Prospects Watch
OHL tryouts make impression during short stint in Grand Rapids ...

By Matthew Wuest - www.RedWingsCentral.com
May 21, 2007

Jan Mursak made a noticeable impression on the Grand Rapids Griffins during his short stint in the American Hockey League.

After completing his season with the Ontario Hockey League’s Saginaw Spirit, the 19-year-old winger joined the Griffins for the playoffs, appearing in all seven games as they lost to the Manitoba Moose in the first round.

He picked up two assists — both in one game — and had a plus-3.

“He was excellent for us,” Griffins general manager Bob McNamara said. “We wanted to add some energy and we were surprised with his strength, his speed and his ability to make plays with the puck. He backed off a lot of seasoned defensemen with his puckhandling and speed.”

Mursak, from Maribor, Slovenia, was a late pick (182nd overall) in last summer’s draft and made the OHL’s second all-rookie team after piling up 27 goals and 53 assists for 80 points in 62 games.

The 5-foot-11, 173-pounder is already under contract with the Red Wings, but is expected to return to junior next season.

“Size wasn’t a factor,” McNamara said, when asked of one of the biggest concerns surrounding Mursak’s NHL future. “He never got outmuscled for the puck and he made really good plays with the puck.”

Mursak wasn’t the only prospect to join the Griffins on an amateur tryout contract. Defenseman Jakub Kindl, a 2005 first-rounder, and forward Cory Emmerton, a second-rounder last summer, also saw time.

Kindl had 55 points in 54 games with the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers and was runner-up for the league’s defenseman of the year award.

It was Kindl’s second year getting a short tryout with the Griffins. The 6-foot-3, 205-pounder had two assists and was a plus-1. Kindl will join the Griffins full-time next season if he doesn’t crack the Red Wings’ lineup.

“He’s really matured,” McNamara said. “He’s stronger and the defensive side of his game was noticeably improved (from 2005-06). He’s a guy we could use in most situations and he was very good on the power play.”

As for Emmerton, he dressed just twice after collecting 66 points in 40 games with the OHL’s Kingston Frontenacs. He missed nine weeks with a broken ankle and didn’t return to action until late March.

McNamara said the ankle wasn’t a problem for Emmerton and that he played less than Mursak because Mursak offered more offensively.

“He was fine, there was nothing negative with Cory,” McNamara said. “He just wasn’t as dynamic as Mursak — Mursak showed more offensive flare out there and that’s what we needed — and that’s why Mursak played more.”

Here’s a look at the lone news item from this past week:

* Forward Darren Helm (Medicine Hat, Western Hockey League) had the lone goal as his squad dropped a 3-1 decision to the Lewiston Maineiacs at the Memorial Cup in Vancouver over the weekend.

The tournament concludes this coming weekend.

Helm is the lone prospect still active this season, with the exception of defenseman Kyle Quincey with the Red Wings.

The following are this season’s playoff statistics (grey background indicates prospect whose team has been eliminated from post-season):

NAME TEAM LEAGUE GP G A PTS PIM

A H L
Matt Ellis Grand Rapids AHL 7 4 3 7 4
Jakub Kindl Grand Rapids AHL 7 0 2 2 0
Jan Mursak Grand Rapids AHL 7 0 2 2 2
Ryan Oulahen Grand Rapids AHL 7 0 2 2 4
Darryl Bootland Grand Rapids AHL 6 1 0 1 32
Eric Himelfarb Grand Rapids AHL 7 1 0 1 12
Derek Meech Grand Rapids AHL 7 0 1 1 4
Kyle Quincey Grand Rapids AHL 2 0 0 0 0
Cory Emmerton Grand Rapids AHL 2 0 0 0 0
Jonathan Ericsson Grand Rapids AHL 7 0 0 0 8
Evan McGrath Grand Rapids AHL 7 0 0 0 0

R U S S I A
Alexander Seluyanov Magnitogorsk RUS 13 2 4 6 18
Igor Grigorenko Togliatti RUS 2 2 1 3 2
Gennady Stolyarov Moscow Dyn. RUS 2 0 0 0 0

F I N L A N D
Andreas Sundin Jukurit FIN-2 10 2 2 4 4
Juho Mielonen Ilves Tampere FIN-J20 5 0 0 0 20

S W E D E N
Mikael Johansson Farjestad SWE 8 2 3 5 4
Miroslav Blatak Mora SWE 4 1 1 2 6
Johan Ryno Timra SWE 5 0 1 1 0
Tomas Kollar Sodertalje SWE-2 10 3 5 8 8
Stefan Blom Balsta SWE-4 6 1 2 3 2

M E M O R I A L    C U P
Darren Helm Medicine Hat WHL 1 1 0 1 0

C H L
Darren Helm Medicine Hat WHL 23 10 12 22 10
Jakub Kindl Kitchener OHL 9 2 9 11 8
Logan Pyett Regina WHL 10 3 6 9 4
Cory Emmerton Kingston OHL 5 5 2 7 2
Jan Mursak Saginaw OHL 6 1 2 3 10
Jeff May Prince Albert WHL 5 0 3 3 2
Bretton Stamler Seattle WHL 11 0 1 1 14

