Ontario Hockey League

Following a disappointing first-round playoff exit at the hands of the eventual Eastern Conference Champion Barrie Colts last season, the Sudbury Wolves are looking to regain the magic that lead them to the conference finals only four seasons ago. Last season, the Wolves finished in eight place in the Eastern Conference with a record of 26-35-4-3, very much a season they would like to forget.

As many enjoy the dog days of summer, true hockey fans know that OHL training camps are just under a month away. Moreover, the Sudbury Wolves will look to use an offseason filled with change to make a run at an OHL Championship and more important, a shot at the CHL Memorial Cup.

Changes Abound

The 2010/2011 edition of the Sudbury Wolves will feature many new faces both on the ice and in the front office. With long time coach Mike Foligno stepping down from his post as the team’s general manager and head coach, there will be fresh staff in charge of leading the franchise this season. Blaine Smith, the Wolves team president, has taken over as the team’s GM. As his first act in his new position, he named Terry Cull as his new head coach. Cull had been serving as an assistant coach for the American Hockey League’s Syracuse Crunch.

“Trent Cull is a very bright young coach that knows the new game,” explained Smith. “I think he is a great motivator and our players are going to enjoy playing for him.  I think he is a very good teacher, shows patience, and will be a great asset for our organization.”

After three consecutive subpar campaigns under Foligno, some new personnel might just be the answer heading into the 2010-2011 season.

Moreover, these changes will also be seen on the Wolves roster as well with eight players having played their last season with the club. Graduated players include forwards Jared Staal, Kain Alicock, Kyle Tarini, Steve Reese, Matias Sointu, Eric O’Dell, and captain John Kurtz, as well goaltenders Alain Valiquette and Andrew Loverock. However, the Wolves can allow three players born in 1990 to return to their roster and according to general manager Blaine Smith two of those spots may already be taken.

“We expect Alain Valiquette to return and possibly Eric O'Dell. O'Dell had surgery during the offseason and may not be ready to try out for the Atlanta Thrashers or the Chicago Wolves at training camp time. If such is the case, we have made it clear that we will hold an overage spot open for him.” 

That leaves one spot left and that will be used on a “skilled forward.”

Rookie Watch

With so much change on the team’s roster, that should mean tremendous opportunity for prospects within the Wolves system to crack the 2010-11 opening night roster. The Wolves were able to land three excellent forward prospects to help fill the void on the offensive front.

They added centre Matthew Campagna from the Toronto Young Nats with their first-round selection. Then the Wolves added a pair of wingers with two second-round picks in New Liskeard native Brody Silk and Sam Schutt from the Ottawa Valley Titans. Smith believes that all three “have the ability to step into our line-up this season and contribute offensively.”

The Wolves also hope that US college prospect Robert Visca, whom they acquired from Saginaw, will fill another forward slot.

Blossoming on the Blueline

The major strength on this year’s Wolves team lies on defense with seven players eligible to return for another campaign. Big things will be expected from veteran defenders Daniel Maggio, Ben Chiarot, Nick Trecapelli and Josh Mcfadden. Sudbury will also be hoping for improved play from 2009 first-round selection Justin Sefton, fellow sophomore defender Frankie Corrado, and third-year player Jake Cardwell. With so much experience on the back end, much leadership will be expected to help make the Wolves into a contender in the Central Division.

Fresh Faces and Seasoned Veterans Up Front

One area in which some new players will have the opportunity to contribute is at the forward position. However, despite the loss of some key offensive components, the Wolves will still have the services of some veteran forwards as well. Of course this group will be lead by recent second-round (33rd overall) pick of the Florida Panthers, John McFarland.

He will be joined by skilled forward Marcus Foligno and possible overager Eric O’Dell, as the three will be depended upon heavily to lead a very youthful offensive group. Joining them will be a very young group of forwards including second-year players Eddy Rinke, Kyle Shaw, and Kristoff Kontos. They and the other returning forwards will be asked to contribute a majority of the offense and the play of this forward group will likely determine the fate of this season’s Wolves franchise. The assistance of 2010 draft picks Campagna, Schutt, and Silk should help to lighten the load on the forward group.

