Local players look forward to Top Prospects Game
It’s never difficult to get players pumped up to play in the annual Home Hardware Top Prospects Game. With hundreds of scouts and virtually every National Hockey League general manager in attendance, the game is a highlight on the hockey calendar every January. But for two players, this year’s game will be extra special. David Bolland (pictured, left) and Robbie Schremp will be playing in front of a full house in their home arena – the John Labatt Centre in London.
“It’s going to be huge,” said Schremp, who was the OHL’s second highest rated prospect in the preliminary central scouting rankings released before Christmas. “It’s going to pump me up – especially playing in this building.”’
The Knights opened the building in October 2002 and have enjoyed playing in front of massive crowds.
“It’s one of the best things about playing here,” said Bolland, the Knights first round pick in the 2002 OHL Priority Selection. “To have almost 9,000 fans cheering – it’s like playing in an NHL game. It’s a great feeling.”
The building was sold out for the RE/MAX Canada-Russia Challenge in November and the team is expecting another capacity crowd for the Top Prospects Game, as well as the skills competition the night before.
The game can be a pressure cooker for the players, who are under the constant scrutiny of the scouts, but Schremp plans to approach like every other game.
“You’ve just got to go in and do the normal routine that you do for a game in the regular season,” Schremp says. “It’s a huge game to me. You’ve got to put a good game together.”
Schremp hopes to use the game and the balance of the season to improve his stock in the draft. He was the first overall pick in the OHL draft two years ago and wants to be one of the first names called in Raleigh next June.
“I want to be number one,” Schremp admits. “I’m just trying to put a successful year together and we’ll see what happens.”