Weekend in review

Lots of hockey this weekend -- lets get right to it.

The Columbus Blue Jackets ran out of gas playing their 3rd game in 4 nights versus the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night as they lost 5-2.

Steve Mason showed signs of being a human and the Blues special teams really took it to the Jackets scoring 4 PP goals. I think Hitch summed it up best when he said the Blues were a desperate bunch and certainly played that way. The game put an end to the Jackets 4 game win streak with the last 3 of those coming on the road.

The bigger story right now is the price the Jackets paid for that game with reports from Puck-rakers that Kristian Huselius is out with a concussion due to a cheap shot from the Blues David Backes. It was great to see a reaction from teammate Fedor Tyutin coming to the defense of his teammate but that is a mightly big blow.

This team can ill-afford to lose yet another top 6 skill player but that is where the Jackets find themselves right now. They can't make excuses with Detroit tomorrow night and then the Captitals, who have only lost once at home, next to end this road trip on Friday.

You have think the pressure just got a little heavier for Howson to make a move to help this squad.

The Syracuse Crunch are really struggling.

On Friday they blew a 300 lead and dropped their game 4-3 against Hamilton with Rome, Kelly and Vigilante getting on the board.

Then on Saturday against the Lake Eerie Monsters in Cleveland they lost 3-2 in OT... Pohl and Garlock got on the board and hey, at least they got a point.

The weekend drop the Crunch to a 15-16-2 record and all the way to 5th place in the North Division. Ouch.

The best news of the weekend was the play of the Ohio State Men's hockey team. They routed Army on Friday in their first game of the Ohio Hockey Classic and then were able to squeeze out a 2-0 win on Saturday over Clarkson to win the tournament.

The win marked the 9th straight win on home ice for the Buckeyes and I believe it was only the 2nd time they have won their own tournament which started in 2004.

It was the first time this season I was able to watch this team play live.

Of course I was most interested in 2008 2nd round pick (Carolina) Zac Dalpe and he did not dissapointment. As I mentioned before you can see this kid has the tools to be a pro and he sealed the game for the Buckeyes with an empty netter with seconds remaining.

The guy who really stood out to me though was this Corey Toy kid from Round Hill, VA. Talk about an in your face rough and tumble defensive defensemen -- this kid was a rock and a punisher. Not sure where this kid projects as a pro but this 6ft 195lb guy sure can bring it at the collegiate level.

The Buckeyes can really spread the scoring around... guys like John Albert and Elkins were also impressive.

The biggest suprise of the tournament was the #2 Miami Redhawks getting upset both nights. I was able to watch the entire game against Army and once again they ran into a hot goaltender....they outshot Army something like 50 to 15 but Army capitalized on some shothanded chances and were able to hand on.

Miami has two Jackets prospects in Will Weber (2nd round pick in 2007) and Trent Vogelhuber (7th round pick in 2007). Weber of course is the guy I watched and let me tell ya this kid has pro size at 6'4" 205lbs and he skates well with it and isn't afraid to get physical. Of course he's raw but I liked what I saw. Vogelhuber, from Dublin OH, didn't see a whole lot of time as he played mostly on Miami's 4th line...he's a project obviously but he's also recovering from major knee surgery.

The Buckeyes now sit at 13-6-1 overall and 6-5-1-1 in the conference. They are back it this weekend at Bowling Green.

-LTL

Just checking out THN's draft preview...

Here are the top 30 for those that don't get it:

1. Steven Stamkos - center - CAN
2. Drew Doughty - defensemen - CAN
3. Zach Bogosian - defensemen - USA
4. Nikita Filatov - left wing - RUS
5. Alex Pietrangelo - defensemen - CAN
6. Luke Schenn - defensemen - CAN
7. Colin Wilson - center - USA
8. Cody Hodgson - center - CAN
9. Mikkel Boedker - left wing - DAN
10. Kyle Beach - center - CAN
11. Tyler Myers - defensemen - CAN
12. Zach Boychuk - center - CAN
13. Colten Teubert - defensemen - CAN
14. Josh Bailey - center - CAN
15. Michael Del Zotto - defensemen - CAN
16. Mattias Tedenby - left wing - SWE
17. Luca Sbisa - defensemen - SWISS
18. Colby Robak - defensemen - CAN
19. Jacob Marksrom - goalie - SWE
20. Mikhail Stefanovich - center - BEL
21. Greg Nemisz - center - CAN
22. Jordan Eberle - center - CAN
23. Yann Suave - defensemen - CAN
24. Anton Gustafsson - center - SWE
25. Joel Colborne - left wing - CAN
26. A.J. Jenkins - center - USA
27. Daultan Leveille - center - CAN
28. Tyler Cuma - defensemen - CAN
29. Zac Dalpe - center - CAN
30. John Carlson - defensemen - USA

Now Howson has been quoted as saying he thinks Columbus will end up with defensemen if they keep that #6 overall pick, especially given how top heavy this draft is with defensemen.

However if Dougthy, Bogosian (whom I personally love), Pietrangelo and Schenn are all off the board - which could happen - does Howson draft the supremely talented Russian in Filatov?

Here is what THN had to say about him:

Russian teenager Alexei Cherepanov tumbled on draft day last ear more because of his effort and character than the NHL's problems with the Russian federation.

If Filatov tumbles, it won't have anything to do with his skill or desire.

"He probably has as much skill as anyone in this draft and he's a very competitive player," one scout said.

But the left winger for Central Army's second division team will surely slide because teams don't know what hoops will have to be cleared to get him to the NHL. And teams that are choosing high are looking for secure picks.

The lack of an agreement with Russia might help, said one scout. It means if he doesn't sign, he'll remain a defected player in perpetuity instead of going back into the draft in two years.

Filatov has been a consistent terror for opposing goalies at international tournaments.

The magazine also stated that if Filatov played in the Canadian Major Juniors there is no doubt he would have put up Stamkos like numbers.

Interesting no doubt but I just don't see the organization taking a chance on a Russian this high in the draft again after selecting Zherdev just a few short years ago 4th overall in one of the deepest drafts ever. There seems to be no denying this kid's talent level though. Alot of people compare his game to Pavel Datsyuk.

It will be real interesting to watch what Columbus does if those big 4 drop right in a row after Stamkos goes #1 to Tampa.

I really like what I read about Elerbe, Ennis and Wahl though. Three smaller players who can flat out zip offensively. If we retain th 36th overall pick in the 2nd round and go D in the first I certainly wouldn't mind picking one of those kids up.

Also something else I want to note. THN's 29th ranked Zach Dalpe is committed to Ohio State next season although the magazine mentions there is "rumblings he may end up with OHL's Lodon Knights". Don't do it Dalpe - come to OSU, they desperately need you! They go on to say "there are few players in this draft who have risen faster and higher than Dalpe".

Speaking of college recruits. For those that like to keep up with more than OSU football's recruiting class here is a great site that tracks incoming NCAA D1 hockey recruits.

Finally for those keeping track. THN has 52 Canadians ranked in their top 100 and 18 USA born followed by 7 Swedes and 6 Fins.

For those that follow the draft closely I would recommend picking this up. It can usually be found at Barns & Noble but you may want to call first. It makes following the draft on draft day much more fun.

-LTL