Mock Draft v1.0

Pick	Team	Player		Upside	Downside	Ht/Wt
1	Edmonton	Nail Yakupov	RW	All Star winger, deadly shooter, good playmaker, has a physical edge	Size and injuries are a concern	5'10, 189
2	Columbus	Alex Galchenyuk	C	Top line center with good two way play	May not have elite offensive skills, knee injury	6'0, 198
3	Montreal	Mikhail Grigorenko	C	All Star center with good scoring and playmaking skills	Effort and consistency have been a problem, huge upside but huge risk	6'3, 200
4	NY Islanders	Mathew Dumba	D	Top powerplay defenseman with a physical edge	Decision making needs work	6'0, 183
5	Toronto	Ryan Murray	D	Smooth skating top pairing defenseman	Has limited offensive upside and not very physical	6'0, 201
6	Anaheim	Filip Forsberg	LW	Top line power forward	Skating needs a lot of work to play first line minutes	6'2, 181
7	Minnesota	Radek Faksa	C	Second line power forward	Like Forsberg, his skating needs work	6'3, 202
8	Carolina	Jacob Trouba	D	Excellent two way second pairing defenseman	Decision making and discipline are a concern	6'2, 198
9	Winnipeg	Teuvo Teravainen	LW	First line playmaking winger	Needs to get significantly bigger to handle the NHL	5'11, 165
10	Tampa Bay	Morgan Rielly	D	Top pp defenseman, second pair at even strength	Defensive play is suspect, missed most of season with a knee injury	6'0, 190
11	Washington*	Griffin Reinhart	D	Physical shutdown defenseman, second pair at even strength	Consistency is an issue, limited offensive upside	6'4, 207
12	Buffalo	Zemgus Girgensons	C	Physical second line center	Offensive ability may be limited	6'2, 198
13	Dallas	Cody Ceci	D	Solid two way second pair defenseman	Doesn't have high end offensive or defensive ability, not very physical	6'2, 207
14	Calgary	Sebastien Collberg	RW	Skilled second line winger with playmaking ability	Needs to improve strength, consistency and defensive zone play	5'11, 176
15	Washington	Brendan Gaunce	C	Second or third line center, with good size and good all around game	Could improve physicality, skating needs work, can improve puck skills	6'2, 215
16	Ottawa	Matt Finn	D	Hard working second pair, two way defenseman	Could get bigger, skating needs to get better, puck skills need work	6'0, 195
17	Columbus**	Pontus Aberg	LW	Creative, two way second liner with a good shot	Needs to get bigger, passing needs work	5'11, 194
18	San Jose	Derrick Pouliot	D	Second pairing puck moving defenseman	Undersized, suspect defensively, and can be careless with the puck	5'11, 186
19	Chicago	Olli Maata	D	Stay at home second pair defenseman with a good first pass	Skating needs improvement and has limited offensive skills	6'2, 202
20	New Jersey	Hampus Lindholm	D	Great skating, two way defender	Offensive and defensive upside are question marks, needs to bulk up	6'2, 196
21	Tampa Bay***	Malcolm Subban	G	Starting goalie, quick pads and glove, solid rebound control	Inconsistency and injury concerns	6'1, 188
22	Philadelphia	Tom Wilson	RW	Bruising power forward, probably on the 3rd line, chance of 2nd	Skating needs a lot of work, puck skills are limited	6'4, 203
23	Buffalo****	Tomas Hertl	C	Offensively skilled second liner with decent grit	A poor skater and questionable defensively	6'2, 198
24	Pittsburgh	Brady Skjei	D	Good skating, two way second pair defenseman	Is inconsistent, not physical, and may be limited offensively	6'3, 200
25	Florida	Stefan Matteau	C	Hard working, intelligent two way second/third liner	May not have the offensive skill to play top six	6'2, 210
26	Phoenix	Ville Pokka	D	Defensive oriented second pair defenseman, with a chance of offensive upside	Offensive ability is debatable, skating needs work	6'0, 196
27	Boston	Scott Kosmachuk	RW	Hard working, physical second liner with some offensive punch	May not have top six skill, size may decrease impact of physical play	6'0, 185
28	St. Louis	Mike Matheson	D	Good skater, offensive minded second pair defenseman	Needs to add size and improve skill to be an NHLer	6'1, 178
29	NY Rangers	Ludvik Bystrom	D	Intelligent, mobile, second pair defenseman	Not physical, offensive skills need improvement	6'1, 208
30	Vancouver	Scott Laughton	C	Strong, gritty two way center with a little offensive punch	Probably not a top six player, needs to bulk up	6'0, 177

