Gerbe tops Hot List

Nathan Gerbe can't get any love in the form of a first-place vote on CSTV's Hobey Watch, but he's certainly looking good in the eyes of The Hockey News. THN's Ryan Kennedy placed the Boston College left wing at the top of his latest Hot List, a weekly round-up of prospect happenings. We're not trying to make this a gerbe.com by any means. Sometimes things just shake out that way.

MacKenzie foil clip from December

It's a light night for Sabres prospects, with only Drew Schiestel of Niagara in OHL action against Patrick Kaleta's old club, the Peteborough Petes. So while sixteen players are taping their sticks and honing their blades in preparation for a busy Friday slate, let's take a look at a USHL fight clip from December featuring Lincoln's Rick Carden against Sabres 2007 7th rounder, Drew MacKenzie of Waterloo. Even though there were more headlocks than haymakers, the New Canaan, CT native appears willing to put on the foil. The 6'2, 200-pound defenseman will continue his career in Hockey East this fall at the University of Vermont.

CSTV knocks Gerbe down a peg

Though it doesn't matter, it's worth pointing out that Boston College LW Nathan Gerbe is still without a first-place vote in CSTV's Hobey Watch. Gerbe was quiet in Friday's tie at Maine, but scored the game winner in the 4-2 Eagles win the next night. Heading to the stretch, Gerbe's 1.61 points-per-game leads the nation, just as it has since he was midstride in his nine-game, 27-point outburst over a month ago. With unanimous front-runner Kevin Porter going pointless over the weekend in then-#1 Michigan's loss and tie against rival Michigan State, one might think something could break at the top of CSTV's list. Instead, last week's #2 was leap-frogged by Miami's Ryan Jones, who had a goal and an assist over two weekend games in Alaska. Jones, 23-year old senior, is having a fine season with 22 goals, but isn't close to being the dynamic player that the feisty Sabres draft pick is. Perhaps Gerbe's battle with Maine's Ben Bishop on Friday overshadowed his breakaway game winner on Saturday. Another online outlet, INCH, seems to take a different approach with their version of the Hobey Watch. Their explanation of Gerbe at #1 sounds eerily similar to thoughts previously expressed in this space (like in the link at the top, for example).

1/30 Recap: Schiestel strong into break

Niagara D Drew Schiestel continued his fine play of late with an assist in the IceDogs' 6-2 win over the Majors. A deft skater with a solid 6'2 190-pound frame, Schiestel is currently +6 with four assists over the past five games - all IceDogs wins. At Peterborough tomorrow then off until next Thursday, the steady defenseman is on the verge of completing his best statistical month since his arrival in the OHL with 1-8-9 +9 in twelve January games. His two assists on January 12th pushed him over his previous season's point total (21). With nineteen games remaining in the season, Schiestel has six goals, 27 points, and a healthy +8. The latter is particularly impressive, considering his -6 was last on the team through mid-November. Somewhat of an unknown commodity when tabbed by the Sabres with the 59th pick in the 2007 draft, the Hamilton-born defender looks to carry on effectively as the second-place IceDogs look to catch Brampton for the Central Division title. In the Swedish Allsvenskan, Dennis Persson missed his fourth straight game for Nykopings (neck, fever) in their 5-0 blanking of Oskarshamn.

1/29 Recap: Eidsness slick in Oilers win

In a battle of the South Division's best, the Okotoks Oilers used a pair of power play goals and 29 saves from the games #1 star, Brad Eidsness, to up-end the top-ranked Junior "A" club in all of Canada, the Camrose Kodiaks, 2-1. Holding a 2-1 lead, the AJHL's top goaltender stopped all 15 shots in the third as the Kodiaks did everything but score. Camrose was turning up the heat in the last five minutes when Eidsness robbed the league's leading point-getter, Joe Colborne, with a game saving glove. Colbourne, a DU recruit pegged as a first-rounder in 2008 by many draft publications, was standing all alone in the crease when Eidsness stuck his arm up at the last second to keep the puck out of the net. He would make another save two minutes later that left the Kodiaks radio announcer with nothing left to say except, "That's why he's the best goaltender in the league, folks." Hoping to inch back into the CJAHL Top 15 for the first time since mid-December, Okotoks (36-9-0-4) gets to see Camrose (41-5-0-5) four more times this season. Elsewhere, it was a full slate 'Q'uesday with all four Sabres QMJHL prospects seeing the ice. Benjamin Breault assisted on the first and last Drakkar goals in their 4-2 win at Moncton. J.S. Allard had an assist, and T.J. Brennan was -1 as St. John's took a 7-2 licking from Halifax. Paul Byron went pointless for his second game in a row as Gatineau fell to Val-D'Or, 4-2. A -2 for the night, Byron hopes to also kick a three-game goalless streak at Rimouski on Friday.

Gogulla gives again

Cologne LW Philip Gogulla notched three assists for the second straight game as the Sharks defeated Wolfsburg, 6-2. After assisting on a power play goal earlier, The 6'2 Dusseldorf native set up Moritz Mueller's game winning goal with less than seven minutes to go in the first period. Gogulla would later pick up his third helper of the night on a Sean Tallaire short-handed tally in the third. The back-to-back three point efforts raise Gogulla's career best point total to 34 through 42 games (.81 ppg). The 48th player taken in the 2005 draft will next take the ice Friday versus Duisberg. In two games with the DEL's last-place team, Gogulla is -2 with an assist. Also in the DEL, Felix Schutz picked up and assist in Ingolstadt's 4-0 shutout of Straubing. The 20-year old centerman now has 19 points as a rookie after a 96-point junior career in the QMJHL.

