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L.A. Kings draft Akil Thomas who plans to repay teams who snubbed him in first round

23 Saturday Jun 2018

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Niagara IceDogs forward Akil Thomas wants to thank all the National Hockey League teams that bypassed him in the first round of the 2018 NHL Draft. He looks forward to repaying them for the snub.

“Yeah, yeah, definitely,” Thomas said. “You know, (I) was just sitting in my bed last night…thinking of things I want to do and accomplish to kind of say thank you for maybe not believing in me. And you made me kind of get hungry, and you made me want to do more things.”

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Thomas hopes to do those things for the Los Angeles Kings, the team that finally selected him in the second round Saturday with the 51st overall pick in the draft.

Ranked  the 15th-best North American skater by NHL Central Scouting, the 5-foot-11, 171-pound Thomas was projected as a first-round pick by many hockey experts.

He notched 22 goals and 59 assists in 68 games and served as an assistant captain for the Ontario Hockey League IceDogs.

Niagara IceDogs forward Akil Thomas was ranked the 15th-best North American skater eligible for the 2018 NHL Draft (Photo/Terry Wilson/OHL Images).

He contributed 5 goals and 6 assists in 10 OHL playoff games last season.  Thomas also played for Canada in the 2018 International Ice Hockey Federation U18 World Junior Championship, tallying a goal and an assist in four games.

“I was hoping to go yesterday, so towards the end of the round I was getting kind of nervous and it’s something I’ll always remember,” Thomas said. “And (I) definitely was a little bit upset after. But, you know, I thought about it (and) at the end of the day, I have a job to do. I’m going to get an opportunity. And I get to prove a lot of people wrong. And I love doing that.”

Thomas has a strong hockey pedigree. His father, Khalil Thomas, was a career minor league player. His uncle, Leo Thomas,  was recently named head coach of the Macon Mayhem of the Southern Professional Hockey League. He’s currently North America’s only black professional hockey head coach.

Akil Thomas’ father and mother, Akilah Thomas, are owners of the Oshawa RiverKings of Canada’s Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League.

Thomas’ path to the NHL Draft and the Los Angeles was marked by a series of key decisions.

He began playing organized hockey in the United States and caught the attention of scouts when he helped a Florida AAA youth hockey team win a championship in Philadelphia in 2008 when he was eight years old.

As his game improved, Thomas’ parents faced a dilemma – whether to stay in the Sunshine State or relocate to where there’s a larger pool of competitive players to push their son to be the best.

Forward Akil Thomas joined Team Canada for the IIHF U18 World Championship after his strong rookie season with the OHL’s Niagara Ice Dogs (Photo/Matthew Murnaghan/Hockey Canada Images).

In 2011, the family packed their bags for Toronto – where Kahlil  grew up – so Akil could play prep school hockey at Upper Canada College. This season, he skated for St. Michael’s College School and the minor midget hockey Toronto Marlboros Marlies.

After minor midget hockey, Thomas had to decide whether to play major junior hockey or opt to skate for NCAA Division I colleges that were recruiting him like Arizona State University, University of New Hampshire, Penn State University or Boston University.

He decided on that major junior route and signed with the IceDogs, which selected him with the 12th overall pick of the 2016 OHL Priority Selection Draft.

Then Thomas had to decide which country he would play for in international competition. Born in Florida, he could play for Team USA or Team Canada. He settled on wearing the maple leaf on his jersey.

Erica L. Ayala contributed to this report. Follow her @elindsay08.

Follow the Color of Hockey on Facebook and Twitter @ColorOfHockey. And download the Color of Hockey podcast from iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud and Google Play.

 

Noel and Woo join Akil Thomas as potential NHL first-round draft picks

19 Sunday Nov 2017

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Two players of color have been upgraded to potential first-round picks in the 2018 National Hockey League Draft in June by NHL Central Scouting.

Serron Noel, a forward for the Oshawa Generals of the Ontario Hockey League, and defensman Jett Woo of the Western Hockey League’s Moose Jaw Warriors were elevated to “A” ratings from “B” ratings last week by Central Scouting.

NHL Central Scouting has elevated Oshawa Generals forward Serron Noel to an “A” rating, meaning he’s considered as a potential first-round pick in the 2018 NHL Draft (Photo/Aaron Bell/OHL Images).

An A rating designates players as potential first-round candidates. A B rating indicates a player is a likely second or third-round pick in the June 22-23 draft at Dallas’ American Airlines Center.

Noel, a 6-foot-5, 200-pound right wing and son of a former Canadian Football League player, has 10 goals 4 assists and 20 penalty minutes in 18 games for Oshawa.

“Noel is a power forward who is a strong skater with deceptive outside speed to separate himself from checking and quickness by pulling away on the rush,” NHL Central Scouting Director Dave Marr told NHL.com. “He works hard on the forecheck, forcing turnovers and finishing hits.”

Woo, a 6-foot, 200-pound blue liner, has 6 goals, 11 assists and 20 penalty minutes in 18 games for the Warriors.

“He’s a point-a-game player now, runs the first power-play unit and plays with a lot more poise and patience with the puck,” Central Scouting’s John Williams told NHL.com. “He’s not likely a power play guy in the NHL, but more of a two-way guy who can bring a physical element with enough skill to contribute.”

Moose Jaw Warriors defenseman Jett Woo has played for Team Canada and is now projected as a potential first-round pick in the 2018 NHL Draft (Photo/ Matthew Murnaghan/Hockey Canada Images).

He also owns one of the coolest first names in hockey, though he has no idea why his father chose it.

“I know he’s a fan of (Chinese actor/producer) Jet Li, but I don’t know if that’s why I got the name. I like my name, though,” Woo told the International Ice Hockey Federation’s Andrew Podnieks in April.

Niagara IceDogs forward Akil Thomas began the 2017-18 season as a prospective first-round selection in the 2018 NHL Draft (Photo/Terry Wilson/OHL Images).

Noel and Woo join Akil Thomas, a forward for the OHL’s Niagara IceDogs as minority players who could hear NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman call their name in the first round of the Dallas draft.

A 5-foot-11, 170-pound right wing, Thomas has 5 goals, 16 assists and 8 penalty minutes in 20 games for the IceDogs. He tallied 21 goals and 27 assists in 61 games in his rookie season with Niagara.

The three 17-year-olds  played for Canada’s gold medal-winning team at the 2017 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup tournament last August in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Thomas tallied 2 goals and 4 assists in five tournament games while Noel had a goal in five contests. Woo, an assistant captain on the team, went scoreless.

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Hockey is flowing for Akil Thomas and Charles Williams like Niagara Falls

14 Tuesday Mar 2017

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Is it something in the Niagara Falls water?

Two hockey players of color on both sides of the border are rolling like the water down the Falls – playing some of the best hockey in their league and their conference.

