Team Orr Defeats Team Cherry 2-1 In The Home Hardware CHL Top Prospects Game

Scouts and General Managers from all 30 NHL Teams flocked to Prospera Place in Kelowna British Columbia to witness the lowest scoring game in the 17 year history of the event - a 2-1 victory for Team Orr.

Tom Wilson of the Plymouth Whalers (Team Cherry) showed why he's one of the top power forwards available for the draft when on his first shift he threw two big hits on Gianluca Curcuruto of the Soo Greyhounds. He continued to throw the body all night and was sure to draw the attention of scouts. He had a pretty good bout with Dalton Thrower of the Saskatoon Blades in the second period.

As for Curcuruto, he played a solid, physical, defensive game. He showed flashes of his puck carrying abilities, going end to end in the second period. He took the body when he could without going out of his way looking for the hit. He was left almost defenseless on Team Cherry's only goal as Thrower went out of his way to make a hit and missed leaving a virtual 2 on 1. Dillon Fournier scored on the rebound.

Gemel Smith of the Owen Sound Attack (Team Cherry) was his typical self. Tenacious on the puck despite his size, he fought battles along the wall and usually came away with the puck. His speed was evident throughout the night especially on the backcheck where he broke up a couple of Team Orr rushes.

Belleville Bulls teammates Daniil Zharkov and Brendan Gaunce (Team Cherry) played on a line together and created a couple of chances. The best chance came halfway through the second right after teams switched goaltenders when Zharkov picked the puck up at center and went in on defenseman Matt Finn (Guelph Storm). He pulled the puck between his legs and went around Finn and put a shot on Francois Tremblay.

Adam Pelech of the Erie Otters (Team Orr) was almost unbeatable defensively. He took his opponents out of the play at every opportunity, was positionally sound and took away shooting and passing lanes. It's no wonder he's only a minus 4 on a team where you find a roster full of minus 20 and 30.

Matt Murray of the Soo Greyhounds (Team Cherry) was nothing short of spectacular in goal coming in halfway through the second. His best two saves back to back were when they were on the penalty kill and he made a big save on Scott Kosmachuk (Guelph Storm) and then on Raphael Bussieres, who along with Radek Faksa (Kitchener Rangers), were buzzing.

No one really hurt their value in the game. The Finn's, Faksa's and Laughton's and such played okay games but weren't their usual dominant players that they show they could be at times. They should all be proud of the way they played and rest assured, no one hurt their value.

The one thing we learned from this game, or at least confirmed: This is the year of the defenseman.

Team Orr Beats Team Cherry In Top Prospects Skills Competition

Team Orr beat Team Cherry 15-9 at the Home Hardware CHL Top Prospects Game Skills Competition Tuesday in Kelowna, British Columbia.

Nick Ebert of the Windsor Spitfires (Team Cherry) had the hardest shot at 94.7 MPH. He was followed closely by Ryan Murray of the Everett Silvertips (Team Cherry) at 94.3 MPH. Team Orr recieved a point for the highest team average at 91.9 MPH.

Francis Beaullivier of Rimouski Oceanic (Team Orr) won the fastest skater with a time of 14.132 seconds. Team Orr also got the point for the fastest team average of 14.524 seconds.

Gianluca Curcuruto of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (Team Orr) beat out Scott Laughton of the Oshawa Generals (Team Cherry) in a playoff after both finished with 4 targets in 5 shots. The teams were tied at 13 for 28 and both received an extra points.

Radek Faksa of the Kitchener Rangers (Team Orr) also needed a playoff to beat Tim Bozon of the Kamloops Blazers (Team Cherry) in the Show-Down Breakaway Challenge. Faksa earned a score of 26 in the third playoff round to take the event. Team Orr took another team point with an average score of 22.3.

Team Orr had a 7-2 lead on Team Cherry heading into the 3 on 3, where Team Orr took the contest 8-7.

