December Minor League Update

by 2883 on Dec 27, 2011 10:17 PM CST

Hello folks it's me again, your least favorite Fan Shots writer because I write about things most people don't care about: Minor League players :). I kid, but not really. Most of these players are a ways away and the best of the players are playing in the World Juniors. Which I do follow but I'll let someone else cover that because I don't have the time but the following players are there.

US: Brandon Saad, Adam Clendening, Stephen Johns

Sweden: Ludvig Rensfeldt, Johan Mattsson, Joakim Nordstrom

There are two tables: December's stats (from the last post to game's played on Dec 27th) and the full season stats.

December's Stars:

1st Star : C Mark McNeill

2nd Star: C Brandon Pirri

3rd Star: W Jeremy Morin

Quick Points to look at:

Dylan Olsen has really struggled in the A this year. December was better with 1 G and only a -2 overall, but this takes his overall +- to -5 on the year. Olsen is being counted on to provide the Hawks a prime time defensive defenceman. He's the Hawks premier lockdown defender in the minors. His defensive partner, Shawn Lalonde had a decent month (1-2-3, +2) in December.
Mark McNeill broke out in a big way in December with nearly 2 points per game. It's a damn shame that he was a cut on Team Canada in the WJC. Team Canada is good but McNeill deserves to be on that team.
Another defender, Adam Clendening, continued his good year of development at Boston U. His December only was 4 Games but he managed 4 Assists in that time. The Boston U program has been taking some major hits with two players leaving (Trivino (rape), Coyle ( QMJHL) and it was rumoured that Clendening might be leaving too but he quickly dispelled that notion and said that he was committed to Boston U for the Spring semester.
I for one have been disappointed with the development of some of the other forward prospects including Rensfeldt (2nd round pick, 2010) and Jimmy Hayes (Acq from Toronto). They've struggled on their respective teams, but still have a chance to succeed. Rensfeldt has an extremely talented linemates in Sarnia even if he is not getting time with Nail Yakupov (the lock for the 1st pick in 2012).

Name	Pos	Team	Lg	GP	G	A	Pts	+-	PIMS
Nick Leddy	D	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	12	0	2	2	-3	4
Jeremy Morin	LW	Rockford Icehogs	AHL	7	1	5	6	3	26
Jeremy Morin	LW	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	3	0	0	0	-1	0
Marcus Kruger	C	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	11	1	2	3	0	4
Mark McNeill	C	Prince Albert Raiders	WHL	7	6	7	13	6	4
Dylan Olsen	D	Rockford Icehogs	AHL	11	1	0	1	-2	24
Shawn Lalonde	D	Rockford Icehogs	AHL	11	1	2	3	2	16
Adam Clendening	D	Boston University	H-East	4	0	4	4	N/A	2
Brandon Saad	LW	Saginaw Spirit	OHL	6	1	3	4	2	8
Kyle Beach	LW	Rockford Icehogs	AHL	0	0	0	0	0	0
Brandon Pirri	C	Rockford Icehogs	AHL	9	3	7	10	0	2
Brandon Pirri	C	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	3	0	2	2	3	0
Stephen Johns	D	Notre Dame	CCHA	4	0	0	0	N/A	19
Kevin Hayes	RW	Boston College	H-East	4	0	2	2	N/A	2
Ben Smith	RW	Rockford Icehogs	AHL	4	2	2	4	3	2
Ben Smith	RW	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	5	1	0	1	-3	0
Phillip Danault	LW	Victoriaville Tigers	QMJHL	5	1	3	4	0	14
Ludvig Rensfeldt	LW	Sarnia Sting	WHL	4	1	1	2	-4	4
Jimmy Hayes	RW	Rockford Icehogs	AHL	11	2	5	7	2	7
Justin Holl	D	Univ of Minnesota	WCHA	4	0	0	0	N/A	4
Phillippe Paradis	LW	Rockford Icehogs	AHL	10	0	4	4	-3	2
Joakim Nordstrom	C	AIK	SEL	5	0	0	0	-3	0
Michael Paliotta	D	Univ of Vermont	H-East	5	1	1	2	N/A	6
Klas Dahlbeck	D	Linkoping HC	SEL	8	0	0	0	-2	2
Maxim Shalunov	RW	Belie Medvedi Chelyabinsk	MHL	0	0	0	0	N/A	0
Andrew Shaw	C	Rockford Icehogs	AHL	11	5	0	5	1	35
Sam Jardine	D	Camrose Kodiaks	AJHL	10	4	3	7	N/A	10
Alex Broadhurst	C	Green Bay Gamblers	USHL	7	3	8	11	5	4

Here's the overall statistics for the year.

