Yakupov tops among OHL’s 2012 NHL Draft prospects
Last year, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins effectively ended the OHL's dominance atop the NHL Draft when he was selected first overall by the Edmonton Oilers. This year, the Oilers may start a new streak by calling an OHL player's name with the first pick for the fifth time in six years. Read more »Nelson, Strome, Donovan among recipients in Islanders prospect awardsYears of stockpiling high draft picks has started to pay off for the Islanders, something that is demonstrated in the inaugural edition of their prospect awards. Wild sign top prospect Mikael GranlundThe Minnesota Wild took a major step toward improving their club from within with the signing of their top prospect, Mikael Granlund. Granlund is considered by some to be the top prospect currently playing outside of the NHL. A new look for Hockey’s FutureHockey's Future has had the same site design for almost five years, now, and it is one that has served us well aside from some minor quirks in the system. But progress is all about moving forward, and so it is time for a new design to be implemented at HF. That time is today, as we will be switching to the new website design within the next couple of hours if all goes well. This change is only for HF and not the HF Boards. The design will definitely look new, although the site navigation will not be much different from the current version of the site. One thing that will be added to the new version is the ability to submit comments on most content at the site, a feature that we have not had for several years (don't abuse it!). We'll also have a box that shows the latest threads that have been commented on at the HF Boards. And there might be a couple more wrinkles added this time around. Montreal Canadiens well represented at 2012 Memorial Cup Photo: Shutdown defenseman Jarred Tinordi has been an important part of the London Knights this season. Standing at 6'7, Tinordi is among the tallest players in the OHL. (Photo courtesy of CHL Images)The Montreal Canadiens' prospects at the professional level were unable to gain any playoff experience this season as the teams failed to make the NHL and AHL playoffs. This spring, only the CHL prospects were experiencing playoff hockey as the European and NCAA prospects had already finished up for their years. Minor-league squad coming together for Toronto Maple Leafs Photo: Forward Matt Frattin (center) is known for his hard, accurate shot. In 23 AHL games, Frattin managed 14 goals. (Photo courtesy of Nick Turchiaro/Icon SMI)The Maple Leafs rebuild process has been a slow one, but the emergence of a few minor-league prospects could accelerate the process as soon as next season. Both Jesse Blacker and Jerry D’Amigo garnered multiple honors in the inaugural edition of the Maple Leaf’s prospect awards. Prospect of the Year: Ben Scrivens, G, Toronto Marlies (AHL) Read more » Brandon Gormley benefitting from extended post-season with Shawinigan Photo: Defenseman Brandon Gormley was traded from the Moncton Wildcats to the Shawinigan Cataractes late in the 2011-12 regular season. The move has paid off for Shawinigan as Gormley has been a key contributor for them at the Memorial Cup. (Photo courtesy of Aaron Bell/CHL Images)The Phoenix Coyotes AHL affiliate in Portland failed to qualify for the post-season, leaving a number of team prospects out in the cold when it comes to playoff hockey. There were however several prospects in the CHL and in Europe that performed well for their respective teams. Here are some of the stand-out performances from those Coyotes prospects who were lucky enough to have their seasons extended into the playoffs: CHL Among the Phoenix prospects who play in the Canadian Hockey League, the best playoff performances were turned in by two players who have so far taken very different routes in their young careers. Read more » 2012 World Championship: Medal Day Wrap-Up
 Photo: Detroit Red Wings forward Pavel Datsyuk helped lead the Russian squad at the 2012 World Championship to a gold medal win (courtesy of Bob Frid/Icon SMI) Sunday was Medal Day at the 2012 World Championship, with Russia coming away with the gold medal following a 6-2 win over Slovakia at Hartwell Arena in Helsinki, Finland. Slovakia took home silver while the Czech Republic scored the bronze medal with a 3-2 win over Finland. Hockey's Future spoke with some of the players taking part in these two games following those matches, with those interviews being presented below. BRONZE MEDAL GAME Czech Republic 3 vs Finland 2 Read more » 2012 World Championship: Semi-Final Interviews Photo: Buffalo Sabres defenseman Andrej Sekera has been patrolling the blueline for Slovakia at the 2012 World Championship. Sekera and his teammates will go for gold on Sunday vs. Russia (courtesy of Bill Streicher/Icon SMI) Many Blackhawks prospects enjoyed extensive post-seasons in 2012 Photo: Forward Brandon Pirri was one of Chicago’s black aces during the Blackhawks 2012 playoff run. Though he didn’t get to see any playing time, the experience should be beneficial to him as he competes for an NHL roster spot in 2012-13. (Photo courtesy of Warren Wimmer/Icon SMI)The Blackhawks prospect pipeline saw plenty of playoff action but only one prospect, Boston College’s Kevin Hayes, was able to capture a league championship. Several other prospects, such as Brandon Saad and Mac Carruth, had strong performances but were not enough to push their team towards the ultimate prize. In Hockey’s Future’s new team playoff update, we take a look around the world at some of the more notable playoff performances by Chicago prospects. NHL Read more » |
