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Post by seventeen on Jan 8, 2012 3:11:09 GMT -5
Yup, no hangover for Mr Gallagher.
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Post by habsfaninphx on Jan 8, 2012 13:41:19 GMT -5
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Jan 8, 2012 23:45:09 GMT -5
Bournival and Ellis both with one goal and one assist tonight. That is three goals and four assists in just three games for rearguard Ellis since joining Shawinigan. They made another big move trading for Gormley fresh off the WJC, so that team is pretty solid.
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Post by Willie Dog on Jan 9, 2012 11:21:42 GMT -5
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Jan 10, 2012 15:20:01 GMT -5
Lots of recognition for two of our CHL based prospects.
Gallagher, hot off his 7 point night on Guy Lafleur night, was named the WHL player of the week. The Giants just traded their captain today, and Gallagher was announced as the new captain of the team (he was wearing one of the "A"s this season).
Morgan Ellis was recognized for his great offensive contributions to his new team and was named the third star of the week in the QMJHL. Ellis was wearing the "C" in Cape Breton prior to the trade.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Jan 11, 2012 16:10:40 GMT -5
Time for a New Year Top Three prospects list.
Brendan Gallagher, RW (Vancouver, WHL) - Okay, this pick should not come as a surprise to anyone here. His great play in Vancouver and on Team Canada have not gone unnoticed by many, not even Guy Lafleur, with whom Brendan had lunch the other day and proceeded to pot 7 points later that night. He had another good game last night, getting another goal and an assist. He is quietly sneaking up on the Giants all time goals, assists and point totals. That is quite impressive considering the Giants have had some pretty darn good hockey players over the years. He sits with 55 points on the season in 30 games. He has been rewarded with an entry level contract so will be Hamilton bound this fall. Brendan is also the current WHL player of the week and was just named Vancouver team captain after they shipped their previous captain in a trade deadline deal.
Morgan Ellis, D (Shawinigan, QMJHL) - This 19 year old defensemen has quietly been under most folks' radar screens since he was drafted, mainly because he was on a pretty bad Cape Breton hockey team. This year he definitely is getting more recognition, as he received an invite to one of the Canada-Russia super series games, just got traded to Shawinigan so he now has a date for the Memorial Cup, and he is also the reigning third star of the week for the QMJHL for his offensive outburst since joining his new team. He has 10 goals, 22 assists for 32 points in 37 games. He has already set a career high for goals and is closing in on his career assists and point totals too. The Habs have to sign him by this summer, but that should be a done deal as he is a very solid all round defenseman. The most common comparisons that you hear are to Josh Gorges. We will wait and see on that front.
Steve Quailer, RW/LW (Northeastern, NCAA) - This 22 year old 6'4" Colorado born winger is having a heck of a good third NCAA season this year. He is currently riding a nine game points streak, which is impressive. He has netted 7 goals and 11 assists in 16 games this season, already eclisping last year's totals in 22 less games. He, along with North Dakota forward Danny Kristo, are both having decent enough Junior seasons to attract some interest from the Habs regarding an early contract this summer. I don't think it is out of the question for either player.
Honourable Mention: Robert Mayer, G (Hamilton) - Okay, this pick will surprise many since I have never been one to throw much praise Mayer's way. Well, I am quite happy to eat some crow every now and then when players surprise, and Mayer's play since early December certainly falls in that category. Since December 10th, this Czech-born Swiss 22 year old has 6 wins and 1 shoot out loss. He currently has a 2.88 gaa and .911 save percentage, which are both pretty impressive considering the Dogs have been very shorthanded during that stretch. I also thought about giving shouts out to Danny Kristo, but Mayer got the edge just based on the fact I like to highlight the occassional guy that most don't seem to hear/read about much (Quailer will definitely fall in that category). That being said, Danny is clicking along at a better than one point a game pace.
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Post by seventeen on Jan 11, 2012 23:45:38 GMT -5
Good review, NWT. If the Giants exit the playoffs quickly, Brendan might get the cup of coffee with the Dogs late in their season. I'd also like to see Kristo and Quailer sign early as well. A senior season won't do anything for them, but a year in the minors will speed the development along. They would both be available for a late Hamilton debut. If there's roster space, of course, which there may not be.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Jan 13, 2012 10:42:25 GMT -5
Some of our prospects are on TV tonight, although these are not channels that many will have access to.
Brendan Gallagher and new kid Patrick Holland will be going head to head tonight in a big WHL matchup on Shaw TV. That is only available to shaw cable subscribers in the west.
Mac Bennett (I like this kid - boy can he skate) and Greg Pateryn (his top pairing D partner) from the University of Michigan are on the Big Ten Network tonight as well. They will also be shown on a tape delay game on Sunday night, when the Big Ten Network replays the big outdoor game that U of M will be having on Sunday.
