TURRIS OT HERO FOR SENS

Kyle Turris provided some overtime magic for the Ottawa Senators with a rocket of a shot over the glove of Henrik Lundqvist to tie the series between the Sens and Rangers at 2 games apiece.



Great shot, but not quite as good as the rocket I saw him let fly in overtime game 1 of the Coastal Conference Semi Finals vs. Nanaimo, but it was close.

FINAL NHL CENTRAL SCOUTING RANKINGS

Today NHL Central Scouting released it's final ranking of players eligible for the 2012 NHL Draft coming up on June 22nd and 23rd in Pittsburgh.

Express forward Alex Kerfoot was among 7 BCHL players listed among North American skaters. His draft ranking took a significant drop from his mid-term ranking of 81st to finishing at 165th.

Prince George Spruce Kings forward Jujhar Khaira was the highest ranking BCHL player ranked at 74th moving up 6 spots from his mid-term ranking.

Other BCHL players listed were Merritt defenceman Reece Wilcox who moved up 20 spots to 90th, Salmon Arm forward Morgan Zulinick is ranked 126th, Penticton forward Wade Murphy 142nd, Prince George forward, BCHL scoring champion and former Express Paul De Jersey's strong season saw him shoot up the rankings going from 203rd at the mid-term rankings to a final finish of 98th.

Powell River Kings goaltender Sean Maguire was ranked 28th among the top 35 North American goaltenders.

STRAIGHT WINS NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP

Express alumni Destry Straight and the rest of his Boston College teammates are 2012 NCAA champions after defeating another Express alumni Simon Denis and his Ferris State squad 4-1 in the Frozen Four final Saturday night.

Here's the full recap from the Associated Press.

TAMPA, Fla. — Steven Whitney scored twice and Boston College beat Ferris State 4-1 on Saturday night for its fifth NCAA hockey title and third in five seasons.

“You can’t buy one of these championships,” Eagles coach Jerry York said. “You have to earn them. And this team definitely earned it.”

Boston College (33-10-1) finished with a 19-game winning streak, outscoring its opponents 77-21 during that span. Ferris State (26-12-5) was making its first Frozen Four appearance.

Eagles goalie Parker Milner, selected the Frozen Four’s Most Outstanding Player, made 27 of his 33 saves in the final two periods.

“It’s hard to put it into words because everyone did their part and we came together as a team,” Milner said. “You don’t do this without contributions from everyone and that’s what we got.”

Paul Carey broke a tie with a power-play goal midway through the first period, redirecting Brian Dumoulin’s blast from left point to make it 2-1.

Johnny Gaudreau also scored for Boston College.

“We knew Ferris State was going to be outstanding,” York said. “They might not have the name recognition, but we knew how good they were. We stayed patient through the first two periods. Parker was extremely strong in net. You can’t be measured until you win that last trophy. Now this team can take its place among the other championship teams.”

Garrett Thompson scored for Ferris State.

Whitney opened the scoring at 3:18 of the first period, stealing a pass and beating lunging goalie Taylor Nelson. Thompson tied it at 5:19, and Carey put the Eagles in front at 10:33.

Gaudreau weaved through the Ferris State defense to make it 3-1 with 3:02 left in the game. He carried over the blue line with two defenders between him and the net. The freshman star went around one defenseman, faked forehand on the other blueliner, then went to his backhand and flicked a shot from the edge of the right circle. It got past Nelson to the far post.

“That was a big-time goal by a big-time player,” York said.

Whitney added an empty-net goal with 1:03 to go.

Boston College also won national championships in 1949, 2001, 2008 and 2010. The Eagles are the first program to win three titles in five years since Denver accomplished the feat with wins in 1958, 1960 and 1961.

“You can’t say enough about what Boston College has accomplished,” Ferris State coach Bob Daniels said. “I think that’s a very special program. It’s going to be hard to duplicate.”

Daniels said he felt Ferris State represented itself well.

“I felt very comfortable coming out of the second period, but they just had too much,” Daniels said. “I have zero regrets about this. We did the best we could. I have zero regrets about how they played and how they performed.”

RECRUITING PROCESS UNDERWAY

The games on the ice may be done for the Coquitlam Express for the 11-12 season, but that doesn't mean that the works stops for a break in preparation for the 12-13 season.

The Coquitlam Express have landed a top recruit to start loading up for next season.

18 year old defenceman Callum Hofford has committed to join the Express next season.

He was a highly sought after defenceman by various BCHL clubs and the Express were able to bring him into the fold.

Speaking with Head Coach Jon Calvano today, he describes him as the top defenceman available and is the Alex Kerfoot of defenceman. He has the skill set that could help fill the void of graduating defenceman Clinton Atkinson.

Coach Calvano and Hofford do have a lenghty connection with Jon having known Callum since he was 10 years old.

Hofford comes to the Express with impressive credentials with a commitment to Northern Michigan University for the 13-14 season. He played for the Hill Academy Varsity team last season where he put up 21 goals and 65 points in 62 games.

There will be some comfort for Callum when he comes to Coquitlam for next season with numerous family members living in the Lower Mainland area.

Welcome to the Express Callum, we look forward to seeing you play next season.