on the power play this season

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The 2014 NHL draft class can be forgiven for feeling as though it has a case of middle-child syndrome. Custom NCAA Jerseys . Which is to say, the top of this years draft class is not as dynamic or exciting as the 2013 class of Nate MacKinnon, Sasha Barkov, Jonathan Drouin and Seth Jones and its not as strikingly promising as the highly-anticipated 2015 slate of Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel and Noah Hanifin. But it would be a disservice to damn Aaron Ekblad, Sam Reinhart, Sam Bennett, Leon Draisaitl and Michael Dal Colle with faint praise. "They are all very good prospects, theyre all going to play in the NHL, they all should turn out to be very good players for a long time," one NHL scout said. But the draft is all about projection. And where MacKinnon, Barkov and Drouin were projected as first-line forwards and Jones was projected a likely No. 1 defenceman – destined for greatness -- this years crop of forwards is projected more as second liners with defenceman Ekblad perhaps getting "top pairing" billing though not necessarily a future dynamic No. 1. Good, maybe very good, but not necessarily great. The draft is also about question marks and, according to the scouts, even the elite picks this year have a few. And once one gets outside the top five of this years draft, question marks really abound. "There are some really talented kids in this draft, and not just at the top either," an NHL scout said, "but I dont recall a year recently when there were as many question marks. Skilled kids who lack size; players who might have issues with attitude or commitment. It seems to be a really volatile draft. Good luck trying to figure out this one." That said, in the eyes of the scouts, at the top, its rock solid, and, really, it has been all season long. Barrie Colt defenceman Aaron Ekblad is No. 1 on TSNs Top 60 Final Rankings for the 2014 draft, a position hes owned or had a share of since last September. Seven of the 10 scouts surveyed by TSN to compile the rankings had Ekblad at No. 1. No scout surveyed had him outside of the top three. Only two other prospects got first-place votes. No. 2-ranked Sam Reinhart, a centre with the Kootenay Ice, had one and No. 3-ranked Sam Bennett, a centre with the Kingston Frontenacs, had two. "The difference between the top guys this year is not significant," a scout said. "Thats why youre hearing more talk of teams drafting with position in mind." To say nothing of those question marks. For example, as good as the 6-foot-4, 216-pound Ekblad is, some scouts wonder if he an upside greater than being a steady, reliable two-way defender. Is there a dynamic quality there that is usually associated with a potential first overall pick? Barrie head coach Dale Hawerchuk, a former NHL star, doesnt know about dynamic, but he does know impactful, because thats what Ekblad has been from the moment he showed up to Barrie as a 15-year-old who was granted exceptional status by Hockey Canada to enter the OHL a year early. "Hes been a top pair, shutdown defenceman who played against the best players in our league from the day he got here," Hawerchuk said, "and theres no doubt in my mind, none whatsoever, that hes going to be a really good top pair, shutdown defenceman who plays against the best players in the NHL. Hes been impactful since Day 1. He does it all and he does it all consistently and hes going to be a 15 to 20 year top-pair NHL defenceman." This years top prospects earn rave reviews for some specific trait or quality, but the praise is accompanied by a question. Reinharts hockey sense, for example, is widely hailed, elite level, as good as it gets. But will his average speed and size put a second-line ceiling on him or reduce his effectiveness against men? Bennetts complete game – equal parts skill, smarts, spirit, edge and work ethic – is lauded but can an average size centre translate that style to the NHL against men? No. 4-ranked Leon Draisaitl, the Prince Albert Raiders German-born and –trained centre, has a big NHL frame and can make plays but will the lack of a dynamic step keep him from being a first-liner? No. 5-ranked Michael Dal Colle, the Oshawa Generals rangy winger who is equally adept at shooting or making plays, but will his play without the puck be an issue? And yet, for all the questions being asked, scouts concede these five are all good NHL prospects with a strong likelihood of having long NHL careers. But there is a high degree – higher than usual – of subjectivity this year. Nowhere is that more evident than in the players, ranked Nos. 6 through 10 on TSNs list. No. 6-ranked Nick Ritchie, the Peterborough Pete winger, has all the physical tools to be the consummate scoring power forward but theres been a lot of immaturity, inconsistency as well as some injuries in his game. No. 7-ranked Jake Virtanen, the Calgary Hitmen winger, is another who has all the tools to be a scoring power forward but some scouts are a little wary because he tends to get tunnel vision when he has the puck. No. 8-ranked Haydn Fleury, the Red Deer Rebel defenceman, has the size and speed scouts love