PRE-GAME: 2011 Home Hardware CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game

GAME DAY
WHAT: 2011 Home Hardware CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game
WHO: Team Orr vs Team Cherry
WHEN: Tonight, 8:00 pm
WHERE: Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Ont.

PREVIEW
The 40 best draft eligible players from the Canadian Hockey League will suit up tonight at Toronto’s Air Canada Centre for the 2011 Home Hardware CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game. Game time is 8:00 pm AST and can be viewed on Rogers Sportsnet or RDS.

Four members of the Saint John Sea Dogs will take part in the event. Forward Tomas Jurco will play for Team Cherry while forwards Jonathan Huberdeau and Zack Phillips will join defenseman Nathan Beaulieu on Team Orr.

The four players all participated in the annual skills competition last night in front of a sparse ACC crowd. Phillips came second in the shooting accuracy challenge while Jurco took home the ‘Showdown Breakaway Challenge’ crown for his sick display of dangles and dekes.

All four of the Sea Dogs are projected, by the majority of scouting sites, to go within the first two rounds of the National Hockey League Entry Draft this summer. With lots of scouts in attendance, you now they, and the rest of the players in attendance, will be looking to make an impact. It isn’t your average all-star game.

One player in particular who will look to impress is Jonathan Huberdeau. His hot play of late and consistant play all season suddenly have him as an early first round pick. He’ll be wearing an alternate captain’s ‘A’ on his sweater this evening.

“Jonathan might be playing on the best line in junior hockey alongside Zack Phillips (ranked 12th by Central Scouting) and Tomas Jurco (ranked 24th),” said EJ McGuire, the director of NHL Central Scouting to the National Post today. “He’s a centreman who can dish to his left, dish to his right and shoot the puck in a fearsome way.”

According to the National Post’s Mark Masters, Jurco will play on a line with Shane Prince and Sean Couturier.

VIDEO: Jurco delivers in skills competition

Facing some pressure to come through with an unreal shootout move, Tomas Jurco delivered.

The Saint John Sea Dogs’ Slovakian star won the Home Hardware CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game Skills Competition’s ‘Showdown Breakaway Challenge’ with a spin-o-ramo lacrosse like goal that left the thousands few fans in attendance stunned.

Terry Doyle of the OHL blog 'Loose Pucks' describes the details:

"He successfully executed the lacrosse-style scoop up the puck, spinerrama goal. But it was one of his moves that did not result in a goal that had many saying 'What was that?' Jurco scooped the puck onto the blade of his stick, parallel to the ice. Then he flipped the puck into the air, flipped his stick and caught the puck on the shaft. Jurco could have stopped his attempt right there and it would have been extremely impressive. Unfortunately he did not score."

Even some of the moves he didn’t score on are quite impressive to say the least.



"I don’t know if I would be gutsy enough to pull them off the way he does,” said Jurco’s teammate Zach Phillips, as Sunaya Supurji tweeted.

Jurco told Yahoo! Sports this yesterday:

“Not everything I do in practice I can do in a game. Unless I’m 100 percent sure (I can score), I won’t try it in a game,” said Jurco of his spectacular skills. “I’ve been doing some of these moves, like that spin-o-rama, for years so I was sure I could do it. If I’m not going to score, it doesn’t matter what I do."

So will we eventually see his lacrosse spin move in game action? If so, getcha popcorn ready.

TEAM ORR WINS SKILLS COMPETITION; JURCO DAZZLES

Nathan Beaulieu, Jonathan Huberdeau, Zach Phillips and the rest of Team Orr defeated Tomas Jurco and Team Cherry to claim the 2011 Home Hardware CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game Skills Competition Tuesday night at the Air Canada Centre. Team Orr won the event 12-11.

Despite being on the losing end, Jurco scored an unreal goal (according to the few people in attendance) in the breakaway challenge. He won the contest, earning 39-of-a-possible-40 points for yet another daring move. What a shock.

Mike G. Morreale has more at NHL.com:

Jurco's amazing lacrosse-style scoop with his stick from between the circles was followed by some twisting and twirling of the puck before his wicked backhand found the back of the cage, earning an event-high 39 points for Team Cherry. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins of the Red Deer Rebels had posted the highest score (37) in the opening round of the event prior to Jurco's crowd-pleaser. Nugent-Hopkins skated down the middle of the ice while maintaining control of the puck within his skates. At the last second, he kicked the puck to his forehand and deposited his shot to the long side to the delight of those in attendance.

When Jurco was asked earlier in the day what he had up his sleeve for the event, he shrugged without any hint of detail.

"I don't know what I'm going to use," he told NHL.com. "I have a few moves and I'll probably decide right before I go."

The Canadian Press also chimed in:

Tomas Jurco of the Saint John Sea Dogs won the breakaway event by scooping up the puck and whipping it into the net with a lacrosse-style shot while spinning around in the slot, earning a score of 39 out of 40 and a goal for Team Cherry.