Honorable mention
Andrei Vasilevski, G, 6'3, 204
Colton Sissons, C, 6'1, 189
Anton Slepyshev, LW, 6'2, 187
Martin Frk, RW, 6'0, 204
Slater Koekkek, D, 6'2, 184
Dalton Thrower, D, 5'11, 189
Phil Giuseppe, LW, 6'0, 176
Damon Severson, D, 6'2, 200
Tanner Pearson, LW, 6'0, 198
Mike Winther, C, 5'11, 175
Nic Kerdiles, LW, 6'2, 201
Chandler Stephenson, LW, 5'10, 192
Erik Karlsson, C, 6'0, 162
Nikolai Prokhorkin, LW, 6'2, 191

* via Colorado
**via Los Angeles
*** via Detroit
**** via Nashville

Note: The draft order reflects the first round seeding. A new version will be posted at the end of each round reflecting the updated draft order.

CBJ Prospect CHL 2nd Rd/BCHL Finals Recap

Hello all back again to recap the only players in the Blue Jackets organization still playing. With all five remaining series being played last night I'm running late so let's get going.

Dalton Smith-Ottawa 67s(OHL)
Playoff Stats 13GP 1-3-4 -3 40PIM
Dalton and the 67s took on the Barrie Colts in the Eastern Conference semifinal winning it in seven games after trailing in the series 3-1. Dalton was quiet through games 1-5 picking up only a assist in game two. But in games six and seven Dalton came to life. In game six Dalton had 2/3rds of a Gordie Howe hat trick picking up a assist and laying a beating on Bulls forward Anthony Camara. Camara came down the wing battling with 67s Dman Jake Cardwell who after his shot brought Camara down, when Camara got up he gave Cardwell a stare down that's when Dalton stepped in earning the decision with two big rights. In game seven with the Colts leading 1-0 Dalton scored his first of the playoffs when he went to the front of the net and banged home a rebound from a scrum in front. Now it's onto the Eastern Conference finals to play the top seed Niagara IceDogs. The Dogs road to the finals has been a little easier than Ottawa's first beating Oshawa in six games then dispatching the Brampton Battalion in four games. The teams faced off four times in the regular season with Dalton missing one because of his early season suspension. Dalton didn't have any points in the three games he played in, the Ice Dogs won the season series 3-1.

Brandon Archibald-Saginaw Spirit(OHL)
Final Playoff Stats 12GP 3-4-7 E 14PIM
Brandon and the Spirit took on the mighty Lindon Knights in the OHL Western Conference Final losing the series 4-2 which is probably two more games than most people thought it would last. Brandon Archibald had a strong series finishing with two Goals and a assist, the assist came in a game one loss then in game two Brandon scored probably one of the prettier goals of his career. With the game tied at two the Spirt had a two on one break and Garrett Ross just caught a glimpse of a trailing Archibald who fired a wristshot past Knights goalie Michael Houser. Games three and four Brandon was held off the scoresheet before scoring off s blast from the point in game five overtime loss then not earning a point in game six. Brandon is among the prospects the CBJ must decide on or he'll reenter the draft pool and as I said in my prospect pool piece I just don't see it happening.

Lukas Sedlák-Chicoutimi Sagueneens(QMJHL)
Playoff Stats 13GP 5-2-7 -2 10PIM
Lukas and the Sagueneens were probably big underdogs going into its second round series with Memorial Cup host Shawinigan but that's why the playoffs are the best time of the year. It took them awhile but the eight seed Sags knocked off the second seed Cats in seven games forcing them to sit for a month before the Cup starts. Lukas scored his fourth goal in a game one victory then going scoreless and being a -4 in two straight Cataractes victories. I. Game four Lukas scored again when he was right on the doorstop and scored into a pretty much empty net as Shawinigan's goalie was down and tangled up when the Sags scored something set off a bit of a scrum, Lukas added a assist in a game five loss before winning in games six and seven. Lukas won 58% of his faceoffs in the series and is currently winning 57% of his faceoffs in the playoffs. Again you gotta love the playoffs "oh you knocked off the 2nd best team in the league good job now go play the best team and you only have two days off!"(wonder if they even got to go home?) Thats right folks for the second straight round we have a prospect matchup as the Sagueneens will play the Saint John Juggern... I mean Sea Dogs. Now this could be a good series as the Sags won the season series 2-1 with one win being a shootout game that Lukas missed. The one win was one of only three times Sea Dogs goalie and CBJ prospect Mathieu Corbeil was pulled it was also one of Lukas' best games as he had a goal and three assists.

