RWC REPORT: Playoffs bring Mursak's best

By Matthew Wuest - RedWingsCentral.com / April 7, 2008

With Belleville Bulls offensive leader Shawn Matthias on the shelf, Jan Mursak is stepping up his game when it counts the most.

The 20-year-old Detroit Red Wings draft choice is leading the Bulls in scoring in the Ontario Hockey League playoffs, and has his team a game away from sweeping the Barrie Colts and moving on to the semifinals.

Mursak’s five goals and six assists for 11 points in eight games are sixth in the OHL, and his acquisition has proven to be a smart one for the Bulls given that Matthias — known to Wings fans as the man traded for Todd Bertuzzi — is out with various illnesses, reportedly tonsillitis and mononucleosis.

The 5-foot-11, 183-pound forward had an average camp and a slow start to the season. Red Wings assistant general manager Jim Nill speculated he struggled because he was adjusting to 15 pounds of muscle added in the off-season.

But he’s been outstanding since the Saginaw Spirit dealt him to the Bulls at mid-season. Overall, he has 49 points in 39 games since the trade. He was runner-up among Eastern Conference players in a coaches poll for most underrated player and best stickhandler, and placed third in voting for best playmaker.

The Bulls are a strong team that is expected to make a run at the Memorial Cup. They went 48-14-4-2 in the regular season, second to the Kitchener Rangers, who went an incredible 53-11-1-3 and will host the Memorial Cup in May.

The Bulls would advance to the Memorial Cup if they played the Rangers — who are in the Western Conference — in the OHL final, even if they lost.

Here are some other tidbits from the past week.

• Forward Justin Abdelkader signed a three-year contract with the Red Wings this week after completing his NCAA career after three seasons at Michigan State. He played two games, averaging 12:13 of ice time, including 42 seconds on the penalty kill. He had six shots, five hits and no points.


In a rare occurrence, the 21-year-old forward from Muskegon, Mich., played the first game for free on an amateur tryout. Under the collective bargaining agreement, amateurs are permitted to play one game with no salary.
• The Grand Rapids Griffins’ American Hockey League season will come to an end in two more games. The Griffins have already been eliminated from the playoffs with a 29-41-2-6 record. They’ve won just three of their last 16 games.
• Defenceman Jakub Kindl (Grand Rapids, AHL) has just three assists in his last 28 games. He has 16 points and a minus-34 in 73 games as a rookie.
• Salavat Yulaev, featuring Red Wings draft picks Igor Grigorenko and Miroslav Blatak, is tied 1-1 with in the Russian Elite League’s best-of-five final with Yaroslavl. Grigorenko hasn’t played in three weeks because of injury.
• Forward Anton Axelsson (Timra, Swedish Elite League) saw his season end this week when his team was knocked out in six games by HV-71 in the best-of-seven semifinals. Axelsson had two goals and two assists in 11 games. The Red Wings must sign the defensive-minded winger by June 1 or lose his rights.
  
  It’s interesting to note that goalie Stefan Liv has led HV-71 to to the final with astonishing numbers. He has league-bests in goals-against average (1.37), save percentage (.952) and shutouts (three). He is a restricted free agent with the Red Wings until July 1, when he becomes unrestricted.
• Another Red Wings restricted free agent, Eric Himelfarb, had 31 goals and 56 assists for 87 points (along with 58 penalty minutes) in 38 games for Lausanne at Switzerland’s second level. He is restricted until 2010.

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	67	10	22	32	78
Evan McGrath	Grand Rapids	AHL	76	16	15	31	26
Ryan Oulahen	Grand Rapids	AHL	75	14	16	30	47
Darren Helm	Grand Rapids	AHL	65	13	15	28	30
Mattias Ritola	Grand Rapids	AHL	70	7	15	22	62
Kyle Quincey	Grand Rapids	AHL	64	5	15	20	149
Jakub Kindl	Grand Rapids	AHL	73	3	13	16	80
Randall Gelech	Grand Rapids	AHL	68	6	8	14	35
Francis Lemieux	Grand Rapids	AHL	57	4	10	14	51
Johan Ryno	Grand Rapids	AHL	12	3	4	7	8
Zack Torquato	Grand Rapids	AHL	11	1	0	1	8
Cory Emmerton	Grand Rapids	AHL	5	0	1	1	0
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	42	19	21	40	107
Brendan Smith	Wisconsin	WCHA	22	2	10	12	26
Nick Oslund	St. Cloud State	WCHA	38	4	1	5	27
Bryan Rufenach	Clarkson	ECAC	35	3	3	6	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	53	20-28-2	2.85	.907

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
Gennady Stolyarov	Moscow Dynamo	RUS	8	1	0	1	2
Igor Grigorenko	Salavat Yulaev	RUS	3	0	1	1	0
Miroslav Blatak	Salavat Yulaev	RUS	9	0	0	0	8
S W E D E N
Anton Axelsson	Timra	SWE	11	2	2	4	4
Joakim Andersson	Frolunda	SWE	4	1	1	2	2
Dick Axelsson	Djurgarden	SWE	5	1	0	1	2
Johan Ryno	Djurgarden	SWE	5	0	0	0	2
C H L
Jan Mursak	Belleville	OHL	8	5	6	11	4
Logan Pyett	Regina	WHL	6	1	3	4	0
Cory Emmerton	Brampton	OHL	5	0	2	2	2

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	5	--	2.64	.920

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.