Islanders First Star Brock NelsonBrock Nelson's (2010 1st) is on a roll and because of this roll, the sophomore forward gets to add couple of trophies to his collection. Nelson's 27th goal of the season gave his North Dakota Fighting Sioux all the offense they really would need to win their third straight WCHA Final Five Championship.
Nelson added Denver to the list of victims as he was named to the WCHA Final Five All-Tournament team. Nelson had four goals in the three games he played (and one that was disallowed because of video review)
We really could've simply switched opponents while writing up Brock Nelson but it's hard to think of any other player who no matter what team he is a prospect of who has made a bigger improvement over last season Ben Nelson. This much we do know; North Dakota goes from a team written off in November to a team that will earn a one seed in the West Regionals.
Given the way this team has been playing as well as the goaltending they are getting then don't overlook these guys when you're picking for the Frozen Four. Hot goalie with an even hotter scorer is the right combo to have.
Nelson is now 27-17-44 on the season.
speakSecond Star Brendan Kichton
Brendan Kichton (2011 5th) like his Spokane Chiefs had us scratching our heads wondering where was this performance against the Seattle Thunderbirds?
What were talking about is how the Chiefs can go on the road and defeat the team that wound up with the first seed in the Western Conference 3-2 but could not find a way to defeat the Seattle Thunderbirds who might not even make the playoffs?
Kichton was named the game's first star after he scored one goal and had a secondary assist on the game-winning goal. Had the Chiefs come up with just one win out of the two games they lost to the Thunderbirds then they would have been the fourth-seed with home ice advantage against the Vancouver Giants.
Kichton finishes regular season as the leading scorer among WHL defensemen and among Islander prospects 17-57-74.
The Rest of the Islander Prospects
Scott Mayfield (NYI 2011 2nd). and his Denver Pioneers really didn't have a chance against North Dakota in the WCHA Final Five Finals. This team was beyond exhaustion as they had to play three games against a Wisconsin team that had nothing to lose pushing game three to overtime.
They played Michigan Tech in an overtime game and then Minnesota-Duluth wound up being the double-overtime game before having to play North Dakota. Denver won't make any excuses but the reality was they were running out of bodies and had really nothing left in the tank
Mayfield was game as a lot was asked of him especially in this game when Denver had 2 defensemen leave because of injuries. Mayfield in our eyes did not lose tonight but actually won our respect because that was no kid freshman out on the ice.
That was the future New York Islander as if you consider how he bounced back from a really bad game against Minnesota-Duluth then this really was a good pick.
Ryan Strome (2011 1st) and Mitchell Theoret (2011 7th) each had an assist along with a -1 as their Niagara IceDogs had little problem defeating the Ottawa 67's 7-3 for their fourth straight win. Both teams having already clinched their playoff positioning really did not have much other than pride to play for.
Strome is 30-38-68 which makes him the leading goal scorer among Islander prospects and if he scores seven points against the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors tomorrow he will be leading scorer of the Islanders. Theoret at 12-9-21 actually set a new career high for points with his assist.
Andrey Pedan (2011 3rd) was not as outstanding as he was on Friday night but he got the job done, his Guelph Storm earned themselves the seventh seed in the OHL's Western Conference after defeating Owen Sound the second night in a row this time 3-1.
Pedan was scoreless, a -1 and he took a high-sticking penalty in the third period. Next up for the Storm will be the Plymouth Whalers and I wouldn't automatically pick Plymouth. Just got to figure out which Storm team will show up.
Kirill Kabanov (2010 3rd) set up the game's first goal as his Shawinigan Cataractes edged the Drummondville Voltigeurs 2-1. Kabanov finished the regular season 21-34-55 which honestly we see as a bit of underachieving on his part.
Shawinigan goes into the QMJHL playoffs as the number two seed and will face the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies in the first-round.
John Persson's (2011, 5th) and his Red Deer Rebels finished their regular season on a unhappy note losing at home to the Edmonton Oil Kings 6-2. It really would be unfair to keep the team that has played with less than a full complement of skaters for a lot of the season.
It would've been nice to see them finish the season with a win but they did have not chance against the best team in the WHL. John Persson finishes the season 23-35-58.
.(Nelson- Grand Forks Herald, Pedan- Aaron Bell of OHL images)