Petr Straka-Rimouski Océanic(QMJHL)
Stats 11GP 4-4-8 +2 4PIM
Petr and the Oceanic also pulled off a stunner beating the third best team in the Q the Blainville-Brosiand Armada in seven games. Pete had one of his best games of the season in game one scoring a goal and two assists and was named first star. In games two through five Petr was held scoreles with three of those games being losses. Then in game six with the Nics trailing 1-0 Petr got the puck behind his own net and raced up the rink before unleashing a laser just above the faceoff circle, game seven Petr was scoreless again. In the next round Rimouski will take on the Halifax Mooseheads, the two teams played three times in the regular season with Halifax with the Herd winning two with Petr having two assists and was a -3.

Mathieu Corbeil-Saint John Sea Dogs(QMJHL)
Playoff stats 8GP 8-0 .911Sv% 2.25GAA
The Sea Dogs took on the Baie-Comeau Drakkar in the second round after the Drakkar shocked the fourth seed Victoriaville Tigres. The Dogs sent them back to Earth sweeping them and outscoring them 29-10. Mathieu Corbeil started all four games stopping at least 20 shots in each game. Corbeil stopped 20 of 23 in games one and four and stopped 24 of 26 in game two. The most shots he faced in the series was game three when he stopped 29 of 31. In the next round Saint John will play Chicoutimi in the next and as I said above the Sagueneens had Corbeil's number. After Corbeil earned his third shutout of the season in the teams first game this season making 14 saves, in the next game Corbeil only made it into the second period when he allowed four goals on 17 shots. The next game was a 4-3 shootout loss in which Corbeil made 25 saves but allowed two goals on three attempts.

Michael Chaput-Shawinigan Cataractes(QMJHL)
Final Playoffs Stats 11GP 4-8-12 +9 2PIM
Michael and the Cataractes took on the Chicoutimi Sagueneens in the second round losing in seven games. Michael got off to a great start picking up four assists in a game one overtime loss before going scoreless in game two. The next game started a three game point streak when he had a goal and two assists two being Cat wins. Michael was then held scoreless in games six and seven both Shawiningan losses. Michael had a rough go at the faceoff dot in the faceoff dot winning only 46% of his draws way down from regular season numbers when he won 62% of his draws. Unlike most of the prospects when theyre eliminated they get to hit the pool or the links for Shawinigan its a week off then back to practice as they host the Memorial Cup earning a automatic bid.

Austin Madaisky-Kamloops Blazers(WHL)
Final Playoff Stats 11GP 0-7-7 +2 12PIM
In probably the most exciting series of all the playoffs involving a Jacket's prospect the Kamloops Blazers and Portland Winterhawks faced off in the Western Conference semifinals. The Blazers were let the Hawks get off to a 3-0 series lead before roaring back and making it a seven game series. Austin was held off the scoresheet in the three losses before picking up a assist in game four the Blazers first win on Bronson Maschmeyer's first of the playoffs, the Winterhawks were up 4-1 after one before giving up four straight goals for a 5-4 win. Game five was the only win that was all Blazers winning 7-2 with Madaisky having his second career three point playoff game earning three assists(#23 in the highlights). Game six sounds like a hell of a hockey game the Winterhawks looking like they'd be moving on when they led 5-2 after two, well nobody told the Blazers as they scored 5 straight third period goals to win the game 7-6. Austin was held scoreless in games six and seven both Blazer losses. Here's Austin's comments a few days after game seven loss including a update on if he's had any talks with the CBJ about the contract, if you follow me on twitter you know I've been saying we should for awhile we should sign Austin because eventually he'll help the power play with 11 of his 13 goals being on the power play.

Oliver Gabriel-Portland Winterhawks(WHL)
Playoff Stats 6GP 2-1-3 +1 8PIM
This will be a fairly short post as Oliver was suspended for games 2-5 when he ran over(only video that had audio and video) Kamloops goalie Cole Cheveldave in game one. When Oliver returned in game six Oliver scored his second(1:15 in) of the playoffs when he and his linemates started a three on two with Gabriel finihsing it when his shot trickled past Cam Lanigan. With a game seven victory for the Winterhawks its off to the WHL Western Conference Finals to take on division rivals the Tri-City Americans. The Americans better keep a close eye on Oliver as he had four goals and five assists including a hat trick in the team's six regular season matchups that Oliver played in scoring in the Hawks four wins but being held scoreless in the two losses earning a game misconduct in the last game.

