12/31 Recap: Foligno ends well; McNabb rolling

In the OHL, Marcus Foligno scored a goal and an assist on Thursday as Sudbury ended 2009 with a 4-3 overtime loss to Sault Ste. Marie. The multi-point night was Foligno's first since October 30th, and gives the 18-year old his second three-game point streak of the season.

Also from the OHL, Nick Crawford was +1 as Barrie got bounced by Owen Sound, 6-4. The Colts, needing just three more victories to tie the Canadian Hockey League record for most consecutive wins, saw their streak end at 22.

Zack Kassian was held without a point but earned the game's 'Hardest Working Pete' award as Peterborough edged Belleville, 1-0. The 6'3 banger has just two assists in his last six games.

In the WHL, Brayden McNabb notched a pair of assists as Kootenay doubled up Regina, 8-4. The Saskatchewan native has racked up five goals and 14 points over his current seven-game point streak.

In USHL play, Mark Adams was +1 with a shot on goal as Chicago lost to Indiana, 5-3. Fredonia, NY native Nick Bailen scored a goal and an assist for the Ice.

1/30 Recap: Streak stopped for Tropp; Lagacé priced high

Corey Tropp notched an assist on Wednesday as Michigan State won the Great Lakes Invitational with a 6-1 win over RPI. Tropp made a cross-ice feed to Jeff Petry in the second period to register his 29th point of the year, but going without a goal ended his career-high streak of five straight games with a marker. Regardless, the junior still leads all NCAA players with 17 goals this season.

In the QMJHL, Jacob Lagacé (+3) had a goal and two assists as Chicoutimi edged Baie-Comeau, 4-3. The game's #1 star, Lagacé now has 29 goals and 52 points this season to leads the Sagueneens (14-15-4-4).

With Lagacé's name still surfacing in various trade rumors, word out of Chicoutimi is that Sags Coach and GM Richard Martel believes that the net-crashing scorer may return to the QMJHL next season as a 20-year old. Because of this, the asking price for his star forward will be more than what he received in the deal that sent Nicolas Deschamps to Moncton. Frankly, Lagacé going back to the QMJHL is very debatable. As of now, SabresProspects has him penciled in for Portland next season.

Elsewhere, Maxime Legault posted an assist and a game-high nine shots on goal as Cape Breton defeated Halifax, 4-2. The 6'2 Legault has three assists in three games since being traded to the Eagles.

Jordon Southorn was -2 as struggling PEI lost to Bathurst, 5-2. The Rocket saw four players traded away in the previous two days, and their effort resembled a team scrambling to make ends meet.

Adam solid in early WJC goings

Luke Adam scored his third goal of the U20 World Junior Championships on Tuesday as Canada (3-0) cruised past Slovakia, 8-2. Adam's unassisted wraparound effort came at 5:08 of the second period to put Canada ahead 4-0. The Canadians will face off against unbeaten Team USA on Thursday.

Adam, 19, previously had scored a pair of goals and an assist in Canada's 16-0 tourney opening thrashing of Latvia. In addition to his four points, the 6'2 pivot has accumulated 11 shots on goal, a 15-9 record at the dot, and a +4 rating through the first three games of the preliminary round.

Chosen 44th overall by the Sabres in 2008, Adam is seeing his first international action in a Canadian sweater since appearing for Canada-Atlantic in the 2006 World U17 Challenge. Known more as an offensive commodity in the QMJHL, the future Sabre is executing in a checking/4th line capacity with linemates Stefan Della-Rovere (Barrie - OHL) and Jordan Caron (Rimouski - QMJHL). He's coming back deeper on the backcheck and has progressively become more aggressive physically all the while being big on the puck and a presence in the goal mouth much like he is when with Cape Breton. In typical Adam fashion, his first goal of the tournament came when he pounced on a rebound in the high slot.

Adam's 25 goals and 52 points made him the Q's top point-getter at the time of his departure for Canada's selection camp. Last season, Tyler Myers returned from his excellent World Junior performance to turn in one of the most dominant second halves in recent CHL memory.

Canada and Team USA will drop the puck Thursday night at 8PM on NHL Network.

Gerbe, Weber join Ennis in Classic

Mike Weber and Nathan Gerbe of the Portland Pirates have been named to the PlanetUSA roster for the 2010 AHL All-Star Classic that will be played in Portland on January 19th.

The American Hockey League announced this afternoon that Mike Weber and Nathan Gerbe have both been selected to play for the PlanetUSA AHL All-Stars in the 2010 Time Warner Cable AHL All-Star Classic being held January 18th and 19th at the Cumberland County Civic Center.