Akil Thomas, a rookie center for the Niagara Ice Dogs of the Ontario Hockey League, enjoyed a 5-point game – 1 goal and 4 assists – en route to a Niagara 7-1 win against the North Bay Battalion on Sunday.

Niagara IceDogs center Akil Thomas posted a 5-point night Sunday and is second among Ontario Hockey League rookies in scoring (Photo/Terry Wilson/OHL Images).

The performance upped the Florida-born Thomas to 21 goals and 26 assists in 58 games for the IceDogs. He’s second-leading scorer among OHL rookies, the IceDogs’s fourth-leading scorer, and the major junior hockey league’s 81st best scorer.

Thomas, 17, hails from a hockey family: His father, Khalil Thomas, was a career minor league player. His uncle, Leo Thomas, retired  last year as a player for the ECHL’s Fort Wayne Comets and is an assistant coach for the Macon Mayhem of the Southern Professional Hockey League.

Akil Thomas’ dad and mother, Akilah Thomas, are owners of  the Oshawa RiverKings of Canada’s Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League.

While Akil Thomas is on a roll in Canada, Charles Williams is in the flow stopping pucks across the border for Cansius College in Buffalo, New York.

Williams’ strong play over the weekend powered the Golden Griffins past Upstate New York rival Niagara University and helped the team advance to the Atlantic Hockey conference semifinals.

Canisius College goalie Charles Williams beat Niagara University 3-0 and 2-1 over the weekend, advancing the Golden Griffins to the Atlantic Hockey Tournament semifinals.

Williams earned a 3-0 victory against NU’s Purple Eagles on Friday and a 2-1 win on Saturday. The wins extended Canisius’ unbeaten streak to 17 games, dating back to January.

The winner of Atlantic Hockey Tournament gets an automatic berth to the 2017 NCAA Ice Hockey Championship.

A Canton, Michigan native, Williams is a nominee for the Hobey Baker Award, given annually to the top NCAA men’s hockey player. He’s also a semifinalist for the  Mike Richter Award, presented to the best goaltender in NCAA Division I hockey.

Williams, a fifth-year transfer from Ferris State University, posted a 15-6-4  regular season record. He led all NCAA Division I goaltenders with a .944 save percentage and was tied for first with 5 shutouts. He was second among D-I goalies with a 1.83 goals-against average.

 

 

 

Akil Thomas taken in first round by Niagara IceDogs in OHL draft

09 Saturday Apr 2016

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Akil Thomas has gone to the dogs – the Niagara IceDogs.

The 16-year-old forward for the minor midget Toronto Marlboros was chosen by the major junior hockey IceDogs in the first round with the 12th overall pick in Saturday’s Ontario Hockey League Priority Selection draft.

“It’s the best day of my life right now,” Akil told me Saturday. “It’s a great team that’s doing well this year. They have a lot of guys leaving so it will give me a good opportunity to step in and get some ice time and play for a great organization.”

Akil, a Brandon, Florida, native, tallied 33 goals and 39 assists in 56 games for the Marlies in the 2015-16 season. He helped power the Marlies to the finals of the OHL Cup Showcase tournament last month.

The team lost to the York-Simcoe Express 2-1 in double-overtime. But Akil led the tournament in scoring with 6 goals and 7 assists in seven games and was named to the Gatorade OHL Cup All-Star Team.

“We’re excited to get him,  IceDogs General Manager/Head Coach Marty Williamson told The St. Catharines Standard. “We really had him going in front of us. He was a pretty easy pick for us sitting there at 12… I really liked him. I thought in the OHL Cup he really put his team on his back.”

Still, Akil was surprised that he was drafted so high because he’s also weighing offers to play NCAA Division I hockey. Several schools, including Arizona State University, the University of New Hampshire, Boston University, Penn State University, University of Michigan, and the University of Maine have inquired about him, his family said.

Both the NCAA college hockey and major junior hockey routes are high-profile stepping stones to reaching the National Hockey League, Akil’s ultimate goal.

“I hadn’t made up my mind whether I was going to go NCAA or OHL and usually teams want to know 100 percent if they’re going to take a first-rounder,” Akil told me.

The IceDogs began heavily wooing Akil Saturday. The young forward and his family met with Williamson and some of the team’s players, including forward Josh Ho-Sang, a New York Islanders 2014  first-round draft pick. The team even gave Akil some of Ho-Sang’s sticks.

IceDogs' Josh Ho-Sang, a N.Y. Islanders draft pick, met Akil Thomas after OHL draft.

IceDogs’ Josh Ho-Sang, a N.Y. Islanders draft pick, met Akil Thomas after OHL draft.

Ho-Sang, 20, is in his final season with the IceDogs. Depending on how he does in training camp in September, he could wind up in Brooklyn with the Islanders or skating for the team’s American Hockey League farm team, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in the 2016-17 season.

“Our whole family met with him today,” Akil said of Ho-Sang, who also played minor midget hockey for the Marlies. “It was cool that I got to meet him. It’s kind of cool that maybe I could fill his shoes someday, if I were to play for the IceDogs.”

The IceDogs also drafted Akil’s best friend and Marlies teammate, defenseman Pierre-Luc Cote Forget, in the ninth round.

Akil comes from solid hockey stock. His father, Kahlil Thomas, was a right wing who played in 828 pro games for 13 teams in nine leagues in three countries from 1996 to 2008.

Thomas and his wife, Akilah, own the Oshawa RiverKings of the Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League. Akil’s uncle, Leo Thomas, is a forward who split time this season between the Mississippi RiverKings of the Southern Professional Hockey League and the ECHL’s Fort Wayne Komets.

 

 

With OHL draft ahead, Akil Thomas looks to continue family’s hockey tradtion

08 Friday Apr 2016

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Akil Thomas attended a different type of day care when he was little.

“At 2-3 years old, Akil used to come with me to every practice almost every day,” Kahlil Thomas, a retired minor league hockey player told me recently. “He was too young to go to a day care center. Our trainer didn’t mind when he came because he would just sit there for the whole hour and a half, except to go to the wash room, and watch practice up and down. That was his day care.”

When the Memphis RiverKings practices were over, young Akil would get on the ice and have practice sessions with his dad.

“I really don’t get enough of hockey,” Akil, now 16, told me. “You’ll see me after practice in my driveway, stick handling or something. My mind shifts to hockey 24/7.”

Saturday, Akil’s attention will shift to the Ontario Hockey League’s Priority Selection draft, where the high-scoring forward is projected to be a top pick.

Leagues like the 20-team OHL, Western Hockey League and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League are where young players with NHL aspirations want to go to hone their skills and be seen by pro scouts.

