Eight New York Rangers prospects took to the ice on Saturday with some rather mixed results. Got to see some of the newer prospects show some promise but it was one of the older prospects who stole the show.
It was just his second game of the season as Noah Laba led his 12th-ranked Colorado College Tigers to a 6-1 spanking over Rasmus Larsson’s Northern Michigan Wildcats in non-conference play. Laba recorded a career best four assists on the Tigers last four goals to help the Tigers earn their second win of the season.
With his team already leading 2-1 in the second period, Laba his scoring going when he found freshman Philippe Blais-Savoie open near the left faceoff circle and Blais-Savoie would fire a wrist shot that beat the Northern Michigan goalie top shelf for a 3-1 lead. In the third, Laba would earn point number two when he found linemate Gleb Veremyev who scored his second goal in as many games to make it 4-1.
The remaining two assists were secondary ones as Laba got the plays started that led to the Tigers fifth and sixth goals of the game. In addition to the 0-4-4 night, Laba was credited with one shot with a +3 to go along with a 13-5 faceoff mark.
After two games, the junior center is already 1-5-6 which has him tied for sixth nationally. Laba has a 70.7 faceoff win rate and he is a +6 after two games.
For Northern Michigan, freshman defenseman Rasmus Larsson was scoreless on zero shots and was a -3 as he was the third pair left side defender. He did take a roughing minor for his first NCAA penalty.
2024 fifth round pick left wing Nathan Aspinall recorded his second goal of the season as his Flint Firebirds defeated the Oshawa Generals 4-1. Going to enjoy the entire play that it took to score the goal as Aspinall worked hard for it.
A large part of the credit belongs to his teammates on the ice for how they kept the puck in the offensive zone. Once the Firebirds gained control of the puck, it was passed to the left side of the point where teammate Jimmy Lombardi spotted Aspinall heading to the net.
Aspinall would carry the puck behind the Generals net and would wrap it around the net for the goal.
🚨Nathan Aspinall
🍏Blake Smith pic.twitter.com/hFcswPfXKZ— Flint Firebirds (@FlintFirebirds) October 13, 2024
Remember Aspinall is a 6’7 left wing but his hands are the softness of a little player. A nice goal to see from him as his 1-0-1 night and on his only shot of the game as he was also a +2.
The goal gives Aspinall a 2-2-4 line after six games with the Firebirds.
Gabe Perreault recorded his first goal of the season, but it wasn’t enough to prevent his second-ranked Boston College Eagles from losing to fourth-ranked Michigan State 4-3 in non-conference play. With his team trailing 1-0 late in the first period, Perreault would finish off a breakaway for his first goal of the season.
Jellvik ➡️ J. Hagens ➡️ Perreault
📺 @BigTenPlus pic.twitter.com/fpJekZ4MN0
— BC Men's Hockey (@BC_MHockey) October 12, 2024
The goal tied the game and for Perreault it was nice to see him looking to shoot the puck as last season he was looking more to pass the puck. For the game, Perreault was 1-0-1 on four shots as he improves to 1-1-2 on the season.
Teammate Drew Fortescue was scoreless on just one shot.
2024 first round pick defenseman E.J. Emery recorded his first career NCAA point on a primary assist as his sixth-ranked North Dakota Fighting Hawks opened their season with a 5-2 win over the 11th-ranked Providence Friars at the US Hockey Hall of Fame game. And for those of us who are concerned about what kind of offensive skills E.J. Emery has then let us turn your attention to this video clip as Emery’s first NCAA assist is a thing of beauty.
Slam dunk for Berg! #UNDproud | #LGH pic.twitter.com/VWpvQtGkN1
— North Dakota Hockey (@UNDmhockey) October 12, 2024
Emery is being compared to K’Andre Miller and sorry, but Miller’s passing skills are not as good as Emery’s are. Got to like how Emery going 0-1-1 on two shots was also a +2 for his NCAA debut. It is going to be fun to watch him this season.
Freshman Ty Henricks earned his first NCAA assist as his 17th-ranked Western Michigan Broncos had little trouble with Ferris State earning a 5-1 win and two-game sweep of their weekend series.
Henricks earned the primary assist on linemate Cam Knuble’s first NCAA goal to give the Broncos a 4-1 lead at 12:24 of the third period.
Henricks, who was used in this game as the fourth line right wing was not credited with any shots but with his 0-1-1, he was a +1. Henricks is 1-1-2 after two games and if he looks to use his shot more then he won’t be on the fourth line for very long.
Brody Lamb found himself demoted to the fourth line right wing as his fifth-ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers dropped a 2-1 decision to 16th-ranked Nebraska-Omaha in the finals of the Ice Breaker tournament.
Lamb was scoreless but think he got the message as he was credited with four shots along with a -1 and a minor penalty for cross-checking. Time will tell us whether Lamb got the message or not.
Really hope he does get it as Lamb does have the skill set to be one heck of a goal scorer.
