First off, the Calgary Flames have a couple of prospects playing in this years memorial cup:
Overager JD Watt, who was recently signed by Sutter, had his best single season as a Vancouver Giant this year, and was a physical presence for the team as they marched through the WHL play-offs before falling to Medicine Hat in game 7 of the final series. Watt will likely be trying out for a spot on the Knights bottom six come next season.
Matt Keetley, another notable goaltending prospect (who remains unsigned by the Flames), led his club to the WHL championships and was named MVP of the tournament. He managed 105 wins in 152 regular season starts during his WHL career. It'll be interesting to see if Sutter allows Keetley to walk.
For the second straight year, Daniel Ryder is advancing to the memorial cup, except this time it's with the Plymouth Whalers. Ryder is coming off a career offensive season, where he scored 40 goals and 52 assists in just 57 games. He was suspended during for a 10 game stretch and was traded, which resulted in a brief disruption of his offensive out-put, meaning his totals could likely have been even more impressive had circumstances turned out differently. In the post-season, Ryder added 17 points in 20 games, a year after scoring 31 points in 19 play-off games with a very strong Peterborough Petes team. In 53 play-off contests Ryder has managed an impressive 60 points over the course of his career.
Ryder is also a signed prospect and will likely be skating on the Knights second line next season, just behind Dustin Boyd. It's no secret that I'm fairly excited about Ryder as a prospect and will be looking forward to observing the results from his first season as a pro.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Speaking of the Omaha Knights, the Flames baby club enjoyed a great deal more success than the parent team this past year. The Knights won the Western Division and the Western Conference, despite being an expansion club with the second youngest roster in the league. For a full player by player overview, visit this thread over at Calgarypuck by poster "Tilley" who is apparently a close observer of the farm team.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Matthew Lombardi and Dion Phaneuf were significant contributors on the World Champion Canadian team these past few weeks. Phaneuf missed the first two games due to injury concerns, but was still able to become an ice-time leader, despite the fact that Team Canada boasted an 8 defenceman rotation that including guys like Brewer, Weber, Shultz, Commodore, Hamhuis and Barrett Jackman. He also finished the tourny with 8 assists, 2 off the record.
Matthew Lombardi finished with 6 goals and 6 assists and was named one the Team's 3 best players. He skated on the top line with Shane Doan and Rick Nash and was also frequently employed as a penalty killer. As Kyle notes, Lombo played a complete 2-way game in Russia that included both offensive production and defensive awareness.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ignoring the Flames post-season futility, there's a lot of encouraging signs for Calgary fans heading into the summer. Prospects are excelling, the farm team is stronger than anticipated and young, future stars are maturing. Now if only Warrener would retire...
