I have been behind in my ramblings, but I am back and I hope you are excited to get back to Thursday Prospect Ramblings. We will begin with the World Junior Championships! Team Canada’s roster has been announced, with the final five cuts (Sam Steel (ANA), Zach Senyshyn (BOS), Guillaume Brisebois (VAN), Samuel Girard (NSH) and Michael McNiven (MTL)) made today, the final roster of 22-players is set.
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Forwards |
Defensemen |
Goalies |
Team USA got some awful news today, Brock Boeser (VAN) will not play in the tournament due to wrist surgery. Boeser has seven goals and nine assists in 13 games played at the University of North Dakota. Team USA camp begins tomorrow, they have invited 27 players and will announce their final 23-player roster by December 24th.
The tournament will open December 26th at 1:00pm in Montreal. The first day of games scheduled are below:
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1:00pm |
SWEDEN |
vs |
DENMARK |
|
3:30pm |
UNITED STATES |
vs |
LATVIA |
|
5:00pm |
CZECH REPUBLIC |
vs |
FINLAND |
|
8:00pm |
CANADA |
vs |
RUSSIA |
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Andrew Poturalski (CAR) scored after a 13 game scoreless streak. Poturalski scored the game tying goal with 40 seconds left to force overtime, he also added an assist to give him 6-12-18 in 26 GP. Phil Di Guiseppe (CAR) scored the game winner for the Charlotte Checkers to defeat the Manitoba Moose 3-2. Di Giuseppe scored two goals in the victory and continues to prove he can score in the AHL, 4-5-9 in ten games, but hasn’t shown much in the NHL, with 1-1-2 in 18 games.
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Another OT game, Cleveland Monsters defeated Iowa Wild 4-3, T.J. Tynan (CBJ) scored the game winner. Tynan has had a decent December with 1-6-7 in six games, which should catch the attention of the Columbus Blue Jackets management, but the Blue Jackets are playing very good hockey and won’t want to change up their lineup right now. Tynan could get recalled if there is an injury to the top-6 in Columbus.
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In Jake Guentzel's (PIT) first three games back since he was reassigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, he has put up a goal and an assist in all three of those games. Wednesday night he was left off the scoresheet in a 6-2 victory over the Hartford Wolf Pack. Dominik Simon (PIT) tallied four assists, two primary and two secondary. Simon continues to keep his point per game pace close to his rookie season (0.70). Simon is in line for a recall to the Penguins, but just like the Blue Jackets they are playing very good hockey with a healthy roster. Simon will need an injury or two to get recalled and will also need to outplay Guentzel in the AHL to get the attention of GM Jim Rutherford.
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The Phildelphia Flyers are full of prospect defensmen talent and it is starting to come to fruition. Travis Sanheim (PHI) scored two goals in an 8-6 Lehigh Valley victory over Bridgeport and recorded six shots on net. In Sanheim’s first pro season he has 3-9-12 in 26 games played. Sanheim is the next young defenseman on the Flyer’s depth chart who could be make the Flyers out of training camp next year. The Flyers have three UFA’s at the end of the year on the back-end. Sanheim could fill one of those roles next year.
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Nick Baptiste (BUF) recorded a hat trick to defeat the Toronto Marlies 5-2. Cole Schneider (BUF) was the primary assist on every one of Baptiste’s goal. Baptiste his scoring at a point per game pace, 14-4-18 in 18 games played. Baptiste was recalled for about a month (12 games) from mid-October to mid-November and only put up 2-0-2 in 12 games. Baptiste will need to wow management in the AHL for him to get recalled back to the Sabres, when he gets his chance again this year he will need to produce to keep his roster spot.
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CHL Top 10 Rankings are out:
#CHL Top-10 Rankings Week 13: 1-REG, 2-LDN, 3-ER, 4-EVT, 5-SNB, 6-WSR, 7-SSM, 8-PG, 9-BLB, 10-ROU. HM: MH, SHA, OSH pic.twitter.com/SKq0fBrOYy
— CanadianHockeyLeague (@CHLHockey) December 14, 2016
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The CHL twitter account (@CHLHockey) also tweeted out the Team Canada CHL representatives, below is a simple graphic showing where the guys from the team currently play.
Congrats and good luck to all 20 #CHL players selected to represent #TeamCanada @HC_Men at #WorldJuniors.
DETAILS: https://t.co/yBvRjLfCkf pic.twitter.com/nHRPsJbQMI
— CanadianHockeyLeague (@CHLHockey) December 15, 2016
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Don’t forget to give our latest episode of DobberProspects Radio podcast a listen. Find our latest show notes here, where we preview ‘Players to Watch’ at the World Juniors. Give us a five star review on iTunes, it will really help us continue to get top guests and keep producing high quality shows. Thanks in advance!
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Feel free to leave comments, questions or concerns below, have fun playing the game of Fantasy Hockey.
Paul Zwambag