Mike Reilly-Penticton Vees(BCHL)
Final BCHL Playoff Stats 15GP 1-8-9 10PIM
Mike and the Vees took on the Interior Conference Champion Powell River Kings for a chance to win the BCHL's Fred Page Cup. After taking six games in the first round, five in the semifinals finally earning a sweep against the Kings meaning the next round will take three games...oh wait. The series was pretty tight with each game being a one goal affair including one going to overtime. Mike had three assists in the series picking them up in games one, three and four. Heres a celebration video that includes the trophy ceremony, Mike is number 5 on the Vees. Now that they've won the league title its on to another cup final as the Vees will now try to win the Doyle Cup, the Doyle Cup is a matchup between the BCHL champs and the Champions of the AJHL for a spot in the RBC Cup(sounds like a Junior A Memorial Cup. The AJHL champion is the Brooks Bandits, the Doyle Cup could have the wackiest series set up ever as games 3-7's host wont be set until after games one and two. Brooks hosts games one and two, now if a team goes 2-0 the next five will be in Penticton while if the teams split game three will still be n Brooks then with games 4-7 taking part back in B.C.

Well there you have it folks how the second round worked out for the Jackets prospects. On a side note Hockey's future released its Blue Jacket's prospect Awards now I agree with most of these the only one I disagree with is the Kevin Lynch having a breakout year, prove me wrong Kevin.

AHL Season Recap/NCAA Recap

Back again all for a final recap of the Blue Jacket's NCAA and AHL prospects. I decided to take last week off so I wouldn't be talking about two games each week and I could put a bow on these two groups.

Two weeks ago the Falcons loaded up there Delorean bus and were off to Canada and into THE FUTURE!!! All right I kid but the Falcons were off to pretty much as far East as you can get on Canada and a hour and a HALF ahead of Springfield. The Birds were off to take on the Ice Caps for two of the teams three meetings in the Falcons last four games. On Friday night it was a 6-3 Falcons with Andrew Joudrey and Nathan Longpre scoring two goals. Cody Goloubef scored his first goal of the season late in the third period, Nicholas Drazenovic had three assists with Paul Dainton making 26 saves in the win. On Saturday in the rematch it was a 4-3 Ice Caps win Sean Collins had his first pro multi point game with a goal and a assist. Collins' goal was a give and go with Ryan Garlock and then picked up his own rebound to score his first pro goal. Ryan Garlock also had a goal and assist with Paul Dainton making 31 saves in the loss.

Midway through last week the Falcons got some bad news that a Portland Pirates win eliminated the Falcons playoff contention meaning the weekend would only be for pride and getting some young guys in the lineup. On Friday night the Adirondack Phantoms came to town in a must win and well they didn't(haha) losing 4-2. Coach Rob Riley(more on him later) rested a lot of his regulars with four players making their pro debuts. Two of the four were fresh from the NCAA with Will Weber and Jake Hansen making their pro debuts after signing entry level contracts, with fellow Jackets prospect Trent Vogelhuber playing his first game after signing a amateur tryout deal and Cam Atkinson's buddy Daniel New also playing on a tryout. New was the only one of the four to pick up a point when he had a assist on David Savard's third period goal in a 4-2 win. Nicholas Drazenovic had another three assist game with AHL signed only Wade MacLeod scoring two third period goals. MacLeod led the players only signed by the Falcons in scoring with 29 points in 66 games. Game 76 started with the old but ended with the new Falcons veteran Alexandre Giroux scored his 368th AHL goal in his 771st game. I point out those HUGE numbers because the next two goal scorers only had a assist and five AHL games going into Saturday night. Daniel New followed up his first career assist with his first career goal also adding a assist on Giroux's goal. The next goal scorer was the youngest guy in the locker room as 19 year old Boone Jenner(teehee sorry Boone) scored his first pro goal when "the kid line"(Hansen-Collins-Jenner I'm guessing) combined on a goal(30 seconds in but all the goals from the game) after Collins got it out of the corner and Hansen caused it to go along the front of the net so Boone could bang it home. Falcons all time wins leader Manny Legace got the start but being the classy guy he is(we forgive you for those Red Wings years) decided to give the game over to rookie netminder Mike Clemente for the second half of the game.

