Higby Proving his Point(s)

From Matt Mackinder of the North American Hockey League Website: www.nahl.com

Once Erik Higby graduated high school in his native Michigan in 2008, his family uprooted and moved down to Texas to follow his mother's new job.

What intrigued Higby is that even though he was going from a hockey hotbed to the Sunbelt, he still found plenty of hockey opportunities along the way. Higby, a 20 year old native from Shelby Township, Michigan played last year for the Mahoning Valley Phantoms in their final NAHL Campaign and then joined the Topeka Roadrunners.

Higby is Topeka's leading scorer by a wide margin and has also been near the top of the league's scoring chart for much of the season. As of Mid-January, Higby had 62 points through 46 games (2nd in the NAHL) and led the league with a +23 rating. Landing in the NAHL was at the urging of Chris Coury, a longtime Midget AAA coach in Michigan. Higby played for Coury's Belle Tire Squad in 2007-08.

"After our season was over, Chris told me about some teams that were interested in me," explained Higby. "I went to Mahoning Valley's Tryout and made the team, so I decided to play there."

Higby said he was impressed with the level of play in the NAHL. "I think the talent in our league is very good, maybe a little underrated compared to other leagues. " said Higby. "All the teams in our league have top players and lines that compete very strong."

Still, moving south from the Detroit area was hard at first, but when Higby stepped aside and looked at the situation, it really wasn't all that much of a life changing situation.

"Hockey in Michigan is bigger of course, but down in San Antonio (where Higby now calls home), I live close to an ice rink and there are a lot more hockey players then I was expecting." Higby said.

"Having to move from Michigan was a big decision for my family after living there my whole life. "I miss seeing friends and family the most, but most of the time, I was away from home for hockey anyways, so it wasn't that big of a deal for me."

In Topeka, Higby is still far from Texas, but road trips to his adopted home state make it all worthwhile. "I like playing in Topeka," said Higby. "The fans and people here are great. I like being closer to so my family and friends can come to see me play. When we make trips to Texas to play Wichita Falls and the Tornado is when I see my family the most. Topeka is still a good distance away from San Antonio, through".

With the potential to play college hockey, Higby played in the Sherwood/NAHL Top Prospects Tournament in Ann Arbor, Michigan, last month.

"I plan on attending school next fall and play hockey as well," Higby said. "I've talked to a few schools so far and, hopefully, there are more to come.

"Top Prospects gave me more exposure. There were a lot of schools and all the teams we played were really good. "Top Prospects was very exciting and I think it'll help a lot of players out in the long run."

Ian Young looks to make impact with the Chicago Steel

When the season started, the puck moving defensemen started the year with the Wichita Falls Wildcats looking to impress the Chicago Steel who they picked in the in the 6th round of the USHL Entry Draft (69th overall) back in May and was hoping to use him as a puck moving defensemen that can help start up breakaways, skate past the forwards and bring some speed both on an individual level and to move up the speed of play for the Steel. Hopefully as his career goes on, he can start adding either a scoring or physical element to impress college and pro scouts in the future.

The native of Missouri City, Texas is also making history as he looks to make a major breakthrough for players in the Houston Area as the first player from Houston to make the USHL and currently, he is the only player to play in either the NAHL or the USHL right now. Houston is getting more players playing in the different travel teams and high school players, but they have been having problems getting players to get chances in College and Junior Teams across North America.

After starting the year for the Wichita Falls Wildcats where he played 29 games played for the Wildcats where he scored 8 points, had a +4 rating and had 26 penalty minutes during his time in the NAHL. Then Thanksgiving weekend brought a breakthrough when he was brought up for 3 games when he had to fill in for a minor injury for a few games.

That weekend for Chicago seemed to help out as he seemed to pick his play for the rest of the time for the Wildcats where he scored 5 of his 8 points, including scoring a goal against the League Leading Wenatchee Wild in his final game for the Wildcats. In his short stint with the Steel back on November.

He scored his 1st and so far only goal for the Steel against the USNTDP, then the next night, he got an assist the next night against the Green Bay Gamblers. Since his permanent call up for the Steel, his ability to learn on the fly has been helping out his play for the weekend following the All Star Break.

