After the Star’s top 10 ( theme of my previous article ) one can still find some quality prospects that have legitimate NHL potential. In my opinion, this is what makes the Dallas system an upper echelon prospect pool. Below are some of my thoughts on these emerging players, which also includes their current statistics.
Please email me with your thoughts & comments ( My next article will be on the “Star’s Long-shot Prospects”)
Tyler Bouck – RW 6-0 185lbs
Tyler’s game is based primarily around his most obvious strength, and that is speed. Able to skate as fast as almost anyone, this kid’s wheels make him very dangerous. On the other hand, he hasn’t found a consistent scoring knack yet, although his skills are well rounded enough. In order to compensate for this he has developed a good defensive game, and has added a physical, “in-your-face” style as well. With his two-way play, battle level, skating, and solid skills, Tyler projects to a 2nd or 3rd line checking winger that can score some goals. His goal scoring upside could be higher, but somewhere around 15-20 goals seems logical at this point. Often compared to Darren McCarty for his physical style, the Stars could definitely use the speed and grit Tyler would provide.
Prince George (WHL) GP-56 G-22 A-25 PTS-47 PIM-178 +/- 8
WJC (CAN) GP-7 G-1 A-0 PTS-1 PIM-2 +/- 3
Marcus Kristofferson – RW 6-3 200lbs
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Lloydminster 5 at St. Albert 3
The Lloydminster Blazers put a stranglehold on the series as they won for the second straight night in St. Albert.
The game began the same way as Game One as Joey Bastien of the Saints deposited the puck in the open net after a wild scramble in front. His goal was assisted by Ron Grimard. Six minutes later, with 4:28 left Jamie Weiss tied the game up for the Blazers and shifted the game’s momentum. Shots after one period were Saints 15, Blazers 13.
On to the second period, the Blazers took command of the game. It was Weiss again, with his second of the game, scoring six minutes in and last game’s hero Paul Esdale made it 3-1 Blazers on a goal assisted by Mark Hallam. Despite the fact that the Blazers scored two goals that period, it was largely dominated by St. Albert. The Saints outshot Lloydminster 14-9.
In the third, the Saints came out flying and Darren Peebles’ hard work eventually resulted in a goal. With the gap now down to one, the Saints were pressing but could not get a goal past Ray Fraser who was both good and lucky on this night. With 2:00 remaining and the Saints on the powerplay, a brutal giveaway in the neutral zone eventually resulted in Mark Hallam heading on a breakaway. He scored to make it 4-2 Blazers. With just under 50 seconds left, the Saints brought the deficit to one again as Ron Grimard scored, but it was not meant to be. Jamie Weiss sealed it for Lloyd as he got the hat-trick into the empty net in the dying seconds.
Calgary Canucks 3 at Olds 4 Read more »
Last year, the rookie trio of Patrick Marleau, Andrei Zyuzin and Marco Sturm raised a lot of eyebrows. Marleau was/is thought of as one of the best young centers in the league, Zyuzin was coming along on defense, and Sturm surprised everyone with his exceptional play. This article however, will cover another trio of rookies; none of who were first round picks, in fact, the highest was chosen in the 6th round, and two were never drafted… I am of course speaking of forward Alexander Korolyuk, and defensemen Shawn Heins and Andy Sutton. (Note: Scott Hannan played in 5 games for the Sharks, but was sent to his Junior club in Kelowna. I will not include him in this report, since he is not available for the Sharks at the current time.)
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POS HT WT AGE DRAFTED
Mike Ribeiro C 5-10 167 20 D-Mtl98 (2/45)
GP G A PTS +/- PIM PP SH
98-99 Stats 69 67 100 167 +52 137 24 8
(QMJHL)
#1 Strength- Vision and creativity.
#1 Weakness- Size.
Playing with Rouyn-Noranda, the QMJHL’s top offensive team, Ribeiro was on fire the entire season. He averaged 2.42 points per game and won the CHL scoring race by an astonishing 32 points. His +52 was a product of his great offensive skills, while his 8 short handed goals testified to his intelligence and ability to create offense in almost any situation. Which is why he was named the QMJHL’s offensive player of the week 3 times. His penalty minutes have more than doubled compared to last year, an indication that he drew much more attention from his opponents, but did not back down.
