It was an up and down month for many of the Rangers prospects, and the injury list continued to grow. Leading the way this month were the continuing improvements by Brandon Dubinsky and Alexandre Giroux, while Chris Holt returned to those on the rise. On the negative side, Garth Murray continues to struggle to make an impression in what could be a career defining year.
THE PROSPECTS
| On The Rise | |
| Jozef Balej 11GP 7-4-11 9PIM 42GP 12-15-27 34PIM | Just as Jozef Balej appeared to be regaining his form from last year, a cross-check to the back forced him out of the line-up. It’s hoped that the speedy winger will be back soon to continue on from where he left off. |
| Ryan Callahan 11GP 6-8-14 10PIM 43GP 22-19-41 63PIM – WHL 7GP 1-2-3 27PIM – WJC | The experience of playing for the US in the World Juniors appears to have sparked Callahan’s play in the month of January. After a so-so December, Callahan has rebounded with 14 points in 11 games for the inexperienced Storm. |
| Joey Crabb 8GP 6-1-7 8PIM 28GP 13-9-22 26PIM | Colorado College continues to lead the NCAA polls and Crabb has been both a beneficiary and contributor to their success. The 21 year old winger is now just two goals and four points shy of the numbers he put up last season. He ranks third on the team in goals, and second on power play goals. |
| Brandon Dubinsky 12GP 5-10-15 16PIM 47GP 16-26-42 101PIM | Dubinsky equaled his output from December last month, and continues to be one of the hottest Ranger prospects at this point. It looks as if his team, the Portland Pirates, are finally turning the corner too. Dubinsky is now ranked third on the team in points. |
| Alexandre Giroux 13GP 7-9-16 8PIM 46GP 19-14-33 43PIM | The hot streak continues for the lanky left winger. Giroux put up impressive numbers for the Pack as he moved up into second place in terms points of points scored and continues to lead the team in goals and power play goals. Despite the positive results, Giroux could still do more to enhance his chances of moving to the NHL in the future. |
| Chris Holt 7GP 5-1-1 .943 1.85 24GP 13-9-2 .912 2.61 | The Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks and Chris Holt continue to be one of the biggest surprises in the NCAA. The 6’2″ goaltender recovered from a .500 record in December to post an impressive 5-1-1 record and pick up the CCHA goaltender of the week award in the middle of January. |
| Jarkko Immonen 10GP 3-6-9 4PIM 43GP 16-25-41 20PIM | Despite a four game streak where JYP was shutout completely from the scoring column, Immonen continues to be the offensive leader for the team at almost a point a game pace. |
| Rick Kozak 11GP 4-6-10 42PIM 32GP 11-7-18 93PIM | Kozak continues to put up the points with Prince Albert and appears to have his anger a little better under control. There have been fewer misconducts in the last month, though still plenty of time in the penalty box. |
| Henrik Lundqvist 9GP 8-0-1 .952 1.31 37GP 28-7-2 .936 1.76 | Ludnqvist bounced back to the top of the Swedish Elite League with another impressive month in January. The young Swede regained the top rank in Goals Against Average and Save Percentage as he registered one shutout and went undefeated in an 8-0-1 streak. |
| Dominic Moore 13GP 5-4-9 4PIM 48GP 12-25-37 26PIM | Moore completed a season high nine game point scoring streak in January, but has had his production drop since the milestone, along with much of the rest of the team. Reports out of Harftord are that management have been impressed with his play this year as he has switched to a more two-way style than he was known for in college. |
| Greg Moore 7GP 4-2-6 6PIM 21GP 7-3-10 8PIM | After a couple of quiet months, Moore’s continued solid play has been rewarded with some timely offensive success. One of the veteran leaders in the Black Bear line-up, Moore has proven to be a solid contributor at both ends of the ice. |