He got an assist in both games of the weekend against the Indiana Ice on Special Teams, so they hoping to use him a lot more on the special teams, especially on the penalty kill where he can use his puck moving ability to get the puck away from the goalies and on the PP to hopefully set great PP Goal chances.

As part of the Wichita Falls Wildcats, part of the team's problem on why they have struggled a lot this year is because of the massive penalty problems. For the Steel, the team is among the middle of the pack in the penalties and he will be looking to increase his discipline so he won't spend as much time in the box, he did get in his first USHL fight though against Indiana's Bryon Paulazzo who's not afraid to drop the gloves from time this time throughout his junior career.

For Young to make a bigger impact with the team and to get interest from college teams. He needs to continue to use his puck moving ability especially to set up players like Mark Anthoine and Greg Wolfe. Who are the Chicago Steel's team leaders in goals from the point, and should attempt to add a goal scoring element to his game in the final 3rd of the season to help increase the team's chances of making the playoffs. Currently the Chicago Steel are in a fight with the Waterloo Blackhawks for the final spot in the East Division Playoff picture right now.

He also will need to help protect the goalies as the Steel Goaltender Duo of Nick Pisellini and Conor Wilson are below .500 for the season. In addition, both have GAA of well above 3.50 and SV% well below 90%. So if the Steel end up missing the playoffs, it could be the goaltending who was below par and haven't worked out for the Steel this season. However, they are just 1 point of the Waterloo Blackhawks for the final playoff spot in the East Division.

Next up for the Chicago Steel is a home series as the Steel play the Cedar Rapids Roughriders as the Steel look to move closer to the playoffs and send a message to teams like Indiana and Cedar Rapids if they make the playoffs. Then on Saturday night, it's a date with the league leading Green Bay Gamblers as the Gamblers look to take advantage of Fargo and Omaha playing each other this weekend in the race for playoff home ice.

Ian Young is currently the only Houston based player that's playing the USHL, he joins several Dallas area players including C.J. Ludwig and Ryan Daugherty from the Omaha Lancers. Also Fargo Force players Johnnie Seafoss who's also from Dallas and Oklahoma City native Chase Grant who's among the team leaders in goals with 17 this season. He's continue to be part of the growing group of players that are looking to make a mark on the league who are from the Southwest.

On the profiles, you can find their stats, team news and so much more on the Pointstreak Profiles.

Current Southwest Based Players in the USHL.

D: Ian Young, Chicago Steel (Missouri City, Texas)
www.pointstreak.com/prostats/playerpage.html?playerid=3541384&seasonid=4429

F: Chase Grant, Fargo Force (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)
www.pointstreak.com/prostats/playerpage.html?playerid=2288285&seasonid=4429

F: Johnnie Seafoss, Fargo Force (Colleyville, Texas)
www.pointstreak.com/prostats/playerpage.html?playerid=2330628&seasonid=4429

F: Jacob Fallon, Indiana Ice (Southlake, Texas)
www.pointstreak.com/prostats/playerpage.html?playerid=3213748&seasonid=4429

F: Blake Coleman, Indiana Ice (Plano, Texas)
www.pointstreak.com/prostats/playerpage.html?playerid=3200319&seasonid=4429

F: Josh Berge, Lincoln Stars (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)
www.pointstreak.com/prostats/playerpage.html?playerid=1408077&seasonid=4429

D: C.J. Ludwig, Omaha Lancers (Little Elm, Texas)
www.pointstreak.com/prostats/playerpage.html?playerid=2288310&seasonid=4429

F: Ryan Daugherty, Omaha Lancers (Allen, Texas)
www.pointstreak.com/prostats/playerpage.html?playerid=2288314&seasonid=4429

D: Tyler Amburgey, Tri-City Storm (Rowlett, Texas)
www.pointstreak.com/prostats/playerpage.html?playerid=3213696&seasonid=4429




Team Website: http://www.chicagosteelhockeyteam.com/

Chicago Steel: 38 GP 15-18-5 35 PTS 122-144 (5th Place in East Division)

Leading Scores

Andrei Kuchin 37 GP 42 PTS (13G 29A)

Mark Anthoine: 38 GP 21 Goals, Greg Wolf 38 GP 17 Goals

Goaltending:

Nick Pisellini 26 GP 9-15-1 3.64 GAA .883SV%

Connor Wilson 13 GP 6-3-4 3.80 GAA .872SV%


Upcoming Schedule for the Steel

2/5: VS. Cedar Rapids Roughriders 7:30 PM

2/6: VS. Green Bay Gamblers 7:30 PM

2/12: @ Waterloo Blackhawks 7:05 PM

2/13: @ Omaha Lancers 4:05 PM

2/19: VS. Sioux Falls Stampede 7:30 PM

2/20: VS. Sioux Falls Stampede 7:30 PM

Southwest Prospects Watch: 11/24

Were going to take a look at players that are playing the USHL today.

C.J. Ludwig & Ryan Daugherty (Omaha Lancers, USHL)

Everything is coming up Roses for the Omaha Lancers so far in the first 2 months of the season as the Lancers have the USHL's Best record. Which includes the 2 Texas Based Players as Forward Ryan Daugherty as he's coming up on his total from last year where he got 16 points in 46 games.

So far through 16 games, he already has 11 points (6G 5A), which includes a strong weekend where he scored in both games last weekend against the Des Moines Buccaneers back on Friday which was a part of a 5-1 smashing of the Buccaneers on Friday. Then on Saturday, n he was held off the score sheet, but had 4 shots in which he came close to scoring in a 6-1 smashing of the Sioux Falls Stampede.

For C.J. Ludwig, 2 goals and an assist have raised his scoring output to 7 points (2G 5A) which were his first 2 goals of the season. The defensemen from Little Elm has raised his physical presence on the ice where he already has 55 penalty minutes this season have made him a great defensemen where he's not afraid to join the attack by having 5 assists so far this season, including one against Des Moines back on Friday night.

If Daugherty and Ludwig can continue their great presence on the ice along with players like Matt White and Erik Haula, the Lancers will continue to run away with the West Division will emerge as a contender for the USHL Clark Cup Championship this season just 2 years after the Lancers won it back in the 2007-2008 season where they beat the Waterloo Blackhawks in a dramatic 5 game series where they were down 2-1 before coming back to win the Championship.

Coming up for Omaha: The Lancers will look to continue their winning ways as a busy Thanksgiving week is upon them as the team will play 3 during Thanksgiving week against the Waterloo Blackhawks at home, then they will hit the road for 2 as they head to Iowa to take on Des Moines and Cedar Rapids before coming home the USNTDP and the Indiana Ice next weekend.

11/25: VS. Waterloo Blackhawks 7:05 PM

11/26: @ Des Moines Buccaneers 7:05 PM

11/28: @ Cedar Rapids Roughriders 7:05 PM

12/4: VS. USNTDP 7:05 PM

12/5: VS. Indiana Ice 7:05 PM


Johnnie Seafoss (Fargo Force, USHL)

A 6 game point streak has Seafoss going for the Force as Fargo is currently 3rd in the USHL West Division where he scored his 6th goal of the year against the USNTDP in a 6-3 win back on back on November 22 where he was a part of 3 goals in just 4 minutes to put the Force up 4-2, in addiditon to the goal, he also assisted on the Colten St. Clair goal which put the Force ahead early in the 3rd period.

In all, he has scored 7 points (1G 6A) in his 6 game point streak in which he also had 2 critical assists in another game against the USNTDP where he assisted on the Force's first goal of the game just 5 minutes in and he also assisted on Garrett Allen's 2nd goal of the game early in the 3rd period where Allen went on to get a hat trick in the game.

Currently, Fargo is in 3rd place in the USHL West Division at a 9-7-0 record who are 6 points back of 2nd place Sioux Falls, but their just 6 points back of last place Lincoln, which just shows you how tight the bottom of the West Division is going to be this season as long as the Omaha Lancers and Sioux Falls Stampede continue to be in the top 2 out west.

As for the season, Seafoss has 15 points (6G 9A) which ranks 4th in team scoring, however he needs to work on his defense as he currently has a -2 Plus/Minus rating for the season so far.

Upcoming schedule for Fargo: The Force will begin a 5 game home stand on Thanksgiving weekend with a pair of games against the Tri-City Storm on November 27 and 28 as the Storm look to move up in the West as they sit in the 4th and final playoff spot in the West Division right now.