Sportsnet's first Friday night CHL game of 2012 is on tonight, but does not involve any Hab prospects. Next Friday's game does though, as big Jarred Tinordi and the London Knights will be playing. I will post a reminder next Friday.
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Post by habsfaninphx on Jan 13, 2012 17:29:04 GMT -5
I'll be at the Giants game tonight as I'm in town on business for a week or so. Should be a good one! Looking forward to seeing two habs prospects and two really good WHL teams. I think Tri-Cities is ranked #1 in CHL.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Jan 13, 2012 23:04:30 GMT -5
I'll be at the Giants game tonight as I'm in town on business for a week or so. Should be a good one! Looking forward to seeing two habs prospects and two really good WHL teams. I think Tri-Cities is ranked #1 in CHL. You just saw Holland absolutely level Gallagher with a great open ice hit. Yes, Tri City is #1. Boy are they good. They are all over the Giants. Edit2: Gallagher crashed into boards in the first. He is done for the night. Favouring shoulder or collarbone. Darn. |
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Jan 13, 2012 23:47:15 GMT -5
How about some good news? Shawinigan win big. Bournival with two goals and two helpers, and Ellis with one goal and one assist. Quailer with an assist so keeps his scoring streak alive. Now up to ten games.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Jan 14, 2012 0:59:43 GMT -5
Holland with 2 assists in a massive 11-4 win. Hope Gally is back soon. Tri City is good. Real good.
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Post by habsfaninphx on Jan 14, 2012 14:24:35 GMT -5
I'll be at the Giants game tonight as I'm in town on business for a week or so. Should be a good one! Looking forward to seeing two habs prospects and two really good WHL teams. I think Tri-Cities is ranked #1 in CHL. You just saw Holland absolutely level Gallagher with a great open ice hit. Yes, Tri City is #1. Boy are they good. They are all over the Giants. Edit2: Gallagher crashed into boards in the first. He is done for the night. Favouring shoulder or collarbone. Darn. Yes I did, Holland had two great hits, two fantastic blocked shots on point blank chances and could skate coast to coast with the puck at will. My report is skating 9.5/10, smarts 9/10, passing 9/10, anticipation and reads 9/10. Ok you're probably thinking I'm biased because he's a hab, but I will say as far as his skating and playmaking abilities go he's one of the best juniors I've ever seen, and I used to go to a lot of Tier 2 and WHL games when I lived full time in Vancouver and Victoria. In regards to Gallagher he went into the boards really hard after a rush on a scoring chance and fell awkwardly and I watched him on the bench while the play was going on. The trainer was working hard on the shoulder somewhere around the collarbone/trapezius area, could be a broken collarbone, eventually he left the bench and when the trainer came back I watched him say something to Hay as play was going on and wanted to see Hay's reaction, but he's so cool and calm, but I'm pretty sure I saw him say "that's bad". He said post-game on the radio that Gallagher definitely won't be playing tonight and if it's a dislocated shoulder or broken collarbone he may be done for the season  Highlights skip to 1:30 for one of Holland's many rushes he's #41, you'll see he can really wheel www.vancouvergiants.com/video/index/id/f0d8d0bde6c5bf826e977c5c530b4e7b9th in league scoring www.whl.ca, and imo he's on par with Gallagher as far as a pro prospect goes, his skating is already easily good enough to play right now. Think a Palushaj but more of a playmaker than shooter. Good pickup PG! |
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Post by seventeen on Jan 14, 2012 16:22:27 GMT -5
That is high praise, PHx. He is a 20 year old though, so it makes sense that he should be better than many other kids in that league. Unless Tri-Cities gets upset, we may not be able to see him in Hamilton late this year, which would be a good indication. At least he's a good size and he can skate, two great starting points. If his hockey IQ is as high as you saw, even better.
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Post by habsfaninphx on Jan 14, 2012 18:00:37 GMT -5
That is high praise, PHx. He is a 20 year old though, so it makes sense that he should be better than many other kids in that league. Unless Tri-Cities gets upset, we may not be able to see him in Hamilton late this year, which would be a good indication. At least he's a good size and he can skate, two great starting points. If his hockey IQ is as high as you saw, even better. Technically a 19 year old by CHL standards. He could come back as a 20 year old, but he'll definitely be good enough to play in Hamilton next season. It's hard to say his IQ is really high after one game, he's playing on a great team that were firing on all cylinders with 11 goals. However his skating is off the charts good, easily the best flat out skater on either team last night, and there were some talents out there. I can't see Tri-cities getting beat in a 7 game series. |
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Post by seventeen on Jan 15, 2012 0:21:38 GMT -5
Gotcha. He was 19 before Jan 1 and turned 20 on the 7th, I believe, so we're both right  The one thing that concerns me is he isn't very heavy for a 6 footer. |
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Jan 19, 2012 18:03:57 GMT -5
Hab prospects on TV alert!!!!!
