Yanick Lehoux was one of the best players in the AHL this season before suffering a knee injury.

Lehoux tops Kings' prospects
By John McGourty | NHL.com
March 21, 2005

There's no telling how much of a runaway the Manchester Monarchs would have made of the American Hockey League season were it not for serious injuries midway through the season.

The Los Angeles Kings' top farm club won 20 of its first 21 games and center Yanick Lehoux was making a runaway of the scoring race before injuring his knee in January.

Lehoux won't win the John B. Sollenberger Trophy as the AHL's leading scorer, but his knee will heal, Kings officials said, and they're looking for him to move into the Los Angeles lineup in the near future. Lehoux was selected in the third round, 86th overall, in the 2000 Entry Draft. He had a couple of outstanding seasons then for Baie-Comeau Drakkar of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, posting seasons of 135 and 125 points.

Lehoux gave signs of having put it all together when he tallied 23 goals and 31 assists for 54 points in 38 games through Jan. 19.

"Lehoux was having a breakthrough year before he suffered a season-ending knee injury in January. He was leading the AHL in scoring," said Kings' Director of Player Personnel Bill O'Flaherty. "He is a really encouraging third-year pro. His numbers the first few years were average at best, but he was well over a point a game when he got hurt. He's still about 15th in scoring and has missed 30 games, just to put in perspective how well he was doing.

"Yanick is a talented kid who certainly emerged this year to be a prolific offensive player. He always had the offensive ability and for whatever reason, his confidence level shot up this year. He helped us win 20 of our first 21 games. His confidence level seemed to go up when he slimmed down. He built up his strength and got that 'greyhound' look. Earlier, he put on too much weight while trying to build strength. He's very skilled offensively with a great shot and great skating ability. Without a doubt, he needs to check better and be more responsible on defense."

Jeff Tambellini's father, Steve, the Vancouver Canucks' Vice President of Player Personnel, won a Stanley Cup as a player and an Olympic gold medal as Team Canada's director of player personnel in 2002. Jeff's grandfather, Addie, won the 1961 World Championship with the Trail Smoke Eaters. Jeff, who wears his grandfather's No. 15, won a gold medal with Team Canada at the 2001 Under-18 Six Nations Cup, but he'd like something a little more prestigious. An NCAA championship would do for now and Tambellini, a Central Collegiate Hockey Association First Team All-Star, is part of the powerful Michigan Wolverines now contesting the American college playoffs.

"Jeff is in his third year at Michigan. We have high hopes for him. He has great speed and a great shot," O'Flaherty said. "He had a great freshman year and then tailed off his second season. He bounced back with a very good year this season and got a lot of points. He's Michigan's second-leading scorer, one point behind the leader. There is some concern about his size, but he's strong for his size and has a lot of offensive ability."

Tambellini was one of three Kings' first-round selections in 2003. He was the last at No. 27. Dustin Brown, taken with the 13th overall pick, already has played part of a season with the Kings. Brian Boyle, a giant center, was taken with the 26th overall pick. Boyle is 6-foot-7 and 220 pounds. O'Flaherty couldn't think of another NHL center that tall and heavy.

"Joel Otto, maybe? Not that tall," O'Flaherty said. "Brian brings great size and a physical presence. He has to work on quickness and he's made some great strides. His strength coach at Boston College has been working with him and he's been to our development camp the past two summers. It was a big step up from St. Sebastian's High School to Boston College. He didn't get much ice time the first year because they had a very talented team that went to the Frozen Four. He's made strides and we're happy with his progress.

(From left) Jeff Tambellini, Brian Boyle and Dustin Brown were all selected in the first round of the 2003 NHL Entry Draft.

"He's had some ups and downs in his second season at Boston College, but he has played very well as of late. He had the game-winning goal recently against Maine. He finished second in goals for BC during the regular season but, overall, not as many points as we'd like."

