Friday was a night to forget for the five New York Rangers prospects who saw game action. There was no offensive production. Two hundred foot impact? Minimal. Meanwhile, two of their prospects had negative impacts: ejections for checking to the head majors.
Here’s the Friday 411:
- Malcolm Spence has seen his offense cool off completely. He was scoreless as his second-ranked Michigan Wolverines opened Big Ten play with a 5-3 win over Notre Dame. Spence, wh opened his season going 2-3-5 on opening weekend has gone without any goals in his last five games. Against Notre Dame, Spence was credited with two shots as he is finding NCAA hockey to be much harder than the OHL. Last season, Spence posted 73 points (32g, 41a) for the OHL’s Erie Otters.
- Ty Henricks did not get to finish his NCHC season opener for his third-ranked Western Michigan Broncos. The team edged St. Cloud State, 6-5. However, Henricks received a “contact to the head” major and game misconduct at the end of the first period. It was the first time that Henricks was ejected from an NCAA game. Last year he had eight PIMs in 41 games. Due to the major, he already has 23 PIMs in just seven games this year.
- E. J. Emery was scoreless on three shots. His eighth-ranked North Dakota Fighting Hawks dropped a 4-3 overtime decision to the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs in the NCHC opener for both teams. Emery was credited with two blocked shots as he has gone pointless in his last four games.
- Drew Fortescue was the second prospect to get called for a “contact to the head” major and game misconduct. His 10th-ranked Boston College Eagles lost to Northeastern 3-0 in Hockey East action. Fortescue took his major penalty at 15:02 of the second period. Consequently, he was ejected for the third time in his NCAA career. Boston College dropped their third straight game of the season.
- Artem Gonchar was scoreless as his Sudbury Wolves were shut out 3-0 by the Kitchener Rangers in OHL action. The Russian defenseman did not record a shot on goal in this one.
- Defenseman Rasmus Larsson was a healthy scratch for the third time in this young season for Robert Morris. Last season while he was at Northern Michigan, Larsson was the top pair left defenseman. This season, even when he has dressed, Larsson was the seventh defenseman for the Colonials. It’s hard to view him as any kind of NHL prospect when he cannot even get into the games.