but he has not established himself as either an offensive defenceman or a punishing defenceman. No. 9-ranked William Nylander, the Canadian-born, Swedish-trained winger, may be the most skilled player in the entire draft class, but scouts worry about a stubborn streak that has often seen him play a more individual than team game. No. 10-ranked Nikolaj Ehlers, the Halifax Mooseheads Danish winger, was as prolific as any prospect this year, scoring 49 goals and 104 points in 67 games, and theres no doubting his skill level, but hes listed at 160 pounds, or as one scout put it, "he has to put on 20 pounds to be considered small." "Its a funny draft," a scout said. "A kid like Ritchie, with his size and skill, or Nylander, with his skill level, could one day be the best of this class but theres some real risk associated with these guys. What if Ritchie doesnt get fully committed to being as good as he can be? What if Nylander just decides hes going to play like hes the only guy on the ice?" Thats always a theme in any draft, but this year it seems to be even more prevalent earlier than ever involving more prospects than usual. Size is certainly on the mind of a lot of teams, especially after the very large Los Angeles Kings won the Stanley Cup. Whether anyone likes it or not, thats the standard by which players are now judged. "I look at these kids and I try to project them playing against the Los Angeles Kings one day," a scout said. "Can they play that game at that level?" Even that exercise can be fraught with peril because two of those outstanding Kings – Tanner Pearson, who went 30th overall in the 2012 draft, and Tyler Toffoli, who went 47th overall in 2010 – were passed over by many teams in their respective draft year because they were perceived as too slow or too weak or too incomplete or too flawed. Go figure. Guelph centre Robby Fabbri (No. 14 on TSNs list) scored 45 goals for the Storm in the regular season, was the OHLs playoff MVP and plays a hard-nosed game for a 5-foot-10 pivot, but will he stand up to the L.A. King litmus test? Ditto for smallish Swiss forward Kevin Fiala, No. 15 on the TSN list, though Fiala had the benefit of playing against men in both the Swedish League and for Switzerland at the World Championships. But no two players represent the uncertain quality of this years draft like the 30th and 31st-ranked Josh Ho Sang of the Windsor Spitfires and Anthony DeAngelo of the Sarnia Sting. Ho Sang is an electrifying, highly-skilled albeit undersized skilled forward who has some very firm ideas on how the game of hockey should be played and how he should play it. First-round talent? Absolutely. Will a team step up and take him in the first round? Thats the fascinating aspect of this draft. So much natural talent; so many question marks. "The question with Ho Sang is whether he wants to be a hockey player or he wants to be an artist or an entertainer," one scout said. "When he plays the give and go game, hes effective and dangerous but a lot of the time he only wants to go, theres no give (the puck to anyone else). Is he going to figure it out? Because if he does, the skills he has…" DeAngelos situation, though, takes it to another level of uncertainty. The American blueliner is undersized at 5-foot-10 and 170 pounds, but he put up 15 goals and 71 points in 51 games for Sarnia. Imagine how many more points he would have registered if he hadnt been suspended on three separate occasions this season for either violating the OHLs diversity policy or verbally abusing an on-ice official or, as fate would have it, both. In December of 2013, DeAngelo was suspended five games for violating the leagues diversity policy in a verbal spat with an on-ice official. In January of 2014, he received an eight-game suspension for violating the leagues diversity policy in a verbal exchange with a teammate. Five games after returning from that eight-game suspension, he was suspended two games for (verbal) abuse of an official. Many scouts dont know what to make of DeAngelo. The vast majority of them say the north New Jersey kid, wholl effectively be at "home" for this weeks NHL draft in Philadelphia, is (in spite of size concerns) a first-round talent, a smart, mobile and offensively gifted blueliner. "Look at the talented small defencemen and where theyve been taken in the draft, guys like Ryan Ellis, Ryan Murphy, Derrick Pouliot, even Erik Karlsson," a scout said. "DeAngelo should, on talent, be taken in that 10 to 20 range but Im not sure he will be because of the other stuff." Some of the scouts surveyed by TSN said they wouldnt take DeAngelo at all. Others said he would be a consideration in the second round – talent like that is hard to pass – but a couple did say they wouldnt rule out considering him in the first round. "If you read stuff that people write, I think they go overboard with it because they dont know the details," DeAngelo told the Camden Courier Post. "They think I have character issues. I dont think I have character issues." Interestingly, USA Hockey chose to not invite DeAngelo to its summer evaluation camp for the 2015 U.S. national junior team. Of all the stories in what is expected to be an unpredictable