For some people, the NHL season won’t really begin until the regular season starts on Thursday, October 7. Still, hockey nuts will lap up every little bit of puck-based competition they can get, and the first sample is in the rookie tournaments taking place in three areas.
Let’s take a look at the results from the games.
Traverse City Prospects Tournament (box scores via Points Streak.com)
Minnesota Wild 2, Carolina Hurricanes 1
Tyler Johnson and Joel Broda scored in the first period for Minnesota, with Johnson’s goal coming on the powerplay. Jarod Palmer had two assists for the Wild. Mike McKenzie scored for Carolina in the third period, but they fell short as the Wild took the win.
Carolina goalie Mike Murphy stopped 21 out of 23 shots while Matt Hackett made 29 out of 30 saves for Minnesota.
Evgeny Grachev scored the game’s last two goals to win the game for the Rangers. Grachev’s game winner came with only six seconds remaining in the game. Thomas Kubalik’s scored two goals for the Columbus Blue Jackets in a losing cause.
Brett Sonne scored two goals for the Blues, including the game winner in the second period. It was a good game for Brett’s in general, as Lightning first round pick Brett Connolly scored both of the Lightning’s goals.
The Red Wings “won” all three periods (4-1 in the first, 1-0 in the second and third) with the opening period involving the biggest beating. US World Junior team hero Jack Campbell had a rough one, but Stars fans shouldn’t give up on his potential just yet.
London, Ontario Prospects Tournament
Click here for the Penguins perspective and click here for the Ottawa Senators’ side of the story. Joe has more on Penguins prospect Alex Grant’s injury situation.
Toronto 6, Chicago 3
I imagine 99 percent of Blackhawks fans either don’t know about this one or don’t care, but Toronto folks covered it nicely. Check out the ridiculous GIFs all over the comments section of the Leafs blog Pension Plan Puppets for more proof. Oh, and if you have six minutes, here’s a video summary of the game.
(Thanks to Carolyn Christians for the box score tip. There weren’t any games in the Young Stars Tournament today.)