Between the Pipes

In what is arguably hockey’s most important position, the Wolves will benefit from the return of overage goaltender Alain Valiquette for a final OHL season. Valiquette has shown glimpses of greatness throughout his career with the Wolves and much the same will be expected from the fifth-year net minder after posting a career high 11 wins and a 3.86 GAA in 2009/2010. His experience should help support an already solid back end and put the Wolves in a position to win on a nightly basis.

Expectations

With opening night of the regular season scheduled for September 24th against Niagara, what should fans expect from the Wolves this season?

Under new head coach Trent Cull, Blaine Smith explains that fans should expect to “see a team that believes in puck possession and control. The systems that will be used will allow our best players to shine and give our young players a chance to develop along side of our veteran players.”  

As well, Smith believes that with players such as John Mcfarland, one of the best offensive players in the league, Alain Valiquette in goal, seven returning defensemen and some high end prospects acquired in the draft, “we expect to challenge for top spot in the central division.”

In terms of areas in which the team would like to improve this season, Smith hopes to see his club become one in which, “we become a team that nobody wants to play against.”

Through marketing and added entertainment at home games, he hopes to win back many fans that the team lost in recent years. Off-ice efforts continuing within the community include charity work and school visits.

Overall, fans should expect a great season from this year’s Sudbury Wolves team and should definitely make an effort to experience the team first hand as they will definitely appreciate your fan support.

When asked what would be a successful season, Smith added, “A successful season would be a team that wins a championship. Anything other than that is considered a disappointment.”  One can only hope that this season will bring about success rather than failure.

Sudbury will be opening training camp toward the end of August. The Wolves then kick off their preseason on Sept. 10 at 7:00pm vs. Barrie, and then play on the road against the Barrie Colts and Soo Greyhounds before concluding the preseason on Sept. 17th against the Hounds. Sudbury opens the regular season on Friday, September 24th against the Niagara Ice Dogs with puck drop at 7:35. Come out and cheer on your Sudbury Wolves.

Also, for the complete interview with Wolves GM Trent Cull, and other Wolves info check out http://bumbacojournalism.webs.com/ or for other information on the OHL franchise, check out www.sudburywolves.com.

Major junior hockey in Canada is comprised of three separate leagues that form what is called the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). Those three leagues are the Western Hockey League, Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and the Ontario Hockey League.

Each league champion plays in a round robin tournament along with a host club from one of the league, which rotates every season to compete for the Memorial Cup Championship.

Overall the CHL has over 60 hockey clubs all developing talent for the NHL. That's a pretty good amount of players playing every season working towards the goal of developing into tomorrow's stars.

The Ontario Hockey League was created in 1974 under the direction of the Ontario Hockey Association. In 1980, the League became a separate entity.

David Branch is the only commissioner the OHL has had. Mr. Branch also runs the CHL. Under his guidance the League has developed 1000's of players playing worldwide.

This season, according to Central Scouting, there are over 50 players ranked as potential players to be selected by NHL teams. The Ontario League leads the way with 9 skaters ranked in the top 30, as well as having 4 of the top 5 players including Tyler Seguin and Taylor Hall—two players who have become household names over the last few months.

Over the last 10 years the OHL has averaged at least 6 first round selections and provided 11 first round picks during the 2008 Entry Draft.

The Ontario Hockey League is one of the foremost developing grounds for hockey talent, like I mentioned earlier there are graduates of the OHL playing hockey not only in the NHL but worldwide.

Not only players from Canada play in the OHL, there are many American, Czech, Russia and other European nations represented in the OHL.

Hopefully Tyler Seguin or Taylor Hall follow the footsteps of Steven Stamkos and John Tavares as the top selection in the NHL Entry Draft to hail from the Ontario Hockey League.

Other notable players are Erik Gudbranson of the Kingston Frontenacs, Cam Fowler of the Windsor Spitfires, Alexander Burmistrov of the Barrie Colts, Austin Watson of the Peterbourough Petes, John McFarland of the Sudbury Wolves, and Tyler Toffoli and Ryan Martindale of the Ottawa 67's as OHL players ranked in the first round by Central Scouting.