| Lawrence Nycholat 13GP 0-9-9 26PIM 34GP 5-16-21 46PIM | Another solid month for Nycholat has been rewarded with a selection to the AHL All Star game in Feburary. Nycholat has been one of the few stalwarts on the Hartford blueline as others have succumbed to injury, and has continued to play with an edge while contributing on offense and defense. |
| Jakub Petruzalek 11GP 3-8-11 10PIM 40GP 17-30-47 34PIM – WHL 7GP 1-1-2 4PIM – WJC | Petruzalek continues to do all that he can to raise his profile in North America. While there will still remain questions about his size and how much he benefits from playing with Lukas Kaspar and as a 19 year old in the CHL, there’s little else he could do to press his case. |
| Corey Potter 6GP 0-1-1 6PIM 17GP 0-2-2 47PIM | The Spartans have begun righting the ship and have steadily moved up the CCHA standings in recent weeks. The steady play of Corey Potter on the blueline has certainly been a big part of that, and perhaps his absence in the early part of the season contributed to MSU’s woes. |
| Dylan Reese 4GP 1-1-2 6PIM 19GP 5-6-11 16PIM | Harvard has been a modest surprise this season, knocking off some much more vaunted opponents in the process. Reese has emerged as the leading offensive blueliner and has quietly put up a solid season to date.. |
| Layne Ulmer 13GP 1-14-15 6PIM 40GP 4-22-26 17PIM | Apparently Ulmer has been hampered by a shoulder injury much of this season, which has no doubt contributed to his drop in goal scoring. Still he has battled through the injury and put up an impressive 14 assists in 13 games last month, and has quietly been one of the more consistent offensive contributors for the Pack. |
| Stephen Valiquette 8GP 4-2-0 .944 1.18 21GP 11-7-1 .939 1.54 | Playing behind the reigning AHL MVP and AHL All Star selection Jason Labarbera is not exactly the easiest thing to do. But Valiquette seized his opportunity in January with both hands, shutting down the opposition for the second longest period in franchise history. The shut out streak featured three complete games, and a 6-4 game in relief where he helped the Pack battle back from a 4-1 deficit to win the game.. |
| Holding Steady | |
| Zdenek Bahensky 15GP 5-2-7 23PIM 47GP 12-13-25 64PIM | It wasn’t a complete rebound, but Bahensky did improve a little after his Christmas break and visit to his homeland. The streaky winger started the month strongly, before settling into a lesser role as January progressed. |
| Ivan Baranka 11GP 1-1-2 6PIM 44GP 5-9-14 34PIM – WHL 6GP 0-2-2 4PIM – WJC | The Everett Silvertips have struggled this season after being the Cinderella story in their debut season. Baranka has certainly been a part of the struggles in the past month, putting up a less than impressive -7, to put his season rating at -14. Still this doesn’t tell the whole story, and he continues to learn and get quality ice time for Everett. |
| Dane Byers 10GP 3-1-4 13PIM 44GP 6-6-12 123PIM | Byers continues to have a quiet season offensively, but is at least having a little more success. The addition of Kozak to the Raiders has appeared to help his game, perhaps allowing the two to feed off each other to some extent. |
| Nigel Dawes 13GP 3-7-10 10PIM 41GP 21-16-37 24PIM – WHL 6GP 2-4-6 6PIM – WJC | Dawes took a lesser role for the Canadians in the World Junior Championships on their way to the gold medal, and it appears that he is still yet to return to his pre-competition form. It appears too that he will fall short of last year’s sparking performance which saw him register 47 goals and 70 points in just 56 games |
| Lee Falardeau 10GP 4-1-5 21PIM 37GP 14-7-21 33PIM | His production dropped a little in January, though he did have his first pro career fight during the month. Still Falardeau must continue to improve if he hopes to beat out Ryan Cuthbert and earn a call-up to Hartford. |