After Thanksgiving, 3 games next week will include a pair of games on Friday and Saturday against the Sioux City Musketeers before ending the home stand with a mid week game on December 9 against the Sioux Falls Stampede.

11/27: VS. Tri-City Storm 7:35 PM

11/28: VS. Tri-City Storm 7:05 PM

12/4: VS. Sioux City Musketeers 7:35 PM

12/5: VS. Sioux City Musketeers 7:05 PM

12/9: VS. Sioux Falls Stampede 7:05 PM


Josh Berge and Blake Coleman (Tri-City Storm, USHL)

November has been bad for the Tri-City Storm as the team have been on a 6 game losing streak since on November 3 with a win against the Lincoln Stars. Also the offense has dried up by scoring just 10 goals in the last 6 games where have the team currently trying to see how to get out of this mess their in right now. For Berge, he had a 6 game point drought before getting an assist in a 3-2 OTL to the USNTDP back on November 21.

He has 9 assists on the team but just one goal which came in a 5-1 win over the Lincoln Stars back on Halloween night, he's basically struggled to find his game on the score sheet by scoring just 15 goals in 118 career games for the Storm.

For the native of Oklahoma City is looking for any chance as he has played in all 16 games played so far this season for the Storm as he has hasn't had much interest from college teams throughout his career, even though he has accepted a scholarship commentinet from Minnesota State University in the WCHA.

Blake Coleman has been mostly a physical presence as he just has 1 goal and 8 assists in through 16 games. Even though he's in for his physical presence as he racked up 30 penalty minutes so far this season.

As for Tyler Amburgey, he just not been great at all, in fact he's probably been a lialibty as he doesn't have a single point in 13 games and only has a -4 on the Plus/Minus Column. He also been really disappointing where at 6'2" 215 LBS, he's not been throwing his weight around as most players of his size are expected to do. He's not giving the team very much right now.

Upcoming Schedule for the Tri-City Storm: After a home game against Sioux City tomorrow night, a long road trip awaits the Storm as 2 against Fargo and 1 against Lincoln will await just after Thanksgiving. After Thanksgiving, 6 of their next 7 will be at home with a date against the USNTDP, Omaha and Des Moines. Then after a road game in Omaha, the next 3 at home will be against East Division Opposition against the Waterloo Blackhawks and Green Bay going into the leagues Christmas Break.

11/25: VS. Sioux City Musketeers 7:05 PM

11/27: @ Fargo Force 7:35 PM

11/28: @ Fargo Force 7:05 PM

12/4: @ Lincoln Stars 7:05 PM

12/5: VS. USNTDP 7:05 PM

Southwest Prospects Update

Sorry it's been a few weeks since we have done a prospects update from players from around the Southwest.

Colin Jacobs (Seattle Thunderbirds, WHL)

Colin continues to play very well despite the teams struggles in the first 2 months of the season, currently the Thunderbirds are still in 9th place in the WHL Western Conference and are out of the playoff spots right now. Colin has started to pick it up stats wise by getting assists in back to back games against the Spokane Chiefs and the Portland Winterhawks back on November 6 and 7. In their last game against the Chilliwack Bruins back on November 8, he got in a fight midway through the game with the Bruins Tyler Stahl.

When Jacobs doesn't have the puck, he's been throwing his weight around by getting 45 penalty minutes in 21 games played so far this season, compared to not getting a single penalty in his 6 games at the end of last season for the T-Birds and is improving rapidly by fighting for pucks and winning faceoffs.

However, the team around him just doesn't have a lot of fire power right now as the team currently has the 2nd worst offense in the WHL and is 6 points back of 8th place Chilliwack and are only ahead of last place Prince George who have just 3 wins this season.

Upcoming Schedule: The Thunderbirds have a busy week coming up as the weekend will have 3 games in 3 nights as the team hits the road for games in Kamloops, Everett and Vancouver coming up. After the weekend, it's one more road game in Kennwick for a game against the Tri-City Americans before returning home on November 20 against the Kamloops Blazers.

