Whose property is Akeson? Hows that decided?
Also, whats the potential on this kid (if anything?)
February 21st Weekly Ramblings
- Leafs prospect Greg McKegg (one of my favourite prospects) has been named the OHL Player of the Week after recording four goals and four assists in 3 games for the Erie Otters. McKegg has now won the player-of-the-week award three times this season.
- Fantastic read on 2011 draft eligible forward Gabriel Landeskog over at bruins2011draftwatch.blogspot.com (great Blog to follow). "Landeskog back and cruising". If I had the 1st overall pick, I would seriously consider drafting Gabby. Landeskog is a gamer and he seems to be closest player in the draft class to a "sure thing". Whichever team drafts Landeskog will be extremely happy.
DY's Yakupov Watch
- Nail Yakupov missed two games last week after diagnosed with a concussion but returned to action today. Yakupov picked up right where he left off recording two goals, two assists, four points and a +4 in a 5-3 Sarnia win. The kid is simply amazing!
- Yakupov sits one goal back of Steven Stamkos' team rookie scoring record of 42 goals. Stamkos had 42G, 50A and 92P as a rookie (63 GP). Yakupov currently has Sarnia has nine games remaining so Yakupov should easily pass Stamkos' goal record. Yakupov needs 10 points to pass Stamkos in the point totals.
- Yakupov's teammate and fellow rookie Alex Galchenyuk has picked up his play lately. Last week Galchenyuk recorded three goals, four assists, 7 points and was +6 in three games. Galchenyuk (63 points) sits in 3rd place in OHL rookie scoring behind linemate Yakupov (82 points) and Windsor forward Khokhlachev (66 points)
-Look for both Yakupov and Galchenyuk to play in next years' World Junior Championship tournament and showcase their talents. Yakupov is Russian and nearly made this years' roster. Galchenyuk will have the option of playing for either Russia or the USA.
Must See Videos
- Boston prospect Ryan Spooner scores a highlight reel goal (click link)against Peterborough
- 2011 Draft Eligible forward Brett Ritchie (Sarnia Sting) does very well in his first OHL fight (video). The big power forward brings a lot of skills to the table. Ritchie was ranked 57th by NHL Central Scouting.
- Check out the latest OHL News - Radio Edition. It is always a great listen.
ISS Scouting Services' Top 30
- The Internation Scouting Services has released its Top 30 draft eligible prospects for the 2011 NHL Entry Draft and the OHL is well represented.
3. Gabriel Landeskog (Kitchener Rangers)
5. Ryan Murphy (Kitchener Rangers)
7. Ryan Strome (Niagara IceDogs
9. Dougie Hamilton (Niagara IceDogs)
10. Nicklas Jensen (Oshawa Generals)
11. Brandon Saad (Saginaw Spirit)
14. Alexander Khokhlachev (Windsor Spitfires)
17. Daniel Catenacci (Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds)
28. Matthew Peumpel (Peterborough Petes)
Players to Watch This Week
- Ottawa Forward Tyler Toffoli currently sits at 49 goals and will try to reach the 50-goal mark Friday when the 67s play Kingston
- Kitchener Ranger and OHL leading scorer Jason Akeson (99 points) will attempt to be the first player to clear 100 points this season when the Rangers take on Saginaw on Friday.
Playoff Clinchers
Below are the OHL teams who have secured a spot for postseason action.
- Eastern Conference: Mississauga, Ottawa, Niagara, Oshawa
- Western Conference: Owen Sound, Saginaw, Kitchener
Leading Forward Scorers (as of Feb 21st)
1. Jason Akeson (Kitchener) - 24G - 75A - 99P (undrafted) [Last Week - 2nd]
2. Tyler Toffoli (Ottawa) - 49G - 44A - 93P (LAK) [Last Week - 3rd]
3. Ryan Strome (Niagara) - 27G - 63A - 90P (2011 Draft Eligible) [Last Week - 1st]
4. Nail Yakupov* (Sarnia - 2012 Draft Eligible) - 41G - 41A - 82P [Last Week - 5th
5. Shane Prince (Ottawa - 2011 Draft Eligible) - 25G - 57A - 82P [Last Week -4th]
*denotes Rookie
Leading Defensemen Scorers (as of Feb 21st)
1. Ryan Ellis (Windsor - NSH) - 19G - 61A - 80P [Last Week - 2nd]
1. Ryan Murphy (Kitchener - 2011 Draft Eligible) - 24G - 50A - 74P [Last Week - 1st]
3. Josh McFadden (Sudbury- 2011 Draft Eligible) - 15G - 39A - 54P [Last Week - 3rd]
4. Dougie Hamilton (Niagara - 2011 Draft Eligible )-11G - 38A - 49P [Last Week - 4th]
5. Jesse Blacker (Owen Sound - TOR) - 10G - 37A - 47P [Last Week - 5th]
New Information will be posted throughout the week as it is released.
Feel free to ask questions or post comments.
Enjoy!
Last edited by Dean Youngblood; February 21, 2011 at 8:24 PM.
Whose property is Akeson? Hows that decided?
Also, whats the potential on this kid (if anything?)
Last edited by littleranger; February 21, 2011 at 7:37 PM.