draft, DeAngelos is bound to be one of the most compelling. Hes expected to have upwards of 100 friends and family in attendance Friday night and whether hes chosen or not in the first round will be an intriguing storyline. Getting consensus for the TSN rankings was never more difficult than this year. Outside of perhaps the top 35 to 40, there was no real consensus. Even within the top 30 in the first round, there was a far greater variance from player to player than ever before. TSNs rankings do not take into account the teams order of selection; theres no allowance made for a teams personal or positional preference. These rankings are not so much an evaluation of which players will one day turn into the best NHLers as it is a forecast of what order in the draft this Friday and Saturday these players will reasonably be chosen. The list is determined on a mostly objective formula based on numerical rankings assigned by the scouts interviewed by TSN. NCAA Jerseys China .ca. Hi Kerry, Love reading your column and loved watching your analysis on the TSN broadcasts!And were now in Round 2! Bruins! Canadiens! We know all about the great games of the past from the players, the broadcasters and the writers. Cheap Basketball College Jerseys . CNN and Gazzetta dello Sport reporter Tancredi Palmeri broke the news via Twitter Tuesday afternoon. Italian Football Association President Giancarlo Abete has also resigned, according to Palmeri. https://www.chinajerseysncaa.us/ . Ferrer was unable to find his rhythm in losing 6-4, 6-2 to Teymuraz Gabashvili in his opening match while Nadal struggled past fellow Spanish player Albert Ramos 7-6 (2), 6-4. Nadal eventually overcame his 103rd-ranked opponent to reach the third round, rebounding from a surprise loss to Ferrer in the Monte Carlo Masters quarterfinals.NASHVILLE -- A long dormant Predators power play is finally beginning to produce. David Legwand had a goal and an assist to lead Nashville to a 3-1 victory over the Dallas Stars on Thursday night. Patric Hornqvist and Paul Gaustad also scored for the Predators, who have won two straight. Carter Hutton made 33 saves. Nashville closed out the first period with power-play goals from Hornqvist and Legwand just 28 seconds apart. "When you can go 2 for 2 pretty much on the power play, thats a game-changer," Legwand said. "Its huge for our team. Executing 5-on-3s is big." The Predators had not scored a power-play goal in their previous six games, five of which were losses. "When we score a power-play goal, its pretty good," coach Barry Trotz said. "The last six or seven games, its been a little bit dry in terms of the goal production. That was a real big turning point for us. It gave us a lot of confidence at home." Erik Cole had the goal for Dallas, which has lost three of four. Cole scored the games first goal at 18:07 of the opening period when he took possession of the puck behind the Nashville net and skated out front before lifting a backhand over Huttons right shoulder. Making his second consecutive start, Hutton improved to 6-3-1 this season. Dallas got into trouble when Shawn Horcoff took a high-sticking penalty at 18:45 and Brenden Dillon was sent off for delay of game 7 seconds later after his clearing attempt from inside the Stars blue line sailed over the glass. "We lost the game in a 2-minute span," Dallas coach Lindy Ruff said. "We were playing a good period and had a lead, but for me its a mental mistake we cant make as a team." Hornqvist got NNashville on the scoreboard at 19:02 on the two-man advantage. Cheap NCAA Jerseys Authentic. From the bottom of the right circle, Legwand found Hornqvist alone in the slot, where he wired a wrist shot high to the stick side of Dallas goalie Kari Lehtonen. Legwand scored on the 5-on-4 at 19:30 when he collected the rebound of Roman Josis shot from the left point and put it by Lehtonen for his sixth of the season. "I think for me, whats huge is instead of being down 1-0, were up 2-1 after the first period," Hutton said. "Then you kind of have some confidence and we have a couple of big penalty kills in the second which really kind of get me into a groove." Shea Weber assisted on both of Nashvilles first-period goals, giving the team captain 10 points on the power play this season. Nashville is 11-0-1 when leading after the first period. Gaustad gave the Predators a two-goal lead at 9:14 of the second, beating Lehtonen with a wrist shot from the left side. The goal came on a delayed penalty to the Stars and with Hutton off for an extra attacker. Gaustad has four points in his last two games. This one was the first of three straight road games for Dallas against fellow Central Division teams. "These are big ones," defenceman Alex Goligoski said. "We have two more big ones on this road trip to turn it around. Not the way we wanted to start it, but thats the beauty of hockey. You have to prove it every day." NOTES: Dallas D Aaron Rome appeared in his first game of the season. ... Josi has points in three consecutive games. ... Nashville won for just the third time when allowing its opponent to score first. ... Hutton turned aside 12 shots in the first, nine in the second and 12 in the third. ' ' '