Mitchell Callahan (Credit: Sarah Lindenau)
The chase for the Memorial Cup is about to begin in earnest for seven Detroit Red Wings prospects playing in the Canadian Hockey League.
With the CHL playoffs set to begin later this week, the Red Wings boast a number of prospects who could make a splash on top teams. Perhaps the best bet for long playoff runs are forwards Trevor Parkes and Louis-Marc Aubry, a duo that helped the Montreal Juniors to a 46-win, 102-point season in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and have them ranked fourth in the CHL.
Parkes, a free-agent signing in September, led the team in scoring with 33 goals among 62 points in 60 games, while Aubry, a third-rounded in the 2010 draft, has seen his production slow since a return from injuries.
Other players who could make noise on top teams are Ottawa 67′s goalie Petr Mrazek and Kelowna Rockets right-winger Mitchell Callahan. Mrazek posted 33 victories to lead Ottawa to a 93-point campaign, fourth in the Ontario Hockey League. Callahan is a top-six forward for a Rockets team that finished second in the Western Hockey League’s Western Conference with a 43-28-0-1 record.
Callahan has already been to one Memorial Cup tournament, finishing as a runner-up with the Rockets in Rimouski, Que., in his draft year in 2009.
Other players who will participate in the CHL playoffs are forward Andrej Nestrasil (P.E.I. Rocket, QMJHL); defenseman Gleason Fournier (Rimouski, QMJHL); and forward Landon Ferraro (Everett, WHL).
Forward Stephen Johnston won a Memorial Cup last year with the Windsor Spitfires. Although the Red Wings didn’t sign him and relinquished his rights, he was the first player in the organization to win a CHL crown since Philippe Audet and Frederic Deschenes did it with the Granby Predateurs in 1996.
NOTES: Nestrasil, by the way, finished the season on fire, piling up 18 points in his final 12 games, and earning a QMJHL three-stars-of-the-week selection. With a good playoff run, he’ll have a chance at a contract … Forward Riley Sheahan (Notre Dame, NCAA) is the Red Wings only U.S. college prospect still in the hunt for an NCAA title. His Fighting Irish, one of 16 teams remaining, face Merrimack on Saturday … Forward Teemu Pulkkinen (Jokerit, Finnish SM-Liiga) missed the start of the post-season with what was reportedly a kidney infection … Forward Dick Axelsson (Farjestad, Swedish Elite League) told a Swedish paper this week he expects to re-sign with the Red Wings this summer. The Red Wings may not be ready to give up on him, but he’s very unlikely to see a minute of action in Detroit until he does his time in the minors. Axelsson has terrific offensive skills but needs heavy schooling defensively and in the Red Wings’ structured system.
Following is this week’s statistical update.
| NAME | TEAM | LEAGUE | GP | G | A | P | PIM | +/- | SOG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nestrasil, Andrej | P.E.I. | QMJHL | 58 | 19 | 51 | 70 | 40 | +13 | 160 |
| Fournier, Gleason | Rimouski | QMJHL | 57 | 12 | 32 | 44 | 58 | -4 | 106 |
| Aubry, Louis-Marc | Montreal | QMJHL | 35 | 13 | 12 | 25 | 26 | +8 | 98 |
| Parkes, Trevor | Montreal | QMJHL | 60 | 33 | 29 | 62 | 32 | +26 | 210 |
| Ferraro, Landon | Everett | WHL | 41 | 10 | 17 | 27 | 51 | -1 | – |
| Callahan, Mitchell | Kelowna | WHL | 62 | 23 | 31 | 54 | 87 | +4 | – |
| Macek, Brooks | Tri-City | WHL | 63 | 13 | 28 | 41 | 36 | -13 | – |
| Stolyarov, Gennady | Dynamo Msk | KHL | 20 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 23 | -8 | 32 |
| Pulkkinen, Teemu | Jokerit | FIN | 55 | 18 | 36 | 54 | 32 | +23 | – |
| Almqvist, Adam | HV-71 | SEL | 52 | 0 | 16 | 16 | 32 | +20 | 62 |
| Jarnkrok, Calle | Brynas | SEL | 49 | 11 | 16 | 27 | 4 | -3 | 77 |
| Axelsson, Dick | Farjestad | SEL | 47 | 15 | 15 | 30 | 126 | +4 | 90 |
