Just checked the results for the first game at the Division I World Championships and this guy kind of stood out.
I don't think he will be a star in any of the bigger leagues, but 58 saves on 60 shots were pretty impressive even if it was only div I.
sorry for the bump but the Leafs just invited him to their rookie camp
I doubt it. From what I hear the state of Polish hockey is worse than Ukraine's.
Being Polish myself (and having friends in the country) I can tell you that hockey is getting popular there. Still not a top sport like volleyball or football is, but is definitely making strides.
You also have to consider the Chicago thing as well. I've actually seen a few stories on Polish news talking about hockey in Chicago and how many Pollocks are playing rec leagues in the area. All in all hockey is still more of a region sport the only way it has to be going is up. To me it's just a matter of time.
Any German fans tell me how Leon Draisaitl has progressed? He looks like a very solid player with good NHL upside. Could he be the next Kopitar?
French forward Malo Ville [1995] played last season with HIFK U18 team. I had the chance to see the team quite much and Ville looked like a decent player. Good skater with solid acceleration. Knows how to distribute the puck for his teammates. Played solid energetic game, so there are some good things to his game. Not really a scorer as three goals might indicate and not the biggest guy at 5´9. He was his country´s best scorer at U18 Division 1 with six points.
Last edited by Sparta2009: 07-02-2012 at 09:13 AM.
Mario Huber from Austria. Born August of 1996, and is already 6'2" 209 per eliteprospects. Put up 48 points (17g 31a) in 22 Austria U20 league.
As few Croatian kids playing in Austria I noticed Huber destroying Austrian youth leagues. I hope he will get chance with men's Innsbruck team so I could watch him when Innsbruck Sharks will play my home team Medvescak Zagreb in EBEL.
Such a shame they lost to Kazakhstan in the Div 1 finals last year they were so close to being promoted. Seems as if hockey is picking up there a bit and hopefully those KHL franchises arrive soon too
Well we are at least improving our younger prospects now.
Any of these prospects playing in the lower level WJCs?
Among the Danish players mentioned in this thread 1993-born Nicolai Meyer, Thomas Spelling (2012 NYR draft pick), 1994-born Christoffer Lindhøj and 1995-born Oliver Bjorkstrand are all playing at the U20 WJC D1A currently. Bjorkstrand probably has the most potential, and he should be a lock to get drafted next year.
Norway has the Søberg brothers playing. Steffen Søberg was a 2011-draft pick for Washington, while 1995-born Markus Søberg is highly regarded for the future. At least he was on page 1 of this thread ;-)
Belarus' Artur Gavrus was also drafted this year (#180 by New Jersey), so he might be worth keeping an eye on also. After 2 games he is leading the tournament in scoring.
Hes playing against extremely weak competition. Yes hes standing out alot but that league isnt good at developing players. Nevermind the IQ's he probably lacks.
Let me comment on the Danish prospects S E P H mentions: Tobias Ladehoff, Anton Ørsted Petersen and Nikolaj Ehlers:
Tobias Ladehoff and Anton Ørsted Petersen are good players, but none of them I consider top prospects. Neither are NHL draft material to the best of my knowledge.
With Nikolaj Ehlers it is quite the opposite; he could be one of the best Danish talents ever. I have mentioned him on page 2 in this thread, but here we are discussing him further. His stats are comparable to those of Sven Bärtschi and Nino Niederreiter when they were at his age, without claiming he can become as good as them.
Last edited by Valdemar: 12-13-2012 at 02:31 AM.
Reason: small correction
Denmark have some nice prospects upcoming. Already mentioned Ehlers and Björkstrand. Cant wait for Ehlers to come over to Sweden next year and tear it up.
Balazs Sebok has been playing in finnish u20 league this year and was over ppg pace. 1994-born 6'1 185 lbs from Budabest,Hungary. He will get some games in sm-liiga next season.
One fairly intriguing French prospect could be Bastien Maia. A 15-year-old forward who plays in Finland with HIFK U16 team. Excellent size at 6´1, and his skating has improved from the start of the season. Strong shot, decent vision but his skating could still improve. Overall game is pretty good, although his game without the puck could be better at times.
I have seen him about 10 times this season. I think he could become a pretty good player in some years.
Janos Hari's brother, Norbert(b. 9-1995) from Hungary had 45 points in 21 games in the Swedish J18 SuperElite and 12 points in 11 in the J18 Allsvenskan.
Janos Hari's brother, Norbert(b. 9-1995) from Hungary had 45 points in 21 games in the Swedish J18 SuperElite and 12 points in 11 in the J18 Allsvenskan.