Good Luck to all draft eligible players.

For the first time in team history, the Barrie Colts claimed top spot in the Canadian Hockey League Top 10 Rankings and now they are moving in on the Memorial Cup.

In February, the Colts moved ahead of the Saint John Sea Dogs of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League to take over first place. The Colts remained No. 1 until the end of the season, finishing with a league-best record of 57-9-0-2 and 116 points.

Barrie, playing in the Ontario Hockey League, lost just 11 games all season.

The Barrie Colts are just as tough to beat in the playoffs. They are the first team to reach the second round, completing a four-game sweep of the Sudbury Wolves in OHL playoff action. The Colts outscored the eighth-seeded Wolves 25-10 in the series.

Their Eastern Conference semifinal opponent is yet to be determined, but will likely be the winner of the series between No. 4 Kingston Frontenacs and No. 5 Brampton Battalion. 

The Battalion recently edged Kingston 4-3 to take a 3-2 series lead.

The Colts' current roster is led up front by team captain Stefan Della Rovere, a Washington Capitals draft pick, and Alex Pietrangelo, a St. Louis Blues draft pick, on defense. Nine Colts have already been drafted into the NHL.

Barrie, located in Central Ontario, 50 miles north of Toronto, has one American player and one Russian—all the rest come from Ontario.

Over thirty former Colts played in the NHL, including Drake Berehowsky, Shayne Corson, Jeff Cowan, and Daniel Tkaczuk.

Barrie wins games with a balanced attack and a high-energy game.

The first Barrie Colts team played in the junior division of the OHA from 1907 until 1910. The Barrie Colts were revived in 1921 and played in the Ontario Hockey Association from 1921 to 1944.

They won the Sutherland Cup Championship in 1934–35. One of its original players was Leighton "Hap" Emms. Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender Harry Lumley also played for the team in 1942–43.

The Barrie Colts finished first in Canada in the 2009-10 OHL Season.

The modern Barrie Colts started out in the Mid-Ontario Junior B League. They moved up to play at the Junior A Tier II level, and joined the Ontario Hockey League in 1994.

The Colts have never missed the playoffs in team history. 

The Colts won the J. Ross Robertson Cup in 2000 and came second in the Memorial Cup, losing to the Rimouski Océanic in the championship game.

The Windsor Spitfires won the Memorial Cup last year in Rimouski, but Windsor won “just” 50 times this year. 

They were first in the Western Conference again, but the league crown went to the Barrie Colts.

The Spits had injuries, suspensions, and missed players during the world juniors. 

Unlike baseball wild cards or March Madness basketball or the NHL playoffs, when an eighth-seeded team can make a stunning run to the Stanley Cup final, in Jr. A hockey the best teams in the regular season usually rise to the occasion in the playoffs.

The London Knights can't be overlooked. The Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors are talented. The Brampton Battalion have the reigning Canadian Hockey League top player in Cody Hodgson.

Barrie has the deepest roster, but Windsor has the deepest experience, over the past couple of years.

If you have interest in hockey or sports, or Canada, or North American life, you owe it to yourself to take a trip to Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, and see a Jr. A Game at the Peterborough Memorial Centre, the home of the Peterborough Petes.

With a population around seventy-five thousand, Peterborough is a small city. It's the capital of the Kawarthas, which is cottage country, on the Trent-Severn Waterway that links Lake Ontario to Georgian Bay. It's only 125 clicks or about 80 miles from Toronto, but it has the feel of a more isolated place, as it's surrounded by the Ganaraska Forest.

Your first thought, inside the arena, after walking up to your seat and looking around, is that you want to live your life over again and play hockey here.

The 'Petes' were established in 1956 and have become the longest continuously operating team in the Ontario Hockey League, which is the best at this level in the entire world.

The team has participated in the Memorial Cup tournament nine times in their history and they won it once. More importantly, the Petes have produced a record number of National Hockey League players, including stars and superstars. Some of the living legends are Eric Staal, Jordan Staal, Mike Fisher, Cory Stillman, Chris Pronger, Steve Yzerman, Bob Gainey, Mike Ricci, Tie Domi, Larry Murphy, and The Great One, Wayne Gretzky.