11/13: @ Kamloops Blazers

11/14: @ Everett Silvertips

11/15: @ Vancouver Giants

11/17: @ Tri-City Americans

11/20: VS. Kamloops Blazers


Austin Smith (Colgate, NCAA [ECAC])

The Colgate Raiders are off to a good start in Conference Play as the Raiders got a pair wins over Harvard and Dartmouth. Smith had a huge impact on both games as he scored twice in a part of a 4 goal 3rd period as the Raiders came back from trailing 4-1 to come back to win a 5-4 win. In addition to the 2 goals, he also assisted on David Mcintyre Power Play goal in the opening minute of the 3rd period to make it a 4-2 game.

The next night against Dartmouth, Smith had 2 assists in a 3-2 win over Dartmouth which includes Brian Day's game winner early in the 3rd period as the Raiders topped Dartmouth 3-2 at Colgate's Starr Rink as the Raiders seeped the weekend series during their ECAC Conference Openers. Colgate will be looking for a strong year in the ECAC after finishing 10th in the Conference last year by winning just 6 games in the Conference before losing to Quinnipiac in the ECAC Conference Tournament last year.

For Smith, he's continuing to have a great early season with 11 points (6G 5A) with a +3 so far through 9 games and has not been afraid to play the body. Even though he doesn't have the size of a player like Austin Smith, he's got the speed to get away from opposing defenders and when he's on the break away, this is where he's at best.

He's looking to blow his 2008-2009 totals out of the water with a much better understanding of the Colgate system and lead the Raiders to have a great season and to get back in the NCAA tournament. Colgate last reached the NCAA Tournament in 2005 before losing to Colorado College in the Midwest Regional Semifinal.

Upcoming schedule: Colgate will continue it's ECAC schedule with a pair of road games this weekend as the Raiders will visit Brown and Yale before a weekend series against Quinnipiac and Princeton before heading to Cornell a couple of days before Thanksgiving.

Here's some recent Articles from Colgate Hockey:

Austin Smith Scores twice: www.gocolgateraiders.com/news/2009/10/31/MHOCKEY_1031093316.aspx

Mclntyre reaches 100 point mark: www.gocolgateraiders.com/news/2009/11/6/WVB_1106095950.aspx

Long and Day lead Colgate over Dartmouth in ECAC Clash: www.gocolgateraiders.com/news/2009/11/7/MHOCKEY_1107092852.aspx

11/13: @ Brown

11/14: @ Yale

11/20: VS. Quinnipiac

11/21: VS. Princeton

11/24: @ Cornell


Chris Brown (Michigan, NCAA [CCHA])

After an impressive weekend against Lake Superior on the road, the Wolverines ran into the freight train that is Miami of Ohio as the #1 team in the nation continued it's near perfect season as Miami of Ohio is currently 8-1-1 so far overall and has a 5-1-0-0 record in Conference with it's only loss being against Michigan State in OT.

Chris Brown had one of the few bright spots for Michigan against Miami of Ohio where Brown had the only goal in the 3-1 loss back on November 6. On Saturday, it looked like Michigan had a glimmer of hope as the Wolverines scored the first goal before the Redhawks scored 5 answered goals in front of a crowd of over 6,000 for both games as the Redhawks continue to be the #1 team in the country right now and for good reason.

Brown overall has had 4 points through 6 games so far with 3 goals as this could be a down year for the Wolverines currently sit in 6th place in the CCHA with a 2-2-0-0 record in the conference and a 4-4-0 record overall. The Wolverines will be looking so-so this season with a respectable 2.51 GAA and a shaky .895 SV% so far this year. They may be looking up at teams like Miami of Ohio and their arch rival Michigan State as the leaders of the CCHA and will be fighting it out in the middle of the Conference with teams like Norte Dame and Ferris State.

Upcoming Schedule: A pair of home and home series will be coming up with arch rival Michigan State coming up this weekend. Then it's a trip to Ohio to take on winless Bowling Green. Then the day after Thanksgiving, it's a pair of non conference games as they take on Minnesota Golden Gophers and the Wisconsin Badgers.

Brown scores loan marker as UM Falls to the Miami Redhawks:
www.mgoblue.com/sports/m-hockey/recaps/110609aaa.html

11/13: VS. Michigan State

11/14: @ Michigan State

11/20: VS. Bowling Green

11/21: @ Bowling Green

11/27: VS. Minnesota

11/28: VS. Wisconsin