Other OHL Players involved in the skills competition were:

Gemel Smith of the Owen Sound Attack in the fastest skater event with a time of 14.907 (6th)
Adam Pelech of the Erie Otters in the hardest shot competition at 91.0 MPH  (6th)
Matt Finn of the Guelph Storm in the hardest shot competition at 90.1 MPH (7th)
Tom Wilson of the Plymouth Whalers in the shooting accuracy finishing 4/6 (3rd)
Scott Kosmachuk of the Guelph Storm in the breakaway challenge scored 20
Tanner Pearson of the Barrie Colts in the breakaway challenge scored 26
Andreas Athanasiou of the London Knights in the breakaway challenge scored 15
Daniil Zharkov of the Belleville Bulls in the breakaway challenge scores 21
Brendan Gaunce of the Belleville Bulls in the breakaway challenge scored 16
Dane Fox of the Erie Otters in the breakaway challenge scored 19

The Top Prospects game goes this evening at 10:00 PM Eastern On Rogers Sportsnet Nationally and TVA in Quebec. It is also available on the radio and on line at http://www.fan590.com/

Draft Eligible Statistical Update

With the season back underway after the holiday break and another OHL week completed, we have updated the statistical leaders for first time draft eligible players in the Ontario Hockey League. (Click the Stats tab at the top of this page).

Guelph's Matt Finn and Brampton's Dylan Blujus continue to climb up the scoring ranks for defensemen while still playing solid defensive games and are starting to draw a lot of attention from NHL scouts. Cody Ceci still leads all defensemen in goals, assists and points but has stumbled lately, possibly a let down from being cut from Team Canada ?

Despite only playing 26 games, Nail Yakupov of Sarnia still leads all players in goals, assists and points but Belleville's Brendan Gaunce only trails Yakupov by 1 goal as of Sunday, although he has played in 36 games. Owen Sound's Gemel Smith continues to create chances every time he's on the ice but the finish hasn't been there for he and his teammates.

Despite missing the last three games, Malcolm Subban of the Bulls leads all goaltenders in save percentage and goals against average.

Coming up tomorrow, we'll have the three stars for the week now that the season is back in full swing. On Wednesday we'll release my rankings for the top 20 skaters and top 5 goaltenders as of the end of December 2011, and we'll take a brief look at what's going on at the World Junior Championships. And later on in the week, we'll continue profiling players we haven't as of yet.

3 Stars For Week Ending December 18, 2011

Here are your draft eligible 3 stars for the week ending December 18, 2011

1st Star - Chris Marchese - Windsor Spitfires : When Marchese was traded to the Spitfires early last week, we said in this blog that you could expect his point totals to increase and that he would be worth keeping an eye on. Well, those that vote did and Marchese came through. In 2 games for the Spitfires, Marchese notched 3 goals and 2 assists. The spitfires lost both games, the first 6-4 to Owen Sound where he notched a goal and added 2 assists, the other a 5-4 loss to Saginaw in which he scored twice. As we said before, he'll be worth keeping an eye on.

2nd Star - Gemel Smith - Owen Sound Attack : It isn't unfamiliar territory for Smith to be named one of our 3 stars. He's become an offensive weapon for the Attack and last week he provided 2 goals and 2 assists in 3 games. He opened the week with a goal and an assist and a plus 4 in a 6-4 win over Windsor. He followed that up with the same tallies in a 3-1 loss to Sarnia. He went pointless in a 3-1 win over Kitchener but created numerous opportunities.

3rd Star - Matt Murray - Soo Greyhounds : Murray may come as a little bit of a surprise here, but you have to have had seen him play. The Soo started the week with a 3-1 win over Saginaw in which Murray stopped 33 of 34 shots. That was followed by a 3-2 Shoot out loss to Kitchener where he was absolutely spectacular stopping 46 of 48 shots to give the Greyhounds even a chance. The surprise of putting him here is they closed out the week with a 7-3 loss to Guelph. But through 2 periods he stopped 24 of 27 shots and was down 3-2 and again gave the Soo every chance. But penalty trouble in the 3rd was just too much and the Storm blew the game wide open, not to mention the last goal came with 3 seconds left.

Once again, to view previous week winners and a list of voters, click the 3 stars tab at the top of the page.

