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Blue And White Beat: McKegg in tough to crack World Junior lineup

September 12, 2011 in Blogs, Blue And White Beat, Prospects News 0

Blue And White Beat: McKegg in tough to crack World Junior lineup

Erie Otters forward Greg McKegg prefers to focus his efforts on his present-day skill sets as a participant in the Toronto Maple Leafs rookie tournament, rather than ponder over whether he’ll make the grade for Canada’s entry at the 2012 World Junior tournament.

No one though could blame the St. Thomas, Ontario native if the aspiration sinks in his mind for more than a fraction of a second.

“You try to put that into the back of your head, but it’s tough.” said McKegg following his one-goal, two-assist effort in the Leafs rookies 5-1 win over their Pittsburgh Penguins counterparts on Sunday night.

Fresh off a 49-goal campaign for the Otters during which he collected 92 points in just 66 games, McKegg was one of only two Leafs draft picks invited to this summer’s Team Canada development camp, with defenceman Stuart Percy being the other.

The 19-year-old centre flashed his creativity on a highlight breakaway goal in the third period, performing a forehand to backhand deke before sliding the puck underneath helpless Penguins goaltender Maxime Lagace. Earlier in the game, McKegg’s cross-ice pass to Mitchell Heard resulted in a one-time shot for a 4-on-3 power-play goal that held up as the game-winner by Heard.

“You can see the skill sets that he has,” said Toronto Marlies assistant coach Jim Hughes of McKegg, the Leafs third-round draft choice in 2010. “He puts up big numbers in the OHL. If you give him a look, he’ll take full advantage of it.”

As with every Canadian entry at the IIHF Under-20 Tournament, the competition for one of the twelve forward positions will be fierce. Five forward are eligible to return from last year’s edition, looking to avenge their colossal collapse in Buffalo at the hands of Team Russia: Brett Connolly, Sean Couturier, Quinton Howden, Ryan Johansen and Jaden Schwartz.

Also in the mix are Memorial Cup rivals Devante Smith-Pelley of the Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors and tournament MVP Jonathan Huberdeau of the champion Saint John Sea Dogs.

Finally, if first overall NHL draft pick Ryan Nugent-Hopkins doesn’t crack the Edmonton Oilers lineup as his predecessor Taylor Hall did last year, he’ll certainly be leaving his Red Deer Rebels for two weeks to play in the junior tournament being held in nearby Edmonton and Calgary.

Depending on your perspective, this is either the third U-20 tournament being staged on Canadian soil in four years, or fourth consecutive one if you considered the border to extend just past the arena in Buffalo for a fortnight last winter.

With Canada anxiously frothing at the mouth to end a two-year gold medal drought, Canadian teenagers will be waiting by their phones with the anticipation of Ralphie opening a Red Ryder BB gun when coach Don Hay and his staff set the roster in December.

“(It’s what) every Canadian kid hopes for at Christmas time”, said McKegg. “It’d be a pleasure to get that call.”

Rob Del Mundo is the author of Blue And White Beat, and is a regular columnist at TMLfans.ca

Follow TMLfans.ca on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/tmlfansrob

Leafs prospects shine at rookie tournament

September 11, 2010 in Latest Leafs Updates, Prospects News 0

Six different Maple Leafs scored goals in the team’s 6-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks at the 2010 Rookie Tournament on Saturday night. The tournament, which includes Ottawa and Pittsburgh, is being hosted at the John Labatt Centre in London, Ontario.

Toronto’s first three choices at the 2010 NHL Entry Draft – Bradley Ross, Greg McKegg and Sondre Olden – had the team’s first three goals, while Jerry D’Amigo, Kenny Ryan and Simon Gysbers also found the net for the Leafs.

Jussi Rynnas was solid in goal for Toronto, making 31 saves.

Three of the Leafs’ goals were scored on the power-play. Former Leafs prospects Chris DiDomenico and Philippe Paradis, who were both traded to Chicago for Kris Versteeg, suited up for the Blackhawks.

The game was a homecoming for 2009 first-round draft pick Nazem Kadri, who starred for the Knights of the OHL while playing his junior career in his hometown.

The Leafs’ next game is Sunday night against Pittsburgh (7PM ET).

Maple Leafs’ prospects camp wraps up

July 12, 2008 in Prospects News 0

It has been a very busy and exciting week for 22 of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ young prospects.

The 15 forwards, four defencemen and three goaltenders — all of them Maple Leafs prospects — spent the week of July 7-11 doing on-ice workouts, learning new exercises to try in the weight room, and stretching their minds in a series of classroom sessions covering such subjects as nutrition, media relations, special recipies to promote endurance and conditioning, and more. They even had a trip to a local area farm with Canadian strongman Jamie Aszmies.

