Whalers Tom Wilson a Hit at CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game

Plymouth Whalers right wing Tom Wilson didn't score in Wednesday's Home Hardware CHL-NHL Top Prospects Game, but he made an impact.

Here's a compliation of media about Wilson's performance:

Video: Wilson Interview, supplied by CHL.ca. and The Home Hardware Top Prospects website.

Wilson dropped the gloves in the second period for Team Cherry against Team Orr's Dalton Thrower and improved his draft status for the 2012 National Hockey League Entry Draft, to be held June 22-23 in Pittsburgh.

"Wilson was ready to roll tonight, but I think the whole competitive nature of the game was unbelievable," Team Cherry head coach Mark Recchi told the Canadian Press. "They wanted to play and they wanted to play well, and they showed that. Wilson got out there right away and wanted to set the tone physically, and I think it set the tone a lot for the game.

"It was a really good game; the tempo was high, it was physical and the kids did a heck of a job tonight. They really did. It was great to see."

Team Orr defeated Team Cherry, 2-1.

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There's plenty of other content:

Neate Sager, Yahoo! Sports Junior Hockey, who wrote this about Wilson:

Honourable mention: Tom Wilson, Team Cherry (Plymouth Whalers, OHL)

The rugged forward provided some of the few fireworks. Wilson, a likely second-rounder who could sneak into the first round, played a tough, team-oriented game that included sending at least three members of Team Orr for rides on their seats of their pants with clean bodychecks and a dandy fight with Saskatoon Blades defenceman Dalton Thrower. Thrower was avenging a hit on his best friend on the Blades, centre Lukas Sutter.

Both players doffed their helmets before throwing down. That's an ejection in the OHL, so Wilson seemed to hesitate for a second before losing his bucket.

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Castanet.net, written by Wayne Moore: 

"Tom Wilson made sure NHL scouts noticed him during Wednesday night's CHL/NHL Top Prospects game at Prospera Place.

Wilson, a 6'4" agitator with the Ontario Hockey League's Plymouth Whalers was easily the most recognizable player in a game featuring some of the top junior players eligible in the June NHL Entry Draft.

In 41 games with the Whalers Wilson, ranked 33rd in the latest Central Scouting ranking of North American skaters, has seven goals, 15 assists, eight fights and 122 minutes in penalties.

He got the crowd into it early with a thunderous open ice hit on Gianluca Curcuruto behind the net just 90 seconds into the game then pasted Lukas Sutter into the boards in the second. Sutter's teammate Dalton Thrower took exception and he and Wilson tossed the mitts and engaged in a lengthy, spirited fight.

"I just wanted to come in and play my game. That big hit at the beginning was to get the boys going and let the other team know it was going to be a hockey game," says Wilson. "I just wanted to be a physical presence out there."

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NHL.com, written by Adam Kimelman:

KELOWNA, B.C. -- Thomas Wilson said his goal coming into the 2012 Home Hardware CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game was to get a few hits early in the game to set the tone.

The big Plymouth Whalers forward did just that early and often Wednesday night here at Prospera Place.

Wilson, a 6-foot-3 1/2, 203-pound right wing playing for Team Cherry, started early with a pair of big hits on Team Orr defenseman Gianluca Curcuruto, then continued in the second when he blasted forward Lukas Sutter. 

That hit didn't agree with Sutter's teammate, Dalton Thrower, and at 16:38 of the second period, Thrower and Wilson had the game's first fight.

"First couple shifts I got a big hit," Wilson told NHL.com. "Just good to get the boys going. Later in the game I made a big hit (on Sutter). Thrower hopped on the ice and called me out so I had to go. We squared up and it was a good fight."

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Vancouver Province, by Steve Ewen:

Tom Wilson was as a shaker. Now we'll see if that makes him a mover.

The Plymouth Whalers winger was physical force for Team Cherry in Wednesday's Home Hardware CHL-NHL Top Prospects Game, including a spirited fight with Dalton Thrower in the second period moments after Wilson had demolished Thrower's Team Orr and Saskatoon Blade teammate Lukas Sutter with a bone-rattling, open-ice check.

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