The Class of 2011 on TPS (Apr - May)

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The final two months of prospect hockey for the 2010-11 season is highlighted by the CHL playoffs and the Memorial Cup which is preceded by the NCAA's Frozen Four. By the end of May, full focus is on the NHL entry draft and the start of most mainstream media's draft coverage begins with the NHL combine in Tornoto at the start of June.

April on TPS saw two of the annual shows that we consider as our second and third "majors" in the season. April saw The Frozen Four was in Minnesota which meant the annual Coach's Show where all four bench bosses joined us to preview the event. The CHL version came in the days leading up to the Memorial Cup in Mississauga and 3 coaches and a General Manager were part of that big show.

But of course the focus of this blog post is on the players eligible for the 2011 NHL Draft and there was certainly no shortage of guests in that regard. Here's the recap...


APRIL

Kevin Prendergast - Hockey Canada's head scout talked about the process of assembling the team headed to the World U18 Championship in Germany, a roster made up mostly of 2011 eligible players.

Jacob DeSerres - Netminder of the Saint John Sea Dogs who gave us his thoughts on the plethora of teammates who are high on the agenda for scouts this year. Huberdeau, Phillips, Jurco, Beaulieau, etc.

Michael Roy - The play-by-play voice of the Drummondville Voltigeurs and his insight into highly touted Sean Couturier.

Chris Peters - US-NTDP analyst spoke to us about all of the players on the National team as they prepared to head overseas for the U18s.

Rick Jackson - NHL Central Scouting, WHL area scout commented on the final rankings in regards to the guys in the Western League.

Corey Graham - Voice of the Oil Kings talks about the five Edmonton players who were ranked in the top-100 by NHL Central Scouting. (St. Croix, Ewanyk, Lowe, Wruck and Brossoit).

Nick Shore - Freshman of the Denver Pioneers and brother of Florida prospect Drew Shore talks about his season in the NCAA.

Kyle Dubas - The 25-year-old General Manager of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds on taking over the team and thoughts on guys like Dan Catenacci and Nick Cousins.

Stefan Noesen - The Plymouth Whaler from Texas. The skilled forward talked to us about coming out of the Lone Star State, his connection to a guy like Colin Jacobs in Seattle and the draft after watching Tyler Seguin go through it last year.

Mario Lucia - The top ranked high school player in the 2011 draft and son of Minnesota Golden Gophers head coach Don Lucia told us that he's probably not going to play for his dad in the NCAA.

J.T. Miller - A guy who has seen his stock rise over the course of the season, especially after an impressive performance at the World U18s. We talked to him about his NCAA commitment to North Dakota... or is the CHL an option?

Joe Morrow - The catalyst blueliner from the mighty Portland Winterhawks told us exactly how he views himself as a player now, and in the future.

Ryan Murphy - Setting Canadian records for scoring at the U18s will draw attention, not that the dynamic d-man hadn't done that all year. What does he think of the Ryan Ellis comparisons?

Stuart Percy - A member of the Memorial Cup host, and eventual runners up, Mississauga St. Michael's Majors. A lot of people think he's a sleeper, we liked him more after this interview than we did before talking to him.

MAY

Connor Murphy - He missed much of the season due to a back injury, how does Connor Murphy feel the rest of the year went once he got back in action? Is he worried the time off will hurt him on draft day?

Nick Cousins - An outstanding performance at the World U18s really gave him a bump and have people looking at him more as a potential second rounder.

Sam Cosentino - Some comments on the CHL playoffs as well as players headed to Minnesota for the NHL Draft in June.

Rod Pedersen - Media man extraordinaire in Regina talked to us about a certain member of the Pats who is eligible for the draft but has some serious legal issues taking precedence in his life instead.

Chris Peters - He's back with a recap of the U18s after calling the games for the gold medal winning USA squad. But we covered a lot of players including Mika Zibanejad, Joel Armia, Travis Ewanyk and some Americans.

