RWC REPORT: Another for the six-feet-and-under club?

By Matthew Wuest - RedWingsCentral.com / December 24, 2007

The Detroit Red Wings' defense corps already includes four members of the six-feet-and-under club in Brian Rafalski, Niklas Kronwall, Brett Lebda and Derek Meech.

Another — Logan Pyett — is waiting in the wings.

The five-foot-11, 198-pound blueliner was the second-to-last pick in the 2006 draft, but is about to take center stage this week with Canada's entry at the world junior championship in Liberec and Pardubice, Czech Republic.

Pyett, 19, is a puck-moving blueliner having a terrific season with the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League, with 14 goals and 16 assists for 30 points in 35 games. He's a lock to be signed by the Wings by the June 1, 2008, deadline, and looks like another of the team's seventh-round-or-later draft gems.

The Pats captain will wear an assistant's letter with Team Canada and should play a prominent leadership role with plenty of ice time. He was also a member of the Canadian team for the Canada-Russia Super Series in the summer.

"He's a guy who can play in all situations," said Curtis Hunt, the Pats head coach and an assistant with Canada's world junior team, in an interview with the Regina Leader-Post last week. "He's quick enough and smart enough in the defensive zone to stop the cycle and we've all seen his ability on the power play.

"If there was anything I questioned before the Super Series was: Could he kill penalties on the big ice? As it turned out, he was one of (former head coach Brent Sutter's) go-to guys. I think he can contribute in a support role in all those areas."

Down the road, Pyett could provide a nice complement to some of the Red Wings' super-sized defense prospects — six-foot-five, 218-pound Jonathan Ericsson; six-foot-three, 202-pound Jakub Kindl; and six-foot-two, 215-pound Kyle Quincey.

Also competing at the WJC starting Boxing Day is Swedish forward Joakim Andersson, Detroit's second choice (88th overall) in June's draft.

— Forward Jan Mursak (Saginaw, Ontario Hockey League) won bronze with Slovenia at the third-tier world junior championship in Latvia. The 19-year-old winger had a goal and two assists in five games and led Slovenia with 31 shots on goal.

— Unlike Swedish countryman Johan Ryno, forward Mattias Ritola (Grand Rapids, American Hockey League) isn't going anywhere, and he's starting to show positive signs on the farm. Ritola, one of the last forwards cut from Detroit out of training camp, has two goals and three assists in his last 14 games, his most productive stretch of the year. The 6-foot, 192-pounder is showing flashes of his high-end skills and Red Wings management is pleased with what he's shown as a rookie.

— Goaltender Jimmy Howard (Grand Rapids, AHL) was the first star in the Griffins' 2-1 shootout win over the Rockford IceHogs on Friday. He stopped 34 of 35 shots and turned away five of six shootout attempts, including one of the league's most dangerous scorers in Martin St. Pierre. He's 6-3 with a 1.83 goals-against average and a .934 save percentage in the month of December.

— There's not much to report on the Igor Grigorenko front. Since heading overseas to join Salavat Yulaev of the Russian Elite League, the stocky winger has just a goal and two assists and 18 penalty minutes after 12 games.The Ufa-based club is the best in the league with a 29-5-3 record. Among its top forwards are former NHLers Alexander Perezhogin (Montreal) and Konstantin Koltsov (Pittsburgh).

— None of the Red Wings' U.S. college or Canadian major junior players were in action this week. It's currently the holiday break for both leagues.

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	31	5	9	14	36
Ryan Oulahen	Grand Rapids	AHL	32	5	5	10	18
Evan McGrath	Grand Rapids	AHL	30	4	6	10	10
Jakub Kindl	Grand Rapids	AHL	27	2	6	8	32
Randall Gelech	Grand Rapids	AHL	28	4	3	7	16
Johan Ryno	Grand Rapids	AHL	12	3	4	7	8
Mattias Ritola	Grand Rapids	AHL	29	2	5	7	30
Darren Helm	Grand Rapids	AHL	27	3	3	6	10
Kyle Quincey	Grand Rapids	AHL	23	2	3	5	40
Igor Grigorenko	Grand Rapids	AHL	5	0	0	0	4
R U S S I A
Miroslav Blatak	Salavat Yulaev	RUS	37	2	6	8	26
Gennady Stolyarov	Moscow Dynamo	RUS	21	2	2	4	10
Igor Grigorenko	Salavat Yulaev	RUS	12	1	2	3	18
S W E D E N
Dick Axelsson	Djurgarden	SWE	24	8	7	15	10
Anton Axelsson	Timra	SWE	30	4	7	11	4
Johan Ryno	Djurgarden	SWE	8	1	3	4	8
Joakim Andersson	Boras	SWE-2	27	5	14	19	26
Joakim Andersson	Frolunda	SWE-J20	1	2	0	2	0
C H L
Cory Emmerton	Kingston	OHL	27	14	21	35	6
Logan Pyett	Regina	WHL	35	14	16	30	38
Zack Torquato	Erie	OHL	31	12	17	29	49
Jan Mursak	Saginaw	OHL	26	6	20	26	15
Randy Cameron	Moncton	QMJHL	31	7	11	18	14
N C A A
Justin Abdelkader	Michigan State	CCHA	17	6	7	13	35
Brendan Smith	Wisconsin	WCHA	16	2	7	9	24
Bryan Rufenach	Clarkson	ECAC	13	1	1	2	6
Nils Backstrom	Alaska-Anchorage	WCHA	12	1	1	2	6
Nick Oslund	St. Cloud State	WCHA	17	2	0	2	4

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

NAME	TEAM	LEAGUE	GP	W-L-O	GAA	SPCT
Daniel Larsson	Djurgarden	SWE	25	--	2.23	.921
Jimmy Howard	Grand Rapids	AHL	20	10-9-1	2.70	.903

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.