[March 7th] OHL Weekly Ramblings

[SeaDawg]

Sarnia Sting rookie Alex Galchenyuk (top prospect for 2012 NHL Draft) has announced that he intends to play for the United States in International play.

Galchenyuk has the option of playing for either Russia or USA. Big win for USA. Big loss for Russia.

wow...that is huge news. Too bad for Russia. I thought he'd play with Yakupov someday.

thanks for the udpate, DY

[Dean Youngblood]

More OHL Tidbits today since I won't be around to post these come Monday

"Give me back my assist!"
- You don't see this happen too often. Yesterday, the OHL took away a Yakupov's assist that he earned on March 4th and changed it to Galchenyuk's assist. The scoring change came 6 days after the actual game was finished. Weird!

Sarnia Rookie Power
- Yakupov had two goals last night (Yahoo! recap article)versus Taylor Beck's Guelph Storm. Yakupov now has 47 goals on the season and is chasing that 50-goal milestone. Let the 50 goal watch begin. Good Luck Nail.

- Alex Galchenyuk had two assists last night in Sarnia's 5-2 win over Guelph. Those two assists pushed Galchenyuk into 2nd in OHL Rookie scoring with 72 points in 63 games.

- Sarnia has the 1st and 2nd ranked rookies in the OHL. I cannot wait to see what this team does when they get some D. Fun team to watch offensively, not so much defensively though

- Yakupov sits one point back (91 points) of Stamkos' rookie point record (92 points).

- Lets look at the leading rookies in the other CHL leagues for comparison (although the WHL is traditionally a lower scoring league

WHL - Sven Bartschi (Portland): 61 GP - 30G - 51A -81P
QMJHL - Zach O'Brien (Acadia-Bathhurst): 54GP - 25G -35A - 60P
OHL - Nail Yakupov (Sarnia): 60GP - 47G - 44A -91P

- My last Yakupov point How much fun are Dan O'Toole and Jay Onrait going to have with Yakupov and Galchenyuk's names when they start doing highlights for them? Going to be fun to watch.

Short Landeskog Interview (Video)
- Gabriel Landeskog talks about 2011 NHL Draft and personally thinks he is ready to play in the NHL next season

Life in the OHL - Billeting Feature
- Here is a pretty good video on the life of a billeter in the OHL. Sarnia Sting Billets

I will continue to post new information until a fly out on sunday. Enjoy!

[Big Ev]

Man I wish the Oilers would have grabbed McKegg instead of Martindale.

Martindale is really solid.

[Dean Youngblood]

The OHL has released the Western Conference Coaches Poll Winners. To see the Eastern Conference Winners see a few posts prior to this one.

How the Poll works...

Each team submits one nominee per category and coaches then vote for the top three players for each category within their conference and are not permitted to vote for players on their own team. Players receive five points for a first place vote, three points for a second place vote, and one point for a third place vote.

All 16 Western Conference categories are listed below with their final point totals in brackets

Western Conference:

Most Underrated Player
Tyler Carroll, Guelph Storm (28)
Jordan Szwarz, Saginaw Spirit (22)
Michael Catenacci, Kitchener Rangers tied Stephen Sanza, London Knights (11)


Most Improved Player
Jason Akeson, Kitchener Rangers (19)
Andrew Fritsch, Owen Sound Attack (18)
Stefan Noesen, Plymouth Whalers (16)


Smartest Player
Ryan Ellis, Windsor Spitfires (36) – finished second in votes in 2009-10 and first in votes in 2008-09
Ryan Murphy, Kitchener Rangers (31)
Joey Hishon, Owen Sound Attack (17)


Hardest Worker
Garrett Wilson, Owen Sound Attack (32) – finished first in votes in 2009-10
Jordan Szwarz, Saginaw Spirit (17) – finished third in votes in 2009-10
Tyler Carroll, Guelph Storm (15)


Best Playmaker
Joey Hishon, Owen Sound Attack (23) – finished third in votes in 2009-10 and first in votes in 2008-09
Ryan Ellis, Windsor Spitfires (22)
Jason Akeson, Kitchener Rangers (19)


Most Dangerous in the Goal Area
Nail Yakupov, Sarnia Sting (33)
Greg McKegg, Erie Otters (32)
Josh Shalla, Saginaw Spirit (11)


Best Skater
Ryan Murphy, Kitchener Rangers (37)
Kale Kerbashian, Sarnia Sting (21)
Daniel Catenacci, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (10)


Best Shot
Nail Yakupov, Sarnia Sting (24)
Taylor Beck, Guelph Storm (20)
Greg McKegg, Erie Otters (14)


Hardest Shot
Ryan Ellis, Windsor Spitfires (28) – finished second in votes in 2009-10 and first in votes in 2008-09
Nail Yakupov, Sarnia Sting (16)
Jesse Blacker, Owen Sound Attack (9)


Best Stickhandler
Joey Hishon, Owen Sound Attack (27) – finished first in votes in 2008-09
Michael Latta, Guelph Storm tied Ryan Murphy, Kitchener Rangers (13) – Latta finished third in votes in 2009-10

Best on Face-Offs
Michael Latta, Guelph Storm (27)
Vincent Trocheck, Saginaw Spirit (14)
Mitchell Heard, Plymouth Whalers tied Kenny Ryan, Windsor Spitfires (11)


Best Body Checker
Anthony Camara, Saginaw Spirit (30)
Gabriel Landeskog, Kitchener Rangers (17)
Mike Halmo, Owen Sound Attack (16) – finished second in votes in 2009-10

Best Defensive Forward
Tyler Carroll, Guelph Storm (31)
Jordan Szwarz, Saginaw Spirit (16)
Stephen Sanza, London Knights tied Garrett Wilson, Owen Sound Attack (9)


Best Penalty Killer
Tyler Brown, Plymouth Whalers (26)
Matt Tipoff, Kitchener Rangers (16)
Ryan Ellis, Windsor Spitfires (15)


Best Offensive Defenceman
Ryan Ellis, Windsor Spitfires (43) – finished first in votes in both 2009-10 and 2008-09
Ryan Murphy, Kitchener Rangers (31)
Ryan O’Connor, Saginaw Spirit (5)


Best Defensive Defenceman
David Shields, Erie Otters (22)
Dalton Prout, Saginaw Spirit (20) – finished second in Eastern Conference votes in 2009-10
Matt Stanisz, Owen Sound Attack (18)

[Dean Youngblood]

Some milestones to mention after last nights' games;

- Ryan Strome recorded his 100th and 101st points becoming the second player this season to clear 100points
- Tyler Toffoli sits at 99 points and likely will become the 3rd OHL to record 100 points this season
- Christian Thomas recorded his 50(h goal last night
- Nail Yakupov recorded his 92nd point last night in Sarnia's win over Saginaw. The 92nd point puts Yalupov into a tie with Steven Stamkos' rookie point total