Noah Laba Leads Big Prospects Night

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Noah Laba (Colorado College hockey)

As the New York Ranger prospects head toward the end of their regular season and gear towards league playoffs, there was plenty to look forward to on Friday night as nine prospects took to the ice. And boy were there some good performances as there were first stars, game-winning goals and even a career best.

But the best of them all was out west where Noah Laba and his 12th-ranked Colorado College was hosting archrival and fourth-ranked Denver University on Senior Night in a huge NCHC matchup with playoff seeding at stake. For Laba and his teammates they were looking to become the first Colorado College team to host a NCHC playoff series since 2012.

Colorado College had fallen on bleak times over the last couple of decades and the sophomore center and Rangers 2022 fourth-round pick was leading the charge towards better times.

Denver got going super fast jumping out to a 1-0 lead just 16 seconds into the contest. To make matters worse, Laba would then take a tripping minor just 13 seconds later at the 29 second mark.

Colorado College would kill the penalty and Laba charged out of the penalty box taking a pass from teammate Drew Montgomery. Laba was off on a breakaway where he would score to tie the game at 1-1 at the 2:38 mark.

It was Laba’s 18th goal of the season and Robson Arena was going crazy as one of the smallest arenas in Division One hockey was going crazy. Colorado College would take the lead on a goal about midway though the period to lead 2-1 after the first period.

In the second, Laba would strike again, this time it was a shorthanded goal that we have two angles of.

Here is the first version:

And then we have this version:

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It was Laba’s 19th goal of the season as he moves into second place among Ranger prospect goal scorers. It was also his third shorthanded goal of the season as the leading scorer for the Tigers improved his season totals to 19-15-34.

The goal gave Colorado College a 3-1 lead which they added on to make it 4-1 but Denver University did not go away without a fight, they scored twice in the third period to cut the lead to 4-3 and from there it was a major fight to prevent the tying goal. It came down to Laba winning a defensive zone faceoff with 15 seconds left in regulation to seal the win.

Laba in addition to his two goals was incredible on his faceoffs as he finished with a 15-6 mark at one point he was a perfect 11-0 on his faceoffs. By the numbers. Laba was 2-0-2 on three shots with a +3 and his one tripping minor.

Now Colorado College heads to Denver for the regular season NCHC finale. A win and they could rise as high as the number two seed but they are guaranteed not worse than the fourth seed as they are currently tied for third with St. Cloud State.

Dylan Roobroeck (Oshawa Generals)

Dylan Roobroeck has to be following the Rangers and seeing the team calling up 6’7 Adam Edstrom (sorry sent back to Hartford Friday) and 6’8.5 Matt Rempe as it is noticeable that Roobroeck’s own play has gotten much better since those recalls. The 6’7 Roobroeck earned first star honors with a 1-4 performance to lead his Oshawa Generals to a 6-4 road win over the Branford Bulldogs.

It might have been the biggest win of the season for the Generals as they won their sixth straight game which leaped the Generals into first place not only in the OHL’s East Division but also the top seed in the Eastern Conference. For most of the early part of this season the Generals were in last place in the division and look at where they are today.

In the first period with his team already up 2-0, Roobroeck got on the scoresheet with a secondary assist to make it 3-0 at 9:32. Just 2:02 later, Roobroeck would add his career best 20th goal of the season.

The power play goal put his team up 4-0.

Branford did not go away quietly as they would score the game’s next three goals to cut the lead to 4-3 before Roobroeck would earn his third point of the night with a second secondary assist at 16:03 of the third period. This goal would prove to be the game winner but Roobroeck had one more to add for his night.

After Branford using the extra attacker pulled to within one at 5-4, Roobroeck would earn the only assist on an empty net goal that sealed the win for the Generals. The four point night is a career best for the Generals center.

As it is Roobroeck was 1-3-4 on three shots with a +3, a roughing minor and he was 5-3 on his faceoffs. Roobroeck has a career best four game goal scoring streak (4-0-4), a five game point scoring streak (4-7-11) and he has pretty much clinched the 2023-24 prospect scoring title with a 20-41-61. Not bad for a sixth round draft pick.