Cam Moon - Moonlighting, pardon the pun, with SHAW TV for the WHL finals gave the Red Deer Rebels play caller some insight into guys like Sven Bartschi, Joe Morrow, Ty Rattie and a draft wild card in goalie Nathan Lieuwen.

Mark Scheifele - The Barrie Colts forward had an impressive season on a cellar dwelling team... is that a good thing, a great thing or is it overblown?

Ryan Kennedy - The Hockey News scribe gave us details on the how their Draft Preview came together and some of his thoughts on the players in the top 30.

Mark Seidel - The blogging scout from CBC.ca explained to us why he had Nugent-Hopkins ranked 4th and other anomalies compared to most pre-draft rankings.

Matt McNeely - Goalie from the US-NTDP who played in the shadow of the more often hyped John Gibson. Can the future Duluth Bulldog be a surprise pick on draft day?

Reece Scarlett - Swift Current's talented D-man talked about a tough year in the WHL and the U18 experience with Canada.

Gerard Gallant - Head coach of the Saint John Sea Dogs gave us a lot of insight into his draft-rich roster in the days leading up to the Memorial Cup.

Dave Cameron - Mississauga's bench boss previewed the Memorial Cup but also talked about Stuart Percy too.

Mark Reeds - Coach of the Owen Sound Attack who addressed his 3-headed goalie monster before the Memorial Cup. That includes Jordan Binnington.

Jeff Chynoweth - The GM of the Kootenay Ice agreed that Nathan Lieuwen probably won't slip through the cracks at the draft again this year.

Adam Clendening - The Boston University rearguard says he tried not to think of the Central Scouting rankings this year that saw him rise and fall and rise again like a roller coaster.

Brent Andrews - A mid-round guy most likely, the Halifax forward had a role to play for Canada at the U18s and told us what it was.

Ross MacLean - The head scout for International Scouting Services gave us a rundown on his outfit's draft preview and rankings.

Joel Edmundson - A big blueliner you should watch for on draft day. The Moose Jaw Warriors were the benefactors of this steadily improving player this past year. At 6'5, he's hard to miss.

Dmitry Chesnokov - The Russian writer for Yahoo! gave us a description of Vlad Namestnikov, Alex Khokhlachev and Nikita Kucherov and also looked ahead to 2012.

Brock Otten - OHL watched who runs the popular OHL prospects blog commented on the class of 2011 from Ontario.

Dan Catenacci - Speedy and skilled, is this a guy who could surprise and sneak into the first round? Probably not but he could be a solid 2nd round pick.

Al Jensen - NHL Central Scouting's go-to guy when it comes to ranking North American goalies. Which Gibson does he like more and what about guys like Binnington, Brossoit and Stephan Michalek?

Michael Paliotta - Another intriguing player from the US-NTDP, the stay at home defenceman is headed to Vermont next year.

Tony MacDonald - The Director of amateur Scouting for Carolina chimes in with some thoughts on 2011 as well as last year's decision to take Jeff Skinner.

Kale Kessy - Medicine Hat's power forward may not have been invited to the NHL combine but you can be sure he appears somewhere on the list of all 30 NHL clubs.

Mark Edwards - The boss from HockeyProspect.com sheds some light on how their guide came together and he gave us his thoughts on a number of players.

Sean Kuraly - Talk about a sleeper, the Indiana Ice forward sounded like a 10-year seasoned vet. Here's a guy who surely went up the rankings after his combine interviews if they were eve half this good.

Tim Roszell - The voice of the Memorial Cup champs with comments on Huberdeau, Phillips, Jurco and more.

And that wraps up the recaps for the year... except for June but we're just 2 shows into the month now and you can find the interviews from those shows... HERE.

Be sure to start following us on Twitter, drop us a message or leave a comment here at the blog. Tell us who you would like to hear on the show before the draft... you never know, maybe we can make it happen!