Ritchie's success a family affair

No. 36th in NHL Central Scouting's final ranking of North American skaters, Brett Ritchie, a right wing with the Sarnia Sting, has an off-ice supporting cast that is second to none. In the early 1980s his father, Paul, played in the Ontario Hockey League, while his mother, Tammy, was a three-sport athlete, excelling in volleyball, softball, and basketball. Paul and Tammy each attended Brock University, where sports brought them together and seemingly have linked them ever since. Brett's younger brother, Nicholas, will become the third family member to play in the OHL; the 15-year-old forward was selected by the Peterborough Petes with the second choice of last month's OHL draft.

Full story here

Nicklas Jensen Among Top Right Wingers in NHL Entry Draft

The NHL Draft Blog is doing the top 10 players available at each position. Yesterday, they started off with the top 10 left wingers and today they cover the top 10 right wingers.

Nicklas Jensen of the Oshawa Generals is the top OHL'er on the list coming in at number two.

"It's the best junior league in the world," Jensen told NHL.com regarding the OHL. "It's just to give the scouts a better look at me. In Denmark there's not that many scouts. Over here, there's scouts at every game. It's better for me, especially in my draft year, to be seen a little more."

There are four OHL right wingers that made the list. Joining Jensen are, Rickard Rakell,  Stefan Noesen and Brett Ritchie.

You can read the entire article here .

USA 5 Canada 4 OT

Team USA beat Team Canada 5-4 in overtime Saturday to set up a Sunday Bronze Medal game between Canada and Russia and a Gold Medal Game between the USA and Sweden.

Brett Ritchie would start things off for Canada at the 4:37 mark on the powerplay when he tipped in a Ryan Murphy shot from the point. Alan Quine would draw the other assist. J T Miller would tie it at one with his fourth after he blocked a shot just inside his own zone and sped up the ice and beat Malcolm Subban five hole.

The teams would head to the locker room tied at one. The Canadians had the shot advantage, 12-4 as well as 3 powerplays while the US had none.

It took 16:10 into the second to see that periods only goal when Reid Boucher scored his seventh to give the Americans a 2-1 lead. The Americans came out strong in the second outshooting Canada 21-13. The US also had 4 powerplays including a two man advantage for 1:35 but could not convert.

Zach Larazza would score his first at 6:43 of the third, a short handed goal to put the US up 3-1. Travis Boyd would draw the assist. Then, just 33 seconds later, Boucher would notch his second of the game from Miller to put the US up 4-1. It was another short handed goal and on the same penalty.

Canada would make an attempt at a comeback. Ritchie would score his second of the game at 9:15 on the powerplay from Quine and Nick Cousins. At 18:25, and with Subban on the bench for an extra attacker, Murphy would score his third from Murray on the powerplay.  Murray would then assist on Mark Scheifele's 6th goal with just 51 seconds remaining to even the score up at 4.

The US would outshoot Canada 14 - 12 in the period.

Overtime would last just 4:22 when Tyler Biggs scored his second to send the US to the Gold Medal game and a chance to win their third straight tournament.

The US also improved to 7-2 all-time vs Canada in this event.

Good Luck to the Americans in the Gold Medal game !!

Germany Gives Canada A Scare

It took a third period comeback for the Canadians to be host Germany and advance to a semi final showdown against the Americans on Saturday.

Malcolm Subban got the start for Canada and stopped 18 of 31 shots while Marvin Cupper kept Germany in it with 43 saves.

Ryan Murray scored his first of the tournament just 1:15 into the game on the powerplay to put Canada up 1-0. Mark McNeill drew the lone assists, his 6th so far.

Germany would tie the game with a powerplay goal of their own at 6:57 when Leonhard Pfoderl notched his second of the tournament from Max Meirandres. Tobias Reider would score his third to put the Germans up 2-1 at 12:52. Pfoderl would assist on the goal and send the Germans to the locker room with the lead.

Canada outshot Germany 11-9 in the period. Canada was 1-1 on the powerplay while Germany was 1/3.

Canada had a slight territorial advantage in the second, outshooting Germany 19-14, but both goaltenders would be at their best. A late goal by Brett Ritchie with just 11 seconds remaining would tie the score at 2 before the teams headed off the ice. Murray would assists on Ritchie's first of the tournament.

Germany would get that goal back early in the third. Alexander Ackermann would score his second at 1:57 of the period to give Germany its second lead of the game with the lone assist going to Sabastian Uvira. That lead would hod up until 10:47 when Morgan Rielly notched his second from Slater Koekkoek and McNiell on the powerplay.

Yet another powerplay goal by the Canadians would put Canada up at 15:18 of the period. Nick Cousins scored his fourth of the tournement from Rielly. Canada's powerplay was efficient on the day going 3/5 while Germany finished 1/6 with the man advantage.