Then there’s also the NCAA Division I college route, taken by NHLers like Jack Eichel, the Buffalo Sabres rookie forward, and Toronto Maple Leafs wing James van Riemsdyk. Several schools, including Arizona State University, the University of New Hampshire, Boston University, Penn State University, University of Michigan, and the University of Maine have inquired about Akil, his family said.

 

Akil Thomas of the Toronto Marlies hopes to make his way up the hockey ladder and be drafted by an Ontario Hockey League team. (Photo/Aaron Bell/OHL Images).

Akil Thomas of the Toronto Marlies hopes to make his way up the hockey ladder and be drafted by an Ontario Hockey League team. (Photo/Aaron Bell/OHL Images).

His stock has risen since his performance in last month’s OHL Cup Showcase tournament. He helped lead the minor midget hockey Toronto Marlboros to the finals against the York-Simcoe Express.

The Marlies lost the championship game 2-1 in double-overtime. But Akil led the tournament in scoring with 6 goals and 7 assists in seven games and was named  to the Gatorade OHL Cup All-Star Team.

He posted 33 goals and 39 assists in 56 games last season for the Marlies.

 

“Akil, at his age, is a much better player than I was at his age,” said  Kahlil, a right wing who played 828 games for 13 teams in nine leagues in three countries from 1996 to 2008. “He’s definitely going to go far. He definitely had more skill than I ever had.”

Akil says he’s patterned his game after his father’s, except that dad helped “make me a bit better than him.”

“I gave him pointers here and there, but I stress hard work more than anything,” Kahlil  said. “Hard work can trump any politics in front of you any day – whether it’s the color of your skin, the politics with who knows who, who’s the sons of this or that.”

Akil Thomas' family moved from Florida to Toronto to expose him to tougher competition (Photo/ Aaron Bell/OHL Images).

Akil Thomas’ family moved from Florida to Toronto to expose him to tougher competition (Photo/ Aaron Bell/OHL Images).

Akil began playing organized hockey in the United States. Scouts began noticing him after he helped lead a Florida AAA youth hockey team to a championship in Philadelphia in 2008 when he was eight years old.

As his game improved, Akil and his family faced a dilemma that most talented hockey players in Florida confront – whether to stay in the Sunshine State and be a big fish in a small frozen pond or relocate to where there’s a larger pool of competitive players to push you.

Hockey is the Thomas family passion - and business. Bottom left to right, Kahlia Rae, 19; Akyn Zion, 8; Kayah Sol, 10; Akil, 16. Top row, mother Akliah; Kayjah, 5; father Kahlil.

Hockey is the Thomas family passion – and business. Bottom left to right, Kahlia Rae, 19; Akyn Zion, 8; Kayah Sol, 10; Akil, 16. Top row, mother Akliah; Kayjah, 5; father Kahlil.

In 2011, the family packed their bags for Toronto – where Kahlil  grew up – so Akil could play prep school hockey at Upper Canada College. This season, he skated for St. Michael’s College School and the Marlies.

“The toughest decision of my life,”  recalled mother Akilah Thomas, who grew up in Silver Spring, Md.,and accompanied her husband on his hockey sojourn. “I’m such an American and we lived in the South. We moved from the sunshine to the snow.”

“The first year was extremely hard, but everything fell into place,” she continued. “I finally gave up thinking ‘Florida, Florida, Florida’ and just gave it my all and adjusted my mindset. This is where we need to be now – so suck it up, mamma!”

Kahlil  doesn’t remember the decision to move being that difficult because “we were coming home to family, to a city that we knew.”

However, he confesses that “now I want to go back.”

“I miss Florida,” he said.

But Florida will have to wait. There’s just too much hockey going on. To say the Thomas household is a hockey household is an understatement. In addition to Kahlil’s hockey exploits and Akil’s budding career, Leo Thomas – Kahlil’s brother and Akil’s uncle – is wrapping up his playing career, splitting time this season between the Southern Professional Hockey League’s Mississippi RiverKings and the ECHL’s Fort Wayne Komets.

Forward Leo Thomas, Akil Thomas' uncle, split the 2015-16 hockey season between the SPHL's Mississippi RiverKings and...

Forward Leo Thomas, Akil Thomas’ uncle, split the 2015-16 hockey season between the SPHL’s Mississippi RiverKings and…

the Fort Wayne Komets of the ECHL. This is Thomas' 14th, and possibly, final season.

the Fort Wayne Komets of the ECHL. This is Thomas’ 14th, and possibly, final season.

“To go out on top, to win a championship would be the ultimate goal,” Leo told me. “Afterward, I would love to get into some coaching, definitely do something in hockey. I’ve been playing this game since I was four years old. All us Thomas guys are lifers.”

Maybe he can work with his brother. Kahlil and Akilah became hockey team owners last year when they purchased the Oshawa RiverKings of the Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League with close friend and former hockey player Dave Nicholls.

Kahlil is general manager and head coach for the franchise. Akilah is the team’s sales and marketing manager.

“I just want to help kids who are late-developers or are overlooked” by major junior teams and college hockey programs, he told me.

Macon another black hockey head coach: Leo Thomas takes over SPHL’s Mayhem

24 Thursday May 2018

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Macon makes black hockey head coaches – and hockey history.

The Macon Mayhem introduced Leo Thomas as its new head coach Wednesday, scoring  something of a hat trick in the Middle Georgia city that gave the world Otis Redding, Little Richard and the Allman Brothers Band.

Leo Thomas is new head coach of the Macon Mayhem of the SPHL.

With the appointment, Thomas  becomes the only black head coach in North American professional hockey currently and the first in the 10-team Southern Professional Hockey League.

“I didn’t realize it until (Tuesday),” Thomas told reporters at a news conference Wednesday at the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in Macon. “Like, wow, this is a pretty big deal. When I started playing at a young age, I dealt with so much stuff being colored and stuff like that. I can’t even express the joy and happiness I have right now.”

Thomas also has the distinction of being the third black head coach in Macon’s storied hockey history. John Paris Jr.coached the defunct Macon Whoopee of the old Central Hockey League from 1996-97 to 1998-99.

Paris became the first black head coach to win a professional ice hockey championship when he led the Atlanta Knights to an International Hockey League title in 1994.

Graeme Townshend, the National Hockey League’s first Jamaican-born player, succeeded Paris as the Whoopee’s head coach in 1999-2000.Townshend now coaches Jamaica’s Winter Olympics hockey effort and operates a hockey camp in Maine.

Now it’s Thomas’ turn in Macon. He’ll helm a team that finished second in the SPHL last season with a 33-16-7 record. The team lost to the Huntsville Havoc in the second round of the playoffs after winning the league’s President’s Cup in 2016-17.

“I’m just going to bring my style of hockey which is hard-nosed, in-your-face and skill,” Thomas said. “I’m not going to go out there trying to goon it up or anything like that. Just bring all the stuff I’ve learned through the years and bring it to this team and make myself, and everybody that’s helped me, proud.”

