BMO CHL MasterCard Top 10 Rankings – Week 3

BMO CHL MasterCard Top 10 Rankings – Week 1

1. Saint John Sea Dogs
2. Niagara IceDogs
3. Portland Winterhawks
4. Shawinigan Cataractes
5. Plymouth Whalers
6. Quebec Remparts
7. Kelowna Rockets
8. Sarnia Sting
9. Red Deer Rebels
10. Victoriaville Tigres

Honourable Mention:

Oshawa Generals

Moose Jaw Warriors

London Knights

Hurricane Irene battered the East Coast late last week. But the large, powerful storm actually did Sondre Olden a favor.

Olden, the Erie Otters’ top pick in the 2011 CHL Import Draft, turned 19 Monday. Since Irene cancelled his flight from Oslo, Norway, to New York City this past weekend, the Norwegian-born right wing was able to celebrate his birthday at home with his family.

“But finally I’m here,” Olden said Wednesday after entering Tullio Arena for the first time.

He flew from Oslo to Toronto – with a stopover in Frankfurt, Germany – on Tuesday. He arrived in Toronto at 7 p.m. But he didn’t arrive in Erie until 2 a.m. Wednesday after a two-hour delay at the United States-Canadian border because of visa issues.

The total length of his trip was about 15 hours. But after sleeping in Wednesday morning, “I’m ready to start (playing) on the ice,” Olden said.

Olden and the Toronto Maple Leafs, which selected him (as well as Otters captain Greg McKegg) in the third round of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, want Olden to play with the Otters so he will learn the North American game, which is more physical than the European style and also played on smaller ice surfaces. “It was not a hard decision,” Olden said.

Olden is best known for being a playmaker who handles the puck a lot. He had seven goals and 15 assists for 22 points for MoDo in Sweden last season, as well as represented Norway at the IIHF World Junior Championship in Buffalo last winter. But he said Leafs officials yelled at him for not shooting the puck enough. “So I have to shoot the puck more now,” he said. “I will try to score some goals this year.”

Olden said he hopes for a long, bright hockey career in North America. “I want to play in North America forever,” he said. “I hope it’s a great start for me to learn to play here. It’s a new start (to) my hockey career. I’m excited. It’s going to be fun.”

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Eric Rex (Contributed/Canisius College, Tom Wolf Imaging)

After enjoying the best season of his collegiate career, senior forward Eric Rex (Fairview) of the Canisius College hockey team is continuing his career with the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees of the CHL.

During his senior campaign with the Golden Griffins, Rex set career highs with 27 points, nine goals and 18 assists. His 27 points ranked third on the team and were more than double his total from his first three seasons combined.

“We are excited to have Eric join our squad,” said Killer Bees head coach Chris Brooks. “Depth is so critically important in the playoffs and I believe Eric brings that to our team.”

In his four years at Canisius, Rex totaled 40 points, 14 goals and 26 assists in 103 career games.

Rex is the third Griff to join a professional team this offseason. He joins Cory Conacher and Vincent Scarsella, who signed with the Rochester Americans (AHL) and the Elmira Jackals (ECHL), respectively.

- From Canisius College news release

Erie Otters winger David Broll is ranked 24th overall among OHL skaters on NHL Central Scouting’s preliminary rankings. Read more by clicking this link. Check out complete skater and goaltender lists from all three CHL leagues by clicking this link. Meanwhile, check out the NCAA players to watch, which include former Otters draft picks Kevin Clare (Michigan) and Michael Mersch (Wisconsin).

TORONTO — The Molson Canadian World Hockey Summit concluded on Thursday in Toronto, with over 400 delegates participating in the four-day event. The summit was a global hockey symposium, attracting global leaders of the game and interested stakeholders to share and enhance global hockey knowledge. Full event details and coverage is available online at www.worldhockeysummit.com.
The steering committee, comprised of the seven summit partners (IIHF, NHL, NHLPA, Hockey Canada, USA Hockey, CHL and Molson Coors), will be reviewing all of the results from the work group discussions on player skill development, junior development in the hockey world, an evaluation of Vancouver 2010, a global hockey event agenda, women’s hockey after Vancouver 2010 and growing participation in the game.
Event proceedings, including formal presentations and the results from the discussion groups, will be provided to all IIHF member federations and summit partners, providing these organizations with the opportunity to develop their own action plans.
The summit partners will also collaborate on developing recommendations and collective action plans going forward, and expect to announce details over of the course of the 2010-11 season.
“Coming into the summit we really didn’t know what to expect, but I could sense that this would be a success after one day,” said IIHF President René Fasel. “We discussed the most pressing issues in our game and we had a very good and healthy exchange of views in front of more than 400 keen delegates. These were four very good days for hockey. The next step is to evaluate the proposals from the delegates and see if we can work out any recommendations.”
“The discussion and dialogue here over the last four days has clearly extended hockey knowledge and enriched hockey insight at all levels,” said Bill Daly, NHL deputy commissioner. “The National Hockey League was proud to play a meaningful part in that dialogue and I believe the game — both at the NHL level and all other levels — will be better for it.”
“The NHLPA was pleased that the major stakeholders in hockey were part of the Molson Canadian World Hockey Summit to discuss how the global game can prosper,” said Mike Ouellet, NHLPA Chief of Business Affairs. “NHL players bring forth a key perspective in growing the game worldwide and we hope to build off of this week’s momentum. In particular, we look forward to expanding best on best tournaments, such as the World Cup of Hockey and the Olympics, where fans watch their favourite players participate.”
“It has been a very productive week here in Toronto,” said Hockey Canada president & CEO Bob Nicholson. “Hockey Canada and the representatives of our member branches throughout the country have been very excited about being part of this collaboration, discussing matters ranging from skill development to hockey at the Olympic Games with the major hockey stakeholders. We look forward to working together and coming about with a plan to make our game even better.”
“This event has exceeded my expectations,” said Dave Ogrean, executive director of USA Hockey. “With the relatively diversified audience, and designed by seven different entities, there was a pleasingly high level of interaction and engagement.”
“The Canadian Hockey League is extremely pleased with the success of the Molson Canadian World Hockey Summit in attracting global hockey leaders to one stage,” said CHL President David Branch. “It was energizing to be around so many passionate hockey people that were all focused on the betterment of the game which will undoubtedly result in positive changes to hockey in the years to come.”
“Molson Canadian was there back in 1999 for the very first Open Ice Summit and continues to support the development and evolution of ‘our game’,” said Pat McEleney, director of sports and entertainment for Molson Coors Canada. “The dialogue, discussion and debate from this year’s Molson Canadian World Hockey Summit should unlock clues to help grow the game and improve the sport at all levels.”

