RWC REPORT: Oulahen puts in time on farm

By Matthew Wuest - RedWingsCentral.com / March 17, 2008

The calls keep coming to the Grand Rapids Griffins, but Ryan Oulahen's cellphone number hasn't been dialed — at least not yet.

The third-year pro continues to bide his time in the American Hockey League while his teammates — namely Darren Helm, Mattias Ritola, Mark Hartigan and Darren McCarty — have been recalled to the Detroit Red Wings.

Oulahen is a solid foot-soldier for the Griffins. He shares the captaincy and has 13 goals and 12 assists for 25 points in 67 games, working on the second and third lines while anchoring the penalty-killing unit.

"He plays a significant role with us, having a letter, being great defensively, killing penalties, chipping in a bit offensively," Griffins general manager Bob McNamara said. "He's a quality kid, a leader on our team, similar to Matt Ellis."

The 6-foot-1, 195-pound center is nearing last year's career-high of 27 points, and he has three goals and three assists in his last eight games. But he's still in search of a breakthrough offensive campaign in Grand Rapids.

"He has average finish," McNamara said, of what holds Oulahen back. "His role in the NHL will be as a checker. He probably needs to develop a little bit more jam to his game in order to play in the NHL."

The 22-year-old's three-year entry-level contract is up at the end of this season, but it's likely the Red Wings will be re-sign him for another year.

Here are some other tidbits from the past week.

• Center Zack Torquato (Erie, Ontario Hockey League) is expected to join Grand Rapids this week on an amateur tryout now that his junior season is over, GoErie.com reports. Torquato was Detroit's highest-scoring junior prospect with 67 points in 66 games for the cellar-dwelling Otters.
• Helm was rewarded with a call-up to Detroit this week after producing five goals and three assists in five games with Grand Rapids in March. He is averaging 6:10 of ice time through three games in fourth-line duty.
• Ritola also benefited from a slew of injuries in Detroit, called up after scoring two goals and three assists in five games with Grand Rapids in March.
• Center Randy Cameron (Moncton, Quebec Major Junior Hockey League) saw his season come to an end after the Wildcats missed the playoffs. He had 39 points in 62 games, the same point total he recorded last season.
• Winger Jan Mursak (Belleville, OHL) missed the final few games of the regular season with a concussion. There is no word yet on when he will return.
• Goaltender Daniel Larsson (Djurgarden, Swedish Elite League) followed in the skate trails of Henrik Lundqvist this week, winning the Honken Trophy as the Swedish Elite League's top goaltender.
• Forward Justin Abdelkader (Michigan State, NCAA) saw his team knocked out in the CCHA quarterfinals 2-1 in the best-of-three series with Northern Michigan. The Wildcats beat the Spartans 3-2 in double-overtime on Sunday. The Spartans will miss the CCHA tournament for the first time in 17 years.

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

NAME	TEAM	LEAGUE	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM
A H L
Ryan Oulahen	Grand Rapids	AHL	67	13	12	25	36
Jonathan Ericsson	Grand Rapids	AHL	57	7	18	25	69
Darren Helm	Grand Rapids	AHL	59	11	13	24	28
Evan McGrath	Grand Rapids	AHL	65	11	13	24	24
Mattias Ritola	Grand Rapids	AHL	60	6	16	22	52
Kyle Quincey	Grand Rapids	AHL	53	4	12	16	101
Jakub Kindl	Grand Rapids	AHL	62	3	11	14	69
Randall Gelech	Grand Rapids	AHL	57	5	8	13	29
Francis Lemieux	Grand Rapids	AHL	48	3	9	12	45
Johan Ryno	Grand Rapids	AHL	12	3	4	7	8
Igor Grigorenko	Grand Rapids	AHL	5	0	0	0	4
R U S S I A
Miroslav Blatak	Salavat Yulaev	RUS	57	2	12	14	34
Igor Grigorenko	Salavat Yulaev	RUS	27	4	6	10	24
Gennady Stolyarov	Moscow Dynamo	RUS	37	3	2	5	22
S W E D E N
Dick Axelsson	Djurgarden	SWE	47	12	13	25	44
Anton Axelsson	Timra	SWE	54	10	10	20	10
Johan Ryno	Djurgarden	SWE	30	2	7	9	18
Joakim Andersson	Frolunda	SWE	9	1	0	1	2
Joakim Andersson	Boras	SWE-2	33	6	17	23	26
Joakim Andersson	Frolunda	SWE-J20	6	8	2	10	30
C H L
Zack Torquato	Erie	OHL	66	25	42	67	112
Jan Mursak	Belleville	OHL	57	17	47	64	23
Cory Emmerton	Brampton	OHL	54	25	36	61	16
Logan Pyett	Regina	WHL	62	20	34	54	54
Randy Cameron	Moncton	QMJHL	62	12	37	39	30
N C A A
Justin Abdelkader	Michigan State	CCHA	40	18	19	37	95
Brendan Smith	Wisconsin	WCHA	21	2	10	12	26
Nick Oslund	St. Cloud State	WCHA	36	4	1	5	25
Bryan Rufenach	Clarkson	ECAC	33	3	2	5	12
Nils Backstrom	Alaska-Anchorage	WCHA	16	1	2	3	18

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

NAME	TEAM	LEAGUE	GP	W-L-O	GAA	SPCT
Daniel Larsson	Djurgarden	SWE	46	--	2.29	.921
Jimmy Howard	Grand Rapids	AHL	43	18-21-2	2.77	.909

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

NAME	TEAM	LEAGUE	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM
R U S S I A
Igor Grigorenko	Salavat Yulaev	RUS	3	0	1	1	0
Gennady Stolyarov	Moscow Dynamo	RUS	3	0	0	0	0
Miroslav Blatak	Salavat Yulaev	RUS	4	0	0	0	4
S W E D E N
Dick Axelsson	Djurgarden	SWE	3	1	0	1	0
Anton Axelsson	Timra	SWE	3	1	0	1	2
Joakim Andersson	Frolunda	SWE	1	0	1	1	0
Johan Ryno	Djurgarden	SWE	3	0	0	0	0

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

NAME	TEAM	LEAGUE	GP	W-L-O	GAA	SPCT
Daniel Larsson	Djurgarden	SWE	3	--	2.36	.925

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.