Thomas had been a Mayhem assistant coach since the team’s championship season. Before that, the 36-year-old was a high-scoring forward for several  minor league teams, including the Fort Wayne Comets of the ECHL the SPHL’s Mississippi RiverKings, and the IHL’s BloomingtonPrairieThunder.

New Macon Mayhem Head Coach Leo Thomas enjoyed a long and high-scoring minor league hockey career.

A Toronto native, Thomas comes from a hockey family. His nephew, Akil Thomas, a center for the Ontario Hockey League’s Niagara IceDogs, is a potential first-round pick in the 2018 National Hockey League Draft June 22-23 in Dallas, Texas.

Leo Thomas’ older brother, Khalil Thomas, was a career minor-leagurer who played center for the CHL’s Memphis RiverKings and Oklahoma City Blazers, the United Hockey League’s Flint Generals, and the SPHL’s Jacksonville Barracudas.

Hockey runs in new Macon Mayhem Head Coach Leo Thomas’ family. His nephew, Niagara IceDogs forward Akil Thomas, is rated the 15th-best North American skater eligible for the 2018 NHL Draft by NHL Central Scouting. Leo’s brother, Khalil Thomas, enjoyed a lengthy minor league hockey career (Photo/Terry Wilson/OHL Images).

Khalil Thomas and his wife, Akilah, are now part owners of the Oshawa RiverKings of the Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League.

Leo Thomas is part of a small  but growing fraternity of minority hockey coaches who are working their way through the professional, amateur and youth ranks.

Calgary Flames Assistant Coach Paul Jerrard was the only minority NHL coach who worked games from the bench last season. The others were specialty coaches who were in the press box or video room on game days.

Fred Brathwaite  coached the New York Islanders’ goaltenders while Scott Gomez ran the Isles’ power play strategy. Sudarshan Maharaj tutored the Anaheim Ducks’ netminders. Frantz Jean handled the Tampa Bay Lightning’s goaltenders. Nigel Kirwan served as the ‘Bolts  video coach.

On the amateur level, Jason McCrimmon is head coach and part owner of Detroit’s Motor City Hawks of the U.S. Premier Hockey League, a Tier III junior league where players showcase their talents for college or major junior hockey programs.

In April, Duante Abercrombie, an alum of the NHL’s “Hockey is for Everyone” program, was named head coach of the Washington Little Capitals 16U National Team. That squad has a track record of developing players for junior, college, and professional hockey teams.

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Hockey players of color tout talent – and diversity – at summer tournaments

27 Friday Jul 2018

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Two hockey teams of color literally took the show on the road this month to showcase  their skill and their commitment to making the game more diverse.

The women of the Brown Bears and the boys from the NextGEN AAA Foundation didn’t take home any championship trophies, but they still felt like winners because their presence at two New England tournaments proved a point.

“It’s just shows that hockey is for everybody,” Brown Bears co-captain Gina Weires told me. “It shows that we can do it.”

The Brown Bears assembled for the first time at the Hockey Fights MS 2018 Vermont Tournament (Photo/Courtesy Jasmine Bazinet-Phillips).

The NextGEN AAA Foundation team that played in the 2018 Chowder Cup in suburban Boston strikes a pose (Photo/Courtesy Dee Dee Ricks).

Weires and fellow co-captain Jasmine Bazinet-Phillips formed the Brown Bears to participate in the Hockey Fights MS Vermont Tournament.

The two friends wanted their team to be different. They wanted a roster of mostly minority women, something that they never experienced in their years of playing in the Maryland-Washington-Delaware-Virginia area.

“Seeing other hockey players of color around growing up, but very few, we felt that it was important that the ice surface is as diverse as the cities that we live in,” Bazinet-Phillips said. “Getting together the team, we hope to build a network of female hockey players of color, and then give female hockey players of color something to look forward to during the year in terms of coming to the tournament. But we also want to inspire them to go back to their local ice arenas and begin to build diversity at their rinks.”

But the first step for Bazinet-Phillips and Weires was building the Brown Bears’ inaugural roster.

Bazinet-Phillips, a Baltimore native who played NCAA Division III hockey at Maine’s Colby College, and Weires, a Washington, D.C., resident who played for and managed American University’s women’s club hockey team, reached out to the few minority players they knew and then brainstormed about where to find others.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney awkwardly stated that he had “binders full of women” who he could hire if he won the 2012 presidential election.

Weires and Bazinet-Phillips didn’t have binders, but they assembled a Google Doc with the names of 45 minority female hockey players who they could invite to join the Brown Bears, including some heavy hitters.

Brown Bears co-captains Jasmine Bazinet-Phillips, left, and Gina Weires racked their brains, searched the Internet, and even scoured The Color of Hockey, looking for players for their team (Photo/Courtesy Jasmine Bazinet-Phillips).

They contacted Sarah Nurse, who starred at the University of Wisconsin and won a Silver Medal playing for Canada at the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea.

They reached out to defenseman Blake Bolden, a National Women’s Hockey League and Canadian Women’s Hockey League champion who played last season on HC Lugano’s women’s team in Switzerland.

Nurse and Bolden couldn’t make it. But Jordan Smelker, a forward for the NWHL’s Boston Pride, and Toni Sanders, a forward who skated for NCAA Division I Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute from 2010-11 to 2013-14 did make it.

So did an 18-year-old who played high school varsity hockey and a 55-year old woman who started playing the game five years ago. In all, 12 women of varying skill put on the tie-dyed jersey with the big claw logo and played for the Brown Bears in Vermont.

The team didn’t win a game, largely because tournament organizers moved it out of the women’s division into a more competitive co-ed division because of the presence of Smelker, Sanders and other skilled players.

“We were moved to the second-highest division with predominantly males,” she said. “I think it kind of made the men’s heads spin, but I think they were also happy to have us there. There was a very positive aspect to their reaction.”

The players on the NextGEN team turned heads with their performance at New England’s Pro-Am Hockey’s 2018 Chowder Cup in suburban Boston earlier this month.

NextGEN players in action at 2018 Chowder Cup (Photo/Courtesy Dee Dee Ricks).

NextGEN – a nonprofit organization that provides mentoring, education and hockey programs to low-income and at-risk youth – fielded a team with some of the program’s elite players and sent them to the tournament through a sponsorship from Pure Hockey, the largest hockey equipment retailer in the United States.

The players came from across the U.S. and Canada and had never skated together. But once they hit the ice, it seemed like they had been playing together forever, NextGen founder Dee Dee Ricks said.

Tournament coach Khalil Thomas – head coach and general manager of the Oshawa RiverKings and father of 2018 NHL second-round draft pick Akil Thomas – and Program Director Jeff Devenney ran the players through a few practices and had them ready to go.