| Philippe Furrer 4GP 0-0-0 0PIM 34GP 3-3-6 14PIM – SWI 6GP 0-0-0 10PIM – WJC | It’s been a quiet month for Furrer since winding up his tour with the Swiss under 20 squad at the World Juniors. Having turned some heads with his play in the tournament, he has played just four games with SC Bern after some time off and a light schedule in the Nationaliga. |
| Mike Green 8GP 2-3-5 6PIM 41GP 9-16-25 36PIM | Green continues to put up the points in Germany as he plays a two way role for the Nurnberg Tigers of the German league. |
| Nate Guenin 8GP 1-2-3 34PIM 27GP 2-7-9 100PIM | Guenin has not been the standout that he was last season, but continues to be a solid contributor for the second placed Ohio State Buckeyes. Still there’s one thing that hasn’t slacked off…his willingness to play an aggressive game, as evidenced by his 34 penalty minutes in just 8 appearances in January. |
| Ryan Hollweg 13GP 2-2-4 68PIM 46GP 6-5-11 134PIM | He has earned the reputation as the type of guy that the opposition hates to play against, and Hollweg made sure that the tradition was continued last month. He more than doubled his season penalty minute total as he tried to inspire the Wolf Pack through a series of ups and downs late in January. |
| Maxim Kondratiev 13GP 0-2-2 18PIM 18GP 1-3-4 47PIM – RUS 13GP 1-4-5 8PIM – AHL | After a solid start to his season in Russia, Kondratiev appears to have settled into a rhythm with Lada Togliatti, registering just two assists and finishing the month even in the plus/minus column. Togliatti continues to be amongst the better performing teams in the Russian Super Leagues. |
| Bryce Lampman 13GP 2-3-5 4PIM 44GP 7-9-16 42PIM | Lampman’s season continues to stay on track despite a couple of injuries. Mixing in some offense this year, Lampman continues to be a dependable if unspectacular contributor on the blueline and has formed a steady pairing with Lawrence Nycholat. |
| Steven MacIntyre 12GP 1-1-2 117PIM 18GP 1-1-2 139PIM – AHL 24GP 0-0-0 93PIM – ECHL | MacIntyre managed to stay with the Pack the entire month of January, even registering his first goal of the season in an impressive performance against Hershey on the road. The coaching staff continue to demonstrate faith in “Big Mac”, who has played both on the blueline and at wing during the past month. |
| Jeff MacMillan 11GP 0-0-0 37PIM 34GP 1-4-5 29PIM | The “veteran” defenseman continues to provide a steady influence on the blueline and has contributed with his physical play rather than his offense in the past month. |
| Darin Olver 8GP 1-3-4 4PIM 26GP 6-17-23 20PIM | We were starting to wonder whether Olver might finally be breaking out after a solid December, but it appears that his scoring woes are continuing. Despite working and skating hard, the young center has had trouble finishing this year and has slipped a notch in our estimation as a result |
| Jonathan Paiement 10GP 3-3-6 16PIM 37GP 4-34-38 116PIM | Paiment’s has seldom appeared in the top three stars of the game this season and perhaps continues to benefit offensively by his surrounding cast and his veteran status within the QMJHL. It’s hard to ask him to have done more, but the statistics in this case perhaps paint an overly optimistic picture. |
| Thomas Pöck 4GP 0-0-0 0PIM – AHL 3GP 0-2-2 2PIM – ECHL 19GP 0-4-4 8PIM – AHL 3GP 0-2-2 2PIM – ECHL | Returned from an ankle injury with a short conditioning stint in the ECHL before returning to the Pack line up late in the month. Pöck’s offensive production continues to be disappointing, but in his defense he has been working on his defensive game. |
| Petr Prucha 4GP 1-0-1 2PIM 37GP 2-7-9 16PIM | For whatever reason, Prucha missed several games last month and continues to see the majority of his time on the lesser lines. It’s hard to evaluate Prucha’s progress this season with the reduced responsibilities…so we’ll just write this month off as another in a disappointing season that has little to do with Prucha’s potential. |