Bonus for Jhonas: Enroth earns first shutout of the year

When you're a confident, 19-year old goalie eager to show the world that you have NHL-level skills, what do you do after working the door for a string of games while your former backup plays? You demand to play, which is exactly what a healthy Jhonas Enroth did a week ago as the Sabres prospect grew tired of deferring to streaking Bjorn Bjurling since returning from the World Junior Championships, January 5th. After a first reprise in Saturday's 4-3 win over Frolunda, Enroth further asserted that the SSK job is still his with a shutout of second place Timra tonight. The 29-save performance, aided by a D that quickly swept away rebounds, was the first shutout of the season for the 2006 second round pick. An Elitserien rookie carrying the league-best 2.17 GAA, Enroth looks poised to attend his first NHL camp this fall. (For those scoring at home, this entry's title is a tribute to John Gurtler.)

Brennan named QMJHL Defensive Player of the Week

From QMJHL website:

The defensive player of the week award goes to Fog Devils blue-liner T.J. Brennan. It is the second time this season that Brennan has received the TELUS defensive player of the week award. In four Fog Devils wins, Brennan collected a game-winning goal and added four assists while recording a +2 rating. The defenseman helped his team defeat the Wildcats (2), the Sea Dogs and the Rocket. Yesterday, he played arguably his best game of the week, registering two assists to go along with six shots on goal in a 4-3 win over the Rocket. With 53 points in 52 games, St. John’s sits in fifth place in the Eastern division standings.

Brennan's Fog Devil teammate J.S. Allard was a finalist for the offensive award after going 1-6-7 in the team's four games.

Mancari: Master Blaster

Congratulations to Amerks forward Mark Mancari, whose record setting 102.8 MPH blast earned top prize at the AHL All-Star Skills Competition Sunday night in Binghamton. The booming slapper brought the fans to their feet, with the stick immediately being ushered to Toronto for display in the Hockey Hall of Fame. In a trying season for the Rochester, it's only natural that one of the year's brighter spots comes in an exhibition. Rochester’s leading scorer at the break with 13 goals and 36 points, Mancari replaced the recently recalled Clarke MacArthur in the Canadian All-Star lineup. The former Ottawa 67’s standout was chosen by the Sabres in the 7th round (204th overall) of the 2004 draft. You can watch the AHL All-Star Classic for free tonight on the B2 Network by clicking this link. Game time is 7:00 PM.

Schedule for week of 1/28 - 2/2

This week is lighter than last, with the AHL and USHL taking their All-Star breaks. There's plenty of action to go around, though. Games To Watch: On Tuesday, Okotoks (Brad Eidsness) will put their 35-9-0-4 record to the test against the #1 ranked Junior "A" club in all of Canada, the Camrose Kodiaks (41-4-0-5). Camrose boasts two of the AJHL's top five scorers in Joe Colbourne (DU) and Duluth Mike Connolly (Duluth). Eidsness will see plenty of these WCHA-bound playmakers when he enrolls at North Dakota. The QMJHL's two hottest teams - league best Baie-Comeau (Benjamin Breault) and second place Rouyn-Noranda - will square off on Friday night. Other notes SSK will see both ends of the SEL this week, with their contest against last place Mora sandwiched between games against two of the better teams in teams Timra and Farjestad. The opportunity for Sabres prospects to have good weeks is there. Kolner Haie (Philip Gogulla) faces two of the DEL's bottom teams, while all of Denver, Michigan State, Bowling Green, and Harvard play teams near the bottom of their respective league's standings. Meanwhile, Boston College will be tested by Providence before the Beanpot gets underway. The complete rundown: Monday (1/28) 2008 AHL Al-Star Classic (Mancari) SSK (Enroth) at Timra Tuesday (1/29) Cologne (Gogulla) at Wolfsburg Ingolstadt (Schutz) at Straubing St. John's (Brennan/Allard) at Halifax Baie-Comeau (Breault) at Moncton Val-D-or at Gatineau (Byron) Camrose at Okotoks (Eidsness) Wednesday (1/30) Niagara (Schiestel) at Mississauga Oskarshamn at Nykopings (Persson) Thursday (1/31) Niagara (Schiestel) at Peterborough Friday (2/1) Denver (Butler) at Minnesota State Nebraska-Omaha at Michigan State (Kennedy/Tropp) Bowling Green (Eno) at Ohio State St. Lawrence (Generous) at Niagara Providence at Boston College (Gerbe/Orpik) Harvard (Biega) at Brown Mora at SSK (Enroth) Waterloo (MacKenzie) at Sioux City Okotoks (Eidsness) at Brooks Halifax at St. John's (Brennan/Allard) Rouyn-Noranda at Baie-Comeau (Breault) Cologne (Gogulla) at Duisburg Wolfsburg at Ingolstadt (Schutz) Saturday (2/2) Rochester at Toronto SSK (Enroth) at Farjestad Waterloo (MacKenzie) at Lincoln Nebraska-Omaha at Michigan State (Kennedy/Tropp) Denver (Butler) at Minnesota State Bowling Green (Eno) at Ohio State Gatineau (Byron) at Rimouski Halifax at St. John's (Brennan/Allard) Val-D'or at Baie-Comeau (Breault) Brooks at Okotoks (Eidsness)