Fallon & Daugherty make Final NHL Central Scouting Rankings

The final rankings for the NHL Central Scouting to get ready for the 2010 NHL Draft in Los Angeles came out this week.

And two of the Southwest players from the USHL have made it to the final rankings as Jacob Fallon is going to be the Southwest's best hope as he was ranked #68 in this year's rankings as he has taken a little bit of a hit since the midway rankings came out back in January where he was ranked #50 among North American Skaters. Theirs no doubt that Fallon's controversy move from the USNTDP to the Indiana Ice back in the middle of the season has hurt him in this.

For Jacob Fallon's Indiana Ice team has had some problems as the Ice will probably will need to keep the score's low to have a shot against the Cedar Rapids Roughriders. All the wins this season against Cedar Rapids came in low scoring affairs.

The high scoring game that was played that the Ice lost 7-2 back in Early March. Fallon will need to show that he help his team in all sorts of games during the playoffs to convince possible teams that may be interested in picking him in June's draft.

Ryan Daugherty got a hit in the rankings as he fell over a hundred spots from 68 in the mid-term rankings to 179 as a minor knee injury affected his play where he scored just 2 points in 16 games.

Hopefully though, a strong end of the season where he scored 6 points in 7 games will help his stock some and possibly a strong playoff performance can help out even more as he looks to come back to prove the scouts and the rankings wrong as the final rankings came out this week.

For both of these guys, a strong playoff performance can help bring some interest from possible teams to get a chance to impress and to show what he can do.

Even if your a triple digit ranking like Daugherty is, your still among the best at your age group and to get on different team radars is also a bonus for anybody who's looking to get drafted.

Despite the final rankings in this report, with the exception of the top handful of players. A strong playoff performance and with events like the Scouting Combines and teams inviting possible draft picks, things can change constantly.

I have seen players rise and plummet at all times during the draft. This is a living, breathing org. that constantly changes before and during the draft with trades and teams moving up and down in the draft.

One of the great things about the draft is that you have 30 teams to impress and sometimes you only needs to impress a few to have a serious shot of getting picked. If you don't get picked, then you are a free agent that where you can work out and sign with anybody you want and a lot of times it may be a long shot, but you see all sorts of players that turn be great players who weren't highly picked. Jamie Been for instance was picked in the 5th round during his draft year back in 2007.

As for overall top players for this year. Taylor Hall & Jonathan Seguin should be battling it out for the #1 overall spot in the draft as the top 2 players all year as the Windsor Spitfires & Plymouth Whalers were in a series that just wrapped up in the OHL 2nd Round.

For NA Goaltenders, the starting goalies for the upcoming U18 World Championships as Calvin Pickard of the Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL) & Jack Campbell of the USNTDP U18 Teams as they are expected to be the battle for the top goalies in this year's draft. The upcoming U18 World Championship could tell us a lot as the tournament will begin on April 13 in Belarus.

Sweden has been the big winners from Europe this year, but we got a much bigger variety of leagues and nations being rep. this year, including the leagues like the KHL & SEL. We got a few guys from some more unexpected places like Germany and Slovakia that have high hopes this season.

For more on the 2010 NHL Draft which will be taking place in Los Angeles coming up in June.

www.nhl.com/ice/eventhome.htm?location=/draft/2010

Southwest Noteables

68. Jacob Fallon 5'10" 180, Southlake, Texas C, Indiana Ice (USHL)

179. Ryan Daugherty 6'2" 179, Allen, Texas RW, Omaha Lancers (USHL)

Here's a look at the top 10 North American & European Skaters.

In addition to the forwards and defensemen, the top 5 Goaltenders from both North America & Europe will be shown as well.


North America

Skaters
1. Tyler Seguin 6'1" 172, Brampton, Ontario C Plymouth Whalers (OHL)

