Comments by Hockeys Future on Southwest NHL Prospects

The great Prospects Website called Hockeys Future are in the process of updating their Top 20 Prospects for every NHL Team and so far, 2 of the 3 NHL Teams that have Southwest Prospects have been featured and the good news is that the news seems to be positive that the Southwest Prospects continue to make their way to the NHL.

Austin Smith & Matt Donovan have already been featured while Chris Brown's assessment with the Phoenix Coyotes will be coming soon. The big thing with Chris Brown is to see if he cracks the top 5 after being ranked #6 back in the spring during the CCHA & NCAA Tournaments.

Also with Collin Jacobs and possibly Jeff Mcminny in the 2011 Draft, plus Seth Jones in the 2012 Draft Year. The Future of big time hockey talent coming from the Southwest looks bright.


Hockeys Future

For Austin Smith, even he dropped 2 spots on the Dallas Stars Top 20 from 10th to 12th. The team still seems to like his progress as he looks ahead to his Junior Year at Colgate University as he will be looking to make a much bigger impact after one of the big offensive linemates in David Mclntyre to help out with the offense.

Here's the Official Hockey's Future Comments on Austin Smith

Ranked #12 with DAL: Another strong season for Austin Smith for Colgate University is certainly enticing to the Stars brass. He led his club in points with 41 points in 36 games. Smith will have a challenge ahead of him in 2011-12 as he will no longer able to rely on older linemate and friend David Mclntyre for offensive support. He will likely have the services of Brian Day but even more of the offensive load is going to fall on the speedy Juniors shoulder.

Smith is a ball of energy and should meet the challenge quite well. He seems passionate for the game and displays an excellent compete level. In terms of translating his skills to the next level, Smith will need to continue to put on some size without sacrificing his speed and agility. Its likely that Colgate will live and die with the talents of Smith for the next two seasons.



Matt Donovan had a stellar year for the University of Denver which included scoring 5 points (2G 3A) at the World Junior Championships in the road to winning a gold medal. Overall the offensive defensemen which is starting to fill out on his physical ability to play and create opportunities for his teammates along the boards.

He moved up 3 spots from 17-to-14 since the last rankings back in the spring and with another strong year while avoiding the sophomore slump, and any remaining doubts about his NHL Chances should start going away.


Here's Matt Donovan's Comments from Hockey's Future

Ranked #14 with NYI: Donovan had a stout freshman season with the University of Denver, leading all WCHA Rookie Defensemen with 7 goals and adding 14 assists for 21 points in 36 games. He also played a key role for the USA at the 2010 World Junior Championships, posting three goals and two assists in five games. The 6'0" 195 LB Oklahoma Native is good all around defensemen with good mobility, strong offensive instincts, and a hard shot from the point.

Despite his size, he isn't afraid to get physical is often willing to get dirty in the corners and along the boards. The upcoming season is important for Donovan as many young players are prone to the dreaded sophomore slump. If he can continue playing at a high level, he should erase any lingering doubts about his NHL Potential.



Chris Brown right now to me is the closest of the Southwest Prospects from making his debut at the Pro Ranks (Esp. the AHL) as he was ranked #6 in the last rankings in the Phoenix Coyotes organization. After a strong freshman year for the Michigan Wolverines that saw him take a huge step up in his hitting ability.

He could bring the perfect match of scoring ability and physical ability to be a high quality NHL Prospect and possibly being the first Southwest Player to reach the pro ranks and possibly the NHL. After my discussion with San Antonio Rampage Head Coach Ray Edwards, some on his staff think he may not be that far off towards at least making his AHL Debut.

He had 28 points (13G 15A) last season, but he had 58 PIM last year and he will need to improve on that part of his game to be in the box less. And he had the same issue during the World Junior Camp earlier this summer in Lake Placid, NY.

Here's Chris Brown's from Hockeys Future.

Ranked #8 with PHX: A team-mate of Summers at the University of Michigan, Brown enjoyed a very successful freshman season in Ann Arbor. Brown was one of the top scoring freshman in the nation posting 13 goals and 28 points in 45 games. Those 28 points were the fourth highest total on the team as Brown became a go-to-guy for head coach Red Berenson as the season progressed.

A rare hockey prospect hailing from the State of Texas, Brown heads into his sophmore season looking to become a top player in the country for the Wolverines who will look to return to national prominence.