Corey Perry came from Peterborough, too, but played junior elsewhere. They have sent a hundred players to the NHL who have played 100 or more games in the big league.

The Petes also produced some legendary coaches, including Scotty Bowman, Roger Neilson, and Mike Keenan.
   
Jim Balsillie, the BlackBerry billionaire who keeps trying to buy and NHL team for Ontario, came from Peterborough.

Two Canadian authors who should have won the Nobel Prize for Literature, Margaret Laurence and Robertson Davies, were also Peterborough people. So was Catherine Parr Trail, who wrote an early CanLit classic called "The Backwoods Of Canada."

The first game I saw at the Peterborough Memorial Centre was the Saturday of the Santa Claus Parade, early in December, and shortly after their play-by-play guy did his one thousandth game in a row.

It was 30 degrees outside, or a little below zero and freezing, and thousands of people were standing outside in the dark to watch the parade as it followed Roger Neilson Way from downtown Peterborough to the huge parking lot beside the hockey arena.

It started to get dark around 4:30 p.m. and by 6:30 p.m. it looked like the middle of the night. Santa Claus visited the play-by-play booth at the end of the first period and talked to Pete Dalladay, the voice of the Peterborough Petes, and congratulated him on his 1000th game. By that time, the home team was down 4-0 in a game against the league-leading and championship defending Windsor Spitfires.

The Spits won the Memorial Cup the year before and looked like they were on their way to winning it again. The Petes were in second place in their division of the OHL but they were twenty points behind the Spits. The Petes play against Belleville, Ottawa, Oshawa, and Kingston in the East Division. The Bulls, 67s, Generals, and Frontenacs.

The fans who fill the stands show wild support for the Petes, but don't appear surprised to see the Spits take an early lead.

When you first see the bowl of the Peterborough Memorial Centre full of hockey fans, the sight will take your breath away. The arena itself is very impressive, inside and out. They keep the building dark until game time, traditionally, and between periods, so when the lights come up, so does your energy and the excitement level of the big crowd.

Enormous banners hang from the ceiling and a huge portrait of the Queen smiles down from the far end of the ice, making the big space feel smaller. It is a cozy arena, seating over 4000 people. The Peterborough Petes Junior A hockey team has played here since 1956. It is the oldest continuously operating team in the league. You do the math and check your age to see how you compare.

The big red banners hanging from the ceiling honour past Petes and Hockey Hall of Famers Bob Gainey, Steve Yzerman, Mickey Redmond, Larry Murphy, Dick Todd, Roger Neilson, and Scotty Bowman. That's a lot of hockey history, close to the heart of the game, right there.

There is a lot more hockey history and local sports history downstairs, where the city of Peterborough maintains the Peterborough Sports Hall of Fame. Most cities in the OHL have a "Hall of Fame" with a few portraits of former players who went on to greater glory in the NHL. Peterborough has a full-sized museum.

The Petes' long and proud history is prominently featured in the museum but there are also a lot of souvenirs from lacrosse and other sports, celebrating local athletes. It's the OHL's finest museum. Lots of people get to the game early so they can wander through the museum. It's also open at intermission time, between periods. As you make your way through the exhibits, you do the math, and see where you would have fit in.

I realized that if I played Junior hockey here, after being part of the Jr. C Bracebridge Bears team that won the Ontario Championship in 1973, I would have been coached by Roger Neilson. The trainer would have been Dick Todd, who later became the coach, and kept up the winning tradition started by Scotty Bowman and carried on by Neilson.

In 1974, the Petes went all the way to the OHL's play-off championships. Maybe the needed just one more player to beat the St. Catharines Black Hawks that year. I bet a lot of guys have fantasies like that, sitting in the stands, looking up at all the championship banners.

The Petes have won the OHL Championship nine times, second-most in OHL history, and the most in the postwar period. They won the Memorial Cup once, back in 1979. I could have been on that team.

