'BIG FOUR' NAMED TO TOP PROSPECTS GAME

Four Saint John Sea Dogs will have a chance to shine in front of National Hockey League scouts this January.

Today, the Canadian Hockey League announced the 40-players who will participate in the 2011 Home Hardware CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game that will be played in January at Toronto’s Air Canada Centre.

Defenseman Nathan Beaulieu and forwards Jonathan Huberdeau, Zach Phillips, and Tomas Jurco will all join some of the best draft eligible prospects in the CHL for the two-day event.

It’s not surprising to see Saint John’s ‘Big Four’ named to the roster for the event. The quartet is predicted to go in the first two rounds of this June’s National Hockey League Entry Draft by most publications.

According to a release, “the rosters were selected by the 30 NHL General Managers with NHL Central Scouting and include 18 players from the Ontario Hockey League, 13 players from the Western Hockey League, and nine players from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.“

Huberdeau currently leads the Sea Dogs in scoring with 54 points in 35 games. His linemate, Zach Phillips, is second in team scoring with 51 points and leads the Dogs in goals with 25 on the year.

Huberdeau and Phillips will join Beaulieu on Team White, who will be coached by Doug Gilmour. Beaulieu has had an up-and-down year but has still has produced well in his draft year. He has six goals and 16 assists in 35 contests to go along with a +25 rating.

Tomas Jurco will play for Team Red which will be coached by Hockey Night in Canada’s Don Cherry. Jurco has struggled at times with consistency, but still had a solid first half. He recorded 17 goals and 15 assists in 33 games prior to leaving to join Team Slovakia for the world juniors.

Other QMJHL players to make the cut were Drummondville’s Sean Couturier, Montreal’s Xavier Ouellet, Victoriaville’s Phillip Danault and David Honzik, and Chicoutimi’s Christopher Gibson.

Also from the release, “27 of the CHL’s 60 teams are represented in this game including four players from the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks along with four players from the QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs. Both the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers and Oshawa Generals are each represented by three players.”

The annual skills competition will be held on January 18 while the game will be played the following evening. The game will be broadcast live by Rogers Sportsnet and RDS.

The roster for Cherry’s Team Red:

Goaltenders — Chris Gibson (Chicoutimi Sagueneens), David Honzik (Victoriaville Tigres)

Defenseman — Miles Bell (Regina Pats), Scott Harrington (London Knights), Joe Morrow (Portland Winterhawks), Ryan Murphy (Kitchener Rangers), Duncan Siemens (Saskatoon Blades), Tyler Wotherspoon (Portland Winterhawks)

Forwards — Sean Couturier (Drummondville Voltigeurs), Philip Devos (Victoriaville Tigres), Nicklas Jensen (Oshawa Generals), Tomas Jurco (Saint John Sea Dogs), Gabriel Landeskog (Kitchener Rangers), Mark McNeill (Prince Albert Raiders, Matthew Puempel (Peterborough Petes), Rickard Rakell (Plymouth Whalers), Ty Rattie (Portland Winterhawks), Tobias Reider (Kitchener Rangers), Mark Scheifele (Barrie Colts), Ryan Strome (Niagara Ice Dogs)

The roster for Gilmour’s Team White:

Goaltenders — Jordan Binnington (Owen Sound), Liam Liston (Brandon Wheat Kings)

Defenseman — Nathan Beaulieu (Saint John Sea Dogs), Dougie Hamilton (Niagara Ice Dogs), David Musil (Vancouver Giants), Xavier Ouellet (Montreal Juniors), Stuart Percy (Mississauga Majors), Reece Scarlett (Swift Current Broncos)

Forwards — Sven Bartschi (Portland Winterhawks), Daniel Catenacci (Soo Greyhounds), Jonathan Huberdeau (Saint John Sea Dogs), Colin Jacobs (Seattle Thunderbirds), Boone Jenner (Oshawa Generals), Lucas Lessio (Oshawa Generals), Shane McColgan (Kelowna Rockets), Vladislav Namestnikov (London Knights), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (Red Deer Rebels), Zack Phillips (Saint John Sea Dogs), Brandon Saad(Saginaw Spirit), Vincent Trocheck (Saginaw Spirit)