Don't look now, but the 2011 IIHF World Junior Championship is quickly approaching.

This year's tournament will take place Dec. 26 - Jan. 5 in Buffalo, N.Y. A full tournament schedule and ticket information can be found at BuffaloWorldJuniors.com.

Hockey Canada will host pre-competition games in December prior to the 2011 IIHF World Junior Championship in Buffalo, N.Y., including three featuring Canada's National Junior Team. Canada is scheduled to play Switzerland in Oshawa on December 20, Sweden in Toronto on December 21 and Finland in Kitchener on December 23. A fourth pre-competition game between Sweden and Switzerland will take place in St. Catharines, also on Dec. 23.

On Nov. 29, Hockey Canada will send out 39 invitations for its selection camp scheduled Dec. 11-15 in Toronto. There will be no NHL junior-aged Canadians on the list, but Hockey Canada will keep roster spots open until Dec. 11 for any players who will be released by their NHL teams in the meantime.

The U.S. National Junior Team will also play a pre-tournament schedule with games in Rochester and Jamestown, N.Y. A total of five games will be played from Dec. 21 - 23 involving the U.S., Czech Republic, Germany, Norway, Russia and Slovakia. Team USA will face off against the Czechs on Dec. 21 at The Sports Centre at Monroe Community College in Rochester and the Norwegians two days later at Savings Bank Arena in Jamestown. The Americans will also travel to Troy, N.Y., on Dec. 19 to face Renssalaer Polytechnic Institute at Houston Field House.

Approximately 28 players will be invited to Team USA's pre-tournament training camp to begin Dec. 16 in Albany, N.Y. The final 22-player U.S. roster for the WJC will be unveiled prior to Team USA's pre-tournament game against Norway. Keith Allain, head coach at Yale University, will serve as head coach of the 2011 U.S. National Junior Team.

Kitchener Rangers defenseman Ryan Murphy admits he used to model his game after defenseman Bryan McCabe.

"But (McCabe) has gotten a little older know, so I've moved on to Mike Green," he admits. Still, the Markham, Ont. native has also listed San Jose's Dan Boyle as his favorite NHL player.

Whatever the case may be, Murphy is doing a fine job of making a name for himself in his second season in the Ontario Hockey League. He leads all defensemen in goals (13), assists (26) and points (39) while compiling an angelic-like 8 penalty minutes in 24 contests. He also sports a plus-5 rating.

It was quite a learning experience in 2009-10 for Murphy, who is No. 8 on the NHL Central Scouting's preliminary ratings for OHL players. Murphy was cut from Canada's Under-18 team that won a third straight gold at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial in Slovakia and the Czech Republic last August. He felt the team just wasn't in need of an offensive-defenseman.

"Coming in, I was pretty scared of all the hazing I guess, but in Kitchener, everyone was just great to me," Murphy recalled. "All the vets treated me like just another player and I just loved being there. It's a great organization."

Murphy recorded 17 points, including 5 goals, in 20 games to help the Rangers reach the semifinals of the OHL tournament last season -- taking eventual champ Windsor to the limit. He notched 6 goals and 39 points in 62 regular-season games.

"Going into the playoffs, only four or five players on the team had playoff experience," Murphy said. "So my coach told us, 'get ready for the next year.' Going that deep in the playoffs, a bunch of us got playoff experience, it was just great for us."

The trick for Murphy to have an even greater impression on scouts heading into the 2001 Entry Draft will be to play well enough so that people forget about his diminutive frame (5-foot-10 1/2, 176 pounds). He has the capability, too, with his smarts and quickness in tight spaces.

"I'm an offensive defenseman," Murphy said. "I love to handle the puck. I like to play defense, but I would rather be in the offensive zone, I love points."

Said Central Scouting's Chris Edwards: "Ryan has real good mobility. He's a bit of a gambler. He's going to have to concentrate on making good plays. He got himself into trouble making those high-risk plays, but that's what they used to say about (Montreal rookie) P.K. Subban. He's at least as good a skater as Subban."

Murphy, Kitchener's first round selection (third overall) in the 2009 OHL Priority Selection, was invited to Team Canada's summer selection camp in July.

He was surrounded by other draft-eligible prospects on the White Team, including Dougie Hamilton of Niagara and Duncan Siemens of Saskatoon (WHL). Hamilton is rated No. 3 on Central Scouting's OHL list and Siemens No. 8 on the Western Hockey League list.

There's never a right or wrong time to sit down and put together a mock draft, but now that NHL's Central Scouting has done much of the heavy lifting after producing their preliminary ratings for the 2011 Draft in June, it seemed like a pretty good time to make an attempt.

