Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Restart of CHL Team Reviews

Having been away for more than a week at the NHL Draft Combine in Toronto, this blog has gotten away from me, but I do want to update all on the CHL teams, their news, NHL signings of players and draft selections.

BTW, you can read my Combine article at www.hockeysfuture.com/articles/9703.


Back to the OHL.

Barrie Colts

As per my previous article, Richard Clune and Bryan Little were already signed by their NHL teams. None of the other Colts had to be signed by NHL teams this year or decide to go back into the draft.

On Friday, center Matthew Bragg, who will be eligible to play an overage year next fall, was traded to Windsor for "future considerations."

The hiring of assistant coach Drake Berehowsky was announced last week. Berehowsky, a former NHL defenceman, comes to Barrie from the Brampton Battalion.

In the 2007 Priority Draft, the Colts selected the following players in the first 4 rounds:

First round (17 overall)--Mitch Lebar (1/29/91, 5'11", 180) C, Toronto Young Nationals Midget AAA, also saw time on defence in the GTHL this past season. Stats are unavailable. Good skater, very good shot, but has trouble consistently bringing his game to the rink every night.

Second round (37 overall)--Kyle Clifford (1/13/91, 6'1", 180) LW, Cambridge Hawks Midget AAA, 49 GP, 60 PTS, 89 PIM, +37, character player, leader, likes to hit.

Third round (58 overall)--Scott Dawson (11/9/91, 6'2", 180) D, Kanata Blazers Midget, 30 GP, 29 PTS, 76 PIM, good on rush, offensive blueliner, needs to work on play in his own end.

Fourth Round (77 overall)--Adam Payerl (3/4/91, 5'11", 165) C, Kitchener Rangers Midget AAA, 43 GP, 57 PTS, 50 PIM, 12 PPG, 2 SHG, very good on-ice vision, good puck handling, needs to work on skating and intensity

The following is a list of the how the top 3 Barrie draft picks of the last 2 years are doing.

2006 Priority Draft

First round (17 overall) --Stephan Della Rovere LW--a rookie with the OHL Colts, Della Rovere had 14 points in 48 regular season games; 0 points in 6 playoff games. Needs to really move forward with his game next season, which will be his NHL draft year.

Second Round (36 overall) --Alex Hutchings C--also a rookie with Barrie this past season. In 30 regular season games, he had 5 points, 25 PIM, and was +1. Not eligible for NHL draft until 2009.

Third Round (49 overall)--Brian Lashoff D--the third rookie on the OHL team, Lashoff was the best of the three 2006 priority draft selections during the 2006-07 season. With 12 points in 47 regular season games, Lashoff was +5 and accumulated only 20 PIM. During the playoffs, the big blueliner recorded 1 assist and 2 PIM in 5 games.

2005 Priority Draft

First Round (15 overall)--Blake Parlett D--traded to Windsor on January 3, 2007, with 2 second round picks (2008 and 2010) for Mike Weber, Thomas Battani, and a 5th round pick in 2007 (who became Colin Behenna)

Second round--no selection

Third Round (55 overall)--Daniel Minor LW--split his season between the Colts and the Port Colborne Sailors (Junior B). After a not very successful early season (Sept-Dec), where Minor played 28 games with Barrie and only registered 3 points, he played 15 games with Port Colborne, recording 31 points (9 PPG, 1 SH) and 30 PIM.

Barrie has quite a few positions available in the fall, especially on defence, so the next few months will be very busy ones for the coaching staff.