Brown is a prototypical power forward on the wing with great size and strength with good speed and an ability to find loose pucks around the goal area. The 19 year old is also unafraid to mix it up was one of the team's most aggresive players on a consistent basis.

Phoenix Coyotes Auction

Going on this afternoon, the auction for the cash strap ed Phoenix Coyotes team is taking place afternoon. For the person or group of people that eventually get to own the team has a huge mountain to climb to get this team back on so many levels beyond the ice. Off the ice, they have a sluggish fan base that has been more then a bit skeptical about the lack of success, inability to keep high profile players and develop their prospects.


On the ice, the teams problems run very deep, from having a long playoff drought that goes back to 2003, a weak bunch of prospects and letting numerous big name superstars get away from them including Jeremy Roenick, Teppo Numminen and Nikolai Khabbibulin. About their prospect situation with the AHL Affiliate in San Antonio hasn't done much better as they struggled yet again by finishing last in the AHL West Division by accumulating only 78 points in thd division.

A good example is in the stats, last year for instance Shane Doan scored 31 goals and 73 points which lead the team, not bad when considering that no one else had more then 15 goals and/or 50 points last season. In fact, if you look at the last few seasons, Shane Doan has been the top stats leaders by a large margin while he's had little help when it comes down to serious threats on the team. Perhaps the biggest disappointment came in the 2006-2007 season where they still had players like Jeremy Roenick, Owen Nolan and Ed Jovanovski.

Phoenix Coyotes Team Stats

2008-2009 Season: http://coyotes.nhl.com/team/app?page=Stats&service=page

2007-2008 Season: http://coyotes.nhl.com/team/app?service=page&page=Stats&season=20072008

2006-2007 Season: http://coyotes.nhl.com/team/app?service=page&page=Stats&season=20062007

One of the ideas that hasn't worked out is bringing out big names in the coaching staff including Wayne Gretzky to bring out fans, well here's a message, even though coaches can help a team with strategy and demanding the best out of your players, it's the players with the talent and who work hard at practice that ultimately make the difference on the ice and the Coyotes have never have had a group that has gotten them deep in the playoffs or at least challenging for the Pacific Division Title, not even once since the team arrived in Phoenix in 1996.

Off the ice, the issues are just as numerous. For instance, the fan attendance is always near the bottom end of the league in both average per game and total attendance during the season. Huge debt is also from low attendance and interest is one of the biggest reasons why they in the mess right now.

When it comes down the attendance issue, the average attendance per game for the Coyotes has been around 14,000 and has been around the bottom 5 the last 3 seasons.

NHL Attendance

2007: http://sports.espn.com/nhl/attendance?year=2007

2008: http://sports.espn.com/nhl/attendance?year=2008

2009: http://sports.espn.com/nhl/attendance?year=2009

I don't care who eventually gets the team which goes way beyond the Jim Balsille right now, eventually this team will be out of Arizona and it's going to be sooner rather then later. What should be included in a contact whoever gets the deal should be a clause that after a handful of years (let's say around 4 or 5) if the major problems continue to exist, then the new owner should be allowed to move the team to who ever may be interested.

The future of the Duncanville Starcenter

Today, the Duncanville, Texas City Council is going to have a meeting to discuss what to do and decide once and for all to determine the Starcenter's future. A couple of the main ideas are right now to include a reducing of the monthly rent on the property from the $70,000 to $50,000 and a renewed and new strategy's to promote the Starscenter in Duncanville which would require the team to have a much bigger impact in the city, a lack of knowarilty is one of the main reasons why Duncanville City Manager Kent Cagle said that the lack of involvement from the team hasn't worked out like the other Starscenters in the D/FW Area.

The other main idea would have the team and the city terminate the lease that would ultimately close the Starscenter and a company would like to eventually convert the Ice Rink to a basketball gym. The meeting is scheduled to take place at 5:00.

For more info, here's the city of Duncanville website: www.duncanville.com

Opening of the Mckinney Starcenter

The date for the grand opening celebration for the Starscenter in Mckinney is set for September 19, that's a week from Saturday and will have a full day to help celebrate the opening.

Here's a schedule of events on 9/19.

• 12:00 PM Official Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
• 12:30-2:00 PM Free Public Skating Session
• 12:30-1:30 PM Mckinney Ice Mites VS. Texas Ace Mites
• 1:45-2:45 PM HS Exhibition between Mckinney VS. Frisco
• 2:15-3:00 PM Figure Skating Exhibition

If you get a chance, be sure to check out the newest Starscenter Ice Rink in North Texas.