As a prelude to the NHL Entry Draft, the Canadian Hockey League, in conjunction with the NHL Central Scouting Bureau hosted their annual Top Prospects Game on Wednesday night at the WFCU Centre in Windsor, Ontario.

Below is a game recap and story from Jim Parker of the Windsor Star:

WINDSOR, Ont. - There was no concern that the Big Three would suffer any setback at the Home Hardware CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game.

Windsor Spitfires forward Taylor Hall, who is ranked No. 1, and teammate Cam Fowler, who is ranked No. 3, led Team Cherry to a 4-2 win over Team Orr's Tyler Seguin, who plays for Plymouth and is ranked No. 2.

Hall, who was Cherry's captain, had the lone point among the trio in the game as he assisted on the game-winning goal before 6,193 at the WFCU Centre, but those three remain head-and-shoulders above the rest of this year's draft crop.

"The top-level kids will be the top-level kids," said E.J. McGuire, who is the director of NHL Central Scouting. "I think those top three are going to be in the NHL next season."

And it's what team has the top pick in June's NHL Draft that will decide which one gets the No. 1 spot, but for two days Hall certainly the centre of attention.

With cameras constantly in his face, Hall found himself doing an interview on the ice an hour before Wednesday's game as his teammates were taping sticks and preparing.

Before the game ever started, he was pulled over to the bench again for another interview.

"I don't think it was as nuts for me as it was for Taylor," Fowler said. "He's shown he's the No. 1 player and he's done a great job of handling himself."

On the winning goal, Hall lifted the stick of John McFarland in his own end and raced away with Ryan Spooner with Team Cherry short-handed.

Gaining the zone, he pulled the defender to him and then feathered a pass to Spooner, who netted the eventual game winner.

"I love passing the puck and helping other players," said Hall.

Fowler didn't hurt his stock. While not getting a point, he finished as the only player in the game with a plus-4 rating.

"It's been a bit of a grind lately, but I'm little bit lucky because I got to play in my hometown," Fowler said. "I wanted to make sure I could shut out the other team's top guys. When you come out with a plus four rating, that's a good stat to have."

Fowler is fully aware of how highly the trio are regarded in the eyes of scouts, but he has no intention of slacking off.

"If you let up, complacency sets in and you don't want that to happen," Fowler said. "It's nice to hear (you're in the top three), but I'm a competitor."

Don Cherry got just his fourth win in 11 tries against Bobby Orr's squad, but the club twice had to battle back from a one-goal deficit.

Emerson Etem's short-handed goal tied it at 1-1 for Team Cherry in the second period after Nino Niederreiter had put Team Orr up 1-0 after the first period.

Jeff Skinner put Team Orr up 2-1 in the third period, but Jordan Neal tied it 34 seconds later, which set the stage for Spooner's winner.

Austin Watson made quite an impression on Cherry after Spooner's goal.

Killing off a two-man advantage for 79 seconds, he took a shot off the left ankle and got up to block another.

"That was the turning point for me," Cherry said.

In fact, Cherry made a point to come down to the end of the bench to pat Watson, who was in obvious pain, on the back.

"I'll always remember that," Watson said.

Louis-Marc Aubry added an empty-net goal as the two teams tied the record for fewest goals in the 15-year history of the event. The 1998 game also had just six goals.

And Parker's colleague Dave Waddell was able to chat with some NHL scouts for the Windsor Star:

WINDSOR, ONT. -- While it's near impossible to find a consensus on who will go first in June's NHL draft, the feeling among the NHL observers at the CHL's 2010 Top Prospects Game Wednesday is Windsor's Taylor Hall, Plymouth's Tyler Seguin and Windsor's Cam Fowler have clearly separated themselves from the pack in the draft rankings at this point.

With 200 NHL scouts and managers on hand Wednesday at the WFCU Centre, the top 40 draft eligible players in the CHL did their best to improve their stock.

"There's a lot of hockey to be played and lot of playoff hockey and that's the next step," said Don Boyd, the Columbus BlueJackets director of hockey operations and player personnel.

"I would say they've separated themselves until this point. They're going to be pushed.

"It's very hard to run from start to finish and stay No. 1. It takes a tremendous toll mentally and physically to keep that spot."

Hall, who briefly dropped to No. 2 in the NHL Central Bureau's preliminary draft rankings, has retaken the top spot in the mid-season rankings.

For the general managers in attendance, which included Ken Holland (Detroit), Brian Burke (Toronto), George McPhee (Washington), Doug Wilson (San Jose) and Steve Tambellini (Edmonton), the battle between Hall, Seguin and Fowler seems to boil down to a club's needs.

"There's not much not to like," Atlanta associate general manager Rick Dudley said.

"They're great skaters. They've got great skills. Taylor has a knack for making big plays in tight spaces."

Dudley looks at Fowler as a perfect example of the modern defenceman.

"He's six-foot-two, got wonderful feet and great hands," Dudley said.

"He's got to work on making sure he makes the first pass well under pressure.

"Fowler when he gets his game all-around, he's going to be a guy that carries the mail a lot."

Wilson said the two Spitfires have the intangibles that determines in which order the top enders settle.

"If we ever had the chance, we'd love to have either one," Wilson said.

"They're the top of most people's list for obvious reasons.

"They think the game and they have outstanding character. The thing that separates good players from high-end guys is hockey sense and character and these two kids have that." While much of the focus has been on the top three, Detroit assistant general manager Jim Nill has seen enough to declare this year's class a 'good crop.'

"Everyone knows about the top three, but there are 10 to 15 top end players in this year's draft." Nill said.

"There's also a good mix of big, strong defencemen and small skilled forwards. There are four or five defencemen everyone has to figure out."

Three of those are Moncton's Brandon Gormley, ranked eighth among North Americans by NHL Central Scouting, Edmonton's Mark Pysk (ranked 9th) and Kingston's Erik Gudbranson (ranked sixth). Gudbranson was unable to play in the game due to illness.

For Tambellini, the game was the first chance for him to see several of the players he may entrust his club's future to.

"It's another chance to see the top kids in a pressure situation," Tambellini said.

"To see how they handle it. To see who steps out between the kids."

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Aside from the top 3 prospects, some other players that stood out over the past two days in Windsor may have helped raise their stock heading into the 2nd half of the season:


FORWARDS:


Emerson Etem (Medicine Hat Tigers) - Current CSB rank: 13

Stanislav Galiev (Saint John Sea Dogs) - Current CSB rank: 23

Ryan Spooner (Peterborough Petes) - Current CSB rank: 38

Austin Watson (Peterborough Petes) - Current CSB rank: 25

Jordan Weal (Regina Pats) - Current CSB rank: 45

Andrew Yogan (Erie Otters) - Current CSB rank: 65

Devante Smith-Pelly(Mississauga St. Michael's Majors) - Current CSB rank: 67

Alexander Burmistrov (Barrie Colts) - Current CSB rank: 7

Nino Niederreiter (Portland Winterhawks) - Current CSB rank: 14

Jeff Skinner (Kitchener Rangers) - Current CSB rank: 47



DEFENSEMEN


Brandon Gormley (Moncton Wildcats) - Current CSB rank: 8

Mark Pysyk (Edmonton Oil Kings) - Current CSB rank: 9

Brock Beukeboom (Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds) - Current CSB rank: 63


GOALTENDERS


Maxime Clermont (Gatineau Olympiques) - Current CSB rank: 10

Calvin Pickard (Seattle Thunderbirds) - Current CSB rank: 1

Mark Visentin (Niagara Ice Dogs) - Current CSB rank: 8



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