Patrick in spotlight at contest
QUEBEC — There will be 40 players dressed for the Canadian junior Top Prospects Game but most eyes will on only two of them — Brandon Wheat Kings centre Nolan Patrick and Halifax Mooseheads forward Nico Hischier.
Patrick and Hischier are expected to go first and second in the NHL draft June 23 in Chicago and each was named captain of a team for the game Monday night at the Centre Videotron.
“I have a lot of respect for him, but I’m not going into the game thinking it’s me against Nico,” said Patrick. “I just want to help my team and play the best I can.”
Patrick leads Team Orr, which includes Windsor Spitfires forward Gabe Vilardi, who is ranked third by NHL Central Scouting among North American skaters. Hischier is on Team Cherry, whose roster includes Windsor goaltender Michael DiPietro.
Dozens of NHL scouts will be gathering information on how the best players from the three Canadian-based major junior leagues perform against their peers.
Patrick, who missed out on last year’s draft due to a late birthday, has been the consensus No. 1 choice my most scouting services since the start of the season. But the Winnipeg native missed 35 games with an abdominal injury while Hischier’s stock soared after a standout performance for Switzerland four weeks ago at the world junior championship.
The six-foot-three Patrick developed a sports hernia while leading Brandon to a Western Hockey League title last season, when he had 102 points in the regular season and added 30 in 21 post-season contests.
He played only six games this season before he was injured again. It caused him to miss the world junior tournament but Patrick looks to have picked up where he left off when he returned on Jan. 14.
He hopes to demonstrate to the scouts what the injury is now completely healed.
“I took a little extra time,” he said. “I probably could have played about two weeks earlier but I wanted to be 100 per cent and make sure I wasn’t going to tweak it or anything. It’s good now. No pain.”
What hurt was missing the world juniors, where he likely would have been Canada’s only draft-eligible player and, maybe, the difference in winning or losing in a shootout to the U.S. in the final. If he is drafted first overall, he’ll likely be in the NHL when next year’s world junior is played.
“When I noticed that my injury wouldn’t be ready on time I didn’t pout about it, I turned my focus to supporting my teammate Kale Clague who went there,” said Patrick.