Monday, January 2, 2012

Stefan Noesen signs NHL Entry Level Deal with the Ottawa Senators

Just over 6 months Stefan Noesen made history as Texas' 1st ever 1st Round Pick in the NHL Draft, he officially signed his NHL Entry Level Deal with the Ottawa Senators back on December 29. He's continued to make big strides in his development on all sides on the ice, from looking to be a grinder on defense, to being one his leading scorers on offense.

Currently he has an impressive scoring streak right now where he has at least a point in 16 of his last 18 games, including a recent 4 Point Game where he had a hat trick in a 7-3 victory over the Saginaw Spirit. Prior to his game on November 11 where he had another 4 point game against the Guelph Storm that really set his season into Overdrive.

With him now officially signed, he is now looking to reach the NHL sooner rather then later & still has a couple of years of Junior Egilibity left in the Ontario Hockey League. Because of the current Egilibity rules, he is not allowed to play in the American Hockey League (AHL), so it would be either in Ottawa or Plymouth, as he looks forward to training camp next year as he looks to make a serious attempt to make his NHL Debut next year. Because of the current Rules, he would not be allowed to play for the Ottawa Senators' AHL Team in Binghamton, N.Y. of the same name who by the way are also the defending AHL Calder Cup Champions.

As for this year's Plymouth Whalers, they are having a really strong season which includes a 10 point in the West Division and they just 2 points back of the London Knights for the OHL's Western Conference Lead. After a slow start, it not just taking notice in the standings, but in the CHL Top 10 Rankings as well. After pulling off a big 1st Round Upset over the highly touted Kitchener Rangers in the OHL Playoffs last year, they have their sets even higher this season as they will look to be major contenders for the OHL & CHL Memorial Cup Championships this spring.

It would be huge for him to have a big OHL Playoff run, to not only show the Senators that he is Professional Ready, but to show USA Hockey that they made a wrong decision by not having him on their current World Junior Hockey Championship Team that is currently playing in Alberta, Canada right now that has them in the Relegation Round after going 1-3-0 with losses to Finland, the Czech Republic & Canada in the Group Stage.

They are now going to have to fight for their Tournament Spot for next year along with Switzerland, Denmark & Latvia instead of fighting for a championship like they won in 2010 in Saskatchewan, Canada.

Last year, Noesen had an impressive point-a-game pace where he also lead the team in goals with 6. His best game last year came in Game 4 of the OHL Western Conference Quarterfinals against the Kitchener Rangers where he had a 4 PT Night including a critical assist with less then 10 seconds to tie the game at 5-5, then midway through the 1st OT, scored the game winner from a feed from Beau Schmitz to win 6-5 where the Whalers went on to pull off a big 1st Round upset of the Kitchener Rangers.

Going into last year's OHL Playoffs, many experts were thinking that Kitchener was capable of making a long playoff run with the likes of Gabriel Landeskog who was the 2nd overall pick of the Colorado Avalanche & Ryan Murphy who was picked 12th Overall by Carolina as well in last year's draft. As well as players like Jerry D'Amigo as well.

They are currently ranked #6 in the Top 10 Rankings only behind the likes of the defending QMJHL & CHL Memorial Cup Champion St. John Seadogs, Conference Rival London Knights & the Tri-City Americans who currently hold the Best Record in the Western Hockey League (WHL).

For Noesen himself, he's played in 32 games played and is tied for the team scoring lead with 39 points (16G 23A) and has a +/- ranking of +9 with 34 penalty minutes as well.





From Ottawa, Ontario: The Ottawa Senators announced today that the club has signed forwards Stefan Noesen & Matt Pumpel to three year entry level contracts.

Noesen, 18, was Ottawa's 2nd 1st Round Pick (21st Overall) in the 2011 National Hockey League Draft. A 6'1", 198 pound right winger from Plano, Texas, Noesen has scored 13 goals, 21 assists and recorded 32 penalty minutes in 30 games with the Ontario Hockey League's Plymouth Whalers this season.

Pumpel, 18, was Ottawa's third 1st Round Pick (24th Overall) in the 2011 National Hockey League Draft. A 6'1", 201 pound from Essex, Ontario, Pumpel has scored 17 goals, 15 assists and recorded 27 penalty minutes in 29 games this year with the OHL's Peterborough Petes.

Both Noesen and Pumpel participated in the 2011 Senators Summer Development Camp and played for Ottawa's winning team at the 2011 Rookie Tournament held in September in Oshawa, Ontario.


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