We can only imagine what his coach, Don Cherry, thought of his moves.

Sault Ste. Marie forward Daniel Catenacci won the fastest skater competition with a time of 14.017 seconds to secure a goal for Team Orr. Sea Dogs defenseman Nathan Beaulieu finished the competition with a solid time of 14.695.

Forward Zach Phillips did very well in the accuracy shooting contest, going four-for-six. He finished second behind Matthew Puempel of the Peterborough Petes who went four-for-five. The highly touted Sean Couturier of the Drummondville Voltigeurs went a woeful zero-for-eight.

Regina Pats defenceman Myles Bell won the hardest shot contest for Team Cherry with a blast of 98.4 miles an hour.

The final event of the night was a 3-on-3 game, with two 15-minute periods of running time. Team Orr notched a 9-6 victory to clinch the win.

The Top Prospects Game will be played Wednesday night at 8:00 pm on Rogers Sportsnet and RDS.

PRE-GAME: CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game Skills Competition

The 2011 Home Hardware CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game Skills Competition is tonight at 8:00 pm at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. As far as we know, there will be no television or webcast coverage of the event.

Four Saint John Sea Dogs will show off their skills tonight in front of fans, scouts, and media. Defenseman Nathan Beaulieu will participate in the fastest skater competition, Zach Phillips in the shooting accuracy event, and Jonathan Huberdeau and Tomas Jurco will take part in the breakaway/shootout contest.

There will also be a three-on-three game, giving players lots of ice to work with to display their skill.

Of course, the ‘Show-Down Breakaway Contest’ is already highly anticipated with YouTube star Tomas Jurco taking part in the event. Sunaya Supurji had a great article on Jurco over at Yahoo! today, where it was said he hasn’t been practicing anything out-of-the-ordinary for tonight’s event.

“I’ll try my usual moves,” Jurco said Monday upon his arrival in Toronto. “Hopefully, if the goalie hasn’t seen them (on YouTube), it will work.”

He also shed some light on how he decides on what move to use when it counts.

“Not everything I do in practice I can do in a game. Unless I’m 100 percent sure (I can score), I won’t try it in a game,” said Jurco of his spectacular skills. “I’ve been doing some of these moves, like that spin-o-rama, for years so I was sure I could do it. If I’m not going to score, it doesn’t matter what I do."

Via HockeySense.ca, here is what the Quebec Major Junior Hockey Leaguers will be doing at tonight’s skills competition (full list HERE):

MID-SEASON DRAFT SHOW ON TSN

TSN’s Bob McKenzie will be revealing his Top 30 Mid-season Draft Rankings on TSN tonight at 8:30 pm AST.

On ‘That’s Hockey’ last week, McKenzie said that Saint John Sea Dogs forward Jonathan Huberdeau being ranked fourth in Central Scouting’s mid-season rankings was a surprise.

There were four Sea Dogs ranked in Central Scouting’s top-24 of North American skaters eligible for the upcoming draft. In TSN’s mini-preview of McKenzie’s show tonight, Huberdeau and Nathan Beaulieu got shout outs.

According to the TSN website, McKenzie will release his top 60 list for the upcoming draft on the interweb after the show.

CHL ANNOUNCES PARTICIPANTS FOR SKILLS COMPETITION

Tomorrow at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, the 2011 edition of the Home Hardware CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game will hold its annual skills competition. The game will be played on Wednesday.

Saint John Sea Dogs defenseman Nathan Beaulieu and forwards Zach Phillips, Jonathan Huberdeau, and Tomas Jurco will all participate in the two-day event that features the Canadian Hockey League’s best draft-eligible players showcasing their abilities in front of a plethora of scouts.

Beaulieu, playing with Team Orr, will take part in the fastest skater competition. Phillips, also with Team Orr, will play in the shooting accuracy competition. Joining Phillips in the competition, playing for Team Cherry, will be Drummondville Voltigeurs’ forward Sean Couturier.

Surely the most anticipated event of the evening will be the “Showdown Breakaway Contest.”

“The Showdown Breakaway Contest made its debut last season in Windsor and will again feature six players per team taking two attempts on goal before a panel of four judges that will score each attempt based on creativity, originality, degree of difficulty, execution, showmanship, and the ability to score,” states a CHL release.

Taking part in the event will be both Huberdeau and Jurco who will play for separate sides – Huberdeau with Team Orr and Jurco with Team Cherry. Anyone with an internet connection probably knows that the two have some slick moves by now. Huberdeau produces a highlight reel worthy play almost every week while Jurco is well known for his shootout move in Cape Breton last season.

After the events, a three-on-three game will take place featuring two 15-minute periods.

Here is a rundown of the point system:

The best individual score in each event receives a goal for their team, with another goal awarded for the best team average from each event for a total of eight available goals. The 3-on-3 game consists of two 15-minute periods with running time with all goals scored counting towards the overall competition score.

The 2011 Home Hardware CHL/NHL Top Prospects Skills Competition participants can be found below: