2009 Just Might Turn Out Fine

New York Ranger scouts wherever you reading this please stand up, take a bow, heck take 2 bows because the more we watch the more we see the class of 2009 is going to be another winner for the Rangers and their fans.

First Star Roman Horak

When the Rangers used the first of their 5th round picks on Roman Horak; everyone was scrambling who is this guy as none of us had a single clue.

The only thing we were told was Horak was someone who had some decent offensive skills and was worth checking out. As both the pre-season and Traverse City came and went, Horak's name started showing up more and more as a player who was having an impact.

On Sunday we got our own firsthand look at the young man from Ceske Budejovice in the Czech Republic and boy was he fun to watch in action. Whichever Ranger scout discovered Horak deserves a very nice holiday bonus from the Rangers for the gift he gave to the Rangers and their fans.

For starters, Horak is not just a one way player as he was working hard at both ends of the ice. The Chilliwack Bruins use him as a center and with great reason as he was 13-2 on his faceoffs.

We counted 23 shifts for Horak which includes 10 on the power play and 2 on the penalty kill. A fluid skater who has no wasted movement to his skating, we liked his speed and a very nice compact stride to it.

On defense, we liked how Horak was aware of where everyone was on the ice, making sure he covered anyone who came into his zone of coverage. Horak was willing to use his body to block shots (we counted 2) and to check Winterhawks (another 2 good hits).

On offense, Horak had 2 goals in this game mainly because Horak spent the majority of the night in the Winterhawk crease. The first came at 17:38 as Horak outworked Winterhawk defenders and pushed the puck past Winterhawk goalie Kurtis Mucha to give his Bruins their first lead of the game 3-2.

In the second period, Horak was on the power play when he grabbed the puck and with a quick move then flick of the wrists lifted the puck over a screened Mucha. For Horak the goals were his 7th and 8th of the season and gave him 4 points for his last 2 games.

So what does Horak need to work on? Right off the bat he needs some weight especially in the upper body as I was surprised at how skinny he was but his strength is very deceptive as he was winning battles in the corners.

Second it would be nice to see him shoot the puck more which is part of the adapting to the North American game. Play a little more selfishly with the puck as he was very hard to knock off the puck so he can generate either more scoring chances or draw power plays.

Ranger fans will love his work ethic, that on offense all you have to do is look towards the slot or crease as Horak unlike many European prospects heads right there and stays there and that he plays hard on every shift at both ends of the ice.

This was actually one of the more entertaining games we have been at as Portland jumped out to a early 2-0 lead, Chilliwack responded with 4 straight goals, then Portland scored 2 to tie the game before Chilliwack scored a power play goal in the 3rd period and held off the Winterhawks for a 5-4 win.

Horak is 8-13-21 +6 with 14 PIM in 25 games.

Second Star Ryan Bourque

Prior to attending the Winterhawk game, we watched Ryan Bourque turn in yet another strong solid performance as the Rangers 3rd round pick from the 2009 draft had 2 goals on 4 very good scoring chances as his Quebec Remparts rallied from down 3-1 with 4 goals in the 3rd period to defeat the Drummondville Voltigeurs 5-4.

Bourque made both of his goals count as his first came at 5:00 of the 3rd period tied the game at 3-3. Quebec then scored to take the lead just 7 seconds later and Bourque then added his second goal of the game just 2:18 later for what proved to be the game winning goal on the power play.

It was Bourque's 9th and 10th goals of the season and his first game winning goal in the QMJHL. Bourque is now 10-12-22 with a 4-4-8 mark for the month of November.

Rest of the Ranger prospects

Ethan Werek (2009 2nd) saw his 4 game goal scoring streak end but had a secondary assist on his Kingston Frontenac's first goal of the game (just 14 seconds in) as the Frontenacs held off the Sarina Sting 4-3 to win their 3rd straight game and take possession of first place in the OHL's East Division.

Doug Gilmour has done quite a job turning the Frontenac around but Werek with a 13-11-24 season is a big reason why.

Chris Kreider (2009 1st) had an assist in a losing effort as his Boston College Eagles lost to the Vermont Catamounts 3-2. For Kreider it was his 3rd assist of the season as the young freshman is now 1-3-4 in 6 games.

Luke Walker (Traverse City) did not score against Roman Horak's Chilliwack Bruins only because he had one goal taken from him on a highlight reel save from Bruin goalie Mark Friesen and a second by an alert Bruin defender who knocked away a bank shot off Friesen's back that was headed in.

Walker actually played well despite the loss as he showed us some skills we had not seen before starting with some strong defensive play during a 5 minute penalty kill in the second period which kept Portland in the game. The other is how well he plays all 3 forward positions especially at center as if you remember those 2 faceoff losses that Horak had?

Both were against Walker who won all 4 faceoffs he took. We would leave Walker at center as he played his best when used there.

Craig Cunningham (Traverse City) and his Vancouver Giants would rather not have us mention that they got beaten badly at home by the Seattle Thunderbirds 5-0. The WHL's Western Conference leaders were out played in every area of the game.

The Giants will get to pay for their poor play with what will be a really hard hitting practice on Monday.

(Horak courtesy of Bob Frid/Freemotion Photography, Ryan Bourque courtesy of the Quebec Remparts)

A Tale of Two Lukes

For a welcome change the New York Ranger prospects had a mostly productive Saturday evening including a return from an almost lost prospect.