U S H L
Nick Oslund Tri-City USHL 9 0 1 1 0
Sergei Kolosov Cedar Rapids USHL 5 0 0 0 4

The following are this season's playoff goaltending statistics (grey background indicates prospect whose team has completed its schedule):

NAME TEAM LEAGUE GP W-L-O GAA SPCT
Logan Koopmans Toledo ECHL 2 0-2 4.57 .855
Jimmy Howard Grand Rapids AHL 7 3-4 1.93 .927

The following are this season’s final regular-season statistics:

NAME TEAM LEAGUE GP G A PTS PIM

A H L
Matt Ellis Grand Rapids AHL 65 26 23 49 44
Darryl Bootland Grand Rapids AHL 68 18 13 31 222
Eric Himelfarb Grand Rapids AHL 69 15 15 30 60
Derek Meech Grand Rapids AHL 67 6 23 29 40
Jonathan Ericsson Grand Rapids AHL 67 5 24 29 102
Ryan Oulahen Grand Rapids AHL 79 11 16 27 42
Kyle Quincey Grand Rapids AHL 65 4 18 22 126
Evan McGrath Grand Rapids AHL 59 6 8 14 41

E C H L
Evan McGrath Toledo ECHL 9 6 9 15 12

R U S S I A
Igor Grigorenko Togliatti RUS 49 14 13 27 71
Alexander Seluyanov Magnitogorsk RUS 54 5 12 17 102
Gennady Stolyarov Moscow Dyn. RUS 37 6 3 9 39
Evgeni Bumagin Togliatti RUS 24 1 3 4 8
Pavel Agarkov Klin RUS-2 21 10 10 20 20
Andrei Maximenko Klin RUS-2 50 13 2 15 26

F I N L A N D
Andreas Sundin Jukurit FIN-2 45 21 20 41 33
Juho Mielonen Ilves Tampere FIN-J20 8 2 5 7 22

S W E D E N
Miroslav Blatak Mora SWE 53 6 15 21 30
Mikael Johansson Farjestad SWE 55 7 9 16 42
Anton Axelsson Frolunda SWE 52 5 7 12 14
Johan Ryno Timra SWE 39 5 6 11 22
Christofer Lofberg Djurgarden SWE 34 0 4 4 6
Tomas Kollar Sodertalje SWE-2 32 12 13 25 90
Dick Axelsson Huddinge SWE-2 25 13 8 21 113
Johan Ryno AIK SWE-2 14 2 7 9 14
Mattias Ritola Leksands SWE-2 26 2 4 6 6
Christofer Lofberg Huddinge SWE-2 12 2 1 3 14
Mattias Ritola Leksands SWE-J20 12 5 7 12 16
Anton Axelsson Frolunda SWE-J20 2 4 2 6 4
Christofer Lofberg Djurgarden SWE-J20 5 2 1 3 2
Johan Ryno Frolunda SWE-J20 2 1 0 1 2
Mattias Ritola Borlange SWE-3 11 4 6 10 14
Stefan Blom Arlanda SWE-3 21 4 4 8 20
Anton Axelsson Kungalvs SWE-3 1 1 3 4 0
Stefan Blom Balsta SWE-4 14 10 7 17 14

C H L
Jan Mursak Saginaw OHL 62 27 53 80 50
Cory Emmerton Kingston OHL 40 29 37 66 22
Darren Helm Medicine Hat WHL 59 25 39 64 53
Logan Pyett Regina WHL 71 14 48 62 84
Jakub Kindl Kitchener OHL 54 11 44 55 142
Jeff May Prince Albert WHL 72 10 34 44 96
Bretton Stamler Seattle WHL 72 8 24 32 135

N C A A
Justin Abdelkader Michigan State NCAA 38 15 18 33 91
Nils Backstrom Alaska-Anch. NCAA 33 1 9 10 44

U S H L
Nick Oslund Tri-City USHL 56 7 14 21 24
Sergei Kolosov Cedar Rapids USHL 51 1 10 11 79

The following are this season's final regular-season goaltending statistics:

NAME TEAM LEAGUE GP W-L-O GAA SPCT
Stefan Liv Toledo ECHL 3 1-1-1 2.29 .936
Daniel Larsson Djurgardens SWE 24 -- 2.53 .910
Jimmy Howard Grand Rapids AHL 49 21-21-3 2.70 .911
Logan Koopmans Toledo ECHL 26 17-7-1 2.83 .914
Stefan Liv Grand Rapids AHL 34 15-15-2 3.01 .895

LEAGUE LEGEND: AHL -- American Hockey League; ECHL -- East Coast Hockey League; RUS -- Russian Elite League; RUS-2 -- Russian second level; FIN -- Finnish Elite League; FIN-J20 -- Finnish under-20 junior league; SWE -- Swedish Elite League; SWE-2 -- Swedish second level; SWE-3 -- Swedish third level; SWE-J20 -- Swedish under-20 junior league; OHL -- Ontario Hockey League; WHL -- Western Hockey League; NCAA -- National Collegiate Athletic Association Division 1; USHL -- United States Hockey League.