Thursday, January 19, 2006
NCAA and NHL scouts will be at The Ice Zone scouting players from six teams.
SPECIAL TO THE VINDICATOR
BOARDMAN -- Scouts from NCAA and NHL teams will settle in Boardman for the next four days to study players and consider future prospects at the Mahoning Valley Phantoms North Division Showcase held at The Ice Zone today through Sunday.
The Showcase welcomes the five teams from the North American Hockey League's North Division: the Phantoms, Cleveland Barons, Alpena Ice Diggers, Traverse City North Stars, and the U.S. National Under-18 Team. Also participating for the second season in a row is the Springfield Jr. Blues of the South Division.
Three games will be played each day, along with a Midget Major Showcase that will feature some future prospects of the NAHL over the same period.
Team previews
The Ice Diggers are 6-25-4. Goaltender Phil Greer is committed to Bowling Green next season. The recent return of Ross Enmark, the team's third-leading scorer last year, is a welcome boost to the lineup. Drew Pierson leads the team with 16 goals, six of them on the power play.
Cleveland Barons captain and NAHL leading scorer Carter Camper leads one of the top forward lines in the league along with Josh Leonard and Tomas Petruska. The defense has been shorthanded, minus the services of their two top blue liners in Adam Snead and Pat Goebel.
The division-leading Barons (23-13-4) sport one of the best goaltending tandems in the league in Bobby Jarosz and Kenny Reiter. They also recently acquired the rights to former Phantom left winger Derek Roehl, who will see action on Cleveland's second forward line.
Jr. Blues are experienced
The Springfield Jr. Blues (18-15-3) are experienced and deep offensively, with seven players recording at least 20 points and 17 players with at least 10 points. Leading scorer David Nicoletti is headed to Alabama-Huntsville.
They are also big, led by two former Phantoms in 6-6 defenseman Drew Fortney and 6-4 forward Jon Globke.
No lead is safe against the Traverse City North Stars (12-17-5). Goaltender Jeremy Kaleniecki is capable of winning a game by himself. Defenseman Steven Oleksy is talented at both ends of the ice. They have six forwards who can score.
The U.S. National Under-18 Team is the best of the bunch. Defenseman Erik Johnson is one of the best young players in the world. Patrick Kane is a natural goal scorer, with 11 tallies in just eight NAHL games.
Defenseman Michael Ratchuk is headed to Michigan State. Forward Blake Geoffrion is off to Wisconsin.