Jusso Puustinen - 5th round pick, 06 draft:
I've kept my eye on the young Finn with the suggestive name since he was picked up in the WHL entry draft by the Kamloops Blazers. As the season has progressed, I've been fairly impressed with his production, numbers-wise. And it seems Im not the only one who's noticed.The Fox sports article is interesting on a number of levels. Of course, it covers the obvious stuff - that Puustinen is the 4th best rookie scorer in the dub and has garnered an impressive +24 rating thus far this year. Good to know.
What's perhaps more attention getting is some of the qualitative stuff that's mentioned. For example, Jusso seems to be the polar opposite of most european imports in that he actually prefers the North American style of hockey:
"Guys (in Finland) are smaller so they don't know how to keep their head up," Puustinen said (about his 10 game suspension in the Finnish Junior League).
"Here is more straight to the net and hard-hitting," he said. "In Europe it's just drop, drop, drop, pass, pass, pass. Here you can play much tougher. It's how it's supposed to be."
This is the kind of stuff I like to hear from prospects. Especially when the attitude is backed by relatively impressive stats like Puustinen's. No doubt a measure of his sudden success in the dub can be attributed in no small part to his eagerness to battle for ice. Also, as a result of his speedy acclimation, Jusso has been skating on a line with the Blazers top point getter, Brock Nixon, a late bloomer who is currently 7th overall in WHL scoring.
As an added bonus, the kid sounds like a bit of a weird, Nieminen-style jester. When his affinity for listening to Tu-pac was mentioned during the interview he apparently threw in, casually, "he's not alive, you know." Add in the fact that he likes to play something called "swamp soccer" in the summer, and it looks like the Flames have another droll, oddball Finn on their hands. I bet he'd get along well with Kipper.
Curtis McElhinney - 6th round pick - 02 draft:
McElhinney has taken the reigns from Brent Krahn in Omaha and become the Knight's undisputed #1 netminder this year. He currently sits 4th in the AHL in terms of GAA, 8th in SV% and 3rd in wins. He was named the AHL's player of the week on December 10th thanks to a pair of top notch performances, including a shut-out/shout-out victory over the Houston Aeros. He has 6 donuts to his credit so far this year and (most significantly for Flames fans) only 1 S/O loss. He was also named to the Canadian AHL all-star team.
Not bad for a 6th rounder. Especially one who was fighting the odds with former first round pick Brent Krahn having the organizational inside track. However, inconsistency and injuries have plagued Krahn since he was chosen back in 2000 (I think), leaving the door open for McElhinney. Looks like he's stepping through.
If his strong play continues to the end of the season and, hopefully, a play-off run, one can reasonably expect Curtis to usurp McLennan's position behind Kipper next year.
Andrei Taratukhin - 2nd round pick, 2001:
"Touque" had a rough start to the season for the Knights. Although older and more experienced, he seemed to have some trouble adapting to life in North America. Course, that can happen when you're transplanted to a new town, surrounded by strangers that don't speak your language all while leaving a wife and child behind you in the old country.
By all accounts, however, Taratukhin has turned things around. After garnering only 2 goals and 11 points in his first 21 games, Andrei went on a tear in December and January, piling up 10 goals and 25 points in his next 24 contests.
According to unofficial reports by those who watch Knights hockey, Taratukhin has grown to become the best forward on the team over the course of the season. He has excellent vision and displays good hockey sense at both ends of the rink. Expectations are he will make a hard push to join the big club next year.
David Van Der Gulik - 7th round pick, 2002:
The Boston College product is starting to make waves at the AHL level thanks to his PK and defensive acumen. He is far and away the Knights +/- leader (+19, followed by Richie Regehr at +16 and then a couple of other guys at +4) and apparently has the highest quotient of tenacity and brains on the team. He was also a leader and point getter at the collegiate level, a career that was somewhat besmirched by injury which is potentially the reason he fell so far in the draft. He's not the biggest guy, but then again, neither is Stephane Yelle. Have the Flames stumpled upon Sandpaper's heir apparent?
Daniel Ryder - 3rd round pick, 05 draft:
Ryder started the season on a high note. He was literally ripping the league a new one and was amongst the top scorers in the OHL for several weeks. Unfortunately 20-odd games into the season, Ryder was handed a lengthy suspension for placing a hand on an official (10 games - the penalty is an automatic one in the OHL). Shortly thereafter, he was traded from the Peterborough Petes to the Plymouth Whalers (for another Flames draft pick, John Armstron, oddly) and he hasn't been as strong since. In 29 games with the Petes, Ryder scored 59 points - a 2.03 PPG pace. Since being traded, he's "only" managed to gather 29 points in 23 games (1.23 PPG) with the Whalers. As a result, he has dropped down to 15th in OHL scoring.
It's hard to what to make of Ryder's season. He was the Pete's leading scorer and one of their undisputed leaders before the suspension and then was suddenly expendable enough to trade. With the Whalers, his point production has fallen well off his earlier pace which may be an effect of natural regression, worse teammates, a different coach, the emotional disturbance of being traded or (likely) a combination of the above factors. He's still in line to improve upon his prior numbers, despite missing 10 games, but the enthusiasm with which I greeted his early season success has been tempered somewhat. I still look forward to seeing him on the farm next year, however.
Leland Irving - 1st round pick, 06 draft:
"Napolean Dynamite", as he has been dubbed in some circles, is tearing it up in the WHL this season. As the starting tender for the Everett Silvertips, Irving has played 45 games, winning 32 them, 9 of which were shut-outs. He owns the 3rd best GAA in the league (1.98), as well as the best SV% (0.927). He was also selected for the Canadian Junior team this past January, although he was relegated to the back-up position behind Montreal's prospect, Carey Price.
I was able to take in some of the Canadian Junior action here in Calgary before they played in the Championships and I was relatively impressed with Irving's play. He seemed technically sound, but was able to make the odd reflex/reactionary save as well.
No doubt some of Irving's numbers are confounded by the old "great team, great goaltender stats" caveat this season. With the year winding down, the Silvertips are tops in the WHL with 107 points. They have a winning percentage of .799 and a GD of +98 (!). Clearly, Irving has the advantage of playing with the cream of the crop. While it remains to be seen if he can excel outside of the sheltering confines of a powerhouse squad, one can't help but be encouraged by his success nonetheless.
Projecting the future exploits of prospects is a tough game. That said, I can't remember the last time I was this excited by so many youngsters in the Flames system before. With the (admittedly unexpected) success of David Moss and Mark Giordano this year (which has a lot to do with Calgary having their own farm team methinks) I am becoming more and more convinced that the Flames will be a competitive Franchise not only now, but for years to come.