As I said the Falcons missed the playoffs for the 9th straight year but this is probably the closest they've been in awhile as this was the first time the Birds have been over .500 since 1998 with a record of 36-34-3-3. It was a rough year with so many players spending time in Columbus and like the Jackets having many injuries, the Falcons had 45 skaters and seven goalies play for the team. Of the 45 17 were CBJ draft picks with Cam Atkinson leading the way with 44 points in 51 games(29-15-44). The team's leading scorer was UFA to be Martin St. Pierre with 64 points in 73 games scoring 11 goals and adding 53 assists the fourth highest total ever for the Falcons the 53 assists were third in the league. As I said earlier I have to touch on head coach Rob Riley as on Tuesday it was announced his contract would not be renewed. Now it only says as head coach of the Falcons, Riley could stay on as a scout which is what he did before going behind the bench. Now I have no problem with this because if it probably wasn't for Riley's scouting report the Jackets may have never drafted a lil fella from Greenwich, CT who ll hopefully be scoring a lot of goals for us in the future(with all that do I really have to say who it is??) As for next year other than the few that signed ELCs I mentioned above(Collins, Weber and Hansen) there are not many players signed for next season. The only players under contract for next year are Cody Bass, Anton Blomqvist, Matt Calvert, Oliver Gabriel(rookie I think), Tomas Kubalik(could make CBJ), Dalton Smith(AHL rookie or OHL), Steven Delisle, Cody Goloubef, Dalton Prout, David Savard, Allen York and Andrew Joudrey. Now the Jackets do have quite a few RFAs that could also be brought back fairly easily.

Seth Ambroz, Jake Hansen-Minnesota(WCHA)
Final Season Stats SA-41GP 5-3-8 E 53PIM JH-43GP 16-22-38 +19 58PIM
Two weeks ago was the Frozen Four held in beautiful Tampa Bay, Florida hosted by the University Alabama Huntsville who almost folded there program(Awkward!). The Gophers made its first trip to the Frozen Four since 2005 and well it was a short stay. The Gophers ran into the buzzsaw that is the eventual champs the Boston College Eagles losing 6-1 with Jackets prospect Jake Hansen scoring the team's only goal(i cant find video of the goal anywhere, here's the press conference). This was the last game for Jake at Minnesota ending his career with him scoring 77 points in 149 games(36-41-77) the leading scorer among the current roster. This was a career year for Jake which as I said numerous times this season led to Jake earning a pro contract(see above). As for Seth Ambroz he'll be returning to Minnesota next season as a sophomore, the Gophers are losing seven seniors and as of this writing it looks like no one is leaving school early to join the NHL. Now in a quick human interest style story Seth got to take part in a home run competition against the Minnesota Twin's Mascot T.C. and he kicked that Bear's butt knocking three home runs into Target Fields bleachers.

As for the Jackets NCAA prospects seven will be back on campus with another joining the college ranks not counting whatever may happen at the draft. Seth Ambroz as I said will be one of seven sophomores to be counted on with the team only having one senior next year that being Dman Seth Helgeson. Joining Ambroz will be BCHL star Dman Mike Reilly who's still playing in Penticton with the Doyle Cup starting Friday. Kevin Lynch will be one of five seniors at Michigan next season who'll have to pull a Jake Hansen/Sean Collins(Career year) to earn a contract after be the normal second round draft pick(draft pick graveyard). TJ Tynan will head back to Notre Dame(probably for the final season just saying) as one of 12 juniors and will remain part of the Irish's dynamic duo combining with Anders Lee. Tynan won the Irish's MVP(acceptance speech watch it the guy is loud on the mic) award this season and will only need five points to reach 100 career points,so probably within the first two weeks of the season. Thomas Larkin will play his senior year at Colgate probably serving as a captain after sharing with two other players this year. Drew Olson will be one of six seniors on the Bulldogs going for one last chance to win a second national title. Now to Martin Ouelette I don't know what to say about Martin other than... have you thought about transferring cause kid I don't see you getting on the ice much unless you have a real good summer. I say this because Martin served as fellow sophomore Dan Sullivan's back up most of the year only playing in nine games starting five and winning only one.

So there you have it folks the final season recap of the Jacket's AHL and NCAA prospects, I should be able to get to work on the second round recap fairly soon with three game sevens going on tonight and another tomorrow.

