NLL Insider

With guys heating up and some big name ballers putting in quality minutes, this weekly watchlist of the top junior players in the nation is gettin’ pretty tough to lay down each week.

And as many emails that rained in after week one’s rundown, last week’s list had even more people writing in, either biggin’ up their boy or tearin’ down someone we included.

It pained me to drop a few of the names that weren’t included this week, but gotta make room for guys that are equally deserving of some ink.

Anyways, after the jump, checkout this week’s ten who made the grade, complete with digits and skinny…

Alex Gajic, Forward, Burnaby Lakers (14GP – 37G – 43A – 80PTS)
Gajic helped totally dominate PoCo last week 10-2, and prior to his ten minute sit down in the Coquitlam game, he allowed Burnaby to stay stride-for-stride with the number one ranked Adanacs. Outside of maybe Cody Jamieson in Six Nations, not sure there’s a guy that means more to his club than Gajic right now. That O is built around him, but at the same time, he makes every guy on the court with him so much better.

Cody Jamieson, Forward, Six Nations Arrows (12GP – 33G – 30A – 63PTS)
Still leading Ontario in scoring, even though he had somewhat little impact in the Akwesasne just-win. The Arrows don’t play again until Monday, when they start a pretty intense four game stretch, crammed in the span of just seven days. How Jamieson does within the nastiest part of the Arrow’s regular season could determine if he’ll land the McIntosh and Veltman nods, let alone our first ever National Junior Player of the Year. It’ll also probably determine where the Arrows finish in the standings too. Big week comin’ up for Cody and his homies, to put it mildly.

Stephen Keogh, Forward, Toronto Beaches (8GP – 10G – 15A – 25PTS)
Yes, Keogh is playing for a team that is likely not gonna land a post-season spot. Yes, Keogh came into the Beach camp a little late due to lifting the National Title over his head with the Orange. And yes, Keogh’s numbers don’t land him in the top of the OLA’s scoring charts. And to that we say, who gives a sh**!! With eight games under his belt, Keogh leads the lackluster Beaches in scoring and has been his usual work-horse and brilliant self since scoring twice for Syracuse en route to that win over Hopkins. Keogh has 13 points over his last three games, which includes not only Tuesday night’s big win over Whitby, but also a solid showing against the, at the time, #1 ranked Northmen. With rumours making the rounds of Keogh being moved before the trade deadline, he’d definitely be a key piece of the puzzle to pretty much any team in the province, but even if he stays with TO, who cares, the kid is still brilliant no matter where he suits up.

Curtis Manning, Defender, New West Salmonbellies (10GP – 7G – 8A – 15PTS)
Tough to keep trying to justify Manning’s spot in here each week. Not cuz the kid is having a bad year, cuz he’s haing a great year, but his role isn’t as glamorous as some of the forwards we have on here and you can’t really track his season by the digits he posts alone. Let’s just say he’s one of the few we haven’t been bombarded by emails with to be taken outta our watchlist. Go watch a Bellies game and you’ll see what we mean.

Mike Pires, Forward, Victoria Shamrocks (4GP – 12G – 9A – 21PTS)
Been waiting for Pires to log a few more games in before we included him in the top 10, but the waits been long enough. Pires has been sensational for the Junior ‘Rocks so far this year. He’s averaging a hat trick a game, his shooting percentage is off the hook and his goals have meant the world to the Shamrocks as they continue to keep their place among the top dawgs in the BCJALL. And outside of his last game against South Fraser, Pires has done all this against the likes of Coquitlam, New West and Burnaby. He’s far from padding his stats, so don’t even try and go there. Based on his current scoring average, had he been with Victoria since the start of the season, he’d have likely been right around 80 points right now. NLL GM’s are already drooling all over Pires, but they’ll have to wait another three years before they get their hands on him.

Cayle Ratcliff, Forward, Victoria Shamrocks (15GP – 26G – 29A – 55PTS)
Ratcliff posted one of the few five goal performances by anyone in the country this past week, teeing off on South Fraser at will last Sunday afternoon. Ratcliff’s numbers have more than doubled since last year, while he continues to lead a surging Shamrocks team that looks primed to give Coquitlam all they can handle as both teams chase a spot in this year’s Minto. Ratcliff’s got two high profile games against both New West and Coquitlam in the next ten days. With less than a month of the regular season to be played, it’ll be Ratcliff’s performances in games like those that will dictate where he stands in the Junior of the Year Player pool when the final top ten are named. Right now at least, he has as good a chance as anyone.

Nick Rose, Goalie, Orangeville Northmen (611Min – 4.81GAA – .873 SV%)
Rose came up real clutch in a crazy game against Toronto that Orangeville ended up just barely coming out with the W in. In relief of Dillon Ward, Rose seemed like he was always having to deal with a short-man, a game that saw things get a tad out of hand while Orangeville piled on 42 total penalty minutes. Rose again was handed a slew of power-play opportunities to deal with against Brampton, a game the Northmen dropped, this time racking up 41 minutes in the bin. With guys like Justin Delormier, Evan Kirk and Angus Goodleaf ready to take that “Best Keeper in the Province” title away from Rose, Nick’s play over the next eleven days, where the Northmen play six gruelling games against the likes of Six Nations, Akwesasne (x2) and even tonight’s rematch against Toronto, will be pivotal to his and the Northmen’s season.

Corey Small, Forward, St. Catharines Athletics (12GP – 15G – 22A – 37PTS)
What a game by Corey Small last night!!! For all those that emailed us last week about including Small, last night’s game on it’s own would maybe have been enough to land him a spot this week. The kid came up big at the most crucial point in the game, scoring the go ahead and then game winning goal in OT against Orillia. And even though Small shrugs off the double OT daggers, trust us, it was no coincidence. Small has been cash money in the last couple weeks for St. Kitts, and you’ll see just how important he’s been in The Money Ballers next week.

Joel Weber, Goalie, Coquitlam Adanacs (542Min – 4.98GAA – .878SV%)
The Adanacs only had a single game since our last watchlist, but oh what a game by Weber and his D. Weber held Burnaby’s usually potent attack to just five goals while the Adanacs held onto the league lead with 24 points. It was the third straight game that Weber held the opposition to six or fewer goals. There’s still little to differentiate between Weber and Matt Flindell, most people’s two faves for the keeper of the year nod in the west, but hopefully the score will be settled soon when Coquitlam and Victoria throwdown at the end of the month. The two teams also close-out their regular seasons against one another on the 6th of July, a game that may not only give one of these two guys the edge for top tender race, but also crown BC’s regular season king.

Matt Wilson, Defender, Coquitlam Adanacs (14GP – 2G – 7A – 9PTS)
As slick as Weber looked in the Burnaby win, Wilson mighta been the real difference maker in the W. Wilson was on top of Gajic all night, straight up until the two traded off ten minute misconducts, shifting the momentum of the game well in the A’s favor. Wilson played arguably the best attacker in the biz about as well as anyone has all season long, holding Gajic to just a single goal. Matt also dominated the draws again this past week, taking 12 of 14 face-offs in the Lakers game. The partnership of Wilson and Matt Beers might be the scariest D duo anywhere in Canadian junior ball right now. The two have been relentless as Coquitlam sits #1 in the country.

Rate This Story:

(+49 rating, 14 votes)

 Loading ...