Neilson led his team to seven consecutive winning seasons from 1968 to 1975, also finishing first overall in 1970–71, winning the J. Ross Robertson Cup in 1972, and were runners-up in 1973 and 1974.

In the 1972 Memorial Cup, the Petes lost a close 2–1 game in the finals to the Cornwall Royals.

The Petes have produced a record number of National Hockey League players and they have graduated the most players to the NHL of all current OHL teams. After winning the Jr. C provincial championship, the Jr. A provincial and national championships, the NHL and the WHA would have been fighting over me.
   
Why did I want to be a writer? What happened to my desire to be the star of the game on Hockey Night In Canada, playing for or against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Maple Leaf Gardens? A lot of hockey dreams and careers took off from here. The Peterborough hockey rink is like a launching pad for athletes who want to play with the stars and become superstars.

The league-leading Windsor Spitfires jumped out to a 4-0 lead after 20 minutes and never looked back in Peterborough as they beat the Petes 9-5 in front of over 3,000 fans.

It was the twelfth win in a row for the Spitfires and they are unbeaten in their last 21.

The Petes were playing their third game in three nights, and it showed. The Petes' starting goalie, Jason Missiaen, was chased out of the net after allowing nine goals in two periods, and was replaced by Andrew D'Agostini who stopped all 11 shots he faced.

Greg Nemisz got two goals for Windsor in the first period. Austen Brassard and Taylor Hall added singles. It was Hall's 24th of the season.

Adam Henrique scored at the start of the second period, his 26th of the season, to make it 5-0.

David Quesnnele got the Petes on the scoreboard with his 28th goal of the year. Dale Mitchell scored for Windsor shortly after.

Ryan Ellis shot the puck so hard, on Windsor's next goal, it got stuck in the netting.

Mike Lomas scored for Peterborough and Kenny Ryan answered with a goal for Windsor. Harry Young added another for the Spitfires.

Liam Heelis scored two goals for Peterborough.

Peterborough's Patrick Daley got the lone goal of the third period.

The Spits showed why they sit on top of the OHL. The Petes are in second place in the East Division but are 20 points behind the Spits. They dropped an 8-4 decision to the MidWest Division leading Kitchener Rangers on Friday Night and lost in a shoot-out to the Sudbury Wolves on Thursday.

Santa Claus dropped in on the Petes' game, after the parade through downtown Peterborough, and gave Windsor fans what they wanted.

Windsor has three of the top four goal scorers in the OHL, with Taylor Hall, Adam Henrique, and Greg Nemisz. Hall has 24 goals and 55 points, ahead of Henrique, in second, with 26 goals and 49 points.

Windsor Spitfires celebrate their Memorial Cup championship last spring after defeating the Kelowna Rockets in Rimouski, Quebec.

Nemisz, with 2 goals and 1 assist, was the first star of the game. Henrique was the second star.

Heelis, of the Petes, with 2 goals, was the third star.

The Petes went 0 for 4 on the power-play and the Spits were 5 for 9.

The Red Line Report now ranks John Tavares as the third-best prospect in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. Matt Duchene has replaced him at the No. 1 spot.

Red Line Report rated Tavares the third-best prospect behind Sweden's Victor Hedman and Brampton Battalian centre Matt Duchene in its preliminary rankings, it has been reported widely.

Duchene's Battalion leads the Belleville Bulls, 2-1, in the the OHL's semifinals, and Tavare's London Knights are down 3-1 to the Windsor Spitfires. Tavare's team is facing elimination.

According to the scouting service, Tavares's stock plummeted as a result of his performance in the OHL playoffs.

The New York Islanders have first pick in the draft and were expected to select Tavares but Islanders GM Garth Snow is on the record saying he wanted to review the top prospects.

The Colorado Avalanche have stated their intentions of landing Duchene. He comes from a village a hundred miles north of Toronto, which should make the Toronto Maple Leafs interested in him.

Who is Matt Duchene? He is known in some quarters as the most well rounded player in the draft. He is very fast, a great passer, kills penalties, and has a good shot, too.

Some compare him to Zach Parise for his perpetual motion. The Colorado Avalanche compare him to Joe Sakic and seem as his possible replacement, according to the Denver Post.