| Axelsson, Anton | Timra | SEL | 28 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 4 | -2 | 25 |
| Samuelsson, Jesper | Vita Hasten | SWE-3 | 31 | 10 | 23 | 33 | 41 | +25 | 99 |
| Smith, Brendan | Grand Rapids | AHL | 57 | 12 | 20 | 32 | 113 | +7 | 104 |
| Mursak, Jan | Grand Rapids | AHL | 51 | 13 | 22 | 35 | 35 | +17 | 124 |
| Tatar, Tomas | Grand Rapids | AHL | 61 | 23 | 32 | 55 | 41 | +20 | 140 |
| Pare, Francis | Grand Rapids | AHL | 71 | 23 | 29 | 52 | 49 | -11 | 211 |
| Ehrhardt, Travis | Grand Rapids | AHL | 45 | 4 | 11 | 15 | 32 | +2 | 53 |
| Pyett, Logan | Grand Rapids | AHL | 65 | 9 | 12 | 21 | 36 | -3 | 124 |
| Andersson, Joakim | Grand Rapids | AHL | 70 | 5 | 14 | 19 | 24 | -3 | 94 |
| Emmerton, Cory | Grand Rapids | AHL | 56 | 10 | 26 | 36 | 22 | +6 | 108 |
| Coetzee, Willie | Grand Rapids | AHL | 25 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 8 | -7 | 42 |
| Kolosov, Sergei | Grand Rapids | AHL | 50 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 44 | -16 | 45 |
| Lashoff, Brian | Grand Rapids | AHL | 31 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 19 | -3 | 24 |
| Owens, Jordan | Grand Rapids | AHL | 60 | 6 | 14 | 20 | 101 | -12 | 95 |
| Filppula, Ilari | Grand Rapids | AHL | 67 | 20 | 42 | 62 | 22 | +7 | 113 |
| Raedeke, Brent | Grand Rapids | AHL | 60 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 17 | +1 | 70 |
| Piche, Sebastien | Grand Rapids | AHL | 11 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 13 | -4 | 15 |
| Piche, Sebastien | Toledo | ECHL | 42 | 10 | 20 | 30 | 50 | -11 | 148 |
| Coetzee, Willie | Toledo | ECHL | 30 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 4 | -3 | 112 |
| Lashoff, Brian | Toledo | ECHL | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -1 | 10 |
| Nyquist, Gustav | Maine | NCAA | 36 | 18 | 33 | 51 | 20 | 0 | 140 |
| Nicastro, Max | Boston U. | NCAA | 38 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 59 | -9 | 44 |
| Oslund, Nick | St. Cloud St. | NCAA | 30 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 10 | -2 | 50 |
| Jensen, Nick | St. Cloud St. | NCAA | 38 | 5 | 18 | 23 | 18 | -5 | 58 |
| Sheahan, Riley | Notre Dame | NCAA | 37 | 5 | 15 | 20 | 22 | -9 | 93 |
| Rufenach, Bryan | Clarkson | NCAA | 33 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 14 | -1 | 94 |
| Cayer, Julien | Clarkson | NCAA | 25 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 22 | +3 | 28 |
| Marshall, Ben | Omaha | USHL | 50 | 9 | 18 | 27 | 28 | +23 | 127 |
SKATERS: PLAYOFF REPORT
| NAME | TEAM | LEAGUE | GP | G | A | P | PIM | +/- | SOG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Axelsson, Dick | Farjestad | SEL | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 16 | +3 | 9 |
| Jarnkrok, Calle | Brynas | SEL | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 7 |
| Almqvist, Adam | HV-71 | SEL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 3 |
GOALIES: REGULAR-SEASON REPORT
| NAME | TEAM | LEAGUE | GP | W | L | T | SO | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mrazek, Petr | Ottawa | OHL | 52 | 33 | 15 | 1 | 2 | 2.84 | .920 |
| Larsson, Daniel | HV-71 | SEL | 46 | – | – | – | 2 | 2.51 | .917 |
| McCollum, Thomas | Grand Rapids | AHL | 20 | 6 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 3.18 | .881 |
| Pearce, Jordan | Toledo | ECHL | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4.13 | .883 |
| Pearce, Jordan | Grand Rapids | AHL | 35 | 19 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2.81 | .909 |
| McCollum, Thomas | Toledo | ECHL | 20 | 9 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 2.88 | .907 |
GOALIES: PLAYOFF REPORT
| NAME | TEAM | LEAGUE | GP | W | L | SO | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Larsson, Daniel | HV-71 | SEL | 2 | – | – | 0 | 2.58 | .894 |