NextGEN lost in the tourney’s quarterfinals to the NW Huskies, the team that went on to capture the Chowder Cup championship.

The diverse NextGEN team takes a break during practice at the 2018 Chowder Cup tournament (Photo/Courtesy Dee Dee Ricks).

“It doesn’t really matter about the winning, if you could have seen these kids together. I’ve never seen anything like it,” Ricks said. “Just in terms of the bonding, the jelling, the acceptance. Immediately, it was like they were life-long friends, coming together for the cause.”

Bryce Salvador, NextGEN’s NHL alumni ambassador and a former captain for the New Jersey Devils,  said the mostly-minority squad was just thrilled to have the experience.

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“It doesn’t happen so often when you get a team that’s as diverse like that at a high level,” said Salvador, who was the NHL’s third black team captain. “Just the ability for them just to spend time together was, in my opinion, more important than actually playing the game.”

That said, Ricks and the NextGEN brain trust showed as much competitive fire during the tournament as the team that it put on the ice.

“My son went out for three shifts in one of the last games that we were up. And one of the (opposing) kids asked him ‘Why are you playing with a bunch of black kids?'” recalled Ricks, who is white. “And John-John looked at him, and he goes, ‘Why are you losing to a bunch of black kids?'”

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Players of color anxiously await the call at 2018 NHL Draft in Dallas

19 Tuesday Jun 2018

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Niagara IceDogs right wing Akil Thomas is traveling from hometown Toronto to Dallas, Texas, in a rented RV with his family just so he can sit, wait, and wonder when he arrives.

Thomas hopes the wait to be picked by a team in the 2018 NHL Draft won’t be as long as the drive to Texas – a journey that exceeds 1,400 miles and 21 hours.

The waiting is the hardest part for Akil Thomas and other players at 2018 NHL Draft (Photo/Niagara IceDogs).

“I’m pretty nervous now,” Thomas told me recently. “I’m going to be sitting in a chair waiting for my name to be called. It’s going to change my life, obviously. I don’t know who’s going to pick me, I really don’t know what to expect. For everyone, it’s kind of nerve-racking. It’s kind of your first experience of the NHL.”

Thomas is one of a least eight players of color who could be selected by one of the league’s 31 teams during the two-day draft that begins Friday inside Dallas’ American Airlines Center.

Cable’s NBCSN airs the first round in the United States at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time. NHL Network picks up Rounds 2-7 on Saturday starting at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time. In Canada, Sportsnet and TVA Sports broadcasts the draft both days.

Here’s a look at some of the potential picks:

AKIL THOMAS, right wing, Niagara IceDogs, Ontario Hockey League: NHL Central Scouting ranks Thomas as the 15th-best North American skater in the draft. The 5-foot-11, 171-pound forward notched 22 goals and 59 assists in 68 games and served as an assistant captain for the IceDogs.

He had 5 goals and 6 assists in 10 OHL playoff games last season.  Thomas also played for Canada in the 2018 International Ice Hockey Federation U18 World Junior Championship, tallying a goal and an assist in four games.

Niagara IceDogs right wing Akil Thomas was his team’s  second-leading scorer last season with 22 goals and 59 assists in 68 OHL games (Photo/Terry Wilson/OHL Images)

Thomas comes from a hockey family. His father, Khalil Thomas, was a career minor league player. Ditto his uncle, Leo Thomas, who was recently named head coach of the Macon Mayhem of the Southern Professional Hockey League. He’s currently North America’s only black professional hockey head coach.

Akil Thomas’ father and mother, Akilah Thomas, are owners of the Oshawa RiverKings of Canada’s Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League.

“I love hockey so much because I’ve been around it because of my uncle and dad,” Akil Thomas told me. “I don’t get tired of working on my shot in my back yard, I don’t get tired of going to the gym because I don’t see it as hard work. I see it as fun.”

Thomas is all business off the ice as well. Though still a teenager, he has his own clothing line.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING: “Can play center or wing and plays with a balance of skill, will and a very strong sense of what needs to be done at any time” – TSN hockey analyst Craig Button, who ranks Thomas as a top-six play-making forward. TNS rank him 28th on its Top 93 draft list.

SERRON NOEL, right wing, Oshawa Generals:  Central Scouting ranks Noel as the 10th-best North American skater.

The 6-foot-5, 205-pounder from Guelph, Ontario, had 28 goals and 25 assists in 62 regular season games for the Generals. He had an assist in five OHL playoff games and chipped in 2 goals and 4 assists in five games for Canada at the 2018 U18 world juniors.

Oshawa Generals right wing Serron Noel finished second in goals on his team last season with 28 (Photo/Terry Wilson/OHL Images)

Noel, 17, is the son of Dean Noel, a former Canadian Football League wide receiver. He steered Serron toward hockey because of concerns about the rate of  concussions in football.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING: “He’s 6-foot-5 and one of the youngest players in the draft. He has the upside to become one of the premier power forwards in this league” – The Hockey Writers.

K’ANDRE MILLER, defense, USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program:  Miller,18, is a smooth-skating defender who has moved up Central Scouting’s chart. The 6-foot-2, 205-pounder from Minnetonka, Minnesota, jumped to 23rd-best North American skater from 31st at mid-term.

K’Andre Miller helped anchor the defense for the United States at the IIHF U18 World Championship (Photo/USA Hockey)

Miller had 7 goals and 17 assists in 50 games. Not bad for a player who switched to defense from forward two seasons ago. He skated for the U.S. at the 2018 IIHF U18 world juniors, scoring a goal and 2 assists in seven games.

Any NHL team that takes Miller could have to wait a few years for him. He begins playing for the University of Wisconsin Badgers and Head Coach Tony Granato this fall.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING: “Strong skating, puck carrying defenseman who can quickly get the play moving forward. Athletic with excellent potential” – TSN’s Button, who projects Miller to become a Top 4 defenseman. Miller is ranked 24th on TSN’s Top 93.

Jett Woo, Moose Jaw Warriors (Photo/Marc Smith/DiscoverMooseJaw).

JETT WOO, defense, Moose Jaw Warriors, Western Hockey League. Woo is hoping to make history and become the first player of Chinese descent to be chosen in the first round of the NHL Draft.

Defenseman Andong Song became the first Chinese-born player drafted when the New York Islanders chose him in the sixth round in 2015.

Woo may achieve his goal, even though his stock dipped with Central Scouting. The 17-year-old from Winnipeg is ranked the 28th-best North American skater, down from 20th at mid-term.

Rugged Moose Jaw Warriors defenseman Jett Woo wants to be the first player of Chinese descent to be selected in the NHL Draft’s first round (Photo/Marc Smith/DiscoverMooseJaw).

