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RWC REPORT: Prospects seek Memorial Cup glory

By Matthew Wuest – RedWingsCentral.com / February 16, 2010

The Detroit Red Wings will be well-represented when the playoffs open around the Canadian Hockey League in a month’s time.

All eight of the Red Wings’ CHL prospects are expected to be in position to chase the Memorial Cup in March. At the forefront of that charge are Brent Raedeke of the Western Hockey League’s Brandon Wheat Kings, Stephen Johnston of the Ontario Hockey League’s Windsor Spitfires and Andrej Nestrasil of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s Victoriaville Tigres.
 
 
  Andrej Nestrasil is on what many consider the sleeper team of the QMJHL.



Raedeke, who started the season with the Edmonton Oil Kings, has gone from worst to first after a trade to the Wheat Kings, who are the cream of the WHL crop at 41-16-4 and on a current streak of 11-0-1. Although the Wheaties already feature NHL first-rounders Brayden Schenn and Scott Glennie, Raedeke — who has 50 points in 61 — provides a jolt of speed and energy.

The injury-plagued Johnston benefited from a similar trade, going from the Belleville Bulls to the first-place Spitfires, 44-9-5, at mid-season. Although Johnston won’t have a leading role on the nationally-third-ranked squad with Taylor Hall around, he can salvage his fading chances of a contract by flourishing in a critical checking/penalty-killing role during the stretch run. He already went to the Memorial Cup as a rookie two years ago with Belleville.

Nestrasil, meanwhile, is on a sleeper team in Victoriaville, as the Tigres sit tied for third in the QMJHL with a 39-17-2 record. But his role has diminished since the team made a flurry of trades at the holiday deadline. A top-10 league scorer early in the season, he’s now just 10th on his own team.

The rest of the Red Wings’ youngsters are on mid-pack teams. Defenseman Gleason Fournier stars for the QMJHL’s Rimouski Oceanic, 29-22-6; blueliner Brian Lashoff captains the Kingston Frontenacs, 27-25-4; right-winger Mitchell Callahan is having a strong season with the Kelowna Rockets, 29-26-5; and forwards Willie Coetzee and Landon Ferraro are key contributors for the Red Deer Rebels, who have turned it around after some tough seasons and are 33-21-4.

NOTES: Winger Tomas Tatar (Grand Rapids, American Hockey League) may have hit a wall, with just a goal and an assist in his past 12 games … Watch for defenseman Sergei Kolosov (Grand Rapids, AHL) with Team Belarus at the Olympics this week and next … Defenseman Max Nicastro (Boston University, NCAA) is having a pretty solid freshman campaign for a top-20 program, with two goals and eight assists in 28 games ... Goaltender Jordan Pearce (Toledo, East Coast Hockey League) had his first pro shutout last week and is coming around after a slow start in his first season out of college.

Following is an up-to-date statistical report for skaters:


NAME TEAM LEAGUE GP G A PTS PIM
A H L
Jan Mursak Grand Rapids AHL 54 18 11 29 28
Francis Pare Grand Rapids AHL 53 11 15 26 12
Cory Emmerton Grand Rapids AHL 52 8 17 25 16
Mattias Ritola Grand Rapids AHL 48 13 11 24 44
Tomas Tatar Grand Rapids AHL 39 11 12 23 6
Logan Pyett Grand Rapids AHL 55 7 15 22 25
Jakub Kindl Grand Rapids AHL 48 3 17 20 45
Jamie Tardif Grand Rapids AHL 53 11 8 19 65
Evan McGrath Grand Rapids AHL 51 8 11 19 25
Dick Axelsson Grand Rapids AHL 17 2 3 5 6
Sergei Kolosov Grand Rapids AHL 45 1 3 4 17
Travis Ehrhardt Grand Rapids AHL 33 0 5 5 32
Sebastien Piche Grand Rapids AHL 9 0 0 0 4
E C H L
Sebastien Piche Toledo ECHL 28 4 12 16 30
Travis Ehrhardt Toledo ECHL 3 1 1 2 0
S W E D E N
Joakim Andersson Frolunda SEL 48 5 12 17 40
Anton Axelsson Timra SEL 44 5 6 11 6
Dick Axelsson Farjestad SEL 9 4 4 8 8
Adam Almqvist HV-71 SEL 24 2 6 8 10
Jesper Samuelsson Timra SEL 23 0 1 1 8
Johan Ryno AIK SWE-2 40 6 10 16 30
Jesper Samuelsson Sundsvall SWE-2 30 2 12 14 4
Adam Almqvist HV-71 SWE-J20 15 5 29 34 14
C H L
Willie Coetzee Red Deer WHL 58 25 47 72 24
Brent Raedeke Edmonton WHL 61 22 28 50 82
Mitchell Callahan Kelowna WHL 60 19 26 45 139
Gleason Fournier Rimouski QMJHL 48 11 32 43 70
Andrej Nestrasil Victoriaville QMJHL 40 14 28 42 32
Landon Ferraro Red Deer WHL 39 13 24 37 40
Brian Lashoff Kingston OHL 46 6 15 21 61
Stephen Johnston Belleville OHL 28 9 7 16 24
N C A A
Gustav Nyquist Maine HE 28 14 28 42 14
Brendan Smith Wisconsin WCHA 28 13 23 36 44
Brian Rufenach Clarkson ECAC 27 5 11 16 39
Max Nicastro Boston U. HE 28 2 10 12 26
Nick Oslund St. Cloud St. WCHA 32 4 4 8 20
Julien Cayer Clarkson ECAC 22 2 3 5 18
U S H L
Nick Jensen Green Bay USHL 37 1 15 16 31

Following is an up-to-date statistical report for goaltenders:

NAME TEAM LEAGUE GP W-L-O GAA SPCT
Daniel Larsson Grand Rapids AHL 36 16-17-1 2.80 .906
Thomas McCollum Toledo ECHL 4 2-1-0 4.48 .864
  Grand Rapids AHL 22 7-11-0 3.50 .878
Jordan Pearce Toledo ECHL 25 10-12-1 3.62 .878
  Grand Rapids AHL 5 1-2-0 3.82 .875

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The next wave

RWC's top 10 prospects (2009-10 preliminary)
01 F Tomas Tatar » Grand Rapids (AHL)
02 D Jakub Kindl » Grand Rapids (AHL)
03 D Brendan Smith » Wisconsin (NCAA)
04 F Gustav Nyquist » Maine (NCAA)
05 F Jan Mursak » Grand Rapids (AHL)
06 G Thomas McCollum » Grand Rapids (AHL)
07 F Joakim Andersson » Frolunda (SEL)
08 F Mattias Ritola » Grand Rapids (AHL)
09 F Landon Ferraro » Red Deer (WHL)
10 D Brian Lashoff » Grand Rapids (AHL)
» COMPLETE RANKING »