TORONTO – The global leaders of hockey convened Tuesday to announce details of the upcoming Molson Canadian World Hockey Summit, a three-day event to be held in Toronto from August 23-26 to dissect the current state of hockey and collaboratively identify and address key concerns and issues facing the game today as well as opportunities to further grow and develop the sport.

The summit’s core theme, Global Teamwork Promoting the Growth of the Game, will be brought to life through interactive seminars, presentations and discussions – led by a who’s who of the global hockey world from the Interntional Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), Hockey Canada, USA Hockey, National Hockey League (NHL) and Canadian Hockey League (CHL).

“As leaders, stakeholders and fans of hockey we have a shared responsibility for the care, nurturing, protection and development of our game,” said Bob Nicholson, president and CEO of Hockey Canada. “The goals of the Molson Canadian World Hockey Summit are to provide an inclusive forum to table the most pressing questions surrounding our game and work together to find implementable solutions.”

Key topics to be addressed at the Molson Canadian World Hockey Summit include:

•             Player Safety and Skill Development Initiatives: Exploring current trends and issues concerning player safety in today’s game; understanding the need for a long term plan for player development, recruitment and retention; fostering long term participation in the sport at all levels of play

•             Junior Development in the World: Assessing the results and figures from IIHF World Junior (U20) Championship, the Olympics and the NHL Entry Draft; addressing the developmental shortcomings in elite junior hockey programs and the impact of European migration to the Canadian Junior ranks

•             Vancouver 2010 Evaluation: Evaluating the 2010 Olympic men’s ice hockey tournament; helping hockey to benefit long-term from the unprecedented success by sustaining the positives while developing other areas

•             Establishing a Long-Term Global Event Agenda: Exploring the possibilities to provide hockey with a long-term international event agenda for both national team and club events; further enhancing the IIHF-NHL cooperation for the growth the game

•             Women’s Hockey after Vancouver 2010: How to grow the competitive environment in women’s hockey outside the U.S. and Canada to ensure women’s hockey remains an Olympic sport

•             Contracts and International Transfers: Addressing the challenges facing transfers and contractual status throughout the hockey world; determining how all parties can have a common view on contractual status and a common interpretation of free agency; discussing Ethical Standards for Agents and the responsibilities related to advising young players about life decisions

This year’s event is open to the public to attend and participate in the sessions. Registration opens today at www.worldhockeysummit.com.  There are 500 spaces available for the three-day event, with tickets priced at $450 Canadian. The events and sessions will be split between two venues in downtown Toronto: the Sheraton Centre and the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Past hockey summits, including the inaugural Molson Open Ice Summit held in 1999, produced 11 recommendations for change in hockey.  These have resulted in some dramatic improvements to the sport in Canada over the past decade, notably:

•             the creation of a national coaching mentorship network, including enhanced resource development to support coaches in the practice environment

•             Hockey Canada’s Age Change motion that moved all age classifications back one year and made Midget hockey up to a three-year category

•             the development of Hockey Canada’s National Skills Standards and Testing program (2004) and annual Coaching Day events

•             the launch of the Hockey Canada Skills Academy program in partnership with school boards, local hockey boards, associations and sponsors, to better utilize ice times and school facilities and move towards development of young players

A full schedule of events and activities is now available online at www.worldhockeysummit.com.

- From OHL news release

Check out video featuring interviews following the 2011 Memorial Cup bid presentations, which were held on Wednesday in Toronto. The interviews include David Branch, CHL president and OHL commissioner; the selection committee and officials from the four Ontario teams and cities – Barrie, Kingston, Mississauga and Windsor.

While you’re here, watch video from Canada’s Rogers TV on how the selection committee chooses the annual tournament’s host site.