First they said Adam Hauser wasn't good enough to win an NCAA championship at the University of Minnesota. After the Golden Gophers won, they said Hauser didn't have the skills to go on. Edmonton drafted him, but he never played for the Oilers. The Bruins gave him a look, but he didn't stick. The Manchester Monarchs are his fourth minor-league team, but Hauser's 15-9 record, 1.93 goals-against average and .930 save percentage are hard to knock.

"Adam is in an interesting situation. We made the trade last year for Mathieu Garon and both he and Adam are playing well at Manchester," O'Flaherty said. "Garon carried the lion's share, but Hauser's statistics are very good. Adam has continued to improve each year. We certainly feel he has a chance to be an NHL goalie. With the learning curve for goalies, you need more patience than with forwards and defensemen. A lot of goalies turn the corner later in their careers. In his case, the opportunities were not always there. NHL spots are not easy to get. Although Adam won an NCAA title, for some reason he wasn't always held in the highest regard. He wasn't besieged with offers so he has had to show more patience. He has good size and fundamentals."

The Kings had two other selections in the Top 100 in 2003, right wing Konstantin Pushkaryov (44th overall) and goalie Ryan Munce (82nd overall).

"Pushkaryov is in his first year in North America after playing for Omsk, Russia," O'Flaherty said. "He had an up-and-down year with the Calgary Hitmen, learning the style of North American hockey. He's very talented, but strength is a big issue with him. He's kind of thin and he needs to get a lot stronger. This year will help his game a lot. He has great skills and ability.

Konstantin Pushkaryov is learning the North American game with the Calgary Hitmen of the WHL this season.

"Munce has had an OK year for a Sarnia team having a tough year. His numbers aren't bad. He was a candidate for the Canadian World Junior team. He has a lot of tools and a lot of ability. He's capable of being an NHL goalie. We will look at bringing him into Manchester soon to get his feet wet professionally. He'll work with our goaltending coach, Andy Nowicki. It will be valuable experience. Ryan has played on national teams and has some international experience. If he hadn't played on a team so far down in the standings, he would have gotten some votes for being the best goalie in the OHL."

While Tambellini competes in the NCAA championship for Michigan, the Kings are also watching Colorado College defenseman Richard Petiot.

"Petiot is a big defenseman at Colorado College and helped them have a tremendous year," O?Flaherty said. "We feel good about Rich. He struggled with injuries this season, but he is back playing regular shifts. He's on the physical side and has a similar style to another Colorado defenseman, Mark Stuart. Rich is a good skater with good mobility. He can carry the puck. I wouldn't call him a dynamic offensive player but he makes a very good first pass. I would like to see him consistently play more of a physical game. He has it in his game. I would like to see him use it more often."

Lauri Tukonen, the Kings' No. 1 pick, 11th overall, in 2004 is playing with the Espoo Blues of the Finnish Elite League. While his numbers haven't been impressive the past two seasons, Tukonen won't be 19 until September and is playing against much older men. His speed, knowledge and physical play have tabbed him as a good one.

Lauri Tukonen, the 11th overall pick in the 2004 Entry Draft, represented Finland at the 2005 World Junior Championships.

"Tukonen had an adequate year in Finland. We have high hopes for him," O'Flaherty said. "We were pleased to get him where we got him. He had an adequate world junior tournament. He has another year to play in the tournament and we have big hopes for him."

The Kings took Czech forward Petr Kanko in the third round, 66th overall, in the 2002 Entry Draft. Kanko played three consistent seasons with the Kitchener Rangers before joining Manchester.

"Right wing Petr Kanko is a first-year pro at Manchester. We thought he might score more, but he was out of the lineup with a broken finger," O?Flaherty said. "He made the adjustment to the AHL. He had an adequate first year, not great or poor. It's a big step out of major junior and he's basically playing against a lot of older players. We like the energy he brings to the rink. He's not a big, physical player but he sticks his nose in and plays hard. He's been in a checking and energy role. We had a lot of injuries at Manchester this year. When we were healthy and scoring, there weren't a lot of reasons to change lines. We were scoring four or five goals a game. The second half was not as kind to us and we had some guys in and out of lineup, Petr among those. He works real hard and he's very strong for his size."