“Fearsome Young Sharks” Prospect Profile – Sean Kuraly

Photo courtesy of Alexander Zimmermann {@Alex_Z_Sharkie}

On the second day of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, the San Jose Sharks traded their fourth round pick {119th overall} to the Winnipeg Jets for their fourth round {133rd overall} and seventh round {194th overall} picks.  With the 133rd pick, the Sharks selected forward Sean Kuraly {@Kurals7} of the United States Hockey League‘s {USHL} Indiana Ice.

“I try to model my game after someone like {Nashville Predators centre} Mike Fisher,” said Kuraly in an interview with Neate Sager for a June 17 Yahoo Sports article.  “I watch him and I like the way he plays both ends of the ice – hard, physical and a character guy.”

Originally from Lewiston N.Y., Kuraly was raised in Dublin, OH, where he developed his hockey skills by playing against some of the top competition nationally and internationally in the Ohio Blue Jackets AAA program, which was founded in 2004 by Program Coordinator Ed Gingher.

A 15th round {283rd overall} selection by the Plymouth Whalers in the 2009 Ontario Hockey League {OHL} Priority Selection, Kuraly led the Ohio Blue Jackets AAA U-18 team in scoring for the 2009-10 season by registering 78 points on 31 goals and 47 assists in only 48 games played.

In addition, Kuraly enjoyed two call-ups with the Ice where he registered three points on one goal and two assists in five games played.  Kuraly also played in four games with USA’s National Team Development Program {USNTDP} U-17 squad, registering three points at the Vlad Dzurilla Tournament in Slovakia.

On May 26, 2010, the Ohio Blue Jackets AAA website announced that Kuraly verbally committed to play for the Miami {Ohio} Redhawks, where his father, Rick, played from 1979-83 and holds the records for most career goals {101}, power play goals {36} and most goals in a game {five}.

“Sean’s dad {Rick} is the all-time goal scoring leader here at Miami so he is the first alum’s son to come back and play for us and we are really looking forward to him joining us,” said Redhawks head coach Enrico Blasi in a Nov. 11, 2010 interview with the Redhawks website.  “He’s big, he’s strong, he can skate, and does a little bit of everything.  He can score goals, he can make plays and he can play a power forward role if he wants to.  He is really going to fit in nicely.”

Added Gingher on the Ohio Blue Jackets AAA website, “Sean is a tremendous player and it is very exciting to see him accept a scholarship to play at Miami University, a place where his dad {Rick} played.  Sean is the hardest practicing player I have ever coached and his success is a testament to his hard work.  We are very proud of him.”

Kuraly though, is in no hurry to make the jump from the USHL to the Central Collegiate Hockey Association {CCHA} as he will be returning to the Ice to further polish his hockey skills.

“I want the offensive side of my game to be more fine-tuned before I go to college,” said Kuraly in the Sager article.  “I’m looking forward to a big year next year with Indiana and I can’t wait to get back to that team.”

This past season, Kuraly’s first in the USHL, Kuraly registered 29 points for the Ice on eight goals, four of which were shorthanded {league leading} , and 21 assists to go along with 45 penalty minutes in 51 regular season games played.  In the Ice’s five playoff games, Kuraly registered two points on one goal and one assist.

“It was a good season,” said Kuraly in the Sager article.  “I had a lot of fun there.  Obviously, it started off a bit slow after moving away from home and being in a new league with a lot of older guys.  I pulled it together and at the end of the year I played a lot closer to where I wanted to.  I’m excited for next year and what it holds for me.”

Prior to the start of his first USHL season, Kuraly was selected for the U.S. U-18 Select Team in Aug. 2010 and played in the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, where he scored a goal and helped lead Team USA to a silver medal.

While Kuraly has enjoyed playing most of his hockey career close to home in the midwest, Kuraly is open to a cross country move to the west coast once his tenure at Miami {Ohio} University is complete.

“I’ve been to California a couple of times, but it could be a pretty cool change, and maybe I’ll even like it more,” said Kuraly in a June 28 interview for an article on the Indiana Ice website.  “They’ve clearly got something special going there, with making the a playoff run every year and going deep, and I hope I get a chance to one day put on that jersey.”

When the day comes that Kuraly does bring his talents to the Sharks, he will also be bringing several assets along with him.

“I’d say a little bit of character and leadership in the locker room, that’s definitely something I bring,” said Kuraly in the Sager article.  “A pretty dynamic skill set, hopefully – a solid two-way centreman who can put some pucks in the back of the net and help the team win.”

HIGHLIGHTS

Sean Kuraly USHL Highlight Video  {Courtesy of YouTube user “USHLInteractive”}

Sean Kuraly interview with Blue Jackets website  {Courtesy of YouTube user “BlueJacketsNHL”}

Sean Kuraly post draft interview  {Courtesy of YouTube user “USHLinteractive”}

*Videos and information were used from sports.yahoo.com, www.hockeysfuture.com, bluejackets.nhl.com, www.hockeydb.com, www.indianaice.com, www.wikipedia.com, leagueathletics.com, www.redskinwarriors.com, sharks.nhl.com ,www.muredhawks.com, and www.youtube.com for this post entry.*

“Fearsome Young Sharks” Prospect Profile – Brodie Reid

Photo courtesy of Alexander Zimmerman {@Alex_Z_Sharkie}

On April 15, 2011, the San Jose Sharks website announced the team signed unrestricted free agent forward Brodie Reid to an entry-level contract.

In his lone season at Northeastern University, Reid finished as the fourth leading scorer on the Huskies with 28 points on 11 goals and 17 assists in 37 games played and was the second-highest scoring rookie in all of Hockey East, two points behind Mike Collins of Merrimack, resulting in a selection to the Hockey East All-Rookie Team.

