mike Stapleton will step in as the Greyhounds Head Coach. Stapleton served as the AHL's Syracuse Crunch's Assistant Coach last season.

WHL: Portland Winterhawks Eliminate Spokane Chiefs
For anyone following the WHL Playoff action, the Portland Winterhawks (Brad Ross, Nino Niederreiter, Ty Rattie, Sven Bartschi) eliminated the Spokane Chiefs (Jared Cowen) in Game 6 by a score of 6-3. Draft eligible prospect (2011) Sven Bartschi had 2 goals and an assist in the game.

Portland will now face the Kootenay Ice in the WHL Championship. The series will get underway Friday night in Portland.

[Dean Youngblood]

I am a little late to the party tonight but....Thursday's Additions:

- Mike Stapleton Officially Named Soo Greyhounds' Head Coach

- My OHL Mock Draft for this weekend's Priority Selection Draft

- If you don't want to watch the Canucks/Preds game tonight, Sportsnet is broadcasting the Attack/Majors Championship games Tonight and Sunday. Mississauga leads 4-2 in game 2 after two periods. Tune into Sportsnet to catch the 3rd period NOW if you choose.

- I could have really used this piece of information to help make my mock draft but I guess it's better late than never. The OHL Priority Selection Preview and Media Guide. This guide is FREE and is packed full of information about the draft, eligibility, draft order, an extensive list of players who are eligible, player profiles and past draft results. FANTASTIC INFORMATION

-

[Dean Youngblood]

The CHL will have 61 of its players attending the NHL Draft Combine. The Draft Combine features 102 prospects that are eligible for the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.

The OHL is very well represented among CHL players. There will be 28 OHLers attending the draft combine.

OHL Representation
Austen Brassard
Belleville
OHL
RW
6-foot-2
191


Skaters:
Austen Brassard (Belleville)
Daniel Catenacci (Sault Ste. Marie)
Nick Cousins (Sault Ste. Marie)
Joseph Cramarossa (Mississauga)
Dougie Hamilton (Niagara)
Boone Jenner (Oshawa)
Nicklas Jensen (Oshawa)
Alexander Khokhlachev (Windsor)
Gabriel Landeskog (Kitchener)
Lucas Lessio (Oshawa)
Ryan Murphy (Kitchener)
Vladislav Namestnikov (London)
Stefan Noesen (Plymouth)
Stuart Percy (Mississauga)
Shane Prince (Ottawa)
Matt Puempel (Peterborough)
Alan Quine (Peterborough)
Rickard Rakell (Plymouth)
Tobias Rieder (Kitchener)
Brett Ritchie (Sarnia)
Brandon Saad (Saginaw)
Mark Scheifele (Barrie)
Ryan Sproul (Sault Ste. Marie)
Ryan Strome (Niagara)
Vincent Trocheck (Saginaw)

Goaltenders:
Jordan Binnington (Owen Sound)
Matt Mahalak (Kitchener)
Michael Morrison (Kitchener)


Check out the link above for a full list of all CHLers

[Dean Youngblood]

Reminder: Game 4 will be televised on Rogers' Sportsnet today @4:30pm EST

Mississauga St. Michael's Majors leads the Championship series 2-1 over Owen Sound