In the other quarter final, Russia beat Finland 5-2 to advance to a semi final match up against the Group B leading Swedes. Russia/Sweden is scheduled for 8:30 am EDT on Saturday while Canada/USA is scheduled for 12:30 pm EDT Saturday (TSN/RDS).

14 OHL Players Named To Team Canada

There were 14 OHL players named to Team Canada for the Ivan Hlink Under 18 world championships in Germany set to go from April 14-24.

Here are your OHL players named to the 22 man squad

Goaltenders:
Andrew D’Agostini, Peterborough Petes
Malcolm Subban, Belleville Bulls

Defencemen:
Cody Ceci, Ottawa 67’s
Scott Harrington, London Knights
Slater Koekkoek, Peterborough Petes
Ryan Murphy, Kitchener Rangers

Forwards:
Austen Brassard, Belleville Bulls
Daniel Catenacci, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds
Nick Cousins, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds
Seth Griffith, London Knights
Eric Locke, Barrie Colts
Alan Quine, Peterborough Petes
Brett Ritchie, Sarnia Sting
Mark Scheifele, Barrie Colts

All but Cody Ceci, Slater Koekoek and Eric Locke, and goaltender Malcolm Subban are draft eligible in 2011.

Peterborough Petes and Sarnia Sting Player Updates

Before I go on about the 2011 draft players, i just want to mention 3 guys that aren't eligible until 2012. Peterborough defenseman Slater Koekkoek and Sarnia forwards Nail Yakupov and Alex Galchenyuk are showing very early into this season that they will be first round picks in 2012. Everything so far points to stardum for these three in the future.

Peterborough has struggled in the early going this season and have gone 2 games without scoring a goal. In fact the goaless streak was at 150:43 until Ryan Spooner scored in the second period. But you have to give the kids credit for not giving up and keep on working. Even though pucks aren't going in as frequently for Matt Puempel, he is still showing why he will be a top pick in 2011. He continues to skate hard, get in on the forecheck, set up his teammates, drive to the net and get shots on goal. If he keeps playing like that, the points will come as they did last night.

The 5'5" Lino Martschini impresses me more and more each time i see him. The speedy skater doesn't back down against anyone. He goes full speed ahead into the forecheck, he will drive to the net, has a deceptive shot and is a very good playmaker. Despite his size, an NHL team will give him a chance at the NHL level, but it remains to be seen when he will be selected.

Defenseman turned forward Derek Mathers could turn into a very good power forward. He goes all out hard every time he's on the ice. He can make a big hit and will take one to make a play. Wins most battles along the wall. He needs to work on his skating a bit. Will do whatever it takes to give his team a lift whether its a big hit or a big fight. He did both last night when his team was down and had gone 7 periods without a goal.

Goaltender Andrew D'Agostini has been relegated to a back up role after the Petes acquired Bryce O'Hagan from the Soo Greyhounds who's experience should help a very young Petes defence.

Sarnia's Brett Ritchie Is really bringing his game along. He's a force in front of the net who makes it hard for the opposition defence and goaltender. He's gritty fights hard to retrieve pucks comes back har on the backcheck and is more than reliable in his own zone. His offensive numbers aren't where they should be right now, but playing on a line with Yakupov and Galchenyuk, they are bound to go up. And he will be a first round pick in 2011.

Brandon Francisco is a super fast skater. He gets in on the forecheck and battles hard. Uses his speed to create chances for himself and his teammates. He gets some penalty killing time, which goes to show he is good in the defensive zone. He has good offensive ability and is making the most of his chances, On a team that boasts 2 rookies in the top 10 in scoring, the Sting aren't depending on Francisco's offense so everything he produces is just gravy. 20 goals and 60 points are not out of the question for this season.

Brett Ritchie

Brett Ritchie - Sarnia Sting
6'3 - 190 lbs

Ritchie has the potential to be a top notch power forward. The self described mucker and grinder who likes to use his bodysaid he had to change his game prior to the Ivan Hlinka tournament and did just that. And the goals went in for him, scoring 4 in the first 3 games of the round robin.

Last season as a rookie for the Sting he scored 13 goals and added 16 assists in 65 games. In 2008-09 he played for the Toronto Marlboros minor midgets and had 36 goals and 33 assists for 69 points in 71 games so he has offensive ability.

Sting GM Dave McQueen had this to say after Ritchie's rookie season: "We didn't expect him to step in and be a 50-goal guy. But we thought he could be a good, tough, two-way player and he didn't disappoint us.

He's an average skater with average speed. Ideally with his height, if he could play at 225 - 235 without losing anything he has now, he could make a very good power forward in the NHL.

Oh, and he won't back down from a challenge either.