May
24,
2006
Hardware
Hankering
By
Paul Shaheen
It’s spring, the time of year when a
hockey player’s thoughts turn to hoisting gaudy, oversized
trophies over their heads and taking a lap around a rink
trailed by 19 jubilant teammates. This annual playoff rite
extends from the NHL all the way down to North America’s
amateur leagues, which is where the next generation of college
hockey standouts ply their trade in the hopes of not only
capturing postseason glory, but also catching the eyes of
pro and college scouts.
As you'll learn below, a handful of the lucky
ones get to do both.
Turris Trap
Followers of Canadian junior A hockey might be growing weary
of hearing Kyle Turris’ name. Wisconsin Badger fans,
on the other hand, can’t get enough information about
yet another of their team’s high-end recruits.
Based on his play over the last year, the
forward from the British Columbia Hockey League's Burnaby
Express has made Wisconsin head coach Mike Eaves look like
Nostradamus for extending him a scholarship offer during
the 2004-05 season, when Turris was a 15-year-old playing
junior B hockey.
“If one had to project,” said
Burnaby coach Rick Lanz, who spent a decade in the NHL as
a defenseman with Vancouver and Toronto, “I wouldn’t
hesitate to say that one day Kyle will be a pro.”
His statistics back up Lanz’s bold statement.
In his first go-round with Burnaby, Turris – who’s
scheduled to arrive in Madison in the fall of 2007 –
was his side’s third-leading scorer with 36 goals
and 36 assists in 57 games. For good measure, the BCHL Coastal
Conference Rookie of the Year tallied 10 goals and 13 assists
in 20 playoff games as the Express won the league’s
playoff championship.
Then came the Royal Bank Cup, Canada's Tier
II junior A hockey championship.
In the RBC semifinal match against the Fort
William (Ont.) North Stars, Turris' wicked wrister from
the point sailed just underneath the crossbar of the Fort
Williams goal with 12 seconds left in regulation. The Express
would win on a goal 6:19 into extra time on a goal scored
by Bemidji State recruit Mark Soares (Turris and Denver
recruit Keith Seabrook, featured in last month's INCH Recruiting
Trail, earned assists.)
But Turris saved his best for last. In the
RBC title game against the Yorkton (Sask.) Terriers, Turris'
hat trick turned what was supposed to be a thrilling final
into an 8-2 rout. The New Westminster, B.C., native also
added an assist, finishing as RBC's leading scorer with
six goals and 13 points in six games.
Turris, who'll spend another season in the
BCHL, has, for all his success so far, nothing but better
days ahead. Recruiting is a high-risk business, especially
when it comes to 15-year-olds. But if there was one scouting
staff with which you'd be wise to invest your money, Wisconsin's
team of Mike Eaves and Mark Osiecki would be it.
 |
| Minnesota recruit Kyle Okposo
scored 16 points in the USHL playoffs to lead Des Moines
to the Clark Cup title. (USHL photo) |
Buc Wild With Kyle
Keeping current with college recruits can
be difficult at times, especially when so many of them carry
the same name. For example, Turris wasn't the only outstanding
postseason performer with the first name of Kyle.
Kyle Okposo led the Des Moines Buccaneers
to the United States Hockey League's Clark Cup title. The
18-year-old, who’ll enroll at Minnesota this fall,
is sure to go in the first round – perhaps in the
top ten – at next month’s NHL Entry Draft in
Vancouver.
A St. Paul native, Okposo’s father is
a Nigerian immigrant who came to the United States when
he 18, eventually settling in Minnesota’s capital
city. It’s also where his son got hooked on the game
on ice.
A right-shooting forward, Okposo progressed
quickly through the minor hockey ranks quickly, and then
skated for the prestigious Shattuck St. Mary’s program
in Faribault, Minn., for three seasons. It was at Shattuck
where he first caught the collective eye of the Golden Gopher
coaching staff, and he eventually committed to coach Don
Lucia before donning a Bucs sweater.
This season was Okposo’s lone tour of duty in USHL
and it wouldn’t be a shock if the league’s coaches
chipped in to buy a parting gift for the 6-foot, 195-pound
forward, happy as they must be to see him go. In 56 games,
Okposo – who'd spent most of his career at center
but transitioned to the wing with the Bucs, scored 35 goals
and 75 points to wind up second in the circuit in scoring.
In the postseason, Okposo shared the USHL
scoring lead with teammate (and Michigan recruit) Trevor
Lewis. Both tallied 16 points, but Okposo, who scored five
playoff goals to Lewis’ three, stirred the Bucs’
drink – but it took a stern chat with Des Moines coach
Regg Simon two games into the Clark Cup final series against
Sioux Falls to jump start hi game.
| The
Dish on Petry |
|
Back in 1984, major league pitcher Dan Petry helped the Detroit
Tigers win the World Series. More than two decades
later, his son has a national championship of his
own.
Defenseman Jeff Petry, who joined the
USHL's Des Moines Buccaneers back in November, quickly
became one of the Bucs' most reliable players, a highly
regarded college prospect, and one many pro scouts
think could become one of the hidden gems of the 2006
NHL Entry Draft.
At 6-foot-3 and 185 pounds, Petry scored
a goal and added 14 assists in 48 regular-season games,
then caught fire in the postseason with two goals
and five assists in 11 games. Add to that a playoff
plus-minus rating of +8 and you see why Petry's stock
is rising.