CBJ CHL Prospect 1st Round Playoff Review

With the Canadian Hockey League's three leagues finishing up there first rounds on Monday it's time to see how the Jacket's prospects did. Overall of the nine teams with a prospect eight moved on with only Boone Jenner and the Oshawa Generals being eliminated. As for the next round we have two matchups in which both teams have a Blue Jackets prospect including the WHL Western Conference Semifinal.

Boone Jenner-Oshawa(OHL)
Final Playoff Stats 6GP 4-7-11 +2 10PIM
Boone and the Generals had to take on the best team in the OHL Eastern Conference the Niagara Ice Dogs, the Gens gave the Dogs a scare when they won games three and four but ended up losing the series 4-2. Games one and two were all Ice Dogs outscoring Oshawa 14-3. Game three became the Boone Jenner show(game highlights from Niagara site) with him being part of five of the Generals six goals. Boone had a hat trick and two assists and was named third star in the win. Game four was another good night for Boone with him collecting a goal and two assists in the game four victory tying the series at 2. In game five Boone added three assists to his total with the secondary assists on all three General's goals, Boone would be held scoreless in the game six loss ending the Gens season. Boone's 11 points in this years playoff almost matched his 12 he had last year in 10 games. Boone is now finishing the season with the Springfield Falcons on a amateur tryout for the teams last five games.

Dalton Smith-Ottawa 67s(OHL)
Playoff Stats 6GP 0-1-1 -2 23PIM
I thought Dalton would have a big series against Belleville because of his regular season success but as usual I was wrong. In the six game series with the Bulls Dalton only had a assist in a game two victory. Dalton was back to his old physical self picking up his first major penalties since December when he fought Traverse City teammate Adam Payerl(who I think we should've signed) then in game five Dalton got in a little trouble. In the first period Dalton checked Bulls forward Daniil Zharkov(wasn't he the villain in Flash Gordon?) and I mean he drilled him, Zharkov would lay on the ice for a bit while Dalton mopped the floor with Luke Judson who stepped in after the hit earning a instigator. Now Dalton did receive a checking to the head penalty and the game misconduct that went with it but luckily he escaped suspension which was the right call. Dalton played in the game six victory helping the 67s advance, now they will face off with the Barrie Colts who made a massive turnaround this season going from 34 points last year to 85 this season. The Colts had the 67s number this season winning the season series 3-1 with two wins coming in a shootout and in overtime. Dalton played in all four games having two goals and two assists.

Brandon Archibald-Saginaw Spirit(OHL)
Playoff Stats 6GP 1-3-4 -1 10PIM
Brandon and the Spirit took on the Sarnia Sting and top draft prospect Nail Yakupov in the first round winning the series in six games. Brandon matched what he scored in most months in the regular season in the six game series. Starting off with a goal in game one when he scored on the power play. After being held scoreless in games two and three both Spirit overtime losses Brandon bounced back with two assists in game four including one on the game winner. In game six Brandon had another assist on the game's opening goal. Up next for the Spirit is the top team in the Western Conference the London Knights, London swept the season series winning all four games one by a shootout. Brandon only had a assist and was a -4.

Lukas Sedlák-Chicoutimi Sagueneens
Playoff Stats 6GP 3-1-4 +3 6PIM
Lukas and the Sags were a oddity in the QMJHL playoffs winning the only series that wasn't a sweep winning in six games. Lukas scored his first career playoff goal early in game two when he drove to the net and put it around the diving Titan goalie. Through games one and two Lukas was good at the faceoff dot winning two thirds of his draws then something happened in games three and four when he won only eleven of thirty four. He still found his way to the scoresheet having two goals in the teams game three overtime loss then adding a assist in a game four win. In games five and six Lukas was scoreless but started winning faceoffs winning 62%. In the next round the Sagueneens will faceoff against Shawinigan and fellow CBJ prospect Michael Chaput. In the regular season Chicoutimi lost six of the seven losing one each in overtime and a shootout. Lukas played in five of them missing the two because of Blue Jackets training camp and the World Juniors. Lukas had a goal and a assist in the regular season against Shawinigan.

Petr Sraka-Rimouski Oceanic(QMJHL)
Playoff Stats 4GP 2-2-4 +2 2PIM
The Oceanic swept the Foreurs in the first round, games one and two were identical 8-5 wins with Pete having a goal and a assist in game two. When the series switched to Val-d' Or the series got close. In game three after spotting the Foreurs a 2-0 lead the Oceanic came back with two second period goals. Petr had a assist on the tying goal then in the overtime Petr got past the defense and scored on a breakaway(3:35) to win it in OT. Petr would be held off the scoresheet in game four. In the next round the Oceanic will play the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada and there exciting as a piece of blank paper color scheme. The teams played four times in the regular season with the series being a split one of Rimouski's wins being in a shootout. Petr played in three of the four games missing a early season game at Blue Jackets training camp. In the three games Petr had a goal and a assist being named third star in the game he scored a goal.