Monday and Tuesday were spent at the Leafs’ training facility, the Lakeshore Lions Arena. After a high paced morning skate — something many players were dreading after having been off the ice for the last month or two — they were off to attend seminars on how to deal with Toronto’s relentless media pressure, how to cook a fat-free meal that maintains their conditioning while delivering the necessary fuel to keep their energy levels high during games, and to learn what the Maple Leafs organization expected of each of them.

Watch the Day One Leafs TV recap (includes a variety of player interviews)

Watch the Day Two Leafs TV recap (includes a variety of player interviews)

The theme for the week was E Pluribus Unun (latin for “from many to one”), a constant reminder to the players that they must work together as a single cohesive unit to be effective. This motto was emphasised on Wednesday when the prospects headed to Beretta Organic Farms in King City, just north of Toronto, where they were divided into two groups and engaged in a series of team competitions. Jamie Aszmies, a Canadian competitor in the International Strongman competitions, was on hand to help teach them how to safely work in pairs to flip a 600-pound tractor tire and push 800-pound bales of hay around a field. The teams also faced one another in a tug of war and a variety of other events, with Team Grey narrowly defeating Team Blue on the final event. The losers had to serve lunch.

Watch the Day Three Leafs TV recap (includes a variety of player interviews)

The group returned to the Lakeshore Lions Arena for the final two days of the camp. New Leafs coach Ron Wilson and several members of his staff watched their on-ice session on Thurday and then spent some time getting to know the young men in the classroom. General manager Cliff Fletcher also dropped in during several of the week’s on-ice practices, no doubt eagre to see several of the kids he had drafted less than a month ago in Ottawa.

Watch the Day Four Leafs TV recap (includes a variety of player interviews)

Watch the Leafs TV interview with Ron Wilson on Day Four

As the camp broke up on Friday, players went off in their own separate ways. Several will be attending the Team Canada Junior camp later this summer, while others will be headed to the weight room to put their recent education to practice before heading off to their respective teams’ pre-season camps in September. Perhaps half of the group will return to Toronto for the Leafs’ rookie camp, with the most promising of them continuing on to the main camp.

Watch the Day Five Leafs TV recap (includes a variety of player interviews)

Join our community forum’s discussion on the Leafs Prospects Camp.

More News from Leafs Prospects Development Camp

July 10, 2008 in Prospects News 0

The Leafs Prospects Development Camp continues. The Leafs’ prospects are getting lessons in media relations, nutrition, motivation, psychology, off-ice training, skating and practice drills. Here’s some recent stories including today’s news on what’s been going on there:

July 4th:
MapleLeafs.com: Prospect Camp Roster

July 8th
Globe & Mail: Youngster dreams of the big show
Toronto Star: Leafs get chance to analyze prospects
Toronto Sun: ‘Ahead of the curve’

July 9th
Toronto Star: Leafs take a look at prospects
National Post: Leafs get a look at their prospects

July 10th
National Post: Leafs’ Eastern prospects fast friends
Toronto Star: Leaf prospects plough through as farmhands

TMLfans.ca Discussion Thread: Development Camp Thread 

Leafs Get New ECHL Affiliate

July 10, 2008 in Prospects News 0

The Leafs ECHL affiliate from last season, the Columbia Inferno, suspended operations to build a new arena. The ECHL’s Reading Royals have replaced Columbia for the upcoming season and maybe longer. Early reports indicated that the team name would change to the Reading Marlies but reports made since then indicate no name change.

Reading Eagle: Toronto takes over as Royals’ prime affiliate
ECHL.com: Royals, Toronto Announce Affiliation
Philadelphia Inquirer: Reading hockey team has new affiliation, name

Schenn, Hayes, Stefanovich, Kulemin to Attend Maple Leafs Prospects Camp

July 6, 2008 in Prospects News 0

The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced the full roster of young players expected to attend the week-long Prospects Camp to be held at the Lakeshore Lions Arena on-ice training facility on July 7th through 15th.

Attendees include almost all of the Leafs’ 2008 draft selections — Luke Schenn (5th overall), Jimmy Hayes (60th), Mikhail Stefanovich (98th), Jerome Flaake (130th), and others — as well as several recently-signed, undrafted players (Greg Scott, Michael Ouzas, and Stefano Giliati) and a number of prospects from earlier drafts.

Highly touted Russian forward, Nikolai Kulemin (selected 44th overall by the Leafs in 2006) will also attend and is expected to have a very strong chance of cracking the Leafs’ line-up this fall.

A complete list of 22 players (15 forwards, four defencemen and three goalies) can be found on the official Toronto Maple Leafs website.

The prospects will participate in on-ice practice sessions and spend time in the classroom discussing subjects such as media awareness, nutrition and conditioning.

Join our forum dicussion on the upcoming camp.

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