Ottawa Senators prospect roundup: March 30, 2011

The new format returns and is back with updates on the 2011 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, 2010–11 Elitserien and WHL playoffs, and the eve of the AHL and ECHL seasons, after the jump. Oh and the final update on the top 2011 Draft Prospects.

To the jump

And then there were four: The Frozen Four is here, and three of the four teams have Ottawa Senators prospects on their rosters. Bryce Aneloski and Nebraska-Omaha's season ended with a 3-2 overtime loss to Louie Caporusso and Michigan. Ben Blood and North Dakota advances to the Frozen Four with wins over Rensselaer and Denver. Ottawa's going to have to wait until next week to sign Louie Caporusso, as Michigan advances to the Frozen Four with their win over Colorado College. Erik Condra's former college team, Notre Dame, also advanced to the Frozen Four. Jeff Costello and the rest of the Fighting Irish defeated Merrimack and New Hampshire to advance to the Frozen Four for the second time. Chris Wideman and Miami were eliminated by New Hampshire in a huge upset.

Jared Cowen and the Spokane Chiefs hold a 2-0 lead over the Chilliwack Bruins. Mark Stone and the Brandon Wheat Kings hold a 2-1 lead over Wacey Hamilton and the Medicine Hat Tigers. Jakub Culek and the Rimouski Oceanic are down 0-2 in the QMJHL playoffs against the Gatineau Olympiques.

Don't look now, but the Binghamton Senators are good again, going 4-0 this week and outscoring their opponents 17-5! Binghamton started off the week beating Syracuse 6-3--their sixth straight win against the Crunch, and they did with only 16 players dressed. Binghamton had four players (Andre Benoit, Kaspars Daugavins, Ryan Potulny, and Derek Smith) each score three points in the game. Robin Lehner's return to Binghamton from back injuries led to a 3-0 shutout against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Jim O'Brien had three points in that game (one goal, two assists). Binghamton won an important game against Providence, 4-1, adding to their playoff lead with Robin Lehner making his second straight start. Binghamton ended the week with another 4-1 win, this time against Springfield. Mike Brodeur started this game, his first start since February, making 38 saves, and was 37 seconds away from the shutout.

Binghamton is in fifth place in the East Division at 40-27-3-4 (87 points).

The Elmira Jackals however, didn't have the same luck. It appears the dead cat bounce has run out for Elmira as they went 1-1-1 and were outscored 7-11. The win was against the Albany Devils 4-2, where A.J. Perry got his second game-winning goal of the season. The Kalamazoo Wings beat Elmira 6-1 with a four-goal third period on Saturday in another sellout crowd in Elmira. Elmira did fight back against Kalamazoo on Sunday, with a twogoal third to force overtime in their final home game of the season, but couldn't stop the Wings in overtime and lost 3-2.

Elmira is in second place in the Atlantic at 32-27-7-3 (74), and tied with Carolina for the seventh playoff seed.

After sweeping AIK in the first round, Färjestads BK is waiting on the winner of the series between Skellefteå AIK and Luleå H, currently tied at two games apiece. David Rundblad has seven points (two goals, five assists) in all 11 playoff games and 18 PIMs.

The Scouting Report's Top 2011 NHL Entry Draft-eligible players