Matt Duchene of the Brampton Battalion is the Bobby Smith Trophy winner as the OHL's Scholastic Player of the Year, according to Our Sports Central. Duchene attended Turner Fenton Secondary School in Brampton while playing for the Battalion.

He is keeping up with six courses including Grade 12 University classes. He has an 85 percent average in English and 82 in Law.

Duchene has an overall average of 85 percent and has been described by teachers as being a leader and a role model in class.

In his second season with the Battalion, Duchene scored 31 goals and 48 assists for 79 points in 57 games ranking 14th in league scoring.

He scored 25 multi-point games including a five-point game with a hat-trick and two assists January 8th in a 6-2 win over the Sudbury Wolves as first star of the game.
He also represented the Battalion and the Eastern Conference at the 2009 OHL All-Star Classic.

The Bobby Smith Trophy is presented to the OHL Scholastic Player of the year who best combines high standards of play and academic excellence. The trophy is in honour of Bobby Smith, who exhibited a standard of excellence in both of these areas.

Duchene was born in 1991 in Peterborough and the village of Haliburton, near Algonquin Park, is his hometown.

He is 5-foot-11, weighs 190, plays centre, and shoots left. He is the captain of the Brampton Battalion of the Ontario Hockey League, according to their webpage.

Haliburton is the original home of NHL players Ron Stackhouse and Bernie Nicholls. Camp Rock was filmed there.

Duchene was the Battalion's first round choice in the 2007 OHL Priority Selection after a stellar 2006-07 season with the Central Ontario Wolves AAA minor midgets and the Haliburton Highlands Secondary School team.

In 52 games with the Central Ontario Wolves AAA Minor Mid, Duchene scored 69 goals and added another 37 assists for a total of 106 points. 

In his first season in the OHL, last year, in 64 games with the Brampton Battalion, he netted 30 goals and added 20 assists for a total of 50 points.

He completed his rookie season in April by leading Canada's gold medal winning team in goals at the 2008 IIHF under-18 championship at Russia and he scored five goals in seven games.

He was captain of Canada's championship team at the 2008 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament in the Czech Republic in August 2008, earning his third international gold medal in less than eight months.

He led Canada's gold medal-winning team in goals at the 2008 IIHF under-18 championship at Russia. He was one of four underage players on the Canadian squad.
He became the only first-year player in Battalion history to record two three-goal games.

He was the leading scorer for gold medal-winning Team Ontario at the 2008 World Under-17 Challenge at London, Ontario, scoring four goals and adding six assists for 10 points in six games.

He is the nephew of Anaheim Ducks' assistant coach Newell Brown, who was a member of the 1980 Memorial Cup champion Cornwall Royals. His cousin Adam Brown is a rookie goaltender with the Kelowna Rockets of the WHL.

He started playing organized hockey with the Haliburton Huskies when he was four, and one year later joined players who were two years older.

His father, Vince, was a goaltender for the Minden Monarchs who won the all-Ontario juvenile championship in 1984-85.

Duchene competes in several other sports and won a bronze medal in discus at the 2006 OFSSAA track and field championships. He also plays competitive soccer and badminton, enjoys fishing for walleye and lake trout.

He is a player who loves to compete. This guy is a big time future NHL scorer, according to HockeyProspect.com.

Spring is here for the National Hockey League, which means the real season has begun.

That's right the Stanley Cup Playoffs are in the eyes of sixteen teams. The remaining fourteen organizations are now planning and working on their options for the National Hockey League 2009 Entry Draft.

Here are my projected picks for this years Entry Draft.

1). New York Islanders—John Tavares, C, London, OHL—Tavares will instantly become the franchise player the Islanders have been waiting for. He has excellent vision and natural talent and can project the play before it happens. He will suffer some growing pains, but he will adapt quickly to the NHL game. While he can not bring the Islanders back to their old glory days by himself, he will become an important part in bringing the Islanders back to their old glory.

2). Tampa Bay Lightning—Victor Hedman, D, Modo—Hedman is a big, fast defenseman from Sweden who will dominate on the blue-line. He can make plays happen very quickly.  He posses excellent vision and will be a huge boast to Tampa's power-play.

