CHL prospects combine for 12 goals

NEWS RELEASE

ONTARIO HOCKEY LEAGUE

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OHL stars drive Top Prospects Game win

By Aaron Bell

Joshua Bailey of the Windsor Spitfires scored two goals and Cody Hodgson of the Brampton Battalion added three assists to pace Team White to an 8-4 win over Team Red at the Home Hardware CHL-NHL Top Prospects Game at Rexall Place in Edmonton on Wednesday.

Luke Schenn of the Kelowna Rockets and Jared Staal of the Sudbury Wolves scored 18 seconds apart early in the first period to give White an early lead. Jamie Arniel of the Sarnia Sting and Bailey also scored in the first period. Zach Bogosian of the Peterborough Petes and Mitch Wahl of the Spokane Chiefs counted in the second period and Zach Boychuk of the Lethbridge Hurricanes and Bailey added powerplay markers in the third.

“We came out pretty good,” said Schenn, one of four players in the game that helped Canada win a gold medal at the World Junior Championships earlier this month. “We were pretty happy with the way we started. We got a goal on one of our first shifts of the game and that got our confidence up.”

The annual showcase game that brings together the top 40 North American prospects for the NHL Entry Draft attracted 13,596 fans, scouts and NHL general managers along with a national television audience on Rogers Sportsnet.

Niagara IceDogs’ defenceman Alex Pietrangelo is rated fifth among North American prospects and said that it was easy to get up to play in the game.

“Everybody is here to work hard,” Pietrangelo said. “The noise the (fans) were making during the anthem got us going.”

Steve Stamkos, the Sarnia Sting centre that is touted as the top player in a very deep draft class, said that he expected the game to be played at a quick tempo.

“It’s no surprise when you are playing with the best players in the Canadian Hockey League,” said Stamkos, who had a goal and an assist to go along with a fighting major in the closing minutes of the game. “The pace was unbelievable.”

Mikkel Boedker of the Kitchener Rangers, with a goal and an assist, Philippe Cornet of the Rimouski Oceanic and Brandon McMillan of the Kelowna Rockets also replied for Team Red. Phil McCrae of the London Knights chipped in with an assist.

Greg Nemisz of the Spitfires and Tyler Cuma of the Ottawa 67’s also picked up assists for Team White while Thomas McCollum of the Guelph Storm allowed three goals on 22 shots in the second half of the game.

Virtually every player that has played in the game has gone on to be drafted by an NHL team, including Chicago Blackhawks’ standout rookie Patrick Kane and Sam Gagner of the Edmonton Oilers, who both played in the game last year in Quebec City. Rick Nash, Chris Pronger and Joe Thornton are other notable names that suited up in the Top Prospects Game before embarking on their NHL careers.

“This is a big stepping stone for them,” said Edmonton Oilers’ great Glenn Anderson, who combined with Grant Fuhr as coaches for Team White while Calgary Flames’ legends Lanny McDonald and Mike Vernon were behind the bench for Team Red. “They are at the pinnacle of making a big career move. There’s a lot of pressure on them, but they handled it really well. They did a really good job.

Previous games have been coached by the likes of Bobby Orr, Don Cherry, Scotty Bowman, Patrick Roy, Jacques Demers and Pat Burns. CHL President David Branch said that the coaches play an important role in the event and this year’s Battle of Alberta theme was a huge success.

“It’s awesome having them come back and connect with the CHL,” said Branch, who is also Commissioner of the Ontario Hockey League. “These fellas really embraced this. They understand the importance of this game to the players and recognize their responsibility to help prepare and help these guys along the way. There’s a lot on the line.”

The game hosted hundreds of NHL team and league scouts as well as several general managers who use the Top Prospects Game as an opportunity to evaluate players first hand.

“I think it’s good for the scouts,” said Doug Risebrough, President and GM of the Minnesota Wild. “They like to see the match up against the top players and I think the kids know that and get prepared. For a general manager it doesn’t get any better than this because you can see one game and see a lot of players.”

Staal is the fourth member of his family to play in the Top Prospects Game. He follows older brothers Eric, Marc and Jordan, who were all first round NHL draft picks. Jordan, who is a sophomore with the Pittsburgh Penguins, scored in the 2006 game in Ottawa. Marc, a first round pick of the New York Rangers, played in 2005 in Vancouver and oldest brother Eric of the Carolina Hurricanes picked up an assist in the 2003 game in Kitchener.

The players were selected to play in the game by a voting process among the 30 NHL teams.

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