| Roman Psurny 13GP 4-5-9 20PIM 47GP 15-18-33 47PIM | The young Czech continues to quietly have a solid season with the Central Division leaders of the WHL, and apparently has demonstrated a willingness to get in there and do the dirty work not shying away from contact. |
| Rory Rawlyk 10GP 3-4-7 12PIM 40GP 7-12-19 57 PIM | The offense continues for Rawlyk this season in Charlotte, but he remains low on the depth chart for the Rangers in terms of depth prospects. A call-up in February was largely a result of injuries, though he did manage to skip over Ryan Glenn. |
| Jake Taylor 11GP 0-1-1 35PIM 28GP 0-2-2 85PIM – AHL 9GP 0-2-2 29PIM – ECHL | The biggest improvement in Taylor’s game in the past month has probably come in his fighting ability. Unable to demonstrate that aspect of his game in the NCAA, the sizable d-man has made some strides this year in refining his technique. |
| Fedor Tyutin 8GP 2-0-2 6PIM 20GP 3-2-5 24PIM – RUS 13GP 2-1-3 10PIM – AHL | It continues to be tough going playing for the struggling St Petersburg, who continue to draw weak crowds and have limited success on the ice. Tyutin’s plus/minus for the month was a disappointing -6, though he did manage to pot two goals. |
| Craig Weller 13GP 2-1-3 19PIM 48GP 8-7-15 80PIM | No doubt his move back to the blueline has been one of the primary reasons that his production has dropped. Weller continues to play both ends, fill in at forward on occasion and continues to show a willingness to drop the gloves when necessary. |
| Chad Wiseman 13GP 5-4-9 23PIM 48GP 16-16-32 53PIM | Wiseman continues to contribute offense, but has perhaps has failed to build on last year’s success. The 2004 AHL All Star will not return to this year and will instead have time to focus on improving his finishing. |
| On The Decline | |
| Ivan Dornic 6GP 2-2-4 0PIM 17GP 2-2-4 2PIM – SLK 8GP 0-1-1 5PIM – WHL | A brief stint in the second tier league seems to have motivated Dornic to higher levels briefly. But after a 4 game point streak, Dornic has once against struggled to score in the Slovakian Extraliga. |
| Rob Flynn 3GP 1-0-1 4PIM 16GP 1-3-4 6PIM | Flynn continues to be in and out of the line-up for Harvard as a fourth line grinder |
| Jordan Foote 0GP 0-0-0 0PIM 13GP 1-1-2 6PIM | Foote continues to be left out of the Tigers line-up |
| Sven Helfenstein 11GP 0-2-2 2 PIM 24GP 8-6-14 16 PIM | Helfenstein’s struggles continue away from the top line and better linemates |
| Dwight Helminen 13GP 2-1-3 8PIM 31GP 2-6-8 12PIM – AHL 10GP 4-4-8 0PIM – ECHL | Helminen has struggled a little at making an impression in the AHL. He has shown some positive signs, and did manage to score his first AHL goal last month. Still Helminen may require more time to adjust to the professional game before he can be considered a key member of the Wolf Pack. |
| Kim Hirschovits 10GP 2-0-2 12PIM 32GP 5-8-13 41PIM | A longshot for an NHL career to begin the season with, Hirschovits has done little to alter anyone’s opinion this season. |
| Marcus Jonasen 12GP 1-3-4 6PIM 46GP 14-13-27 45PIM | Jonasen has not been able to build on the success he had at the beginning of last year, and continues to struggle with his offense. The Tri-city captain will be looking to try and help his team to struggle back into the playoffs as the regular season enters a critical stage. |
| Matt Kinch 6GP 0-4-4 4PIM 31GP 1-12-13 18PIM | A modest improvement in Kinch’s game is hardly enough to offset the expectations of the former star blueliner for the Calgary Hitmen |
| Lauri Korpikoski 7GP 0-1-1 0PIM 32GP 0-3-3 10PIM – FNL 6GP 2-0-2 6PIM – WJC | A one game cameo appearance for the TPS Junior team was perhaps the highlight of the month for Korpikoski, who has slipped back down to the fourth line. No reason to panic though, the 18 year old has plenty of time ahead of him and is probably playing above his level at this stage of his career, something that could bode well for the future. |
| Aarto Laatikainen 12GP 1-1-2 8PIM 43GP 6-6-12 28IM | A goal and an assist was all that Laatikainen could manage in the month of January. It appears that he has topped out in terms of potential. |