Maxim Barbashev (Shawinigan Cataractes)

Been speculating for the last couple of weeks that the Rangers are not interested in signing 2022 fifth-round pick left wing Maxim Barbashev as his numbers have been quite frankly underwhelming. So of course that means Barbashev’s play has gotten much better since then like he was on Friday when he earned a first star for his performance against the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada leading his Rimouski Oceanic to a 5-3 win in QMJHL action.

Barbashev with a 1-1-2 +2 effort helped the Oceanic earn their third straight win and helped them improve to 6-2-2 in their last 10 as they moved into fourth place in the QMJHL’s Eastern Conference with six regular season games left to go.

Barbashev would score his 13th goal of the season just 5:40 into the first period to extend the Oceanic’s lead to 2-0. Just 4:04 later at 9:44, Barbashev would earn the primary assist on the Oceanic’s third goal and this game was already over. Barbashev was 1-1-2 on three shots with a +2 and three hits with a minor for roughing (where was this kind of play been?)

Barbashev improves to 13-19-32 and while the Rangers might offer him a contract, there will be teams in Europe who will very much want him.

Brody Lamb (Minnesota Golden Gophers)

Brody Lamb had a secondary assist as his eighth-ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers earned a 5-1 win over Penn State in game one of their best of three Big Ten playoff series. Lamb earned his assist on Minnesota’s third goal in the third period as they pulled away from Penn State for the win and grab a 1-0 series lead.

Lamb improves his season totals to 12-13-25, all career bests for the sophomore forward who was the Rangers 2021 fourth round selection.

Victor Mancini( Nebraska-Omaha)

Going into this weekend Victor Mancini and his 17th-ranked Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks were needing no worse than a split against NCHC regular season champs third-ranked North Dakota to keep their NCAA invite hoops alive. Mancini with his fourth goal of the season would also prove to be the game-winning goal as Omaha upsets North Dakota 3-2 in NCHC play.

As they like to call it Moose Mania, here is Mancini’s goal

Mancini who started his junior season with a record of 0-13-13 in 70 NCAA games improves himself to 4-6-10 after 33 games and is working his way up to being in the conversation about earning himself a Rangers entry-level contract. For Omaha, this win improves their season totals to 19-10-4 and improves their “pairwise” number to 15, not the best but a step closer to a possible NCAA at-large invite.

The ECAC playoffs are underway and Zakary Karpa and his eighth-seeded Harvard Crimson edged the ninth-seeded Princeton Tigers 1-0 to advance to the ECAC quarterfinals next weekend. Karpa was scoreless on no shots and was 7-7 on his faceoffs.

Harvard has to wait to find out who they face next weekend in a best of three series.

Bryce McConnell-Barker was scoreless as his Soo Greyhounds defeated the Guelph Storm 3-1 in OHL play to extend their unbeaten streak to six games (5-0-1). McConnell-Barker was limited to one shot, a high-sticking minor and was 9-7 on his faceoffs.

The dogfight going on between Ty Henricks’s Muskegon Lumberjacks and Rasmus Larsson’s Green Bay Gamblers for the second seed in the USHL’s Eastern Conference continued on Friday with both teams earning wins. The team that finishes second earns a first round bye in the USHL Clark Cup playoffs and after tonight Green Bay holds a one point lead with a game in hand over Muskegon

Ty Henricks was 1-1-2 while missing on his shootout attempt as Muskegon earned a 6-5 win over the Youngstown Phantoms. Henricks scored the Lumberjacks fourth goal of the game as they rallied from down 4-1 after two periods.

Henricks got a secondary assist on the Lumberjack’s second goal to start what was a four goal third period comeback. He earned his 15th goal of the season when he scored the Lumberjack’s fourth goal of the game to bring his team to within one goal at 5-4.

Henricks improves his season totals to 15-8-23 (maybe it is 16-8-24 due to the suspended game that needs to be completed).

Rasmus Larsson was scoreless as his Green Bay Gamblers earned a 8-2 win over the Omaha Lancers. The young Swedish defender was credited with just one shot as the Gamblers hold a one point lead over the Lumberjacks in the standings.

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