CHL Award nominees
Along with the Memorial Cup, the Canadian Hockey League also will hand out a number of individual awards.
Among the award finalists are Plymouth Whalers center
Tyler Seguin, who is up for three awards -- the Top Prospect of the Year, Top Scorer of the Year, and Player of the Year.
Joining Seguin, NHL Central Scouting's top-rated North American skater for the 2010 Entry Draft, in the prospect competition are Prince George Cougars right wing
Brett Connolly, Central Scouting's No. 3 North American skater, and Moncton Wildcats defenseman
Brandon Gormley, No. 6 on Central Scouting's list.
Edmonton Oilers top prospect
Jordan Eberle of the Regina Pats and Saint John Sea Dogs left wing Mike Hoffman, an
Ottawa Senators prospect, are Seguin's competition for the player of the year award.
Seguin and Windsor Spitfires left wing Taylor Hall, Central Scouting's No. 2-ranked skater, join the Calgary Hitmen's
Brandon Kozun, a
Los Angeles Kings prospect, and the Drummondville Voltigeurs' Sean Couturier, a top prospect for the 2011 Entry Draft, for the top scorer award.
Hoffman also is a finalist for the sportsman of the year award, along with Jason Bast of the Moose Jaw Warriors and the Peterborough Petes'
Ryan Spooner, No. 39 on Central Scouting's list.
Kingston Frontenacs defenseman
Erik Gudbranson, No. 4 on Central Scouting's list, joins Swift Current Broncos left wing Adam Lowry and Chicoutimi Sagueneens defenseman Dominic Jalbert for the Scholastic Player of the Year award.
Matt Fraser of the Kootenay Ice, Ryan Hayes of the Plymouth Whalers and Nick MacNeil of the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles are finalists for the Humanitarian of the Year award.
Right wing
Petr Straka of the Rimouski Oceanic, No. 23 on Central Scouting's list, is competing for the Rookie of the Year award with a pair of top 2011 draft prospects -- Red Deer Rebels center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Peterborough Petes left wing Matt Puempel.
The nominees for the Goaltender of the Year are the Calgary Hitmen's
Martin Jones, an L.A. Kings prospect; the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors'
Christopher Carrozzi, a 2008
Atlanta Thrashers draft pick; and the Drummondville Voltigeurs'
Jake Allen, a 2008
St. Louis Blues pick.
Colorado Avalanche prospect
Tyson Barrie of the Kelowna Rockets;
Columbus Blue Jackets prospect
David Savard of the Moncton Wildcats; and the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds'
Jake Muzzin, a Kings prospect, are the finalists for Defenseman of the Year.
The London Knights'
Dale Hunter, second all-time on the NHL penalty minute list, is a finalist for the coach of the year award, joining former
Columbus Blue Jackets coach
Gerard Gallant of the Saint John Sea Dogs and
Mark Holick of the Kootenay Ice.
-- Adam Kimelman
As if beating the rival Brandon Wheat Kings for the sixth time in 10 games this season Wednesday in the final round-robin game at the Memorial Cup wasn't enough, the Calgary Hitmen will have their top scorer in the lineup for Friday's semifinal-round rematch (8 p.m. ET, NHLN-US, SPORTSNET).
Brandon Kozun, a 2009 sixth-round draft pick of the
Los Angeles Kings who led all Canadian Hockey League players with 107 points, had missed the last two games with an ankle injury, including Wednesday's 5-1 win against the host Wheat Kings.
Kozun skated Thursday and Calgary coach
Mike Williamson told reporters Kozun "absolutely" will be in the lineup Friday.
"It feels awesome, especially knowing that I can contribute and have confidence in myself," Kozun told the Calgary Herald. "Watching those last couple games has been fuelling something inside of me and I'm really going to be ready to go."
The winner of this game will meet the defending champion Windsor Spitfires in Sunday's championship game (7 p.m. ET, NHLN-US, SPORTSNET).
In Kozun's absence,
Atlanta Thrashers prospect
Jimmy Bubnick has led the offense with a tournament-leading 8 points. Linemates
Kristopher Foucault (
Minnesota Wild) and
Tyler Shattock (
St. Louis Blues) are tied for second with 6 points each.
Kozun, who led the Western Hockey League in playoff scoring with 30 points as the Hitmen won the league title, played just a few shifts in the team's tournament opener last Saturday, but missed Monday's game against Windsor and Wednesday's game against Brandon. Williamson said he could have played Kozun in those games, but the decision was made to let the injury heal, and Kozun is feeling good at the best possible time.
"(Kozun's) a very big key element to our team," Hitmen co-captain
Ian Schultz told the newspaper. "He adds that next dimension of scoring to us. It's a boost of confidence for us and that'll make teams think a little more about our power play. We have another weapon we can use and utilize."
It's also another thing to worry the Wheat Kings, whose two losses at the tournament, against Windsor and Calgary, have been by a combined score of 14-4.
"I think the boys are a bit rattled," said Brandon captain Matt Calvert, a 2008
Columbus Blue Jackets draft pick. "They obviously don't want to lose 5-1 to Calgary. The good news is we've got another chance. That was just the end of the round robin and we're into the playoffs now. It's one game, and if you lose it you're going home. It's going to be do-or-die mode, especially for a lot of us. We've got an older team and a lot of guys don't want to stop their junior career (Friday)."
Calvert and linemate
Brayden Schenn, the fifth pick of the 2009 Entry Draft by the Kings, are two of those players who could see their junior career come to an end with the loss. The top line forwards have just 1 goal each, and likely will be without the third member of their line,
Dallas Stars 2009 first-round pick
Scott Glennie, who missed the last two periods Wednesday and is questionable for Friday.
They'll also need better goaltending from
Jacob DeSerres, a 2008 third-round pick of the
Philadelphia Flyers, who allowed five goals on 14 shots in the first period Wednesday against Calgary.
He rebounded to stop all 16 shots he saw in the second and third periods, and believes he is a good bounce-back goaltender.
"I love big games," he told the Herald. "I hate when the games don't mean anything. I'm looking forward to (Friday). I'm ready to go."
Contact Adam Kimelman at [email protected]