Hawks Prospects still searching

The Detroit Red Wings Prospects and Chicago Blackhawks Prospects finished at opposite ends of the Gordie Howe Division standings at the end of round robin play at the Traverse City NHL Prospects Tourmament on Monday (Sept.14).

The Red Wings wrapped up top spot in the pool with a 5-4 edge against the Dallas Stars to finish at 3-0 while the Black Hawks fell 7-5 against the Carolina Hurricanes, absorbing its third straight defeat.

Red Wings 5 Stars 4

Andreas Athanasiou, a Fourth Round (110th Overall) Selection of the Red Wings stepped up as the hero in the round robin finale, pulling his team into a 4-4 draw with the Stars with 4:37 to play and then sinking the game winner as well 2:12 later. He also picked up an assist earlier in the game.

Dylan Larkin, First Round (15th Overall) Selection of the Wings in 2014 also picked up a goal and assist in the contest and other goals came from Evgeny Svechnikov, First Rounder (19th Overall) this past summer and Robbie Russo, a free agent signed by the Wings just last month.

Jake Patersson, a Third Round (80th Overall) Selection in 2012, stopped 26 of 30 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Wings.

Jason Dickinson, Devin Shore, Brett Pollock and Mattias Janmark each scored for the Stars, the latter adding a couple of assists as well.

Both teams scored once in the first and second periods, setting the stage for the third period dramatics.

Hurricanes 7 Blackhawks 5

The good news for the Blackhawks was a 5-2 explosion in the third period of this game. The bad news was the team was already down 5-0 by the start of the frame.

The team scored three times in 4:10 to turn a 5-0 deficit into a much closer 5-3 game with just under nine minutes to go, but Carolina added another one just over a minute later.

The Hawks continued to push, scoring two more just 1:37 apart to get within one with still 5:38 to go, but Carolina hammered one final nail in with an empty netter 19 seconds from the final buzzer.

Erik Gustafsson, a Fourth Round (93rd Overall) Selection by the Edmonton Oilers in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft led the Hawks with a goal and two assists in the game and Vincent Hinostroza, a Sixth Round (169th Overall) Selection of the Hawks in 2012 set up three in the third period uprising.

Sam Jardine, a Sixth Round (169th Overall) Selection of the Blackhawks in 2011 scored twice in the period with other goals coming from Ryan Haggerty, a free agent from Stamford, CT and Nolan Valleau, a free agent from Novi, MI.

Final Games

With the round robin portion wrapped up, the games are set for tomorrow’s position matches.

The Blackhawks will faceoff against the Rangers in the 7th place game while the Wild will take on the Dallas Stars in a Fifth Place battle. Third place will be decided between the St. Louis Blues and Carolina Hurricane while the Columbus Blue Jackets will look to repeat as tournament champs against the Red Wings.