The 2006 draft class is widely considered to be a dud in waiting, but the best of the CHL's prospects [url=http://www.chl.ca/CHLTopProspects/home.html]will convene for the annual CHL Top Prospects Game Wednesday in Ottawa at 7pm.[/url] The game will be preceeded by the all important skills competition at 7pm on Tuesday. The skills competition, since 2000, has often yielded clues to the Lightning's draft selections and the team has actively sought out players who are in the upper crust of prospects with skating ability. Past participants in the CHL Top Prospects game who had good skills testing results and were drafted by the Lightning include Nikita Alexeev (Erie, OHL), Adam Henrich (Brampton, OHL), Mike Egener (Calgary, WHL), Paul Ranger (Oshawa, OHL) and Andy Rogers (Calgary, WHL). [b]Participating Prospects[/b] [url=http://www.chl.ca/CHLTopProspects/2006_ohl.html]OHL Prospects[/url] [url=http://www.chl.ca/CHLTopProspects/2006_qmjhl.html]QMJHL Prospects[/url] [url=http://www.chl.ca/CHLTopProspects/2006_whl.html]WHL Prospects[/url]

Jonathan Boutin has only had a couple of bad starts all season... er, make that three. TOL-7 JHN-3 Boutin and the Chiefs suffered a terrible third period in which they allowed 4 goals as the Toledo Storm walked to victory. Boutin made just 29 saves on 35 shots in the loss. Among Lightning prospects, Adam Henrich assisted on a Brady Greco power play goal in the second period which, at the time, allowed the Chiefs to narrow their deficit to 3-2 just before the 2nd intermission. But three unanswered goals in third period sealed it for the Storm. Johnstown now drops back to a game under .500. Game sheet from [url=http://www.echl.com/cgi-bin/ppublic.cgi?action=box&id=2689]ECHL.com.[/url]

The Falcons' winless streak is now at 13 games. SPR-3 SYR-5 Brian Eklund stopped just 25 of 29 shots before Syracuse added an empty net goal at game's end. Once again, Springfield's goaltending allowed 4 or more goals despite the defense allowing under 30 shots against. Defensemen Ray Schultz and Timo Helbling both scored their first goals in a Falcons uniform. Schultz also tacked on an assist in his second game with the Falcons. Nick Tarnasky also potted a goal for Springfield. Game sheet from [url=http://ahl.leaguestat.com/stats/game-summary.php?game_id=1001570]TheAHL.com. [/url]

Lightning overage prospect winger Anton But posted three assists today to help the Lokomotiv roll over SKA St. Peterburg 8-3. Yaroslavl is third on the Superleague table just one point back of Omsk in the standings. But is currently 4th in the Superleague in scoring with 14 goals and 35 points in 38 games. He is also tied for 5th in the league in goals and is 4th in the league in assists. Alexander Polushin was again a scratch for Severstal Cherepovets. Bolt Prospects is currently looking into the 2001 second round pick's status.

Andreas Holmqvist had 2 assists today and Linkopings defeated Vastra Frolunda 5-4. Fredrik Norrena stopped 27 of 31 shots faced to improve his record to 17-8-5 this season. Frolunda is currently 2nd on the Elitserien table and saw their lead over third place Linkopings shrink to three points after the loss. Through 33 games, defenseman Andreas Holmqvist has 4 goals, 13 points and 46 penalty minutes. His +7 rating is the third best among Linkopings' blueliners.