Mathieu Corbeil-Saint John Sea Dogs(QMJHL)

Playoff Stats 4GP 4-0 .918 SV% 2.00GAA

You gotta love the QMJHL playoffs the top 16 teams make it and its set up like a NCAA basketball region one plays sixteen and so on. So the one seed Saint John took on the 16 seed Cape Breton Screaming Eagles a team that was 54 points behind them in the standings. Game one the Birds might have startled the Dogs with the game being tied at two after the first. Whatever Gerard Gallant said at intermission worked because the Sea Dogs broke a 25 year old record by scoring eight goals in the second(yes you read that right), the game ended up being pretty close at 13-4. Games two through four Mathieu was back to his regular self allowing only a goal in games two and four but allowed two in game three. As for the next round the Sea Dogs will face off against the surprising Baie-Comeau Drakkar, I say surprising because the Drakkar finished in 13th playing the fourth place Victoriaville Tigres most predicted this as a sweep for the Tigres but they'd be wrong as Baie Comeau swept them. Quick note in that Baie-Comeau Victoriaville series you got to see this. The Sea Dogs and Drakkar played three times in a 10 day period with Corbeil posting a 30 save shutout in the only game he played in.

Michael Chaput-Shawinigan Cataractes(QMJHL)

Playoff Stats 4GP 3-2-5 +5 PIM

The Cataractes got the 15th place team Rouyn-Noranda and gave them just as quick a exit as Saint John gave Cape Breton. Michael was scoreless in game one but then was one of there best players scoring a goal and two assists with the assists coming on the last two goals of the game. Michael had a goal in games three and four and won 64% of his faceoffs winning 30 of 47. Michael is currently tied for second on the Cats in playoff scoring tied with three other players. Chaput and Shawinigan will play Chicoutimi in the next round, Sedlak played in five of the seven games the team played missing one at training camp and another because of a injury. In the five games Michael had two goals and four assists.

Austin Madaisky-Kamloops Blazers(WHL)

Playoff Stats 2GP 0-3-3 +3 4PIM

Austin only got to play in the Blazer's first two playoff games due to a suspension after taking a checking to the head penalty in game two. Now he did make his presence known on the scoresheet scoring three points in the first two games. In game one Austin had two assists (1:04 in both assists) in the Blazers 4-1 win, the next night just a minute twenty eight in is when he took the penalty I mentioned above. Now he was able to finish the game adding a assist in the third period. In the next round its the Portland Winterhawks and fellow CBJ prospect Oliver Gabriel in four games in the regular season the two team split the series with Madaisky having two assists in a overtime win.

Oliver Gabriel-Portland Winterhawks(WHL)

Playoff Stats 3GP 1-1-2 +2 4PIM

Oliver and the Hawks swept the Rockets with Oliver like Austin missing a game because of a suspension. Oliver scored (1:20) in the teams first game when after Penguins first round pick Joe Morrow followed his own rebound and centered it to Gabriel. Game two got a little heated with 91 penalty minutes getting handed out including two game misconducts and four 10 minute misconducts being given. After taking a unsportsmanlike conduct penalty earlier in the game Gabriel was called for slashing and was given a game misconduct. Now according to a writer I follow in Portland this was more for something Oliver said to a player not a official, whatever Gabriel said someone heard it and that earned Oliver a one game suspension. When Oliver returned for game four he added another point (4:45) when he got the puck to Morrow again who's blast was deflected by Taylor Leier. Next Round its like I said above its the Blazers and the Winterhawks for a spot in the Western Conference Final, because of getting to Portland late Oliver only played in two of the four regular season games playing in a split. Oliver had two goals in the Winterhawks victory being named first star.

Mike Reilly-Penticton Vees(BCHL)
Playoff Stats 11GP 1-5-6 8PIM

It was BCHL Coastal Conference Final for the Vees with them taking on the Merritt Centennials, in the five game series the Vees ended up on top by winning it 4-1. Mike only had two assists picking up one each in games two and five with both being on the power play. With the win that gives the Vees a spot in the Fred Page Cup championship(who??), Penticton will face off against the Powell River Kings the teams only met once in the regular season(being in different conferences and all). In the one game against the Kings Mike had a big game scoring a goal and adding three assists and was named second star in the 7-4 victory.