Weber, a 22 year-old Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania native, is one of only two members of the Pirates to have played in all 34 games this season. The third-year defender has 10 assists this season (fifth most on the team) and his plus-16 ranking is tied for the second-best in the AHL.

Gerbe was voted as a PlanetUSA All-Star starter for the second straight season. The 22 year-old native of Oxford, Michigan, who missed the game last season due to injury, is currently on recall by the Buffalo Sabres. In 23 games this season the defending AHL Rookie-of-the-Year has collected five goals and 15 assists for 20 points. He also collected his first career NHL goal earlier this season.

The selections raise the number of All-Star Pirates to three after rookie Tyler Ennis was named to the Canadian squad earlier in the week.

Gogulla going to Vancouver

Portland Pirates rookie forward Philip Gogulla has been named to Team Germany for the 2010 Winter Olympics. The 6'2 Gogulla has five goals, 16 points, and a +5 through the first 31 games of his North American career after posting 127 points in five seasons with Cologne of the DEL.

Veteran Buffalo Sabres forward Jochen Hecht was a noticeable omission by DEB head coach, Uwe Krupp.

Germany's Olympic roster includes six NHLers -- goaltender Thomas Greiss (San Jose), defensemen Christian Ehrhoff (Vancouver), Dennis Seidenberg (Florida) and Alexander Sulzer (Nashville), and forwards Marcel Goc (Nashville) and Marco Sturm (Boston). Winger Philip Gogulla, a Buffalo prospect who has yet to make his NHL debut, was chosen from Portland of the American Hockey League. In his first season of North American hockey, the 22-year-old Gogulla has 5 goals and 16 points in 31 games.

The remaining 16 skater all play in Germany's top professional league, the Deutsche Eishockey Liga.

Veteran center Jochen Hecht of Buffalo was surprisingly left off Krupp's roster, as was Atlanta defenseman Christoph Schubert. Both were included on a reserve list. Hecht has a long international resume and participated in the 1998 and 2002 Games. He was also selected to play in 2006 in Torino, Italy but suffered an injury in his last NHL game before the Olympic break and was unable to play. In eight Olympic games, Hecht has 2 goals and an assist.

This season with Buffalo, Hecht has only 6 goals and 15 points in 39 games and is eighth on the team in scoring.

12/29 Recap: Lagacé keeps stacking; McNabb streak snapped

Jacob Lagacé scored his 28th goal of the year on Tuesday as Chicoutimi lost a hard-fought 5-4 decision to Baie-Comeau. The 5'11 Lagacé remains atop the QMJHL goal scoring list with 28 - two ahead of speedy Saint John center Mike Hoffman (26).

In the WHL, Brayden McNabb garnered an assist but saw his five-game goal scoring streak snapped as Kootenay edged Red Deer in a shootout, 5-4. McNabb is currently tied for the WHL defencemen in scoring with 37 points (12+27) in 31 games.

Elsewhere, Maxime Legault posted a pair of assists as Cape Breton throttled QMJHL cellar dweller Halifax, 6-0. The points, his first as an Eagle after being traded two days before Christmas, raise his season total to 22 (10+12).

Jordon Southorn was -4 as PEI lost to QMJHL powerhouse Saint John, 5-2. The Rocket were reeling a bit after trading their 1st and 4th leading scorers, Joel Champagne and Chris Doyle, to Victoriaville earlier in the day. The Tigers stocking up their offense could mean that Chicoutimi will have to find another suitor if they indeed have designs on moving sniping forward Lagacé.

In the OHL, Nick Crawford scored a goal and an assist as Barrie defeated Kitchener, 7-4. Crawford scored his 9th of the season when he beat Brandon Maxwell (COL) with a shot low to the blocker side at 18:40 of the opening period. With 22 straight victories, the Colts are closing in on the record of 25 set by Kitchener back in 1984.

Marcus Foligno picked up an assist as Sudbury stopped Soo, 4-2. Foligno found Cain Allicock from behind the net at 1:56 of the first period to put the Wolves ahead, 1-0.

In the NCAA, Alex Biega assisted on a late empty-netter as Harvard defeated #8 Quinnipiac, 3-1. The senior captain now has a goal and four assists through the Crimson's first 12 games.

Tropp hits 17 as Spartans roll

Corey Tropp (+3) scored his 17th goal of the season on Tuesday as #13 Michigan State opened the 2009 Great Lakes Invitational with a 10-1 trouncing of Michigan Tech. The Spartans, who saw their 10 goals come from nine different players, will take on the winner of Michigan/RPI in Wednesday's final at Joe Louis Arena.