| Jason Labarbera 7GP 4-2-0 .884 2.33 30GP 21-6-1 .930 1.87 | Labarbera’s hot streak has well and truly ended. After carrying his winning streak into mid-January, Labarbera’s form has taken a dramatic nose dive. Despite the lack of form, Labarbera will be won of two Wolf Pack representatives at the AHL All Star game in February. |
| Lucas Lawson 12GP 1-3-4 9PIM 22GP 1-6-7 21PIM | With the number of injuries on the team, Lawson has managed to appear in a number of games though he remains one of the first players to be scratched when those injured players return. |
| Al Montoya 8GP 6-2-0 .889 3.25 26GP 19-6-1 .894 2.73 – NCAA 7GP 3-3-0 .904 3.35 – WJC | Things have not gotten any better for Montoya since the less than impressive run at the WJC. Despite continuing to win, Montoya’s form has been spotty at best and in many respects disappointing. The 2004 first round draft pick has put together few solid 60 minute performances this season and remains well down the rankings in terms of goalie statistics. |
| Garth Murray 10GP 2-0-2 10PIM 25GP 3-1-4 58PIM | Murray continues to play below the expectations, though it has not been through a lack of effort. The rugged winger continues to be a willing combatant, but is not considered a strong offensive or defensive contributor. |
| Martin Richter 8GP 0-1-1 6PIM 35GP 3-4-7 24PIM | Richter continues to chip in the odd point, but his fast start to the season is now a distant memory |
| Ken Roche 7GP 0-0-0 2PIM 23GP 2-5-7 31PIM | Any promise that Roche showed earlier in the season was wiped out by a non-productive January. Roche has not shown the expected improvement in his offensive abilities, though he continues to work hard. |
| Billy Ryan 5GP 0-0-2 0PIM 23GP 3-7-10 26PIM | Ryan has found it difficult to get quality playing time in Maine and has been pushed out of the line-up on a couple of occasions. The young freshman still has a solid future, but needs to bide his time and continue to improve his play away from the puck. |
| Juris Stals 13GP 1-4-5 12PIM 32GP 8-7-15 27PIM | Even at the ECHL level, Stals has found it difficult to find his offensive touch. He will represent Latvia in their attempts to qualify for the Olympics in 2006, but it appears that his NHL aspirations have distinctly faded. |
| Mike Walsh 11GP 0-1-1 6PIM 26GP 1-6-7 24PIM | Walsh’s stock appears to have hit rock bottom with an abysmal record in January. The lanky winger has not looked as bad as his record would suggest, but the entire Notre Dame team has struggled this year, particularly for offense. |
| Injured | |
| Blair Betts 0GP 0-0-0 0PIM 16GP 5-4-9 4PIM | Remains out with what could be season ending shoulder surgery |
| Dan Blackburn Injured in 2003 | Will make his return in February for the Victoria Salmon Kings of the ECHL |
| Brandon Cullen 1GP 0-0-3 0PIM 14GP 2-3-7 48PIM | A broken leg will keep Cullen out of the Checkers line up for most if not all of the remainder of the season. |
| Trevor Gillies 0GP 0-0-0 0PIM 24GP 0-1-1 140PIM | Is expected back in mid February from a broken foot |
| Bruce Graham 1GP 1-1-2 4PIM 41GP 22-17-39 44PIM | In his first game of 2005, Graham was slashed and suffered a broken leg that will likely keep him out until March. |
| Martin Grenier 0GP 0-0-0 0PIM 8GP 0-3-3 45PIM | Could miss much of the remainder of the season with thumb surgery |
| Hugh Jessiman 0GP 0-0-0 0PIM 4GP 1-1-2 6PIM | Has begun light workouts, but remains weeks away from an on ice appearance |
| David Liffiton 0GP 0-0-0 0PIM 24GP 0-0-0 41PIM | Missed all of January with a shoulder injury, but is expected back this month |
| Jan Marek 5GP 0-2-2 4PIM 32GP 5-14-19 18PIM | Not sure if he is indeed injured, but he has seldom played this past month and I’ve been unable to find any news whatsoever. |
| Richard Scott Injured in 2003 | Remains out of action with concussion like symptoms |