Name	Pos	Team	Lg	GP	G	A	Pts	+-	PIMS
Nick Leddy	D	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	36	2	16	18	0	8
Jeremy Morin	LW	Rockford Icehogs	AHL	24	5	10	15	1	56
Jeremy Morin	LW	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	3	0	0	0	-1	0
Marcus Kruger	C	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	34	3	7	10	-2	12
Mark McNeill	C	Prince Albert Raiders	WHL	34	15	20	35	-1	16
Dylan Olsen	D	Rockford Icehogs	AHL	27	1	0	1	-5	36
Shawn Lalonde	D	Rockford Icehogs	AHL	28	1	4	5	0	30
Adam Clendening	D	Boston University	H-East	16	1	11	12	N/A	36
Brandon Saad	LW	Saginaw Spirit	OHL	14	10	12	22	6	10
Kyle Beach	LW	Rockford Icehogs	AHL	8	3	3	6	-1	18
Brandon Pirri	C	Rockford Icehogs	AHL	28	13	18	31	3	8
Brandon Pirri	C	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	3	0	2	2	3	0
Stephen Johns	D	Notre Dame	CCHA	20	2	4	6	N/A	59
Kevin Hayes	RW	Boston College	H-East	18	4	11	15	N/A	8
Ben Smith	RW	Rockford Icehogs	AHL	13	8	6	14	-1	4
Ben Smith	RW	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	7	1	0	1	-6	0
Phillip Danault	LW	Victoriaville Tigers	QMJHL	30	6	26	32	3	43
Ludvig Rensfeldt	LW	Sarnia Sting	WHL	29	10	12	22	4	8
Jimmy Hayes	RW	Rockford Icehogs	AHL	28	5	13	18	1	11
Justin Holl	D	Univ of Minnesota	WCHA	20	2	5	7	N/A	16
Phillippe Paradis	LW	Rockford Icehogs	AHL	25	1	5	6	-10	20
Joakim Nordstrom	C	AIK	SEL	29	2	1	3	-10	2
Michael Paliotta	D	Univ of Vermont	H-East	16	1	4	5	N/A	16
Klas Dahlbeck	D	Linkoping HC	SEL	32	0	0	0	-2	8
Maxim Shalunov	RW	Belie Medvedi Chelyabinsk	MHL	24	16	11	27	N/A	30
Andrew Shaw	C	Rockford Icehogs	AHL	30	9	8	17	0	63
Sam Jardine	D	Camrose Kodiaks	AJHL	33	6	11	17	N/A	36
Alex Broadhurst	C	Green Bay Gamblers	USHL	21	14	14	28	14	14

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Comments

Thanks for this, always interesting to hear how our guys are doing

"Well now you're just talking like Foghorn Leghorn!"

by justforkicks on Dec 28, 2011 9:07 AM CST reply actions

Nice read! Thanks!

Two things though:

Danault was the last cut for team Canada, not McNeil. McNeil was actually cut on the first day.

Kevin Hayes is the brother of the two that was a first round pick by the Hawks. Jimmy was picked the year before in the second round by the Leafs.

by LavalPhantom on Dec 28, 2011 9:34 AM CST reply actions

Fixed

by 2883 on Dec 28, 2011 12:04 PM CST up reply actions

Thanks for this

I do disagree about McNeill deserving to be on the Canadian WJC squad. It’s not a knock on his talent that he didn’t make it. In reality, there’s not many spots. Canada has tended to fill its roster over the past decade with very traditional roles. All it really means is that he wasn’t better than the top 2 scoring centres (and he’s not), that he wasn’t the best defensive/checking centre (true), and that he wasn’t the best energy/checking centre (also true). The guy’s very good, and I’d expect him to play next year if he keeps up his development. This is also a tournament where Seguin didn’t make the Canadian team, nor Nugent-Hopkins.

www.mjt.org

by ChicoMaki on Dec 28, 2011 1:07 PM CST reply actions

Thanks again for this

I appreciate the updates. Laughing a little at the Hayes comment, considering he just had a solid game.

by mad-hatter on Dec 31, 2011 7:29 PM CST reply actions

Dlyan Olsen is learning the pro game. Mentally, one can see

he is still adjusting to assignments. Physically, he excels at clearing in front of the net and wins most board battles. He is a punishing checker. He does have good vision on getting the puck up ice.
Andrew Shaw is now 12th is the AHL is rookie scoring. He makes a living around the oppenents net. He is a extremely good at frustrating oppenents . He has no fear giving up height and weight to anyone…. understands the fight game. He is surprising more then a few with his knack for finding the net.
Stephen Johns also looked good in the WJC…he too is big defensemen and like Olsen he punishes people. Fluid skater with very good vision.

H'8ter Proof™

by ccm on Jan 1, 2012 8:42 AM CST reply actions

I quit

Out of the comments I’ve made, 2 of them are now in the NHL. (Olsen, Hayes) out of the 3. I give up making comments, I’m going straight stats from now on :)

by 2883 on Jan 4, 2012 3:17 PM CST reply actions