That's what me and Adam Kimelman determined, at least, when we each sat down and put our best foot forward by scribing our first -- of what could be several -- mock drafts. It wasn't easy, but at least it'll get all of us talking, debating, yelling, criticizing and, we hope, smiling (It's Thanksgiving, for crying out loud). Give thanks, not grief.

Anyway, you can eye our picks right here! I love the fact that we both have a different player going to the Islanders at the top spot and, of course, for different reasons.

By the way, in case you missed it, Kelowna Rockets forward Shane McColgan checked in with his monthly blog this week and shared some interesting insight into former Kelowna alum who have aided him during his draft year.

With the NHL's Central Scouting preliminary rankings still fresh in everyone's mind, now's as good a time as any to take a look at each of the three Canadian Hockey Leagues and the United States Hockey League and compare those ratings with the top scorers.

Of course, what does it mean? Not much when you take into consideration defenders aren't asked to be goal-scorers and players competing for teams that are struggling are at a disadvantage. But, it is fun to take a look at where some of the top-rated prospects are in terms of production in their respective leagues.

Ontario Hockey League
Ryan Murphy, Kitchener, 20 games, 11-24-35, 8th CSS, 4th in scoring
Ryan Strome, Niagara, 21 games, 10-23-33, 4th CSS, 8th in scoring
Gabriel Landeskog, Kitchener, 20 games, 17-14-31, 1st CSS, 10th in scoring
Alexander Khokhlachev, Plymouth, 20 games, 9-19-28, 12th CSS, 14th in scoring
Daniel Catenacci, Sault Ste. Marie, 22 games, 10-15-25, 16th CSS, 18th in scoring

Western Hockey League
Ty Rattie, Portland, 23 games, 14-25-39, 3rd CSS, 2nd in scoring
Sven Bartschi, Portland, 23 games, 16-17-33, 2nd CSS, 4th in scoring
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Red Deer, 22 games, 5-25-30, 1st CSS, 10th in scoring

Quebec Major Junior Hockey League
Sean Couturier, Drummondville, 26 games, 14-20-34, 1st CSS, 5th in scoring
Jonathan Huberdeau, Saint John, 23 games, 15-15-30, 2nd CSS, 10th in scoring
Phillip Danault, Victoriaville, 23 games, 11-16-27, 4th CSS, 17th in scoring

United States Hockey League
Rocco Grimaldi, USNTDP, 19 games, 14-10-24, 4th CSS, 1st in scoring on USNTDP
Reid Boucher, USNTDP, 18 games, 6-7-13, 13th CSS, 3rd in scoring on USNTDP
J.T. Miller, USNTDP, 17 games, 2-11-13, 2nd CSS, 4th in scoring on USNTDP
Tyler Biggs, USNTDP, 17 games, 6-4-10, 1st CSS, 5th in scoring on USNTDP
*Seth Ambroz, Omaha, 8 games, 2-2-4, 3rd CSS
*Scott Mayfield, Youngstown, 10 games, 1-2-3, 4th CSS

* - Have played fewer games in USHL in order to compete for U.S. Selects Team.

They're here…

Yes, the day every prospect prognosticator and player wishing to hear his name announced at the Entry Draft craves. The NHL's Central Scouting service on Tuesday unveiled their preliminary North American and European ratings for the upcoming draft in St. Paul, Minn. It's the first of three big ratings' installments -- a midterm release in January and final release in April are forthcoming.

A special thanks to those gentlemen over at Central Scouting, who do a fantastic job at compiling these lists for the benefit of the 30 NHL franchises. I especially want to commend the boys who spend countless hours on the road yet still find the time to return a phone call or email at the drop of a hat whenever a question arises about a potential star in the making.

The preliminary rankings, which include the top 25 skaters and most coveted goalies from the OHL, WHL, QMJHL and the USHL, may be accessed off the main story that ran on NHL.com Tuesday morning. There are also sidebars on those top-ranked European standouts and those in the collegiate ranks, including two from Boston University and two from the University of Wisconsin.

For those players checking in for the first time to learn where they stand, my suggestion is to not get too wrapped up in having a number attached to your name. Continue playing hard while conducting yourself in a professional manner.

I recently had an opportunity to chat with Edmonton Oilers 20-year-old rookie Jordan Eberle about the preliminary draft lists.

Eberle, of course, was drafted in the first round (No. 22 overall) in 2008 by the Oilers. If you'll recall, he was told he would be an early choice in the WHL bantam draft but, despite great numbers, scouts shied away because of his size (5-foot-8, 145 pounds at the time). He ended up falling all the way to the seventh round, where the Regina Pats grabbed him 126th overall. He'd go on to score 70 goals and 130 points in two seasons -- that's hard work.

Eberle's advice to those starry-eyed prospects:

"I remember (the preliminary lists) clearly," Eberle told NHL.com. "It's something as you go through your draft year … there's so many ups and downs but I think the big thing is you can't get too hyped up and focused in on all of that stuff.

