Jonas Junland
www.eliteprospects.com

Jonas Junland

Hometown:

Linkoping Sweden

Currently Playing In:

Europe

Birthday:

1987-11-15

Position:

D

Eligible for draft:

2006

Shoots:

Left

Drafted:

2006

Height:

6-2

Acquired:

3rd round (64th overall), 2006

Weight:

198 lbs.

Probability of Success
  • C

History

2005-06: Junland had incredible development this past season, being the highest scoring defenseman in the Swedish juniors. His numbers, 40 points including 17 goals in 32 games, are quite remarkable for a defenseman. He added about 16 pounds of muscle before this past season and it had a very good affect on his play.

2006-07: Junland played most of his season with SEL finalist Linkopings. He fared well, despite his youth, and enjoyed an excellent playoff run, which saw him net five points in 15 games. He also played briefly with the junior team and in Allsvenskan league in preparation for the World Juniors, a tournament where he was one of Team Sweden’s top players.

2007-08: Junland played in a career-high 52 games for Linkopings HC (SWE) this season. The blueliner recorded three goals and 17 assists, and added another seven points (4g+3a) in 16 postseason games.

2008-09: In his first taste of North American hockey, Junland was a potent offensive defenseman for the AHL's Peoria Rivermen. He scored 13 goals, 18 assists for 31 points in 70 games, earning a spot in the AHL All-Star game. He skated in 5 playoff games with Peoria, scoring 1 assists and 6 PIMs. He also made his NHL debut with St. Louis, but did not score in 1 game.

2009-10: Junland again spent much of the season with Peoria, scoring 14 goals, 30 assists in 74 games. His 44 points led the team's defensemen and his 11 power play goals led the entire team. He played in the AHL All-Star game for the second consecutive year and got a little longer look in St. Louis, appearing in 3 NHL games and notching 2 assists.

2010-11: Junland was tendered a qualifying offer by the Blues in June 2010 but chose to sign a one-year contract with Farjestads BK in Sweden's Elitserien. He scored 5 goals with 17 assists and was +7 with 18 PMs in 41 regular season games. Farjestads finished tied with HV71 and Skelleftea atop the league standings with 96 points and won the playoff title. In 14 playoff games Junland scored 3 goals with 3 assists and was +8 with 12 PMs.
 

Talent Analysis

Junland is a good skater and has fine hands. Hockey sense is good and big strength of his is the way he gets the puck on the target. Junland has a good shot that is very accurate. Looking at the parts of his game that Junland should improve, his defensive awareness could still use some fine tuning. He could also play more determined and more physical at times. Also, sometimes Junland tends to overwork easy situations.

Future

Junland is now playing for Astana Barys in the KHL.

Like Father, Like Son

by pbadmin
on

Born: August 31, 1975
Hometown: Denver, Colorado
Position: Goaltender
Number: 47
Height: 6’2”
Weight: 210 lbs

By now, John Grahame is tired of being reminded of the fact that he is linked to one of the greatest players in Boston Bruins history, the incomparable Raymond Bourque. John’s father, Ron, played 40 games in goal for Boston before getting traded to the Los Angeles Kings for their 1979 first round draft choice. Bruin GM Harry Sinden selected Bourque who, 20 years later, is still playing all-star hockey in the National Hockey League. Ron Grahame played a few forgettable seasons with the Kings and Quebec Nordiques before retiring in 1981.

John hopes that he and his father can become the answer to a future trivia question: who is the only father-son combination to play goal for the Boston Bruins? Based on John’s performance with Boston’s top affiliate Providence of the American Hockey League over two seasons, his NHL debut seems imminent. In two years at the minor pro level, Grahame has established himself as a dependable stopper, capable of making important saves when called upon. At the age of 23, his future looks promising despite the Bruins’ 30 years of draft futility at the goaltender position.
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Sharks rookies in 1999-00

by pbadmin
on

For the last few years, the Sharks have consistently been ranked in the NHL’s top 10 in regards to team prospects. Given this, it is not at all surprising that for the last couple years, the Sharks have had several rookies playing for the team. In 97-98, it was the trio of Andrei Zyuzin, Marco Sturm, and Patrick Marleau. This year, it was Alexander Korolyuk and Andy Sutton who were the main rookie forces. Neither were ever touted nearly as much as the other three, but they were effective none the less. (Scott Hannan and Shawn Heins both played in 5 games, but saw only limited time and will still be considered rookies next year). Then the question is set to ask what new, young faces can you expect to see next year?