3). Colorado Avalanche—Evander Kane, C, Vancouver—Evander is an excellent stick handler and scoring touch. After an amazing season leading the WHL in scoring he is ready to bring his game to a struggling, but talented Colorado team.

4). Atlanta Thrashers—Magnus Paajarvisvensson, LW, Timra—Without a doubt Paajarvisvensson is the best forward coming out of Europe this year. He has great two way skills and has been compared to other great Swedes like Forsberg and Sundin. He will be the piece of the puzzle Atlanta has been needing.

5). Los Angeles Kings—Matt Duchene, C, Brampton—Finally the term rebuilding can be taken off the Kings, and playoff team can be added to the label. This young but extremely talented team will become even better with Duchene. He is a quick two way player that can break a game open quickly. Probably one of the fastest skaters from a dead stop in the draft.

6). Phoenix Coyotes—Nazem Kadri, C, London—Over shadowed by teammate John Tavares, Kadri possess the most accurate shot in the draft. Coach Gretzky will be the perfect person to help Kadri develop into an NHL player. With a tutor like that you can see Kadri being a Calder Cup contender next season.

7). Toronto Maple Leafs—Dmitry Kulikov, D, Drummondville–While I expect Brian Burke to trade this pick and move down in the draft, he could decide to keep it and select Kulikov. He is a hard hitting defensemen with good puck handling skills. This is a corner stone for every successful Burke team. 

8). Dallas Stars—Oliver Ekman-Larsson, D, Leksand—It will be at least a year before he can show his skills in the NHL, but Oliver is a hard hitting, fast skating defensemen in the mold of Sydor. Will be a big boost to an aging blue line.

9). Ottawa Senators—Brayden Schenn, C, Brandon—He is one of the hardest working players in the draft. Schenn could develop into a solid second line center for the Senators. He has excellent passing skills and a very accurate wrist shot.

10). Edmonton Oilers—Jared Cowan, D, Spokane—He is a big, bruising blueliner. Cowan will not get many points but he is a solid shot blocker who is not afraid to throw his body around.

11). Nashville Predators—Jacob Josefson, C, Djurgarden—A smart skater, who does not take risky chances but knows when the time is right to make the right play. Josefson is a good passer who should pile up a lot of assists during his career.

12).  Minnesota Wild—John Moore, D, Chicago—Moore is a small but quick defensman with good puck handling skills. He will take some time to develop but should become a solid blue liner in two to three years.

13). Buffalo Sabres—Scott Glennie, C, Brandon— A small quick forward perfect for the system Buffalo employees. There is plenty of video of Glennie on you tube, which is perfect for the Sabres since they discarded their scouting department.

14). Florida Panthers—Nick Leddy, D, Eden Prarrie—This might be a reach but after two years in the AHL this kid could become the blue liner the Panthers need. He is quick and still growing. Leddy is an excellent shot blocker that can also handle the puck.

Consider this to be continued as the playoffs begin to dictate how the remainder of the draft plays out.

Every professional sports league, despite their own share of degenerates, loud-mouths, and criminals who don't do their required amount of time, does a lot to support charities and causes that matter.

With all of the money these teams and leagues make from endorsements, ticket sales, merchandise revenues, corporately sponsored events, and nearly anything else you can think of, it's nice when teams decide to give back.

It's even nicer when those teams go over and above the call of duty.

This past Friday night, the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League played the Erie Otters in a typical OHL Friday night game.

While the game featured flurries of shots from both teams, it was unnaturally low-scoring for a Knights team who features offensive gurus such as John Tavares, Nazem Kadri, Justin Taylor, and a host of others, ending in a 2-1 overtime win for the Green and Gold.

But there was something different about this game. It didn't have anything to do with the roster or the team itself (aside from the fact it took about a period and a half for them to gear up). It had to do with that Green and Gold.

It wasn't there.

Now, a breast cancer awareness night is nothing new to hockey at any level. For the past few years pink sticks have been used, a patch has been placed on the captain's jersey, and even the ice has been flooded pink.