A few chances to catch some Habs prospects on Sportsnet this weekend.
On Friday night, the CHL on Friday night game features big Jarred Tinordi and the London Knights hosting Owen Sound. Game time is 7:00 pm ET, 5:00 MT. A pleasant distraction if the Habs-Pittsburgh game gets ugly.
On Saturday afternoon, the Dogs play the Marlies in the big outdoor game at Ivor Wynne. Game time is 1:00 pm ET, 11:00 am MT. Sportsnet will start their broadcast half an hour before game time. This looks to be the only Bulldogs game on mainstream/national TV all season, so this may be a one and only chance to catch the lads in action. They have been playing better of late and are slowly rising in the standings. This is a big game against division leaders Toronto (that just sounds horrible saying/writing that).
The Score is now showing NCAA games on Saturday afternoons (they replay the Friday night games the following afternoon). At least five games from here on in will feature North Dakota (Kristo, MacMillan) and/or Denver (Didier). I will post reminders closer to game time, as the next game involving one of our prospects is not until the end of January.
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Post by seventeen on Jan 19, 2012 23:51:03 GMT -5
Thanks NWT. I notice those sometimes during other games (watched the replayed ND/Michigan? game this Sunday) but I tend to forget as the week rolls along.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Jan 20, 2012 13:38:05 GMT -5
Thanks NWT. I notice those sometimes during other games (watched the replayed ND/Michigan? game this Sunday) but I tend to forget as the week rolls along. It was North Dakota-Minnesota on the Score, and Michigan-Ohio State (I think) on the Big Ten Network over the weekend. ND-MIN is always a huge rivalry on the ice, and even moreso for Minnesota natives that forgo playing at home to go play across the state border, like one Mr. Danny Kristo. He was so wound up for the game that he just levelled some Gopher into the boards, and got a game misconduct before the first period was over. He then went on a little rant up and down the tunnel after he was ejected. He did return to action on Saturday and score a goal, and he did manage to stay in that whole game!! Good to see a little edge to his game. Tonight is the night for the London Knights on Sportsnet. |
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Post by blny on Jan 20, 2012 22:01:30 GMT -5
caught some of Tinordi tonight. He's got impressive speed and skating for his size. He took a play wide in the offensive zone, skating around his check, and got the puck to the front of the net for a chance to score.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Jan 20, 2012 23:40:39 GMT -5
caught some of Tinordi tonight. He's got impressive speed and skating for his size. He took a play wide in the offensive zone, skating around his check, and got the puck to the front of the net for a chance to score. He got one of the stars tonight. He made a nice play on the second goal. Playing the point, he moved laterally to open up a shooting lane and had to shoot it shin high to McKegg who made a dandy tip for the goal. |
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Jan 28, 2012 2:50:05 GMT -5
Catch prospects Danny Kristo and Mark MacMillan and their North Dakota team Saturday afternoon at 5:00 pm ET on the Score against Wisconsin. This is a tape delay from Friday night, so I won't tell you what happened....other than to say both lads end up on the scoresheet.
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Post by Disp on Jan 29, 2012 10:37:01 GMT -5
Watched Dietz play the other night. I'm hoping he had the flu or just a bad game. Not impressed. Hate to use cliches, but "hockey sense" was lacking. Forced it when he shouldn't have quite a few times. One game samples are a pretty tough way to judge kids though.
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Post by Willie Dog on Jan 29, 2012 20:12:31 GMT -5
on sportsnet they are showing the ahl skills competition right now
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Feb 3, 2012 12:47:59 GMT -5
A bit of an update as many of our CHL prospects enter the final post Top Prospects game stretch towards the playoffs, in pursuit of that elusive Memorial Cup. A number of our prospects are on very highly ranked teams, and look to have a chance to get a shot at the cup.
With this week's CHL top ten rankings, here are some of the implications for Hab prospects on those teams:
#1 London (OHL) - Tinordi
#3 Shawinigan (QMJHL - Memorial Cup host) - Bournival, Ellis
#4 Saint John (QMJHL and defending Cup champs) - Beaulieu
#5 Tri-City (WHL) - Holland
Interesting to note we have players on the Host team, and the top ranked teams in each of the three leagues as of this week. It is still a long haul through the rest of the regular season, and the long league playoffs, but it is promising that the Memorial Cup playoffs will have a nice Hab presence (at least Bournival and Ellis for now).