Ribeiro finished the season with his 100th assist in a 6-2 win over Val D’or.(end of regular season)
Projection at NHL level- Second line center.
Current Stock Status- On the rise.
POS HT WT AGE DRAFTED
Eric Chouinard C 6-4 192 18 D-Mtl98 (1/16)
GP G A PTS +/- PIM PP SH
98-99 Stats 62 50 59 109 +36 56 15 7
(QMJHL)
#1 Strength- Natural scorer.
#1 Weakness- Doesn’t use size. Read more »
The Thunder Bay Flyers have made the United States Hockey League playoffs for the first time in four years. The Flyers qualified with a 5-2 win over the West Division leading Omaha Lancers. Thunder Bay jumped out to a 3-0 second period lead on goals by Chris Shaffer, Derrick McIver and Jeff Miles. But the Lancers stormed back with two of their own by Jason Jaworski and Jed Ortmeyer.
The Flyers increased the lead back to two goals as Aaron MacKenzie tipped in Mike Tilson’s point shot in the third period. Derrick McIver scored his second of the night on the empty net to send Thunder Bay back to the playoffs. The Flyers once again received strong goaltending from Cory MaEachran who made 43 saves in the win.
The Flyers sit in sixth place but could drop to seventh on the out come of Sunday nights games. The Flyers will either play the Lancers or the Green Bay Gamblers in the USHL Quarter-Finals. The post season will start early next week. Stay tuned to Hockey’s Future for Flyers Updates.
Lloydminster 4 at St. Albert 3 (2OT)
The one that got away. That’s how the St. Albert Saints will view this game when they look back. Now, instead of being in a comfortable position before Game Two the Saints are down a game and in a must-win situation.
The game was a tough battle all night – on the ice and in the stands. A loud Lloydminster contingent cheered wildly for their club and often drowned out “Go Saints Go” chants with “Go Blazers Go.” They also sarcastically chanted Saints forward Jeebo Manah’s name all night and whenever their team scored they erupted into Garry Glitter’s “Rock ‘n Roll Part II”
The game was fairly even early on before St. Albert’s leading scorer in the regular season, Ron Grimard netted his second of the playoffs. It was a hard shot from the left faceoff circle that barely trickled through goaltender Ray Fraser’s pads and past the goal line. A couple of minutes later, Pavel Beranek scored a powerplay marker but it was decided a player was in the crease and the goal did not stand. Lloydminster then began to take over the game this period as first Paul Esdale scored a powerplay goal from the point as it deflected off of several bodies before finding the mesh behind Scott Kabotoff. Several minutes later Kyle Werner scored as he put home a rebound on a two-on-one.
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SERIES ‘G’ Olds Grizzlys (28-30-4) vs Calgary Canucks (50-8-4)
Season series (Canucks won 6-2): Canucks 6 at Grizzlys 4; Grizzlys 3 at Canucks 8; Grizzlys 2 at Canucks 11; Olds 6 at Canucks 3; Grizzlys 3 at Canucks 1; Canucks 4 at Grizzlys 3; Grizzlys 4 at Canucks 8; Canucks 9 at Grizzlys 4
Olds’ Last Round (Olds won 4-2): Olds 7 at Royals 6; Royals 7 at Olds 8 (OT); Olds 3 at Royals 7; Royals 6 at Olds 5 (OT); Olds 4 at Royals 3; Royals 2 at Olds 6
Canucks’ Last Round (Canucks won 4-0): Camrose 0 at Canucks 5; Canucks 4 at Camrose 3; Camrose 1 at Canucks 3; Canucks 5 at Camrose 1
Olds players to watch: F Dana Lattery had 69 points and 224 PIM in 48 games, F Ryan Melbourne and F Joel MacAuley were 2-3 in team scoring but only combined for 12 PIM in 123 games. However, although Lattery has been a premiere performer in the playoffs thus far – leading the league with 13 points – Melbourne and MacAuley have been relatively quiet with nine and six points respectively. Two players who have done very well this post-season are Colen Pappas (10 points) and Greg Davis (7 goals).