Playing a quick game of catch-up:

Brayden McNabb scored a goal for the fifth straight game on Sunday as Kootenay defeated Calgary, 3-1. The goal gives the 6'4 blueliner an even 36 points in 30 games this season. McNabb finished the 2008-09 season with 36 points in 67 games.

Maxime Legault made his Cape Breton debut on Sunday, registering two shots on goal and going 5/11 at the dot in the Eagles 3-0 blanking of PEI. Jordon Southorn posted three shots on goal for the Rocket.

Jacob Lagacé was -2 as Chicoutimi got smoked by Quebec, 10-1.

Ennis an All-Star

Continuing the catch-up....

Portland rookie center Tyler Ennis has been selected to the Canadian All-Star Team for the AHL All-Star Classic that will be hosted by the Pirates on Tuesday, January 19th. The speedster is currently tied for the Pirates scoring lead with 28 points (11+17).

Among the members of the Canadian team are 17 first-time AHL All-Stars including Manchester’s Jonathan Bernier, Hamilton’s Cedrick Desjardins and Texas’s Brent Krahn, who are the AHL’s top three goaltenders in both goals-against average and save percentage. The Canadian squad also features six former NHL first-round draft picks including Logan Couture of the Worcester Sharks and Tyler Ennis of the host Portland Pirates, the top two rookie scorers in the league. Players on the Canadian roster with previous All-Star experience include Binghamton’s Martin St. Pierre and Hartford’s Corey Locke, who are tied for the event’s all-time scoring lead with eight career points each.

Tropp's redemption mirrors that of MSU hockey resurgence

With the Great Lakes Invitational beginning on Tuesday, The Detroit News ran a story a few days back detailing the bounce back seasons of both Corey Tropp and the Michigan State hockey program.

Tropp plays on a line with freshman Derek Grant (seven goals, 19 points) and senior Nick Sucharski (two goals, eight points).

"We have very good chemistry," Tropp said. "They (Grant, Sucharski) are highly-skilled players. Coach (Comley) will change up lines so we play with a lot of different players during the season.

"I'm known for being an offensive player, but I've worked hard on being a complete player. I play on all special teams, including penalty killing. I want to be known for being a complete player."

Tropp enters the GLI on a hot streak. He has scored at least one goal in each of his last four games. He scored a hat trick in Michigan State's last game, a 4-1 win over Bowling Green Dec. 12 at Munn Arena. He had four goals and six points during MSU's sweep of the Falcons.

Tropp's Spartans will kixk off the GLI on Tuesday versus Michigan Tech. Rival Michigan and RPI round out this year's field.

Legault to the nest

While the NHL rests with a holiday trade moratorium in place, the transactions have been coming at a good pace in the QMJHL since the league's trade period opened on December 19th. As a result, one Sabres prospect will be joining another after Wednesday's deal between the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles and Shawinigan Cataractes.

The Cape Breton Screaming Eagles acquired 20-year-old forward Maxime Legault from the Shawinigan Cataractes on Wednesday in exchange for defenceman Michael Ward and winger Maximilien Le Sieur.

The Eagles also obtained Shawinigan’s fourth-round pick in 2010 and a second-round pick in 2011 in the deal. The Cataractes get Cape Breton’s second-round pick in 2010 and a first-round pick in 2011.

Legault, a seventh-round selection by the Buffalo Sabres in last year’s NHL Entry Draft, has collected 10 goals and 10 assists in 22 games with Shawinigan this season. He had 28 goals and 44 points last season.

The 20-year-old Ward had 15 points — all assists — in 19 games with Cape Breton. Le Sieur, 17, had four goals and 10 points in 36 games.

With one point separating three teams in the Atlantic Division battle for second place, the Eagles were in the market for grit and leadership. Legault, who played five games with the Portland Pirates this fall before being returned to the Q, could address those needs by skating on the Eagles top line with leading scorer, Luke Adam (33 GP 25-27-52). Adam, 19, is currently with playing with Team Canada at the U20 World Junior Championships in Saskatoon.

Another Sabres property, Jacob Lagacé, could be on the move before the trade window closes on January 7th. Lagacé, who leads the league with 27 goals, was rumored to be heading to Victoriaville before Chicoutimi agreed to send Anaheim prospect Nicolas Deschamps to Moncton. The price will not be cheap, but teams in the hunt would love to add his scoring and experience.