Petry, who helped Orchard Lake St. Mary's
in suburban Detroit to a Michigan high school championship
last spring, began this season with AAA midget Detroit
Little Caesars squad. But he was lured to Des Moines
following a rash of injuries on the Bucs' blueline.
Academically, the move couldn't have worked out any
better – "My quarter at Orchard Lake was
coming to an end just as the new quarter at my school
in Des Moines was beginning," he said –
but getting acclimated to the USHL was another matter.
"The adjustment was very rough
at first," admitted the soft-spoken Petry. "Going
from high school to midget majors to juniors, there's
a big difference in how strong the players are. But
in time I felt more comfortable, and grew out of being
afraid of making mistakes. Once that happened, my
game got a lot better."
"At first, everybody liked his
skating, but questioned his defense," Des Moines
coach Regg Simon said. "Then they stopped questioning
his defense, but began questioning his offense. But
now his offense is there, so really, what's not to
like?"
Very little, apparently. Michigan, Michigan
State are among the top-flight CCHA and WCHA programs
now courting Petry. Pro scouts, meanwhile, are mum
on the subject, believing their organization will
surreptitiously snag him come draft day even though
the Farmington Hills, Mich., native was ranked 36th
among North American skaters in NHL Central Scouting
Service's final prospect ratings.
"He's an excellent puck handler
and skater for his size," Simon said. "Jeff
ran our power play and while he was only so-so offensively
in the regular season, all of a sudden the points
started coming."
Though both his parents are California
natives – they met in high school – the
family settled in suburban Detroit after Dan's professional
baseball career came to an end in the early '90s.
Jeff Petry played baseball for most of his youth,
but ultimately chose the frozen pond over the field
of dreams.
"When I decided in my junior year
to play just hockey, he was actually glad because
he never wanted me to play baseball just because of
him," the younger Petry explained.
Petry concedes that he needs to get
stronger – Simon believes he’ll eventually
top out around 210 pounds – and must improve
his play along the wall and moving the puck to the
open man. Based on his rapid progression this season,
it likely won’t be an issue.
— P.S. |
"To be honest, his first two games or
so were only average," said Simon, a former Alaska
Anchorage standout. "I pulled him aside and said, 'Kyle,
you have to be better, and you can be.' So what does he
do? He goes out and scored the OT game winner in game three."
Okposo’s all-around game shined in games
four and five. He tallied two assists in that span, including
a critical helper in the series clincher.
"I'm still working on finding my teammates
on the ice, but I'm really learning to love to score,"
Okposo told Red Line Report earlier this season.
"I may not have a lot of open-ice hits, but I'll go
into the corner when I need to and roll to the net."
He'll do all that and more at Minnesota.
"He's all class," Simon said. "I'd
let him date my sister and believe me, I'm pretty protective."
Texas Three-Step
The NBA had the Chicago Bulls of the mid-'90s.
The NHL had the Montreal Canadiens of the '70s, and the
New York Islanders and Edmonton Oilers in the '80s. Now,
the North American Hockey League has a dynasty of its own
– the Texas Tornado.
Coached by Detroit native and ex-Calgary Flames
defenseman Tony Curtale, Texas completed its trifecta in
mid-May by winning the NAHL's Robertson Cup for the third
time in as many years. After claiming the NAHL's South Division
regular season championship with a stellar 42-12-4 record,
Texas cruised through to the Robertson Cup tournament with
a five-game series victory over Wichita Falls and a four-game
sweep of Texarkana.
At the Robertson Cup tourney, Texas was stunned
by NAHL Central Division champ Southern Minnesota in the
opener, 7-3. The Tornado rebounded, however, with a 5-3
victory over Cleveland and a 4-3 triumph against Southern
Minnesota before defeating league regular-season champ Bozeman
in the title game by a 4-2 score.
"This one was really special," Curtale
said. "Especially after we lost so many players from
the teams that won the last two championships. We won a
lot of games in different ways this year. And in the playoffs,
the guys knew what needed to be done and they went out and
did it."
While the Tornado lost a number of key contributors
from its first two championship teams – current Maine
goalie Ben Bishop being one of the most notable –
it's not as if the suburban Dallas outfit was completely
bereft of talent. One of the more dynamic players was '86-born
defenseman Brett Blatchford, who'll attend Notre Dame in
the fall. A native of Temperance, Mich.—a community
that sits about a clearing attempt from the Ohio border
– the 5-foot-11, 182 pound Blatchford scored three
goals and 46 assists in 54 regular-season games, then added
two goals and five assists in 13 postseason contests. As
good as he is offensively, Blatchford is sound in his own
end as well.
"He's flat out a great kid who is very
coachable," said Curtale. "He has very good mobility
and on ice vision. When he came here, he needed to work
on his strength and he's done that. He loves jumping into
the play, knows where and when to pinch, and 99 percent
is in the right place."
Even his midget coach can't say enough good
things about Blatchford, though it's been three years since
they worked together.
"He's a perfectly blended, well-rounded
defenseman," said Brian Burke of the Ann Arbor-based
Victory Honda AAA club. "He can read plays and makes
great decisions both with and without the puck."
One can only imagine the Fighting Irish's
anticipation of having Blatchford in the lineup.
Paul
Shaheen is the publisher of Research on Ice and contributes
recruiting updates to Inside College Hockey throughout the
year. To subscribe to Research on Ice's recruiting e-mail
newsletter, contact Paul at puckkeg@comcast.net.