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Feb 9, 2012 11:53:56 GMT -5
There will be some Habs prospects on TV this weekend.
Friday, February 10 - Michigan at Michigan Tech - 7:30 pm ET (Bennett and Pateryn) - Big Ten Network
Saturday, February 11 - Minnesota at Denver - 5:00 pm ET (Didier) - The Score
Friday, February 10 - Everett at Vancouver - 7:30 pm PT (Gallagher) - Shaw TV (for Shaw cable subscribers in the west)
Gallagher is one goal away from tying a team all time record, and is sneaking up on both the points and assist records too. Keep it going Gally!!
Didier is definitely one of our lesser known prospects. A chance to catch a glimpse of our second youngest prospect who is already 6'2" and 202 lbs.
Bennett is one of the Habs best skating prospects and is enjoying a great year in Michigan showing off his ability to jump into the play, while his big man partner Pateryn makes sure to hold down the fort. The Habs likely will be signing Pateryn in the offseason as this is his final NCAA year. He came over in the Grabovski trade with TO.
Sportsnet just released its remaining schedule for its CHL Friday night hockey and it is definitely good news for Habs fans. All five games will involve at least one Hab prospect and two games will also feature top draft prospects like Yakupov and Grigorenko (and Galchenyuk if he returns from injury) playing against our big defender Tinordi.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Feb 10, 2012 23:05:55 GMT -5
Gallagher just scored and tied the Vancouver Giants all time career goals record.
Edit: He will have to wait to set the record another night. He came so close several times. At the end of the big 3-2 win, he blew a few kisses to the Silvertips bench. The little ball of hate strikes again.
Edit2: This kid gives a great interview. What a treat. Hope he doesn't lose his enthusiasm for this game. Got the well deserved first star tonight.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Feb 15, 2012 11:45:45 GMT -5
So, what does Gallagher do the game after tying the Giants' all time team record for goals? Well, he goes and nets a hattrick in regulation and also scores in the shootout as part of a big 5-4 win last night in Kennewick, Washington against Patrick Holland and the Tri-City Americans. On any given night, one would have to be happy with Holland's two helpers, but this was the Gally Show (yes he did get the first star) as he put his emphatic mark on the new Giants career goal scoring record which he now possesses all by himself.
Next up is the all time Giants points record. He is now a mere 4 points away from tying that mark.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Feb 16, 2012 10:33:17 GMT -5
A trifecta of games this weekend involving Hab prospects.
Friday, February 17 - Quebec @ Saint John - 7:00 pm ET - Sportsnet (yes, this is a Grigorenko vs Beaulieu game!!)
Friday, February 17 - Northern Michigan @ Michigan - 7:30 pm ET - Big Ten Network (Bennett and Pateryn)
Saturday, February 18 - Denver @ Wisconsin - 5:00 pm ET (replay of Friday's game) - The Score (Didier)
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Feb 20, 2012 11:29:00 GMT -5
A few bits and bites from the world of Hab prospects:
Blake Geoffrion, LW/C, Hamilton - The 24 year old fourth generation NHLer got off to a great start with his new organization, getting 5 points in his first two games with Hamilton (he only had 9 AHL points to that point all season before the trade). He also was named the first and second star in those games.
Ian Schultz, RW, Hamilton - The rugged 22 year old winger seems to be coming into his own in the second half of this season, and had 5 points in his last two games and a shorthanded Dogs team won 3 games in 3 nights. He was the first star last night.
Joonas Nattinen, C, Hamilton - The 21 year old Finnish centre has struggled to make the Dogs this year, and really has not done much when he has been able to get into the lineup. He was another big part of this great weekend for the Dogs as he netted 4 goals and an assist in those three games. He came into this weekend with only 2 AHL goals to date, a total he was able to triple.
Jarred Tinordi, D, London - The big 20 year old American rearguard now sits with an incredible +39 in 38 games. That is good for top spot in the OHL.
Darren Dietz, D, Saskatoon - The 18 year old blueliner tied a WHL record on February 17th with 4 goals from a defenseman.
Nathan Beaulieu, D, Saint John - 20 year old Nathan is riding a 6 game points streak, and has put up 10 points during that streak. He and his team seem to be getting their groove back and they gear up to try and defend their Memorial Cup championship.
Brendan Gallagher, RW, Vancouver - The diminutive 20 year old Gallagher has set a new all time team scoring record, and is now only two points away from tying the team all time points record.
Danny Kristo, RW, U of North Dakota - The 21 year old kept his point per game season going with another two assists in two games over the weekend. Danny now has 33 points in 31 games so far this season. He is just three points away from setting personal best marks in his third (and likely last?) NCAA season.
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