Named after Chinese action film star Jet Li, the 5-foot-11, 205-pound Woo had 9 goals and 16 assists in 44 games last season for Moose Jaw. He scored 2 goals and 1 assist in 14 WHL playoff games last season. He also contributed a goal and an assist for Team Canada at the IIHF U18 world juniors.

“I’m not exactly sure if my dad is a big fan of Jet Li…he might be,” Woo told NHL.com. “I know that’s where my name came from. I know my grandparents liked the name.”

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING: “Poised defender with above-average speed and a strong understanding of the game” – The Sporting News, which had Woo 56th in its April rankings.

JERMAINE LOEWEN, left wing, Kamloops Blazers, WHL: Loewen, 20, aspires to be the NHL’s second Jamaican-born player. Graeme Townshend – a forward who played for the Boston Bruins, New York Islanders, and Ottawa Senators – was the first.

Kamloops Blazers forward is what most NHL teams covet in a player: size and hands soft enough to score 36 goals last season (Photo/Kamloops Blazers).

Loewen is ranked as the 160th-best North American skater and is projected as a potential late-round pick.  At 6-foot-four, 221-pounds, Loewen was the Blazers’ leading scorer last season with 36 goals and 28 assists in 66 regular season games.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING: “A raw player player with a huge frame. Plays a very impressive game with good on ice smarts, He can be heavy on his feet, but there is no denying his ability to get the job done. Loewen could turn into a Wayne Simmonds-type player” – ISS Hockey.

Forward Austin Wong hopes to follow his brother, Tyler, into pro hockey.

AUSTIN WONG, center/right wing, Okotoks Oilers, Alberta Junior Hockey League:  Ranked 174th among North American skaters by Central Scouting, Wong was the Oilers fourth-leading scorer last season with 25 goals and 29 assists in 55 AJHL games.

The 5-foot-10, 189-pound 17-year-old from Cochrane, Alberta, Canada, is committed to play Ivy League hockey for Harvard University starting in the 2019-20 season.

Wong’s older brother, right wing Tyler Wong,  played last season for the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League and the Quad City Mallards of the ECHL.

He was an NHL preseason and training camp sensation for the Vegas Golden Knights last September. Tyler Wong scored the first goal in Golden Knights history in an exhibition game against the Vancouver Canucks. He finished the game with a hat trick – three goals.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING: “A pitbull of a power forward who combines skill and truculence…He gets in on the forecheck and is able to make quick reaction plays that lead to scoring chances around the net,” Steve Kournianos, The Draft Analyst.

ISAAC NURSE, right wing, Hamilton Bulldogs, OHL:  Yep, another Nurse looking to make it big in hockey. Ranked the 180th-best North American skater, Nurse notched 17 goals and 13 assists in 68 games for Hamilton last season. He added 7 goals and 4 assists in 21 OHL post-season contests.

Unlike cousin Darnell Nurse, a defenseman drafted by the Edmonton Oilers in the first round of the 2013 NHL Draft, Issac Nurse is taking the long road to the NHL. The 19-year-old Hamilton native was initially cut by the Bulldogs and played Canadian Junior B hockey in 2015-16 before rejoining the hometown Bulldogs the next season.

Hamilton Bulldogs forward Isaac Nurse has taken the long path in hockey, a route that he hopes will lead to the NHL (Photo/Aaron Bell/OHL Images).

At 5-foot-10, 174-pounds, Nurse comes from one of Canada’s most competitive athletic families. Sister Sarah Nurse starred at the University of Wisconsin and played for Canada’s women’s hockey team at the 2018 Winter Olympics. Cousin Kia Nurse, Darnell’s sister, is a point guard for the University of Connecticut women’s basketball team and played for Canada at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janerio.

Isaac’s father, Roger Nurse, was a star lacrosse player. His uncle, Richard Nurse, was a wide receiver for the CFL’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats. An aunt, Cathy Nurse, was a hoops star at Canada’s McMaster University. And former NFL quarterback Donovan McNabb is a relative by marriage.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING: “He’s hard to play against and he fits into how we want to play…He’s a big part of why this team is where it’s at right now” – Hamilton Bulldogs Head Coach John Gruden.

Kamloops Blazers defenseman Montana Onyebuchi.

MONTANA ONYEBUCHI, defense, Kamloops Blazers, WHL: A physical 6-foot-3, 209-pound blue-liner, Onyebuchi  dropped off Central Scouting’s list after being ranked the 216th-best North American skater at mid-term.

About the name: Onyebuchi’s father hails from Nigeria and moved to Canada following high school.

Onyebuchi, 18, had 4 goals and 13 assists in 62 games for the Blazers and the WHL’s  Everett Silvertips. The Dugald, Manitoba, Canada, native also accumulated a whopping 109 penalty minutes between the two teams. Think 2015 sixth-round draftee Bokondji Imama.

Defenseman Montana Onyebuchi, left, split his last season between the Kamloops Blazers and Everett Silvertips (Photo/Kamloops Blazers).

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING: “Onyebuchi is a bit of a wild man who is fearless, yet feared by others. He can definitely fight and be a physical presence, but Onyebuchi is also a powerful skater with a raw skill-set that suggests he has a pro upside” – The Hockey Writers.

Some lower-ranked players may not get their names called in Dallas on Friday or Saturday, but that doesn’t mean NHL teams won’t come calling.

They could be invited to NHL rookie and prospect camps teams hold shortly after the draft. The camps, tryouts of sorts, can lead to NHL or minor league opportunities down the road.

Follow the Color of Hockey on Facebook and Twitter @ColorOfHockey. And download the Color of Hockey podcast from iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud and Google Play.

 

Stanley Cup dreams deferred, some NHL players seek gold at IIHF championship

03 Thursday May 2018

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Their dream of hoisting the Stanley Cup deferred for at least another season, several National Hockey League players are going for the gold overseas, and players of color are no exception.

Edmonton Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse and Los Angeles Kings defenseman Alec Martinez are in Denmark hoping to power their countries to a gold medal at the International Ice HockeyFederation World Championship, which begins Friday.

Edmonton Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse suits up for Team Canada at the IIHF World Championship in Denmark.

Nurse’s Team Canada will face Martinez’s Team USA in an opening round match Friday at Jyske Bank Boxen in Herning, Denmark, at 10:15 a.m. Eastern Time. The NHL Network will televise the May 4-20 tourney in the United States and TSN will carry it in Canada.

Nurse and Martinez became available to play in the 16-country tournament after the Oilers had a disappointing 2017-18 season and didn’t qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the Kings got swept in the first round by the surprising expansion Vegas Golden Knights.

They’ll join other NHLers whose teams also either missed the playoffs or suffered early Stanley Cup exits to form world championship tournament squads with way more talent than the U.S. and Canadian teams that skated at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea.