Gemel Smith

Gemel Smith - Owen Sound Attack

5' 11" - 161 LBS
D.O.B. April 16, 1994

Gemel Smith enters his second season with the Attack after posting 8 goals and 8 assists in 66 games last season. He was selected in the 6th round, 120th overall in the 2010 priority draft after scoring 31 goals and adding 51 assists in 52 games for the North York Rangers Midget AAA.

At 5'11" Smith is on the small side, and he will have to fill that frame from his current 161 pounds. Smith is a tremendous skater who is illusive and has excellent speed. It enables him to create chances for himself and his teammates every time he takes to the ice. He plays bigger than he is and not afraid to go to any area of the ice. He's excellent at gaining body positioning and protects the puck extremely well.

Smith is a pesky forward who can easily get under the skin of the opposition. He has excellent offensive skills, very good hockey sense and is accomplished at both ends of the ice. He possesses a good shot and can beat a goalie in different ways. Smith, who at the quarter way point of the schedule trails only Nail Yakupov in most offensive categories, is beginning to garner some attention around the OHL.



Photo courtesy of lfpress.com

3 Stars For Week Ending October 30, 2011

It was a good week for draft eligible players in the OHL. Unfortunately, only 3 can be named three stars.

1st Star - Gemel Smith - Owen Sound Attack : The Attack finished the week with a 2-0-1 record with Smith being a big part of it. He scored once in an overtime loss to the London Knights. He followed that up with 2 goals and an assist in a victory over the Oshawa Generals. He closed out his week with a 3 assist effort in a victory over the Windsor Spitfires. Smith now trails only Nail Yakupov in goals, assists and points among first time draft eligible players.

2nd Star - Nail Yakupov - Sarnia Sting : The leader in just about every statistical category, Yakupov played in 3 games in which he recorded 3 goals and 2 assists and was a plus 5. Yakupov scored twice and added an assist in a victory over the Soo Greyhounds. He added another goal and assist in a victory over Saginaw Spirit and closed out the week with an assist in a shootout loss to the London Knights.

3rd star - Radek Faksa - Kitchener Rangers : The Rangers began the week with a shootout victory over the Knights in which Faksa scored a goal and assisted on another. He added a single assist in a win against the Erie Otters and followed that up with another goal and an assist in the rematch vs the Otters in which Erie took that in a shootout. Faksa is one of those import players who's beginning to find his groove in the OHL and has been a model of consistency for the Rangers.

For a list of previous winners and a list of the voters involved in choosing the three stars, click on the 3 star tab at the top of the page.

3 Stars For Week Ending October 23, 2011

The votes are in for the OHL Draft Eligible Players for the week ending October 23, 2011.

1st Star - Dane Fox - London Knights : Fox helped lead his Knights to a perfect 3-0 record last week. it started with a 6-3 win over powerhouse Mississauga on the road where he notched a goal. He followed that up with a goal and 2 assists in a 4-0 victory over Belleville and ended the week with a goal and assist in a 6-3 victory over Windsor. Fox was not on the ice for a 5 on 5 goal against.

2nd Star - Matt Rupert - London Knights : Rupert began the week with a 2 goal 1 assist performance over Mississauga. He followed that up with 1 goal over Belleville and closed the week off with 1 goal and 1 assist over Windsor. Like his teammate Dane Fox, Rupert was not on the ice for a 5 on 5 goal against.

3rd Star - Gemel Smith - Owen Sound Attack : It's been an up and down season for the Attack but Smith has been a model of consistency. Although Owen Sound went 1-1-0-1 on the week, we couldn't overlook Smith. In Owen Sounds lone victory, 4-2 in Barrie, Smith notched an assist. In a 7-4 loss to the Soo Greyhounds, Smith was in on every goal for Owen Sound with a goal and 3 assists. He was held off the scoreboard in a 2-1 shootout loss to Sudbury

Honorable mentions : Radek Faksa, Kitchener and Ryan Rupert London.

For a list of previous weeks winners and a list of voters, click on the 3 stars tab at the top of the page.