On Friday night, the London Knights became one of just a few teams in recent memory to don pink jerseys.

While the color scheme didn't exactly work (Black, white, and light pink jerseys, black pants, and hot-pink socks), it certainly got the job done—enticing bidders from who knows how far away to try to purchase their favorite player's pink jersey.

At the time of writing this, John Tavares' jersey was up past $10,000.

Although I've never been to any other "Pink Games", the Knights did it right. There were pleasant ladies selling bracelets all over the arena, the crowd was encouraged to (and did) dress in as much pink as possible, and midway through the second period, a bucket (much like the collection plate in Church) was passed throughout the entire arena to collect everyone's spare change.

Even the players got into it. In a recent article by Ryan Pyette of the London Free Press he quoted Daniel Erlich (who I had the pleasure of meeting about a month ago) as saying "If we can find some pink sticks, let's use them. Pink tape. Pink everything."

Pre-game, there was even a Knight wearing a big fuzzy pink hat. I'm not sure who it was, but it proved that, while young athletes get such a bad rap these days, some of them are good-natured, light-hearted, giving individuals.

This brings me to a bit of an issue I had with the game though—going back to the fact I couldn't tell who it was wearing the hat.

The jersey's were a touch unreadable.

I don't know, perhaps my eyes simply didn't adjust quickly enough, but light pink on white is pretty hard to see at a hockey game going full speed.

It eventually got so bad that I thought it was Tavares feeding Kadri for the game-winner, not the other way around. I'm not going to lie: All I saw was the number one.

Side note: For those not familiar with the team, Nazem Kadri is number 91, while Tavares is 61. Tavares originally wore 91 with the Oshawa Generals, but when he was traded he switched to Rick Nash's old number 61 because Kadri had his number.

Despite my Clinton Kelly-esque fashion expertise (switch the light pink on the numbers with the dark pink on the socks for more readable jerseys) though, I was convinced of just one thing during the game.

The NHL should adopt more pink in the jerseys. Not for an entire season, but more than those wimpy pink fan jerseys (unless any of those proceeds go towards Breast Cancer).

I mean a home game for each team where they're required to wear pink jerseys.

Marketing be damned (and it would be a damn good strategy) 'Thinking Pink' in arenas is quickly turning into one of the most enjoyable experiences at the Junior, College, and AHL level.

And Greg Wyshynski is right: A Hockey Fight in pink jersey's is certainly something different.

Bryan Thiel is a Senior Writer and an NHL Community Leader for Bleacher Report. If you want to get in contact with Bryan, you can do so through his profile. You can also check out all of his previous work in his archives.

Fighting in hockey is part of the game, it's not arguable, not even debatable. Changing the rules of fighting however, isn't going to stop ANY person from going to see a hockey game because of the new changes in different leagues. Most notably, the OHL. After time we won't miss fighting.

For those who don't know the OHL has made a rule that if you take off your own helmet, the fight is to be stopped right then and there as well as a game misconduct I believe. If your helmet falls off during a fight, the linesmen must intervene as soon as that happens. As far as suspensions go for the league I'm not to sure.

In another the league (GOJHL - Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League) they just brought up a new rule for the 2009-2010 season. Third fight in a season is a one game suspension, fourth is two games, fifth is three games, and the sixth is a indefinite suspension with a meeting in front of the disciplinary committee of the league.

Saying that, those rules for the GOJHL don't have anything to do with the safety of the players whatsoever.

Getting on to the point of the article, do the people that make these rules think that players are going to stop fighting? To me, it's not a big deal, you could take out fighting period and it still wouldn't be a big deal. Yes, it's part of the game, but you don't go to a semi-pro, junior, or NHL hockey game to see fights. You go to watch skilled players perform to their best or in junior you go to watch kids develop into better players.

I think that cutting down fighting in the long run is also a positive because when it does happen, it will be a good treat for the fans to see because it isn't happening every game like it sometimes does.

Sorry for thought jumping, but I am under the weather and wanted to write an opinion that popped into my head. Thanks for reading!

Adam Faulkner, 18, Sarnia, Ontario.