Follow me for some fantasy hockey, Jays tweets @thelandshock
Akeson would be a free agent. I am pretty sure Akeson could sign with any organization and I fully expect him to. However, Akeson's point totals are more of a reflection of his teammates (Landeskog, Murphy and D'Amigo as of late) than his actual level. Metaldude26 and I actually agreed that he will likely never see the NHL ice.
Jerry D'Amigo article in tjhe Toronto Star. He's having an awesome season (short) for the Rangers and this is exactly what TOR was hoping for
http://www.thestar.com/mobile/sports...y-stint-in-ohl
Taylor Beck and Peter Holland both with 6 point games yesterday in Guelph's 10-4 win over the Greyhounds.
Tired of hearing about Yakupov? Too bad, it's only going to get worse and this kid is starting to get a lot of media attention. Next year at this time, the Yakupov discussions and hype is going to be off the charts.
Check out this translated interview Nail Yakupov did prior to Monday's game where he returned from a concussion and scored 4 points.
http://sportshaze.com/russia/khl/nai...s-records-1507
Ryan Ellis is the O's best dman in many, many years....
I say this because of this tweet I read earlier today
Those are damn impressive.@normanjames
Ryan Ellis tied with Brian Fogerty with 293 career OHL points from the Blueline. Most in 20 years. Bobby Orr 278 pts. Denis Potvin 330 pts.
Last edited by Dean Youngblood; February 22, 2011 at 5:17 PM.
For what it's worth in that Kitchener game I caught, I thought that D'Amigo looked good but not great. I mean he just seemed to fit in too well for a 20 year old. It was like he was playing at the perfect level for him rather than being too good for that level, which is what you'd hope for. I know this was coming playing against the best team in junior so I'm sure it was going to be tough to really look good but suffice to say I was looking for more. I was looking for the guy who ran roughshod over everybody at the WJC, over a year ago now, with his relentless forechecking.
I don't have the figures but I wager that too high of a percentage of D'Amigo's points since landing back in junior have come via the powerplay. It's good that he's scoring again and getting his confidence back but it doesn't say much for his future potential if he's just milking the Rangers powerplay that possesses two of the best weapons in junior hockey in Ryan Murphy and Gabriel Landeskog, not to mention the league leader in assists, Jason Akeson.
Fair analysis MD. I am also tempering my observations of D'Amigo's OHL success (15 points in 10 games) for reasons you pointed out - especially the fact that he is 20 years old. However, D'Amigo was loaned to Kitchener in hopes that his offensive game would be sparked as it dried up for the AHL's Marlies.
D'Amigo has good speed and I think it is safe to say that Toronto drafted him hoping that Jerry would eventually fit into the Leafs' top 6. After watching him (only seen one game) and reading some game observations, I am sure that D'Amigo is going to be more suited to a 3rd liner. Dallas Eakins, the Marlies coach, spoke of D'Amigo before leaving for Kitchener and stated that D'Amigo has developed his defensive game really well which should get him a NHL roster spot on that skill alone. He is also playing valuable PK minutes for the Kitchener Rangers.
D'Amigo's Production on the Powerplay
PPG - 3 (7 goals to date)
PPA - 5 (8 assists to date)
PPP - 8 (15 total points to date)
It looks like just over half of D'Amigo's points have come on the PP which really isn't that high considering a lot of the OHL's goals come on special teams.
From a Toronto organizational standpoint, I think they are happy to see D'Amigo scoring points on the scoresheet. He was loaned to Kitchener specifically for that reason.
Yeah exactly. This is totally about getting him back on track. I'm not trying to crap on the guy but he definitely isn't looking like a scoring line player. I was really hoping to see if he'd regained that spark, that swagger he had a year ago, but it looks like he still hasn't found it. Maybe it'll just take some time to develop the chemistry in Kitchener before he takes off or maybe he just needs the pressure of a good playoff run to get the jolt out of him.
Coming at you with some late night additions
- OHL Player of the Week Greg McKegg had a 4 goal effort last week. Check out the Video here
- Colorado prospect Joey Hishon (Owen Sound) received a 6-game OHL suspension for sucker-punching potential future teammate Ryan Strome (Niagara). As a result, Strome is out with an Upper-body injury. Strome's coach Marty Williamson was ejected from the game after losing his cool on the officials for their inconsistencies. Video and story can be found here.
Alex Galchenyuk (see two posts above this one) was the OHL Sarnia Sting's 1st overall selection in the 2010 OHL Priority Draft this past season. Galchenyuk was drafted from the Chicago Young American and had the decision to play for either USA or Team Russia in the next WJC (2012)
Galchenyuk has recently told sports.ru, "I think I'll play for Team USA"
Galchenyuk's father, Alex Sr., represented Team Belarus in the Olympics and was a good hockey player himself as he completed a solid career playing in Russia, Switzerland, Italy and USA (IHL).
The Galchenyuk WJC situation will be an interesting one to watch simply because if he does choose the USA route it will be much more difficult to make ths squad. Why? Team USA usually puts players in its Development Program ahead of those playing elsewhere.
Galchenyuk might just have to play for Team Russia with his teammate Yakupov and the rest of the WJC defending champs.
I will keep those who are interested posted.