Mid Term Rankings

Yes this might be old news but since I am back at college and the Lewiston MAINEiacs firing GM and Head Coach Ed Harding, I just haven't got a chance to post my thoughts on the NHL Central Scouting Bureau rankings.

Nothing comes to a surprise to me with the first five North American skaters. Simon Despres at six is a little surprising. Once the Europeans factor in, he should be slotted in the middle of the fist round. Jared Cowen at seven is surprise but like they explained in the article which makes perfect sense.

John Moore at nine is a big shocker. I wander if it has to do anything with the overlook of John Carlson last year? Moore has 10 goals and 17 assists in 29 games. Another American that made a jump is Chris Kreider from Phillips Andover Academy. I heard of him this summer when he made his commitment to Boston College.

Zach Budish is an interesting player. He blew out his knee during the football season but he's ranked 24th. I thought his ranking would of dropped but his skills is keeping him the first two rounds at this point.

Jeremy Morin is ranked lower then I expected. I was anxious to see him play a few weeks ago when the NTDP came to Maine. He appeared to injure himself and didn't retun to the ice in the second and third period.

The European rankings look pretty decent. Sweden looks to dominate the first round. Richard Panik at 16 is surpring. Bob McKenize mentioned during the World Junior Championships that players don't fall in the rankings. It seems that Panik has but he could of been past by one of the Swedes.

As for the goalies, Oliver Roy seems to be on a free fall. Last year at this time, he looked like a lock to be the first goalie taking after leading the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles to a playoff run. For me, he's still the best goalie. He has great athletic ablity. Mike Lee would be the second goalie on my list. Edward Pasquale would be third. I don't know too much about him but he has a 22-14-3 record with a 2.81 goals against average and a .921 save percentage.

That's My Take

(Nathan also is a writer for Maineiacs Post to Post and the Maine Hockey Journal. He can be reached at fourniern@students.nescom.edu)