Unfortunately, things aren’t going very well in the playoffs for a few Kings prospects. All may not be lost, though.
OHL: Carter George
Goaltender Carter George was up against the wall from the very beginning, as there was a 53-point differential between his eighth-place Owen Sound club and first-place London. And that is not a typo. The Knights finished with a league-best 112 points and have been cruising since Christmas. Meanwhile, George and the Attack battled all the way until the final weekend of the regular season just to qualify for postseason play.
Now down 0-3 in the series, Owen Sound faces elimination in Game 4 tonight, on home ice. Should they summon a win, the series will move back to London for Game 5 on Friday. Either way, short of summoning the 2014 Kings and pulling off a reverse sweep, it looks like Owen Sound could be exiting the OHL playoffs soon. When (if) that happens, look for George to then join AHL Ontario. It’s a situation we first looked at last month (in the article below).
WHL: Koehn Ziemmer
On paper, the Prince George Cougars (88 points in the regular season) were supposed to be the better team heading into their first-round matchup with the Portland Winterhawks (76 points). As the old saying goes, they don’t play the games on paper. These two teams have a history against each other, including meeting up just last year in the playoffs. They’ve played four games thus far, with two going to overtime, including Wednesday night’s double-OT contest. After Kings prospect Koehn Ziemmer helped his Prince George team win Game 1 (in OT), they’ve seen Portland storm back to win the next three and take a commanding 3-1 series lead.
Now on the brink of elimination, they’ll play Friday-Sunday-Monday. Should Prince George lose in any of those games and be eliminated from postseason play, look for Ziemmer to be assigned to AHL Ontario. He’s scheduled to turn pro this summer and play for the Reign next season. This would give him a jumpstart on the process.
He has four points (1G, 3A) in the four WHL playoff games thus far. His lone goal was a big one, it tied things up early in the third period last night:
Status of Other Prospects
– Defenseman Otto Salin is already with the Reign and will likely make his AHL debut in San Jose late next week.
– Forward Kenny Connors just signed his entry level contract and could potentially join Ontario in the weeks ahead, pending some rest for his foot injury.
– Defenseman Kirill Kirsanov has split time between the KHL and VHL (their version of the AHL) this season. He’s currently with Nizhny Novgorod Torpedo-Gorky of the VHL, where they’re tied 3-3 in a best-of-seven game series following a 1-0 loss earlier today. If they advance, he’ll continue to see things through with his current club. At some point after he’s all done playing in Russia, he’s expected to be offered an ELC by the Kings. See here for more information.
– Forward Liam Greentree and his Windsor Spitfires hold a commanding 3-1 series lead over the Soo Greyhounds. LA’s No. 1 prospect has recorded six points (4G, 2A) in the first four games.
– Defenseman Jared Wooley, who recently signed his own ELC, is likely going on a deep playoff run with London.
– Next week should feature some outstanding college hockey, including Kings prospects facing off against each other in the Frozen Four. We looked at that entire situation — and the pending outcome of what might come next — here.
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