"It really affects your game. You see guys rated high and they worry way too much about their ranking and all that stuff and they start dropping," he continued. "The thing is to just play your game, don't worry if you're high or low. I mean, I'm a seventh-round draft pick in bantam so I don't think that the draft is really … if you're a good enough player people are going to find you, it's as simple as that."

No better words spoken.

Jimmy Mullin scored his team-leading sixth goal 16:07 into the third period to rally the U.S. Junior Select Team to a 6-4 victory over Canada East in the championship game of the 2010 World Junior A Challenge on Sunday at Okanagan Event Centre in Penticton, B.C.

Mullin, who was drafted in the fourth round (118th overall) by the Tampa Bay Lightning last June, scored his decisive goal just 40 seconds after Austin Czarnik (2011 draft eligible) had tied the game for Team USA. Austin Czarnik, who scored twice in the game, was named Team USA's player of the game while defenseman Scott Mayfield (2011 draft eligible) and Mullin were named to the tournament all-star team. Mayfield, who has been maintaining a monthly blog for NHL.com, was also named the tournament's most valuable player.

"Our goal for the entire tournament was to climb the mountain," said U.S. coach P.K. O'Handley. "We
were naturally concerned, down 4-1. But we stuck with our plan and came out on top. This was one of my best hockey experiences of my coaching career."

Canada East had taken a 4-1 lead with a pair of goals in the first five minutes of the second by Scott Wilson (East's player of the game, 2011 draft eligible) and Matthew Peca (2011 draft eligible) but the U.S. responded to pull within one on goals by Sam Warning (2011 draft eligible) and Brian Cooper (2011 draft eligible) to close out the middle period.

Michael Parks' empty-net goal with 1:24 remaining sealed the deal while U.S. goalie Casey DeSmith (2011 draft eligible), who replaced starter Zane Gothberg (10 saves in 25 minutes) early in the second period, turned aside all eight shots he faced. Jordan Ruby made 37 saves in the loss for Canada East and was one of three easterners named to the all-star team. He joined defender Tyson Wilson (2011 draft eligible) and forward Evan Rodrigues (2011 draft eligible), who co-led the tournament with 7 points.

Russian forward Mikhail Girgorenko (2012 draft eligible) earned the other all-star forward spot.

In the bronze medal game, Switzerland scored an 8-3 victory over Canada West as 14 different players notched at least one point. Gregory Hofmann (2011 draft eligible) scored twice in the victory.

The Swiss broke open a 2-2 game in the third with six unanswered goals in a span of 11:43 by Reto Schappi  (2011 draft eligible), Manuel Holenstein (2011 draft eligible), Joel Vermin (2011 draft eligible), Romain Loeffel (Swiss player of the game, 2011 draft eligible), Gaetan Haas (2011 draft eligible) and Hofmann. Canada West goalie Matthew Krahn (2011 draft eligible) was named best player for his team.

The United States and Canada East won semifinal-round contests on Saturday and will face-off in the gold-medal game on Sunday at the 2010 World Junior A Challenge at the South Okanagan Events Centre in Penticton, B.C.

The U.S. defeated Canada East, 6-1, on Nov. 8 in its first game of the preliminary around.

Team USA, which has won two straight World Junior A golds, received a goal and one assist from Garrett Allen in the opening 11 minutes of the game and Jimmy Mullin scored his tournament-leading fifth goal via a penalty shot in the third period as the Americans rolled to a 5-1 victory over Canada West.

"I was very pleased with our start tonight," said Team USA coach P.K. O'Handley. "I know it sounds cliche, but this game was just another step. We need to remain focused (Sunday) and compete like we did tonight."

The U.S. took a 1-0 lead seven minutes into the game when Caleb Herbert knocked in a rebound goal. Only three minutes later, Allen, of Delafield, Wis., extended the lead 2-0 with a goal.

The U.S. had beaten Canada West in the last two gold medal games. The loss means Canada West will not be playing for a gold medal for the first time in the tournament's five-year history. Zane Gothberg made 27 saves for the U.S. Allen was named player of the game for the Americans and Dylan Walchuk was best player for Canada West.

The U.S. was 1-for-6 on the power play and Canada West went 0-for-9 -- the U.S. has allowed only one power-play goal in 21 shorthanded situations in the tournament.

Canada East, meanwhile, knocked off previously unbeaten Switzerland, 4-2, as team player of the game Nick Huard scored twice and Jordan Ruby made 39 saves. 

Canada East received goals by Huard and Maxime Dumond in the second period to grabe a 3-1 lead over Switzerland, which will battle Canada West in the bronze medal game on Sunday.

Swiss forward Ryan McGregor, whose late goal in the first had pulled his team into a 1-1 tie, was named Switzerland's player of the game.