2. Taylor Hall 6'1" 185, Calgary, Alberta LW Windsor Spitfires (OHL)

3. Brett Connonnly 6'2" 181, Campbell River, BC RW Prince George Cougars (WHL)

4. Erik Gudbranson 6'4" 195, Orleans, Ontario D Kingston Frontenacs (OHL)

5. Cam Fowler 6'1" 190, Windsor, Ontario D Windsor Spitfires (OHL)

6. Brandon Gormley 6'2" 185, Charlottetown, PEI D Moncton Wildcats (QMJHL)

7. Mark Pysyk 6'1" 174, Edmonton, Alberta D Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL)

8. Emerson Etem 6'0" 190, Long Beach, California RW Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL)

9. Derek Forbot 6'5" 198, Duluth, Minnesota D USNTDP U18 Team (NTDP)

10. Ryan Johnson 6'2" 192, Vancouver, B.C. C Portland Winterhawks (WHL)


Goalies

1. Calvin Pickard 6'1" 195, Moncton, N.B. Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL)

2. Jack Campbell 6'3" 175, Port Huron, Michigan USNTDP U18 (NTDP)

3. Kent Simpson 6'3" 182, Edmonton, Alberta Everett Silvertips (WHL)

4. Mark Visentin 6'2" 187, Hamilton, Ontario Niagara Icedogs (OHL)

5. Louis Domingue 6'3" 180, St. Hyacinte, Quebec Quebec City Ramparts (QMJHL)


Europe

Top Skaters

1. Mikael Granlund 5'10" 180, Oulu, Finland C HIFK Helsinki (FIN, SM-Liiga)

2. Vladimir Tarasenko 5'11" 202, Yaroslavl, Russia RW Novosibirsk (RUS, KHL)

3. Evgeny Kuznetsov 6'0" 172, Chelyabinsk, Russia C Chelyabinsk (RUS, KHL)

4. Calle Jarnkrok 5'11" 156, Gavle, Sweden C Brynas JR (SWE JRS)

5. Ludvig Rensfeldt 6'3" 192, Gavle, Sweden LW Brynas JR (SWE JRS)

6. Maxim Kitsyn 6'2" 194, Novokuznetsk, Russia LW Novokuznetsk (RUS, KHL)

7. Oscar Lindberg 6'0" 187, Skelleftea, Sweden C Skelleftea JR (SWE JRS)

8. Tom Kuehnhackl 6'2" 172, Landshut, Germany RW Landshut Cann. (GER-2)

9. Adam Petterson 6'0" 186, Skeeleftea, Sweden C Skeeleftea JR (SWE JRS)

10. Martin Marincin 6'4" 187, N.A., Slovakia D Slovakia U2O (SVK Extraliga)


Goalies

1. Sami Aittokallio 6'1" 174, Tampre, Finland Ilves JRS (FIN JRS)

2. Fredrik Pettersson-Wentzel 6'1" 169, Finland Almtuna (SWE-2)

3. Benjamin Conz 5'10" 198, Porrentruy, Switzerland HC Geneve (SUI, NLA)

4. Lars Volden 6'3" 189, Oslo, Norway Stavanger Oilers (NOR, Get-Ligaen)

5. Johan Gustafsson 6'2" 194, Koping, Sweden Farjestad JRS (SWE JRS)

My Interview with Ryan Daugherty and C.J. Ludwig of the Omaha Lancers

Before I start my post on my recent interview with Ryan Daugherty and C.J. Ludwig, D/FW Natives and Omaha Lancer Teammates. I would like to think Omaha Lancers Head Coach Bliss Littler and Dan Fremuth who's the head of communications for the Omaha Lancers.

I asked them questions ranging from the early season success, Omaha Lancers Head Coach Bliss Littler, the college plans and so much more when I got a chance to speak with both of them last Friday.

On the Fast Start to the Season.

With the Lancers currently at 15-2-0 so far this season and having the best record in the USHL right now. Both players didn't expect to get out to this fast and a start to the season and both players think it's taken Coach Littler by surprise a little bit as well. Ryan and C.J. were expecting great season after a rebuilding year last year.

But right now, the team has no reason in the locker room that the Lancers can have a shot at contending for home ice and the Clark Cup Championship during the playoffs.

Ryan also told me that individually, he was looking for a big improvement in his scoring totals this season after having 16 points in 46 games last season. So far this season, he already has 11 points in 14 games so far and he's fells great about his play, he doesn't have any personal goals regarding how many goals he can score this season.

He mentioned he wants to have a shot of getting the critical goals that can change the flow of a game, put the game away, or that are a part of a come back when they are behind.

On Coach Bliss Littler

Both Ryan and C.J. mentioned that you see both sides of Coach Littler as he's a quiet guy when mentioning player to coach issues off the ice. However, when they are on the ice. However if you make a mistake, Coach Bliss Littler can expect to be very demanding during practice or a game to magnify the mistake and make sure you don't make the same mistake or do something else again.

They told me that Coach Littler plays more of an offensive style of play, but he expects the defense to support the offense. On the other hand, he expects one of the forwards to get back on defense, kind of similar to what Marc Crawford does in Dallas. But, everyone on the team has a lot of faith in his style as the team won the Clark Cup back in the 2007-2008 season and is a regular in the USHL playoffs.

Ryan Daugherty and C.J. Ludwig being Teamates

Both Daugherty and Ludwig have been teammates when they in the midget ranks and they got interest as a duel package when the Lancers were recruiting. Ryan told me "They were interested in both of us playing for Omaha". Since arriving in Omaha, both players were targeting this season to make a big impact both for the Lancers and the hopes of playing D1 College Hockey.

Speaking of NCAA, both C.J. Ludwig and Ryan Daugherty have both signed with the Northern Michigan Wildcats. Just like the recruiting for the Omaha Lancers, they were recruited as a duel package and they are excited to continue being teammates in the NCAA.

They were wanted because the coach thought they would be a great fit for the system and they needed to fill some holes, which will allow both them to penitential get some more playing time then what they would get at most schools.

I asked C.J. about updates from the team, and he told me that when he gets chances to check out news items and scoring updates. He wants to make Northern Michigan a winner when both Ryan and C.J. arrive next year, the team has been has been struggling recently.

Just 7th in CCHA right now, but both players are not worried about that as he focused on contuine to play well during the Lancers season, then think about playing for Northern Michigan when both Ryan and C.J. arrive next season.

Growing up on and off the Ice

Both players mentioned that you learn a lot more off the ice then on it at this level. From living far away from home, the work habits from the weight room and conditioning. However, the bigger part is how you spend your little off time you get, anything from taking care of your selves to doing charity work with kids in the area.

Billet Families

Both C.J. and Ryan mentioned that the team tries hard to match them up with the same host families throughout their junior careers. Both players mentioned that the billiet families play a huge part of the junior hockey experience. They are a big part of the junior hockey experience from attending nearly every home game, to promoting the team in the Omaha Area.

Media Coverage

The Teams don't deal with the media that much, maybe something like a couple of newspapers after the game, but that's about it. Both Ryan and C.J. told me about how they wish they would get more to help promote the team and bring awareness of junior hockey to those that don't know that much about the level of hockey.

Quick Hits

What you miss from Dallas:
C.J. His Family Ryan: The Warm Texas Weather

Best and Worst Roadtrip:

Best: Both said Lincoln

Worst: Ryan said Youngstown Phantoms C.J. Didn't say