Those teams were stocked with U.S. and Canadian players from North American minor leagues, colleges, European and Russian leagues after the NHL opted not to suspend operations during the Winter Games to allow its players to participate.

So how good are these IIHF teams?

Team Canada is captained by Oilers center Connor McDavid,  he of 41 goals and 67 assists in 82 games.

He’s joined by fellow Oilers center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (24 goals, 24 assists, 62 games);  St. Louis Blues center Brayden Schenn (24 goals, 46 assists, 82 games); New York Islanders center  Mathew Barzal (22 goals, 63 assists, 82 games); Buffalo Sabres center Ryan O’Reilly (24 goals, 37 assists, 81 games); and, of course, Nurse (6 goals, 20 assists, 82 games).

Los Angeles Kings defenseman Alec Martinez plays for the U.S. at the IIHF World Championship.

Martinez (9 goals, 16 assists, 77 games) is joined on the U.S. team by Chicago Blackhawks right wing Patrick Kane (27 goals, 49 assists, 82 games);  Calgary Flames left wing Johnny Gaudreau(24 goals, 60 assists, 80 games); New York Rangers left wing Chris Krieder (16 goals, 21 assists, 58 games); Blackhawks right wing  Alex DeBrincat (28 goals, 24 assists, 82 games); and Columbus Blue Jackets right wing Cam Atkinson ( 24 goals, 22 assists, 65 games).

New York Rangers center Mika Zibanejad (27 goals, 20 assists, 62 games) is representing Sweden at the worlds. He tallied a goal and an assist in Sweden’s 5-0 rout of Belarus on Friday.

And speaking about international hockey tournaments, congrats to Team USA defenseman K’Andre Miller and Team Canada forwards Serron Noeland Akil Thomas –three potential first-round picks at the 2018 NHL Draft in June – for their play at the 2018 IIHF U18 World Championship that ended last weekend in Russia.

OHL Niagara IceDogs center Akil Thomas scored a goal at the IIHF U18 World Championship in Russia (Photo/Terry Wilson/OHL Images).

Noel, a right wing for the Ontario Hockey League’s Oshawa Generals    who’s ranked the 10th-best North American skater eligible for the draft by NHL Central Scouting, had 2 goals and 4 assists in  five games for Canada.

Thomas, a center for the OHL’s Niagara IceDogs, tallied a goal and an assist in four games. Thomas is ranked the 15th-best North American skater in the draft by Central Scouting.

Forward Serron Noel of the OHL’s Oshawa Generals scored two goals for Canada at the IIHF U18 World Championship (Photo/Terry Wilson/OHL Images).

Miller, ranked as the 23rd-best North American skater available for the June 22-23 draft in Dallas, had a goal and 2 assists for the silver medal-winning U.S. team that lost 3-2 to Finland in the tournament final.

K’Andre Miller helped anchor the defense and chipped in with a goal and 2 assists for the United States at the IIHF U18 World Championship.

Whichever NHL team selects Miller will have to wait for his services. He’s committed to play hockey for the University of Wisconsin Badgers starting this fall.

Follow the Color of Hockey on Facebook and Twitter @ColorOfHockey. And download the Color of Hockey podcast from iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud and Google Play.

Springtime means hockey is in full bloom

15 Saturday Apr 2017

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For a winter sport, ice hockey is pretty darn busy in the spring.

The Stanley Cup Playoffs are in full swing; the International Ice Hockey Federation Under-18 World Championship is underway in Slovakia; the IIHF’s World Championship kicks off in Paris and Cologne, Germany, May 5; USA Hockey begins evaluating players for the 2018 Winter Olympics women’s hockey team; and National Hockey League teams are making their lists and checking them twice ahead of the 2017 NHL Draft in Chicago in June.

Auston Matthews leads the Maple Leafs to the playoffs in his rookie year.

And players of color are in the thick of all these events. Of the 16 teams in the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, all but four –  the Boston Bruins, Ottawa Senators, Calgary Flames and Anaheim Ducks – have minority players.

And two of those teams have minority coaches. Sudarshan Maharaj,  a Trinidadian raised in Toronto, is the goaltender coach for the Ducks and Paul Jerrard is an assistant coach for the Flames.

So who is playing in what series? Washington Capitals vs. Toronto Maple Leafs: forward T.J. Oshie for Washington. Forwards Auston Matthews and Nazem Kadri for the Leafs.

Montreal Canadiens vs. New York Rangers: forward Mika Zibanejad for the Rangers. Goalies Carey Price and Al Montoya and forward Andreas Martinsen for Montreal.

Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Columbus Blue Jackets: defenseman Trevor Daley for the Penguins. Defenseman Seth Jones and forward Brandon Saad for the Blue Jackets.

Chicago Blackhawks vs. Nashville Predators: Defenseman Johnny Oduya for Chicago. Defenseman P.K. Subban skates for the Preds.

St. Louis Blues vs. Minnesota Wild: Forward Chris Stewart and defenseman Matt Dumba for the Wild. Forward Ryan Reaves for St. Louis.

Edmonton Oilers vs. San Jose Sharks: Defenseman Darnell Nurse and forward Juhjar Khaira for Edmonton. Forward Joel Ward for the Sharks.

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While NHLers battle for the Stanley Cup, teenagers from 10 North American and European nations are fighting for international bragging rights at the IIHF U18 World Championship.

Akil Thomas, a rookie forward with the Niagara Ice Dogs, is playing for Canada. The son of a Canadian career minor league hockey player and a mother from suburban Washington, D.C., Thomas had 21 goals and 27 assists in 61 games for the Ontario Hockey League team.

Forward Akil Thomas joined Team Canada for the IIHF U18 World Championship after his strong rookie season with the OHL’s Niagara Ice Dogs (Photo/Matthew Murnaghan/Hockey Canada Images).

He’s joined on Team Canada’s by another major junior rookie, defenseman Jett Woo of the Western Hockey League’s Moose Jaw Warriors. Woo collected 5 goals and 17 assists in 65 games with the Warriors.

Moose Jaw Warriors defenseman Jett Woo has been making waves at the IIHF U18 World championship with his solid play (Photo/ Matthew Murnaghan/Hockey Canada Images).

Team USA’s Tyler Inamoto (Photo/Len Redkoles).

Tyler Inamoto, a defenseman for the USA Hockey National Team Development Program is patrolling the blue line for Team USA in Slovakia.

The 6-foot-2 NHL draft-eligible defenseman skates for the USA Hockey National Team Development Program and is ranked as the 68th-best North American skater by the NHL’s Central Scouting.

Inamoto tallied 2 goals and 9 assists in 42 games for the U.S.’s Under-18 team in 2016-17. He had 2 goals and 5 assists in 17 games for Team USA in the United States Hockey League.