Canada West and Canada East each scored quarterfinal-round victories on Thursday to advance into the medal round of the 2010 World Junior A Challenge at the South Okanagan Events Centre in Penticton, B.C.

Canada West, which will play the defending champion, United States, in the semifinals on Saturday (7:30 p.m. PT), received a power-play goal by Nolan Kaiser at 5:18 of the third period to snap a 2-2 deadlock and Matthew Krahn made it stand behind 31 saves en route to a 3-2 victory over Sweden. Dylan Walchuk and Ben Gallacher also hit for Canada West and Linus Hulstrom and Sebastian Dyk connected for Sweden. Kaiser was selected as Canada West's player of the game and Dyk was named top player for Sweden, which outshot the Canadians, 33-22.

In the other quarterfinal game, Matthew Peca and Evan Rodrigues scored 42 seconds apart in the second period to give Canada East a four-goal cushion before Russia began a rally only to fall one-goal short, 4-3. Canada East will now face Switzerland in the other semifinal on Saturday.

Matt Chiarantano and Zach Hyman -- Canada's player of the game -- also hit for Canada East, which received a 35-save performance by Jordan Ruby. Mikhail Grigorenko, who scored two goals in the third period to pull Russia within one with over 11 minutes remaining, was named his team's best player in the contest.

Friday
Sweden vs. Russia (consolation game)

Saturday - Semifinals
Canada East vs. Switzerland
Canada West vs. United States

The United States remained unbeaten and Canada West scored its first victory during the third day of preliminary-round action at the 2010 World Junior A Challenge on Wednesday at the South Okanagan Events Centre in Penticton, B.C.

The U.S. received two points apiece by Seth Ambroz, Max Gaede, Cason Hohmann and Sam Warning, who each scored once, and goalie Zane Gothberg turned aside 32 shots as the Americans secured a spot in the semifinal round by wrapping up first place in Group A with a 5-1 victory over Sweden.

Gaede, Hohmann and Ambroz all scored in a span of 7:25 in the second period to give the United States a 4-1 advantage. Jimmy Mullin also connected for the U.S., notching his tournament-leading fourth goal. Ambroz, a likely top 15 draft pick in June, was named the Player of the Game for the Americans. Ambroz is blogging for NHL.com this season.

Filip Gunnarsson, who had an assist, was named Player of the Game for Sweden, which received its lone goal off the stick of Alexander Lagerstrom. The U.S. will have Thursday and Friday off before Saturday's semifinals while the Swedes (0-2) will face Canada West in Thursday's quarterfinal round.

In the other preliminary contest held Wednesday, Grayson Downing and Dylan Walchuk scored third-period goals to snap a 2-2 tie and give Canada West a 4-2 triumph over Russia before 3,497 in attendance.

Russia, which yielded 52 shots to Switzerland one night earlier, allowed 53 shots to Canada West. Russian goalie Oleg Dyatlov made 49 saves and was named Player of the Game for his team. Downing received similar honors for Canada West, which will next face Sweden. Russia will battle Canada East.

Canada East rebounded from a disappointing opening-day loss and Switzerland won its second straight contest during preliminary round action of the 2010 World Junior A Challenge on Tuesday at the South Okanagan Events Centre in Penticton, B.C.

The Swiss, who are making their first-ever appearance in the tournament, defeated Russia, 5-1, to clinch first place in Group B and solidify a spot in Saturday's semifinals. With the victory, Switzerland has now beaten last year's silver medalist -- Canada West -- and bronze medalists.

The teams combined for 91 shots to set a World Junior A Challenge record for one game, two more than the previous mark of 89 set by Germany and Belarus on Nov. 11, 2006. Switzerland outshot Russia, 52-39. Gaetan Haas (2011 draft eligible) scored a pair of goals in a 61-second span early in the third period to give Switzerland a 4-0 advantage. Russian goalie Denis Perevozchikov (2011 draft eligible) made 47 saves, including 16 in the opening 20 minutes. Perevozchikov, incidentally, plays for Bars Kazan back home.

Goalie Remo Giovannini (2011 draft eligible), who made 38 saves, was named Player of the Game for Switzerland and Maxim Shalunov (2011 draft eligible) received similar honors for Russia.

Canada East, which lost to the U.S. on Monday, received a goal and three assists from their Player of the Game, Evan Rodrigues (2011 draft eligible), while Jordan Ruby (2011 draft eligible) turned aside 34 shots in a 6-2 verdict over Sweden. Canada East connected for the opening four goals of the game in the first period before Sweden's Christian Nyman (2011 draft eligible) and Pontus Netterberg (2011 draft eligible) pulled Sweden to within 4-2. Netterberg, a product of HV 71 in the Swedish Elite League, was named Sweden's Player of the Game.