Filip Zadina shines as Team Cherry comes out on top versus Team Orr ... Ty Dellandrea sets record with two quick snipes ... Late addition Aidan Dudas makes most of his night
GUELPH — Don’t get too comfortable on that lofty perch, Rasmus Dahlin.
There’s one group of people — small as it might be — which doesn’t have the Swedish defenceman locked in as the No. 1 pick in the National Hockey League draft in June.
Others would like to grab that spot, no matter what the consensus says.
Chief among them is forward Filip Zadina, ranked second among skaters in North America by NHL central scouting in its mid-term rankings for the draft in Dallas.
“He’s a good player, but no one knows what’s going to happen,” Zadina told Postmedia on Thursday. “It’s still just on paper. Everyone is trying to (topple Dahlin), but it’s going to be tough.”
Zadina has been super for Halifax of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League this season, recording 53 points (27 goals and 26 assists) in 38 games.
At the annual Canadian Hockey League top prospects game on Thursday night in a packed Sleeman Centre, Zadina gave scouts and fans a quick look at what has made the six-foot, 195pound forward successful.
Skating for Team Cherry, Zadina scored a couple of goals in the second period, helping his side skate to a 7-4 victory against Team Orr.
Zadina’s release is NHL-ready, and observers saw it in action when the 18-yearold native of the Czech Republic snapped a shot past the glove of goalie Alexis
Gravel early in the middle period; later, Zadina hit the post and on the same shift got past an Orr defender to score on a rebound. Do we think Zadina or
Andrei Svechnikov, ranked No. 1 among North American skaters, bumps Dahlin from the top spot? No. But that doesn’t matter. Either will make the NHL club that calls their name rather happy. POINT SHOTS
Ty Dellandrea of the Ontario Hockey League’s Flint Firebirds probably didn’t plan on setting a record in the game, but he went and did exactly that in the first period. Playing for Team Cherry, Dellandrea banged a pass from Vladislav
Kotkov behind Gravel at 16:22 of the first period and tipped a shot in at 16:42. Coming 20 seconds apart, the goals were the fastest two by one player, breaking the record of three minutes, 22 seconds set by J.P. Dumont in 1996 … Those goals gave Team Cherry a 4-0 lead.
Aidan Dudas of the Owen Sound Attack had scored at 15:35, and that goal, together with Dellandrea’s pair, set a mark for fastest three goals by one team, one minute seven seconds. Team Orr scored three goals in two minutes 12 seconds in 2011 … Quite fitting that after Don
Cherry trotted out his tired view on European players in the CHL that his club’s first goal was scored by Russian forward Egor Sokolov, who skates for Cape Breton of the QMJHL. During a scrum with reporters in the morning, Cherry beat his personal dead horse, saying Europeans shouldn’t be in the Canadian Hockey League. If there’s a good reason for keeping Cherry’s involvement in the prospects game, what exactly is it? When asked about the opposing coach,
Eric Lindros, this was the attempted joke from Cherry: “I know one thing, I’m going to call Scott Stevens in.” … Kudos to Dudas, a late addition to the game. He scored a pair of pretty goals, and you can bet he won’t be nearly as low as No. 131, which is where he is ranked by the NHL at the mid-term, when the final rankings are done … London Knights defenceman Evan
Bouchard had four assists for Team Cherry, tying the record for most points in a prospects game, held by five others and most recently done by Gilbert Brule in 2005. Little surprise, given that Bouchard, who looks upon the Los Angeles Kings’ Drew Doughty as a perfect blueliner to try to emulate, leads OHL defencemen with 54 points. FROM THE HASH MARKS
Gravel is ranked No. 1 among goalies in North America, though he does not expect to be a firstround pick. “If I am, I will be surprised, to be honest,” Gravel said. “If I’m in the third round, second round, fourth round, I will be happy with that. I just want a team to pick me.” … Ottawa 67’s defenceman Kevin Bahl had a goal and an assist for Team Orr, marking the first time this season he has recorded a goal and an assist in the same game. We’d call that excellent timing … We should mention that starring in the top prospects game guarantees little. Among those who have been named player of the game: Jay Bouwmeester (2002), Taylor Hall (2010) and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (2011). Honoured in a similar manner: Greg Watson (2001),
Ruslan Bashkirov (2007) and Branden Troock (2012) … A moment of silence was held for USA Hockey general manager Jim Johannson, who passed away suddenly last weekend at the age of 53 … Lindros, coaching Team Orr in the place of an absent Bobby Orr, wasn’t going to pace around the dressing room, dispensing nuggets of advice to his players. “It’s not really my place on a day like today when they have been brought in here and poked and prodded for a couple of days,” Lindros said. “There is a lot of pressure on them. It’s a great stage for them to go out and show their wares.”