If Inamoto is drafted, the NHL will have to wait. He’s committed to play hockey in the fall for the University of Wisconsin Badgers.

“Inamoto is a predator,” Badgers Head Coach Tony Granato said in November. “He is a physical, hungry, intimidating player. He is a great athlete. He’s big, strong, and has a mean streak…He’ll be a physical impact player right away next year. He’s strong enough already to play a physical game at the college level.”

USA defenseman Tyler Inamoto is ranked as the 68th best draft-eligible North American skater by NHL Central Scouting (Photo/Len Redkoles).

While the Under-18 championship is going on, 16 countries are finalizing their rosters for next month’s IIHF World Championship, a tourney that will feature some NHL players whose teams didn’t make the Stanley Cup Playoffs or were eliminated in the early rounds.

Team Canada quickly snapped up forward Wayne Simmonds, who led the Philadelphia Flyers‘ in goals with 31 in 82 games.

Team USA named Boston University massive forward Jordan Greenway  to its squad. Greenway, a 2015 Wild second-round draft choice, was a 6-foot-5, 230-pound force in January, powering the U.S. to a Gold Medal at the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship in Toronto and Montreal.

Greenway scored three goals and five assists in seven games for the U.S. and was the team’s second-leading scorer. Two of his three goals were game-winners. He was BU’s fifth-leading scorer in 2016-17 with 10 goals and 21 assists in 37 games for the Terriers.

Despite his impressive season, Greenway has elected to return to BU for his junior year instead of trying to make the leap to the NHL.

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“I have a great time here with my teammates, and BU has just been great to me,” Greenway told Boston Hockey Blog’s Jonathan Sigal. “I want to win a couple more championships here, so definitely one more year is what I’m going to do.”

I haven’t seen co-host country France’s roster yet for the Worlds, but you can bet that it will include Flyers forward Pierre Edouard Bellemare, who has become one of the best French-born players to skate in the NHL.

Pierre Edouard Bellemare is pumped about World Championship being in his home country, France.

A late bloomer, the 32-year-old defensive specialist tallied 4 goals and 4 assists in 82 games. The Flyers liked Bellemare’s grit and grace enough that they re-signed him for two years at $1.45 million per year and added him to the team’s leadership, making him an assistant team captain.

He’s as pumped about the prospect of playing in his home country during the World Championship as he was getting the new contract and the ‘A’ from the Flyers. France, whose men’s team is ranked 14th in the world, opens the tournament May 6 against Norway in Paris.

“I think it’s going to be incredible,” Bellemare, a member of the French national team since 2004, told IIHF’s Lucas Akryod. “It is the first Worlds in France. I hope we will get a lot of fans for all the games, and that hockey will continue to develop in France.

And let’s not forget women’s international hockey. USA Hockey recently invited 42 players – including all 23 members of the 2017 Gold Medal-winning world championship team – for a selection camp April 30 to May 4 in suburban Tampa, Florida.

Kelsey Koelzer (Photo/Nancie Battaglia)

The camp is a prelude to developing  a final U.S. a roster for the 2018 Winter Games in PyeyongChang, South Korea.

Kelsey Koelzer, a senior defenseman for Princeton University and the 2016 first overall pick of the

National Women’s Hockey League (by the New York Riveters), is a selection camp invitee. She tallied 8 goals and 23 assists in 33 games for the Tigers.

Hockey’s busy spring rolls into summer when the brain trusts from the NHL’s 30 teams convene inside Chicago’s United Center for the draft June 23-24.

The NHL’s Central Scouting released its final player rankings earlier this month and there are several players of color to watch in addition to Inamoto.

There’s Nick Suzuki, a 5-foot-10 center for the OHL’s Owen Sound Attack. Central Scouting ranks the London, Ontario, Canada native as the 10th-best North American skater. He was the Attack’s second-leading scorer with 45 goals and 51 assists in 65 games.

Owen Sound’s Nick Suzuki is ranked as the 10th-best North American skater eligible for the 2017 NHL Draft (Photo/Terry Wilson/OHL Images).

Then there’s Jason Robertson, a 6-foot-2 left wing for the OHL’s Kingston Frontenacs. Central Scouting ranks the Michigan native as the 14th-best North American skater. He led the Frontenacs in scoring in 2016-17 with 42 goals and 39 assists in 68 games.

Kingston Frontenacs left wing Jason Robertson jumped from 34th in NHL Central Scouting’s midterm rankings to 14th in its final listing before June’s NHL Draft (Photo/Aaron Bell/OHL Images).

Pierre-Olivier Joseph, a defenseman for the Charlottetown Islanders of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. He’s ranked as the 27th-best North American skater by Central Scouting.

The 6-foot-2, 161-pound 18-year-old notched 6 goals and 33 assists in 62 games for the Charlottetown.

Joseph is the younger brother of forward Mathieu Joseph,  a  sniper for the QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs and a 2015 fourth-round draft pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning. He signed an entry level contract with the ‘Bolts prior to playing for Canada in the 2017 World Juniors.

Another potential 2017 draftee is Cole Purboo, a forward for the Windsor Spitfires of the Ontario Hockey League. He’s ranked as the 189th-best North American skater. The 6-foot-3 Oakville, Ontario, Canada native scored 11 goals and 6 assists in 68 games for the Spitfires.

“I was hoping (to be) a little higher, but it’s alright,” Purboo told The Windsor Star last week of his Central Scouting rank. “It’s just people making a list…The same thing happened with the OHL draft. I don’t pay too much attention to them.”

 

Cole Purboo of the Windsor Spitfires (Photo/Aaron Bell/OHL Images).

Standing on the outside of top North American skaters on Central Scouting’s list is Elijah Roberts, a defenseman for the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers.

Elijah Roberts of the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers (Photo/Terry Wilson/OHL Images).

The 5-foot-8, 159-pound blue-liner, slipped from  208th in Central Scouting’s midterm list. He scored 4 goals and 14 assists in 65 games with the Rangers in 2016-17.

He’s considered undersized by today’s NHL standards, but his height hasn’t stopped him from excelling on ice. He was a major contributor for Team Canada in the World Under-17 hockey challenge.

“He’s a fast skater, very mobile, very aggressive on the ice,” one scout told Canada’s Sportsnet. “He’s been aggressive at the OHL level, too. He’s just a good kid; he skates hard and he works hard.”

Some NHL teams have drafted small D-men. The Vancouver Canucks took Jordan Subban, P.K. Subban’s 5-foot-9 younger brother, in the fourth round in 2013.

The diminutive defenseman was the sixth-leading scorer for the Utica Comets, the Canucks’ American Hockey League farm team, in 2016-17 with 16 goals and 20 assists in 64 games.