RWC REPORT: Mursak, Emmerton see production drop

By Matthew Wuest - RedWingsCentral.com / October 29, 2007

It's safe to say the Detroit Red Wings didn't anticipate this when they dealt prospect Shawn Matthias for Todd Bertuzzi last March.

Nearly two months into the Ontario Hockey League season, Matthias, a Belleville Bulls center, has produced more on his own than current Red Wings prospects Jan Mursak and Cory Emmerton have combined.

Matthias's 11 goals and 21 assists for 32 points in 14 games leave him tied with 17-year-old sensation John Tavares for the OHL's scoring lead.

Mursak, a Saginaw Spirit winger, and Emmerton, a center with the Kingston Frontenacs, each have 14 points in 15 games. In what should be banner seasons for both, Mursak has experienced a 38 percent drop in production from last season, while Emmerton's totals have plummeted by 77 percent.

Matthias, meanwhile, has seen a 100 percent jump.

It should be noted, Belleville is one of the OHL's top teams with a 9-3-1-1 record. The Frontenacs have one of the worst offenses in the league and are 4-10-0-1, while the Spirit sit in the middle of the pack at 6-6-2-1.

— It's not fair to say the Igor Grigorenko experiment is over. The 24-year-old right-winger refused a demotion to the Grand Rapids Griffins of the American Hockey League this week, opting to exercise an escape clause in his contract. Rather than earn roughly $70,000 in the AHL, Grigorenko will reportedly bring in around $1 million with the Russian Elite League team Salavat Yulaev.

If you believe him when he says his “dream” is still to play in Detroit, and that he's ready to put the work in to be ready for training camp in 2008-09, it's hard to fault him for taking the higher salary to essentially get in shape.

He'll be wise to take some English classes, too, since communication was reportedly a big problem for North American coaches.

— Defenseman Logan Pyett (Regina, Western Hockey League) is on fire lately. He has five goals and four assists in his past six games, giving him 15 points in 17 games this season. His eight goals on the season rank him second in the entire Canadian Hockey League for goals by a blueliner.

— Defenseman Jakub Kindl (Grand Rapids, AHL) finally got things going in his rookie year. The former first-round pick collected three assists in three games. Other AHLers with productive weeks were defenseman Jonathan Ericsson and forward Randall Gelech (three points apiece).

— Defenseman Kyle Quincey (Grand Rapids, AHL) played his first games of the season after returning from a broken wrist.

— Goaltender Jimmy Howard was recalled to Detroit this week after Dominik Hasek went down with a groin injury. He has yet to play.

The following is an up-to-date statistical report for skaters:

NAME	TEAM	LEAGUE	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM
A H L
Jonathan Ericsson	Grand Rapids	AHL	8	2	3	5	2
Ryan Oulahen	Grand Rapids	AHL	8	2	2	4	4
Randall Gelech	Grand Rapids	AHL	8	2	2	4	4
Johan Ryno	Grand Rapids	AHL	7	1	3	4	8
Evan McGrath	Grand Rapids	AHL	7	1	3	4	4
Jakub Kindl	Grand Rapids	AHL	8	0	3	3	8
Mattias Ritola	Grand Rapids	AHL	8	0	2	2	12
Kyle Quincey	Grand Rapids	AHL	2	0	0	0	2
Igor Grigorenko	Grand Rapids	AHL	5	0	0	0	4
R U S S I A
Gennady Stolyarov	Moscow Dynamo	RUS	12	1	0	1	10
S W E D E N
Dick Axelsson	Djurgardens	SWE	12	5	4	9	0
Anton Axelsson	Timra	SWE	14	0	4	4	4
Joakim Andersson	Boras	SWE-2	13	2	8	10	12
Joakim Andersson	Frolunda	SWE-J20	1	2	0	2	0
C H L
Logan Pyett	Regina	WHL	17	8	7	15	17
Cory Emmerton	Kingston	OHL	15	6	8	14	2
Jan Mursak	Saginaw	OHL	15	4	10	14	4
Randy Cameron	Moncton	QMJHL	17	5	6	11	10
Zack Torquato	Erie	OHL	13	3	4	7	27
N C A A
Brendan Smith	Wisconsin	WCHA	4	1	5	6	4
Justin Abdelkader	Michigan State	CCHA	5	3	1	4	8
Nils Backstrom	Alaska-Anchorage	WCHA	5	1	0	1	2
Nick Oslund	St. Cloud State	WCHA	5	0	0	0	0
Bryan Rufenach	Clarkson	ECAC	6	0	0	0	2

The following is an up-to-date statistical report for goaltenders:

NAME	TEAM	LEAGUE	GP	W-L-O	GAA	SPCT
Daniel Larsson	Djurgardens	SWE	12	--	1.98	.929
Jimmy Howard	Grand Rapids	AHL	4	3-1	3.00	.902

LEAGUE LEGEND: AHL -- American Hockey League; RUS -- Russian Elite League; SWE -- Swedish Elite League; SWE-2 -- Swedish second level; SWE-J20 -- Swedish under-20 league; OHL -- Ontario Hockey League; WHL -- Western Hockey League; QMJHL -- Quebec Major Junior Hockey League; CCHA -- Central Collegiate Hockey Association; WCHA -- Western Collegiate Hockey Association; ECAC -- East Coast Athletic Conference.