BSH prospect report: Playoff updates aplenty

The News of the Week

Not too much to report in the way of news at this time of year. The postseason updates are up next, but before that, just one quick note. Massimo Rizzo, having already signed his ELC which kicks in next season, has joined the Phantoms on a tryout contract for the end of the regular season and postseason. He hasn\'t gotten in for any games yet though, so for now he\'s just hanging around and practicing with the team.

What\'s Up With The Phantoms

Speaking of the Phantoms, we have a lengthier update on them, and that\'s great news. First, they closed out the regular season well, officially clinching a spot in the playoffs, and coming away with wins in two of their final three games (and doing it despite resting many of their regulars in that last game).

And as far as the offense went across those last three games, it seemed like everyone was finding a way to get involved. Bobby Brink returned from Philly with a vengeance, putting up a goal and an assist. We also saw a pair of players who had been running a bit cold up until this point get involved, as Elliot Desnoyers put up two goals and Zayde Wisdom had a goal and two assists. To round things out, Adam Ginning had two assists of his own, while Olle Lycksell and Hunter McDonald each had one.

We also saw Alexei Kolosov get in for one start (we should also note that he backed up in both of the Phantoms\' two playoff games), and while he was stuck with their only loss of the week, it wasn\'t a bad effort from him overall -- he faced 24 shots and stopped 22 of them, so not too bad, but he didn\'t have the run support in that one.

And we\'ve also already seen the whole of their first round series play out since we last spoke (it was only a best of three series though). And in something of a surprise upset, the sixth place Phantoms upset the third place Penguins, sweeping them with a commanding regulation win on their turf in Game 1, then holding on to pull off an overtime win in their second game at home. And as a reward for that good work, they\'ll face the best in the league Hershey Bears. So we\'ll see how that goes.

But we\'re not quite there yet, we\'re still recapping. The prospect group who found the most production in the playoffs was, more or less, who we might have expected -- Ronnie Attard came away with a goal on the power play, while Olle Lycksell put up two assists, and both Bobby Brink and Adam Ginning had one each.

The Prospect World Tour

And shifting gears now to the playoffs happening north of the border, it\'s still all good news to report one the prospects still in action. In the Q, Drummondville closed out their series against Sherbrooke in six games, and have moved on to face Victoriaville, who they\'ve claimed wins over in the first two games. And Alexis Gendron is still producing nicely in his return from injury, as he has two goals and an assist in his last four games played.

London is also finding a nice bit of success, as they followed up their first round sweep of Fint with a sweep of Kitchener in the second round. Their conference final series has begun against Saginaw, and they\'re up so far, but they were still dealt their first loss of the postseason in Game 3. And as far as the Flyers\' pair of prospects go, they\'re still producing, even if they\'re slowed down a bit -- Denver Barkey has three assists over his last four games (which feels insane to call a slowdown, but technically it is), while Oliver Bonk was held to just one assist over that same span.

Speaking of sweeps though, Portland also managed to sweep Everett in their second round series, but they\'ve run into a similar situation as London in that they\'re up in their series, but the loss dealt in one of their first three games against Prince George means that their sweep streak will end here. Carter Sotheran has also slowed down a bit, but he did manage to put up two assists over his last four games, a respectable enough total.

And finally, over in the BCHL, Penticton closed out their series against Vernon, advancing to the next round where they\'ll face Salmon Arm. It\'s been a nice bit of team success that they\'ve found, but things have been a bit quiet for Ryan MacPhereson -- he has just one assist in his last four games.

Talking Points