CHL’s Top Prospects Excel in Sport Testing Combine
Vancouver, BC – 40 of the CHL’s best young stars were put to the test on Wednesday at Pacific Coliseum one day before Team Cherry and Team Orr face-off at the 2016 BMO CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game.
Players seized the opportunity to showcase their individual strengths with Sport Testing once again putting the league’s Top Prospects eligible for the 2016 NHL Draft through a series of tests to gauge fitness and skill levels for NHL management and scouts.
Finishing atop the overall standings in the on-ice portion of the tests were a pair of Sarnia Sting players on Team Cherry led by forward Jordan Kyrou. The Toronto native, listed 45th in NHL Central Scouting’s Midterm Ranking of North American Skaters, finished first ahead of teammate Jakob Chychrun, the top ranked defenceman listed second by Central Scouting. Skating in at third overall in on-ice testing was fellow defenceman Jake Bean of the Calgary Hitmen and Team Orr (ranked 13th by NHL Central Scouting), with forward Alex DeBrincat of the Erie Otters and Team Cherry (ranked 20th) and Libor Hajek of the Saskatoon Blades and Team Orr (ranked 26th) tying for fourth place in the skating drills.
On-ice tests included forward and backwards sprints, reaction, weave agility, and transition agility each performed with and without the puck.
In specialized Sport Testing for goalies, Dylan Wells of the Peterborough Petes competing as a member of Team Orr, claimed top honours in an array of reaction, agility, and movement challenges.
Off-ice testing conducted earlier in the day also demonstrated the athleticism required to be a top prospect. Strength testing, agility runs, sprints and leg power evaluations were conducted under the discerning eyes of NHL scouts and agents.
Jakob Chychrun led the way with the top overall score in the off-ice component, followed by Team Orr forward Pierre-Luc Dubois of the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles ranked 7th by NHL Central Scouting. Dylan Wells once again led all goaltenders and finished third overall in off-ice elements, with Team Cherry’s Michael McLeod of the Mississauga Steelheads (ranked 6th) powering his way into fourth spot overall, with Jordan Kyrou rounding out the top-five. Some notable single event off-ice performances included Noah Gregor of the Moose Jaw Warriors and Luke Green of the Saint John Sea Dogs who dueled in the vertical jump, a key determinant of leg power used across sport. Ultimately Gregor won by 1.5 inches, with a top score of 32 inches. Wells left the competition behind with an outstanding broad jump score of 9’10.5″.
2016 BMO CHL/NHL TOP PROSPECTS GAME SPORT TESTING PHOTO GALLERY
Sport Testing scores provide valuable performance benchmarks to coaches and players at all levels of hockey with data collected at the BMO CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game shared with NHL Central Scouting and distributed to all 30 NHL teams.
For more information please visit www.sporttesting.com.
The 2016 BMO CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game is proudly supported by title partner BMO Bank of Montreal, and CHL associate sponsors Cooper Tire, autoTRADER.ca and Sherwin-Williams. Thursday’s game will be broadcast live across Canada on Sportsnet, TVA Sports, and in the United States on NHL Network.
For more information about the BMO CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game please visit www.bmotopprospects.ca or follow the conversation @CHLHockey using #BMOTP.
BMO and the Canadian Hockey League:
BMO Financial Group and the Canadian Hockey League announced BMO as the Official Bank of the Canadian Hockey League in 2011. The sponsorship builds on BMO’s partnership with the CHL of more than 10 years and affirms BMO’s exclusivity as a financial services sponsor of the league in the retail banking category. It also engrains a presence with the 48 teams which currently participate in the BMO CHL Affinity MasterCard program, which enables CHL fans to support their favourite teams through a co-branded credit card.