Press Release
Toronto, ON – The Canadian Hockey League in association with Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment and Home Hardware Stores Limited today announced the 40 CHL players eligible for the 2011 NHL Entry Draft that will compete in the 2011 Home Hardware CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game January 18-19 at Air Canada Centre in Toronto, ON.
The 40 top prospects have been divided into two teams that will feature hockey icon Don Cherry behind the bench for Team Cherry, and Toronto Maple Leafs’ all-time great Doug Gilmour who will serve behind the bench for Team Orr.
“On behalf of the Canadian Hockey League we are very excited to showcase 40 of the league’s top prospects eligible for the 2011 NHL Entry Draft at Air Canada Centre January 18-19 where they will compete in front of hundreds of scouts in attendance and live on Rogers Sportsnet and RDS for CHL fans across the country,” said CHL President David Branch. “We are also honoured to have Don Cherry and Doug Gilmour as coaches of this prestigious event. Don has been a tremendous builder of this event since it began in 1996, and Doug’s participation will be exciting for the Maple Leafs’ fans in attendance.”
The rosters were selected by the 30 NHL General Managers with NHL Central Scouting and include 18 players from the Ontario Hockey League, 13 players from the Western Hockey League, and nine players from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
The rosters include all three players that were ranked first overall in their regional league in NHL Central Scouting’s Preliminary Draft Rankings including Ryan Nugent-Hopkins of the Red Deer Rebels who will compete with Team Orr, while Swedish National Junior Team hopeful Gabriel Landeskog of the Kitchener Rangers will compete for Team Cherry alongside Team Canada forward Sean Couturier of the Drummondville Voltigeurs.
27 of the CHL’s 60 teams are represented in this game including four players from the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks along with four players from the QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs. Both the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers and Oshawa Generals are each represented by three players.
The 2011 Home Hardware CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game marks the 13th year of involvement for Cherry who has coached head-to-head against Bobby Orr 11 different times including six-straight meetings when the event began in 1996 at Maple Leaf Gardens. Last year in Windsor Team Cherry emerged with a 4-2 win over Team Orr to give Cherry his fifth coaching win in this event which also included a win over coaching opponent John Davidson in 2005. Following the 2006 contest the CHL presented the Don Cherry and Bobby Orr Home Hardware CHL/NHL Top Prospects Trophy for the first time to the winning team. Engraved on the award are the names of every player to ever participate in this prestigious event.
Gilmour returns to Toronto where his number 93 jersey was honoured by the Maple Leafs in January, 2009. He played six seasons with the blue and white from 1991-97 including three years as team captain. In 1,474 career NHL games, Gilmour had his best season as a Maple Leaf scoring 127 points in 83 games as a nominee for the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league’s most valuable player, and winner of the Frank J. Selke Trophy as Best Defensive Forward in the 1992-93 season. He is currently in his third season as Head Coach of the OHL’s Kingston Frontenacs.
The 2010 event in Windsor, ON, featured 17 CHL players that were selected in the first round of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft including Taylor Hall who became the ninth player to compete in this event before being selected first overall when he was chosen by the Edmonton Oilers in June. Previous first overall picks following this game include Chris Phillips, Joe Thornton, Vincent Lecavalier, Rick Nash, Marc-Andre Fleury, Patrick Kane, Steven Stamkos, and John Tavares.
Home Hardware continues as the title sponsor of the Home Hardware CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game for the twelfth straight year dating back to 2000 when the game was last played at Air Canada Centre. Associate sponsors include Bank of Montreal, Subway, and CCM.
The game will be broadcast nationally live on Rogers Sportsnet and RDS.
Beginning Thursday December 23, 2010, at noon, tickets for the 2011 Home Hardware CHL/NHL Top Prospects Skills Competition and Game will be available individually. Tickets are available beginning at $10 for the Skills Competition on January 18 and $40 for the Game on January 19 at www.ticketmaster.ca or by calling 416-872-5000.
Team Cherry (Red)
Forwards (12):
Sean Couturier, Drummondville Voltigeurs
Phillip Danault, Victoriaville Tigres
Nicklas Jensen, Oshawa Generals
Tomas Jurco, Saint John Sea Dogs
Gabriel Landeskog, Kitchener Rangers
Mark McNeill, Prince Albert Raiders
Matthew Puempel, Peterborough Petes
Rickard Rakell, Plymouth Whalers
Ty Rattie, Portland Winterhawks
Tobias Rieder, Kitchener Rangers
Mark Scheifele, Barrie Colts
Ryan Strome, Niagara IceDogs
Defencemen (6):
Myles Bell, Regina Pats
Scott Harrington, London Knights
Joe Morrow, Portland Winterhawks
Ryan Murphy, Kitchener Rangers
Duncan Siemens, Saskatoon Blades
Tyler Wotherspoon, Portland Winterhawks
Goaltenders (2):
Christopher Gibson, Chicoutimi Sagueneens
David Honzik, Victoriaville Tigres
Coaching Staff:
Head Coach -Don Cherry
Assistant Coach - Brian Kilrea, Ottawa 67’s
Assistant Coach - Bert O’Brien
Training Staff:
Russ Hammond, Guelph Storm
Brian Miller, Peterborough Petes
Team Orr (White)
Forwards (12):
Sven Bartschi, Portland Winterhawks
Daniel Catenacci, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds
Jonathan Huberdeau, Saint John Sea Dogs
Colin Jacobs, Seattle Thunderbirds
Boone Jenner, Oshawa Generals
Lucas Lessio, Oshawa Generals
Shane McColgan, Kelowna Rockets
Vladislav Namestnikov, London Knights
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Red Deer Rebels
Zack Phillips, Saint John Sea Dogs
Brandon Saad, Saginaw Spirit
Vincent Trocheck, Saginaw Spirit
Defencemen (6):
Nathan Beaulieu, Saint John Sea Dogs
Dougie Hamilton, Niagara IceDogs
David Musil, Vancouver Giants
Xavier Ouellet, Montreal Juniors
Stuart Percy, Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors
Reece Scarlett, Swift Current Broncos
Goaltenders (2):
Jordan Binnington, Owen Sound Attack
Liam Liston, Brandon Wheat Kings
Coaching Staff:
Head Coach - Doug Gilmour, Kingston Frontenacs
Assistant Coach - Stan Butler, Brampton Battalion
Training Staff:
Joey Garland, Windsor Spitfires
Kevin Emo, Barrie Colts
(Nathan can be reached at fourniern@students.nescom.edu)
Thursday, December 23, 2010
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