The highest scoring freshman at Northeastern since Jason Guerriero‘s 35-point campaign in 2001-02, Reid was the Huskies second-leading scorer in the Hockey East playoffs, registering five points on three goals and two assists, all against Boston University, in the Hockey East quarterfinals.  Reid was also named Hockey East Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Week twice throughout the course of the season for the weeks of January 10 and March 13 respectively.

“Brodie accomplished nearly everything an individual can achieve in his first season at the collegiate level,” said San Jose Sharks Executive Vice President and General Manager Doug Wilson in an interview with the Sharks website.  “We feel that he is more than ready to take the next step in his professional development and we are pleased he has chosen to do that with the San Jose Sharks.”

However, not everyone was thrilled with Reid’s early exit for California, a decision that Northeastern hockey coach Greg Cronin said was a mistake.  “I told him right to his face he can’t play in the NHL and he can’t play in the top two lines of the American {Hockey} League,” said Cronin in an interview with Jason Mastrodonato of the Huntington News this past April.

Having spent the last three years watching Reid’s development from junior hockey all the way to Northeastern, Cronin wasn’t sold by the Sharks assessment of Reid.  “I think it’s a bunch of garbage,” said Cronin.  “He had about nine points even strength in 37 games and he was invisible the first half of the year.  The only visibility he had was on the power play.  I told him he should try and find somebody he can trust and the coaching staff {at Northeastern}, he can use as barometers of where he fits.  I talked to San Jose {Director of Scouting} Tim Burke and I told him I thought his assessment of Brodie was inaccurate.”

Cronin, who was an assistant coach with the New York Islanders in 1998 for five years before being named head coach of their American Hockey League affiliate, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers for two seasons, added, “My whole problem with this is the agents in the NHL and general managers, they basically collaborate to find college players at a low cost compared to what they’re paying the NHL players and they sign them up.  They don’t care about college.  If the kid has got three years and he’s close to graduating, he can go and play pro and go back to his degree, then go do it.  But to pull a kid like Jake Newton last year, I mean Jake was different because he had no interest in going to school.  But Brodie is a good student and a good kid.  I was shocked by it.”

Northeastern Athletic Director Peter Roby openly criticized the National Hockey League draft rules via Twitter following Reid’s decision, tweeting:  “Disappointed to learn of Brodie Reid’s departure. NHL rules not very friendly toward college hockey or players getting degrees.”

Reid though was unphased by Cronin and Roby’s comments as he felt there wasn’t much left for him to gain from playing college hockey.  “I wasn’t a young freshman,” said Reid in the same Huntington News article.  “I wanted to play pro hockey and obviously I learned a lot this year and it was a great experience, but when an opportunity like this comes along, you can’t say no to it.  They {Sharks} came up with an offer within two days.  It was kind of shocking but it had to have been a good offer for me to leave and it was the best offer I could have got.”

Playing hockey since age five, Reid’s high school career began at his local public school, Delta Secondary.  After two years there, Reid went to private school at St. George’s before switching to Earl Marriot Secondary for his senior year when he began playing for the Surrey Eagles of the British Columbia Hockey League {BCHL}.  The following season, Reid played for the BCHL Burnaby Express and had a league leading 52 goals to go along with 35 assists for 87 points in 60 games, earning a spot on the BCHL All-Star team and the Express’ top forward distinction. 

Reid played for both the Express and the Penticton Vees in the 2008-09 season, his final year in the BCHL, and registered 39 points on 17 goals and 22 assists in 40 games, earning himself a spot on the BCHL All-Star team for the second consecutive season and was also selected to represent Team Canada West at the World Junior A Hockey Challenge in 2009.  In 157 career BCHL games, Reid registered 136 points on 73 goals and 63 assists to go along with 79 penalty minutes.

Following a suggestion from Cronin, Reid moved to Nebraska to play for the Lincoln Stars of the United States Hockey League {USHL} for the 2009-10 season.  Serving as an assistant captain, Reid led the Stars in points {36}, goals {16}, assists {20} and shots {179} in just 46 games played, 16 fewer than the second leading scorer.

Reid is now the 10th Husky {Jim Fahey, Willie Levesque, Mike Morris, Carter Lee, Steve McClellan, Justin Daniels, Drew Daniels, Cody Ferriero and Dan McGillis} in program history to have an affiliation with the San Jose franchise and is the first to sign as an unrestricted free agent.

HIGHLIGHTS

Brodie Reid highlight video {Courtesy of YouTube user “Northeastern”}
The official Northeastern highlight video of Brodie Reid for the 2010-11 season.

Brodie Reid USHL hat-trick {Courtesy of YouTube user “USHLinteractive”}
In this video clip, Reid registers a hat-trick for the Lincoln Stars of the USHL in a November 13, 2009 game against the Des Moines Buccaneers.

Brodie Reid Penticton Vees BCHL goal {Courtesy of YouTube user “shawnmullin”}
In this video clip, Reid scores the first goal of the game for the Penticton Vees in a December 2008 BCHL game.

Brodie Reid ties the game for Penticton {Courtesy of YouTube user “shawnmullin”}
In this video clip, Reid scores his second goal of the game for Penticton to tie the game at 2-2.

Brodie Reid lifts Northeastern over Boston {Courtesy of YouTube user “hockeyeastonline”}
In this video clip, Reid registers a three point night with two goals and an assist to lead Northeastern to the Hockey East semifinals with a 5-4 win over Boston.

*Information and videos were used from sharks.nhl.com, www.gonu.com, www.hockeydb.com, www.collegehockeynews.com, www.HuntNewsNu.com and www.youtube.com for this post entry.*