The answer at this point isn’t quite so clear given how early it is regarding free agent signings. Also, given the Sharks logjam at defense, someone will eventually be left in the cold. Conceivably, as many as six rookies who could possibly play for the Sharks next year. The two most obvious names are defensemen Brad Stuart and Scott Hannan. In addition to those two, there is defenseman Shawn Heins, right wing Matt Bradley, center Mark Smith, and goaltender John Nabokov. Barring serious injury problems, no more than two of these men will open the year with the Sharks. The only way it would be three is if John Nabokov is presented with one of the situations mentioned below.

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Montreal Canadiens Prospect Focus: Michael Ryder

by pbadmin
on

POS HT WT AGE DRAFTED
Michael Ryder C 6-0 180 19 D-Mtl98 (8/216)

GP G A PTS +/- PIM PP SH
98-99 Stats 69 44 43 87 +4 65 15 4
98-99 Playoff 23 20 16 36 +6 39 7 4
(QMJHL)

#1 Strength- Vision and creativity.
#1 Weakness- Size.
With a strong regular season and an impressive playoff performance, Michael Ryder has developed into the biggest surprise of the Canadiens’ 1998 draft choices. Chosen in the 8th round, 216th overall, Ryder has great skating ability with quick acceleration. Although he can beat opposing defensemen on the outside, his greatest asset is his instinctive scoring ability.

Born in St.John’s Newfoundland, Ryder is a 6’0″, 180 Lbs. Center with the Hull Olympiques. Drafted by Hull in the 1997 QMJHL midget draft, Ryder went on to finish 5th among the QMJHL’s rookie scorers in 1997-98.

Ryder was not seen as one of the Habs’ top prospects until his performance in this year’s playoffs. His 98-99 regular season totals were strong but not impressive. He scored 11 more goals than the Habs’ 2nd pick in the 1997 entry draft, Gregor Baumgartner, and equaled the Habs’ 1st pick in the 1998 entry draft, Eric Chouinard, in PPG’s with 15. Ironically, the only negative from the regular season was his a weak plus/minus of +4.
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Jason Blake Profile and IHL Playoff Recap

by pbadmin
on

Game 2- Detroit 7, Orlando 1

John Emmons scored 16 seconds into the game to get the Vipers off to a quick
lead. Yves Serault scored two goals, including the game winner. Orlando’s
only talley came off the stick of Barry Dreger in the second period. Detroit
now has a 2-0 lead in the series. Game 3 takes place Wednesday in Orlando.

Game 2- Chicago 5, Houston 4 (OT)

The Wolves came back from a 4-2 deficit in the third period to take the
game to overtime thanks to Niklas Andersson and JP Dumont. The Wolves’
Steve Maltais got the winner 6:02 into the OT period. Pat Jablonski got the
win in net with 24 saves, while Manny Fernandez picked up 31 in the loosing
effort. The series is now tied up 1-1, with the next game on Wednesday
night.

PLAYER PROFILE

Jason Blake

Orlando

5’10″

180 lbs.

9/2/73 Moorhead, MN.


98-99 Totals
GP G A Pts PIM
5 3 5 8 6

1998-99: Had a +5 rating…netted his first professional goal on 4/11 @ Fort
Wayne…recorded two assists in his first professional game on 4/8 vs. Grand
Rapids….Hobey Baker Award Top Ten Finalist, second time in past two Read more»

This Defense Can’t Rest

by Al Alven
on

As the big club took the gas pipe yet again this spring in the first round of the NHL playoffs, fans of the Philadelphia Flyers are yearning for at least a little good news about their favorite NHL team. One of the few bright spots that actually does take a little of the sting out of another disappointing May, is the nice depth that has accumulated on the bullion throughout the Flyers system. And NHL quality defensemen are at a premium in today’s watered down NHL.

At the top of this promising list is Wilmington, Delaware native Mark Eaton. Eaton is a slick skating offensive defenseman who played one year of college hockey under former Flyer Dave Poulin at Notre Dame. The Flyers signed Eaton last summer and he has been turning heads ever since. Eaton compiled 36 points in his first pro season with the AHL Phantoms, including 6 power play goals. He is the heir apparent to Eric Desjardins job as the top offensive defenseman in the system.

Some of the brass in the system wanted GM Bobby Clarke to bring up Eaton towards the end of the season. But since the Danuis Zubrus debacle, Clarke seems to be leaning towards the taking the slow road with his blue-chip prospects from here on out. Time spent learning the pro game in the minors is never a bad idea especially when you are talking about a defenseman with the natural offensive skills that Eaton possesses.
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