Draft Eligible Stats Leaders

Windsor Spitfires defenseman Nick Ebert has moved onto the leader board for defensemen scoring leaders and among the draft eligible players in assists. Ebert got off to a slow and disappointing start for the Spitfires but in the past 10 games has begun to put up assists.

Scott Laughton of the Oshawa Generals, is known for his two way play and has come alive offensively lately. He joins the leaders in both points and assists. After a strong week, the Erie Otters' Connor Brown is now among the goal scoring leaders with 18. And returning from injury, Malcolm Subban continues to lead all goaltenders, not just draft eligible ones, in goals against average and save percentage.

To view the leaders, click the stats tab at the top of the page.

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/

Gaunce, Subban, O'Connor and Laughton Interviews

Our friends at In The O Radio have posted interviews from this weekend with Brendan Gaunce, Malcolm Subban, Ryan O'Connor and Scott Laughton as well as Andrew Aggozino.

You can listen to the interviews here

3 Stars For Week Ending January 8, 2012

Here are your draft eligible 3 stars for the week ending January 8, 2012

1st Star - Trevor Morbeck - Kingston Frontenacs : Morbeck played in three games and scored twice while adding three assists and was a plus three for the Frontenacs. He began the week with a goal and an assist and was a plus 1 in a 7-3 win over the Peterborough Petes. In the rematch, a 6-4 Petes victory, he registered an assist and was a plus 1. He added another goal and assist and once again was a plus 1 in a 6-4 loss to the Barrie Colts.

2nd Star - Scott Laughton - Oshawa Generals : Laughton, a steady two way forward, has really begun to find his offensive game. He was held off the scoreboard in a 4-1 win over the Belleville Bulls. He then scored a goal and added an assist while being a plus 3 in a 6-3 win over the Kitchener Rangers. He followed that up with another goal and assist and a plus 2 in a 6-2 loss to the Brampton Battalion.

3rd Star - Justin Auger - Guelph Storm : Auger played in two games for the Storm last week. He had a two goal performance and was just a minus 1 in an 8-3 loss to the Saginaw Spirit. In the Storms second game he was a plus 1 with another goal in a 6-1 win over the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.

You can view each weeks winners and list of voters by clicking the 3 stars tab at the top of the page.

3 Stars for Week Ending December 4, 2011

Since the beginning of November, we probably should have began naming this the Belleville Bulls Awards. Almost every week there's not one, but two Bulls teammates for consideration for the three stars. But there's a new kid on the block this week.

1st Star - Daniil Zharkov - Belleville Bulls : Zharkov led the Bulls to three straight victories offensively scoring six goals, two in each game in those victories, including the game winner in a 4-1 decision over Windsor. His 4 other goals came in back to back victories over Kingston, 4-2 and 8-1. Zharkov now has 11 goals in 11 games, and despite having only played those 11 games, now sits 7th in goals scored among first time draft eligible players.

2nd Star - Malcolm Subban - Belleville Bulls : Since returning from injury at the beginning of November, Subban has been dominant. He had a sparkling 1.33 GAA and .962 SV% in three games last week including a 36 save performance against Kingston, then 33 saves in the rematch and followed that up with another 33 sames over Windsor. Subban now leads the league in goals against average and save percentage. Since his return, he's been one of our three stars each week but once.

3rd Star - Scott Laughton - Oshawa Generals : Laughton recorded 1 goal and 5 assists in two games for Oshawa last week. The defensively responsible Laughton broke out with  3 assists in an 8-4 victory over Sarnia. He followed that up with a goal and 2 assists in a 9-1 thumping of Peterborough.

For previous week winners and a list of voters in our selection, click the 3 stars tab at the top of the page.

Scott Laughton

Scott Laughton - Oshawa Generals

6'1" - 178 LBS
D.O.B. May 30, 1994

Laughton was a first round pick of the Generals, 3rd overall, in the 2010 OHL Priority Draft. A product of the Toronto Marlboros Minor Midget Team, he played in 76 games scoring 55 goals and adding 40 assists in his draft year. He then led his Marlboros to the OHL Showcase Cup adding 5 goals and 2 assists in 7 games.

2010-2011 was Laughton's rookie season for the Generals. In 63 games he posted 12 goals and 11 assists. Not lofty numbers but considering the Generals had enough offensive threat in their game, Laughton was able to learn and concentrate on his defensive game playing a shut down role. He added 1 goal and 1 assist in 10 Oshawa playoff games.

Laughton was selected to play for Team Canada at the Ivan Hlinka Tournament this past summer winning a gold medal and posting 2 goals and 1 assists in 5 games in a shut down role. He also scored the gold medal winning goal. Earlier in the year he played for Team Ontario at the World Hockey Challenge Under-17 where he 2 goals and added 2 assists in 5 games, also capturing gold.

Because of his rookie season and the role Steve Spott had him play for Team Canada, Laughton has excelled in his defensive game. And while there is always room for improvement, he's one step ahead of most of the players in the 2012 Draft Class.

Laughton possesses good size but will need to bulk up. He has an unbelievable work ethic in all 3 zones. He's a very good skater but could also improve on his overall speed. He plays a gritty game and often gets compared to Mike Richards. In fact, Laughton himself claims to model his game after Richards.

Laughton has very high hockey sense. He reads plays very well, knows where to go to make himself available and isn't afraid of any area of the ice. He's an excellent leader and was captain of his Toronto Marlboros. Known as a goal scorer, it'll be interesting to see if Laughton can have a breakout season this year. He's off to a slow start. One OHL general Manager I spoke with thinks Laughton has the ability to be the first player taken from the OHL in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.

Laughton is on the NHL Central Scouting's A list of players to watch for this season. In my own preseason rankings, I had Laughton at number 11.

He'll also come to the defense of a teammate






Photo from oshawagenerals.com