Well thats it for the first round folks the next round kicks off tonight with every prospect being in action. Ill be back after round two with updates on all the prospects with as many a five possibly moving barring upsets.

March 26-April 1 AHL/ECHL Review

Back again folks and with another small change of schedule with Penticton's Conference Semifinal starting this week Im gonna inlcude the Vees with the CHL when I do the first round update which should be out later this week.

Starting off in the AHL it was the Falcon's final three in three of the season with a home game eing sandwiched between two road games. Starting off on Friday in Bridgeport it was a rough one with the Falcons losing 6-2. Falcons goalie Paul Dainton got the start and didnt even make it 10 minutes in allowing three goals on 10 shots in only 6:58 of action. Mike Clemente came in and faired a little better stopping 23 of 26. Matt Calvert continued his strong play of late scoring his 17th goal of the season with Ryan Garlock scoring the other goal. Saturday it was back to the nest and the return of a old familiar face as Manny Legace made his first start since March 10th earning his 12th win of the season making 22 saves. Nick Drazenovic had his first two goal game of the season and has 10 points in his last 10 games with seven goals and three assists. Maksim Mayorov scored the other goal in a 3-1 win over Providence with Dane Byers having two assists. Sunday afternoon it was off to Worchesster to take on the Sharks with Legace getting the call again and again winning with the help of a AHL veteran picking up his first two goal game of the season. This game it was Andrew Joudrey picking up his first two goal game to give him 11 on the year. Joudrey's first goal of the night was a little bit special for one Falcon as just signed Sean Collins picked up his first professional point when he had a assist (start of the highlight...I have no idea why theres no sound) on Joudrey's first goal when Sharks goalie Harri Sateri let out a rebound that Joudrey just tapped in. Alexandre Giroux added his 25th goal of the season and the 365th of his career. Joudrey would add another goal late in the third to seal the deal. Seven Falcons had multiple points last week with Dane Byers, Nick Drazenovic and David Savard having three points with Savard and Byers having three assists while Drazenovic added a assist to go with his two goals. Joudrey was the only other mutliple goal score while Brent Regner and Martin St Pierre had two assists. Matt Calvert is on a eight game point streak with a goal and a assist before missing Sunday's game with a injury. Just announced today(4/2) the Falcons offense could be recieving a boost as 2011 second round pick Boone Jenner will be joining the team on a Amateur Tryout for the rest of the season.

In the ECHL it was the final week of the regular season for the Express and even if they went 3-0 they would need a bit of help to make the playoffs. The Express went 2-1 last week which wasnt quite enough as they only missed making the playoffs in its inagural season by losing a tiebreaker for wins in the season. Steven Delisle was the only player to score last week scoring his first pro goal of his career also adding a assist in a 4-2 win over Cincinnati for his first career multi point game. Steven Delisle was the only Jacket prospect that spent the majority of the season in Chicago with Taylor Ellington coming over at the trade deadline and Allen "The World Traveler" York being all over the place. In 38 games Delisle had a goal and three assists for four points on the season with three coming in the last two weeks. Ellington had 11 points in 17 games and was second among Express defenseman with 33 points in 72 games splitting the season with Chicago and Kalamazoo. York went 4-4-1 in 11 appearences in Chicago with a 3.28 GAA and a .928 save percentage.

Anton Forsberg-MODO(Sweden)
Forsberg and the MODO U20 team played in a semifinal game last weeka against Linkopings HC losign 5-4 in overtime. Forsberg got the start and made 37 saves in the loss, in the third place game against Rogle losing 4-2 with backup Linus Ullmark starting that game. As for next season Im not sure what will happen with Anton theres not a capgeek for Swedish hockey(as far as I know not that I could read it) I dont know if hes signed for next season or if a CHL team could draft him in the Import Draft and maybe get him some playing time. If hes stuck behind Tellqvist again itll probably a lot like this year serving as his backup but he could play for the Sweden in the World Juniors when they are played in Russia next year.

Well this was a quick one later this week I should have the First Round wrap up of the CHL playoffs as most have moved on also including the Vees. As for next week the NCAA prospects will be finishing up as the Frozen Four gets underway with CBJ prospects Seth Ambroz and Jake Hansen playing for Minnesota. They play Boston College on Thursday in the late game, shocker folks the game with the two heavy hitters getting primetime while the two nobodies(Union and Ferris State being the early game.