First Star: Luke Pither

It has been quite a while since last we saw Luke Pither (Traverse City) at the top of our report as he started his season on fire then cooled off. Saturday evening Pither led his Barrie Colts with a 3 point evening as they cruised to a 6-1 win over the Peterborough Petes for their 8th win in a row.

Pither had 2 goals as well as an assist as he earned the game's "First Star." Pither got his night going when he scored Barrie's first goal of the evening just 11 seconds into the game.

Pither had a secondary assist on Barrie's fourth goal and then finished off the evening with a power play goal in the 3rd period. Pither improved his season numbers to 14-16-30 which gives him the goal scoring lead and ranks him 2nd among Ranger prospects in scoring.

Second Star Luke Walker

Just like Luke Pither it has been a while since we have seen Luke Walker (Traverse City) of the Portland Winterhawks here. Walker has played well this season as the Winterhawks have been on of the surprise teams in the WHL.

Facing the defending WHL champion Kelowna Rockets, Walker's unassisted goal at 17:12 of the second period tied the game up at 2-2 as the Winterhawks went on to earn a 3-2 win. It was Walker's 12th goal of the season as it broke a 4 game mini goal scoring slump.

Walker on the season is 12-11-23 but also a +12 which is not bad considering that Walker is playing on Portland's top line. Last season Walker scored 29 goals and it is not hard to expect him to blow right past that number this season.

Third Star Roman Horak

It is rare that someone earns a star when his team loses but Roman Horak (2009 5th) of the Chilliwack Bruins earned this one with a 2 assist effort as his Bruins lost to the Red Deer Rebels 5-2.

After a strong October, it has been a somewhat quiet November for Horak who only had 2 points in his last 6 games. Of the class of 2009, Horak has been the extra present as he has shown flashes of offensive skill especially as a playmaker.

It will be interesting for us on Sunday as we will be seeing how Horak does against Luke Walker and his Portland Winterhawks.

The Rest of the Ranger Prospects

Ryan McDonagh (2009 Trade) had one assist while fellow prospect Derek Stepan (2008 2nd) who had 2 assists as they helped their Wisconsin Badgers to a 6-2 win over the Alaska Anchorage Sea Wolves.

McDonagh and Stepan teamed up for the assists on Wisconsin's 2nd goal of the game as they broke a 1-1 tie and never looked back. The win gave the Badgers a 2 game sweep of the weekend.

Chris Kreider (2009 1st) scored his first NCAA goal as his 16th ranked Boston College Eagles avenged an earlier loss to 15th ranked Vermont with a 7-1 whipping. Kreider scored the Eagle's 6th goal at 2:46 of the 3rd period but otherwise had a quiet game.

Boston College improved to 4-2-1 on the season and will face Vermont again on Sunday afternoon.

Max Campbell (2007 5th) had 5 shots on goal but just 1 assist as his Western Michigan Broncos dropped the 2nd game of their weekend series to the Ohio State Buckeyes 4-2. It was a rough weekend for Campbell and Co. as Ohio State kept their offense in check in both games.

For the first time since 2005, the Michigan Wolverines have a 4 game losing streak after being shut out 2-0 by in state rivals Michigan State. Carl Hagelin (2007 6th) and his teammates are sporting a 4-6-1 record which by it's self is shocking as we are not used to seeing Michigan with a losing record.

Danny Hobbs (2007 7th) saw his 3 game scoring streak come to an end as his UMass Minutemen lost for just the 2nd time this season falling 4-2 to the University of New Hampshire. Hobbs was 1-3-4 during his streak.

Tomas Kundratek (2008 3rd) did not score but his Medicine Hat Tigers are showing signs that they are turning things around with their 3rd straight strong effort in a 4-2 win over the Lethbridge Hurricanes.

Sam Klassen (UFA 2009) and his Saskatoon Blades depending on how you want to look at things have a 2 game winning streak; have not lost in regulation in 11 games or are 9-0-0-1 in their last 10 games. In any case, the Blades defeated the Prince George Cougars 3-2 as Klassen was scoreless but a +1.

Ryan Bourque (2009 3rd) was used as a center for the first time this season for an entire game and did not play bad at all. Bourque had an assist but was 10-5 on his faceoffs as his Quebec Remparts defeated the Rimouski Oceanic 6-3.

It was a very good effort by Bourque but his future in the NHL is on the wing because of his small size.

Scott Stajcer (2009 5th) gave up 3 goals in facing 32 shots as his Owen Sound Attack lost to the Brampton Battalion 4-1. With the loss Stajcer dropped to 7-10-1-1 with a 3.87 GA and a 0.904 save percentage.

The numbers are really not all that bad considering that Owen Sound is rebuilding and Stajcer does not always get a lot of support from his teammates.

Mitch Gaulton (2008 6th) and his Erie Otters saw their 4 game winning streak come to a crashing halt as they got whipped 5-2 by the Windsor Spitfires. The Spits fired 55 shots on goal and if not for Erie goalie Jarslov Janus this score wound have been a lot worse.

Gaulton had an assist to give him a 3 game scoring streak and points in 4 of his last 5 games. Gaulton is playing better and it is good to see as to earn a contract from the Rangers he is going to need to show still even more given the glut of defensemen in the system.

(Pither courtesy of Terry Wilson/OHL Images, Luke Walker courtesy of the Portland Winterhawks, Horak courtesy of Bob Frid/Freemotion Photography)