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[ Exclusive 2000 Draft Eligible Player Profiles and brief Scouting Reports. Click Here!!! ]
Fort Saskatchewan 1 at Lloydminster 4 (Blazers win 4-3)
The Lloydminster Blazers came back from being down 3-2 in the AJHL best-of-seven quarterfinal to beat the Fort Saskatchewan Traders 4-3. On this night, home ice advantage would come in to play as almost 2000 fans cheered the home side on to victory.
Lloydminster’s Travis Barnes opened the scoring with four minutes remaining in the first period as he took a Mark Hallam pass and netted his second of the playoffs. Fort Saskatchewan’s Nick Boucher has been phenomenal throughout the series and was again in the first period tonight stopping 17 of 18.
With about four minutes left in the second period, Hallam scored one of his own – his third of the post-season – assisted by Paul Esdale to give the Blazers a more-comfortable 2-0 lead. Lloyd blew it wide open with just over a minute left as Barnes scores his second of the game, third of the playoffs to give his club a commanding 3-0 lead. Hallam assisted on the goal, his third point of the game. Boucher was very good again this period, stopping 13 shots.
Early on in the final frame Trevor Baker gave the Traders some life as he made the score 3-1. This would be Ray Fraser’s period to shine, however, as the Lloydminster goaltender stopped 14 of 15 shots directed at him. Mark Hallam scored a powerplay goal with about nine minutes remaining to ice the game and 4-1 was how it would end.
Three Stars Read more »
[ Exclusive 2000 Draft Eligible Player Profiles and brief Scouting Reports. Click Here!!! ]
Lloydminster 4 at Fort Saskatchewan 1
The Lloydminster Blazers will live to see another day as the stage was set for Game Seven Thursday in Lloydminster.
Paul Esdale opened the scoring for the Blazers with 34 seconds remaining in the first period. Jamie Weiss and John Davidson assisted the goal. Lloydminster’s netminder Ray Fraser stopped 11 Fort Saskatchewan shots in the period.
In the second, the Blazers put an immense amount of pressure on the Traders’ end. They ended up with 17 shots on Fort Sask goaltender Nick Boucher but were only able to dent the twine once. Scott Pratt scored his team-leading fifth of the playoffs to make it 2-0 Blazers.
In the third period, Kyle Werner extended that lead to 3-0 11 minutes in and Brandon Denham scored his first of the playoffs – on the powerplay – with two minutes remaining to ice the game.
Fort Saskatchewan’s Ryan Campbell spoiled Fraser’s shutout bid by scoring with 23 seconds left, but that was all the 1,414 fans at Jubilee Rec Centre in Fort Saskatchewan would have to cheer about on this night.
Calgary Royals 2 at Olds 6 (Grizzlys win 4-2)
The Olds Grizzlys will now have the pleasure of facing the Calgary Canucks in the AJHL semi-finals as they completed a stunning upset of the Canucks’ cross-town rivals, the Calgary Royals. Read more »
You are ranked the 25th top North American skater by the Central Scouting Bureau in your NHL draft-eligible year. You are ranked the 40th top prospect by The Hockey News that same year, which would project you somewhere in the top two rounds of the NHL draft. Some scouts have even projected you into the late first round of the draft. You wait and you wait and you wait, until finally your name is called in the 3rd round, the 57th overall pick of the 1997 NHL entry draft. No one doubts your skills, but some doubt your size and your instincts. You just might have a chip on your shoulder. You might just have some real motivation to prove the “experts” wrong. Jeff Farkas, a Boston College junior and a Toronto Maple Leafs draftee in that 1997 NHL draft, has taken some big steps to “prove them wrong”.
As a college freshman, Jeff Farkas was 6-0, 162 lbs. and the oldest player in that 1997 draft. “Has great skills, great speed, but is simply not big enough or strong enough to be an effective one-on-one player in the NHL. He is fast, but too fast, as he doesn’t use his speed effectively within the flow of team play. His speed is faster than his mind can work,” said those scouts in 1997. “He’s a project at best”, said others. There is a good chance that the Toronto Maple Leafs will someday soon be happy with that project they took on.
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