The Central Canadian Hockey League is pleased to announce that four skaters – Julian Melchiori of the Newmarket Hurricanes, Alex Guptill of the Orangeville Crushers, Jesse Beamish of the St. Michael’s Buzzers and Steven Beyers of the Orangeville Crushers – were included in the National Hockey League Central Scouting Service’s Final Rankings for the upcoming 2010 NHL Entry Draft in June.

With the four skaters named in the NHL CSS Final Rankings, the CCHL was the most well represented among all Junior A leagues in Ontario.

While Melchiori, Guptill and Beyers were all listed in the NHL CSS Mid Season Rankings, Beamish jumped onto the NHL radar screen and earned a position in the Final Rankings with a strong finish to his sophomore season at the Junior A level.

Melchiori, who improved his mid season ranking of sixty first among North American skaters by sixteen places, ranked forty fifth on the NHL CSS Final Rankings.

“It means a lot to me getting ranked so highly on this list,” said Melchiori, who was excited to see such a large jump from his position in the Mid Season Rankings. “Definitely, I’ve had a lot of help from my teammates and coaches throughout the season but it’s definitely a huge accomplishment to move up over some great players who’ve been playing hard as well all season.”

At 6’3 and 195lbs, the 1991 born defenseman tied for the lead among Hurricanes’ defensemen in scoring with Matt Dineen registering twenty three points (seven goals and sixteen assists.) Melchiori amassed the total though in only thirty nine games, eleven fewer than Dineen played in.

During the Hurricanes’ long postseason run, Melchiori has shown himself to be a key contributor putting up two goals and nine assists while putting up a + 7 rating and helping Newmarket maintain its air tight defensive play. En route to the CCHL Championship, the Hurricanes averaged only 1.68 goals against per game.

The Hurricanes going on a long playoff run – currently in the midst of the Buckland Cup Championship, Melchiori thought, helped him to move up in the rankings as he was able to stay fresh in the minds of scouts while showing that he can excel with a lot on the line.

“It’s helped a lot I think,” said Melchiori. “We’ve been playing hockey for a lot longer than a lot of teams here so it gives the scouts more of a chance to see you. Our team’s been playing great and it’s really helped me, when everyone’s playing well around you, it really helps you to play better yourself.”

Melchiori’s play this sesaon has earned him the opportunity to compete for Team Canada East at the 2009 World Junior A Challenge where he tied for the team lead in scoring with one goal and two assists in four games. He also competed for Team East at the 2009 Canadian Junior Hockey League prospects game and in the 2010 “Battle of Ontario” against the Central Junior Hockey League for the CCHL All-Star team.

“Just to be recognized with the best within our league and other leagues throughout Canada is quite an honour,” said Melchiori. “These events give you great exposure and it’s also made me a better player playing at a higher level against better players too.”

Despite his impressive ranking among North American skaters, Melchiori has not allowed himself to be distracted by the potential of being drafted by an NHL team in June. For now, he has his sights firmly focused on helping the Hurricanes go as far as they can in the postseason.

“No not really, I haven’t thought about getting drafted yet,” said Melchiori. “You try not to think too far ahead, right now I’m just focused on winning in the playoffs and advancing to the Dudley Hewitt Cup. That was the number one goal for me and our team this year so for now we’ll focus on that. Whatever happens for me on top of that, that’s great but winning is the number one goal here right now.”

Melchiori will attend the University of Massachusetts – Lowell beginning in the fall of 2010 to play Division I NCAA hockey.

Guptill dropped one position from the Mid Season Rankings but is still ranked among the top one hundred North American skaters at ninety ninth overall in the Final Rankings.

“It’s an unbelievable accomplishment and it feels really great to be ranked among the top guys,” said Guptill. “Just to be known in the league and for people to see you and notice what you’ve accomplished, it’s an excellent feat.”

In twenty six games with the Crushers after he was acquired midway through the season from the Brampton Capitals of the OJAHL, Guptill was a dynamic offensive threat, using his explosive speed and impressive vision to put up thirteen goals and thirteen assists along with a +11 rating.

“I think having a great coach like Dale Hawerchuk (in Orangeville) and playing some great players like Mike Arnold, Jarred Connolly, Steven Beyers and Nick Vassos among others, when you get playing with guys like that, it’s easy to start putting the puck in the net because they’re doing a lot of the work for you,” said Guptill, when asked to explain his success in Orangeville.

It was his speed and size though that he thought was the biggest reason for him drawing the attention of NHL scouts.

“I think it’s mostly further potential down the road along with my speed, my size and my offensive ability,” Guptill explained. “I’m one of the better skaters so I try to use that to my advantage and skate my hardest all the time.”

The 6’3, 183lbs forward from Newmarket, Ontario competed at the 2009 World Junior A Challenge along with Julian Melchiori where he notched a goal and an assist. Guptill also played in the 2010 “Battle of Ontario” with the CCHL Prospects team where he scored a goal.

Guptill will attend the University of Michigan to play Division I NCAA hockey starting in either the fall of 2010 or 2011.

After not earning recognition on any of the earlier season scouting reports, Beamish jumped into the one hundred and fifty ninth position among North American Skaters in the NHL CSS Final Rankings.

“It feels good, I’ve worked hard for this all year,” said Beamish. “It’s been a goal since the start so it feels good that the hard work is finally starting to pay off. With any luck, the draft will go well.”

In his rookie season of Junior A hockey in 2008-2009, Beamish played mostly in a defensive role and on the penalty kill. This year, the experience that he gained in those areas served him well as he went through a breakout season offensively with twenty two goals and forty three assists in forty eight games while establishing himself as one of the Buzzers’ most reliable two way forwards.

Beamish admitted though that he never saw himself earning a mention on the NHL CSS Final Rankings back during his first season in Junior A hockey.

“No I never thought of something like this and after the year that I had in my rookie season, I figured I’d be fighting for a spot again this season and struggling to put up points but things have worked out and I have to thank my linemates Dan Ciampini and Lucas Lessio,” said Beamish. “I couldn’t have done it without them so I have to give them a lot of credit.”

Beamish was outstanding towards the end of the season for the Buzzers, scoring in ten of eleven regular season games once the calendar changed to 2010. During that stretch, he put up seven goals and fourteen assists for twenty one points.

It was that strong finish and the added incentive to prove people wrong after he was excluded from the Mid Season Rankings that he credits as the reason he was able to jump into the Final Rankings.

“I think I just worked harder and I was angry that I didn’t make it at mid season so I just worked harder and paid attention to the little things like my defensive game and making simple plays,” explained Beamish. “I think overall that’s been noticed so it has all been worth it.”

The 6’2”, 158 lbs Mississauga native will return for one more season of Junior A hockey with the Buzzers before joining the Dartmouth College Big Green to play NCAA Division I hockey in the fall of 2011.

Steven Beyers dropped seventeen positions from his Mid Season Ranking of one hundred and eighty second but maintained his position in the top two hundred coming in at one hundred and ninety ninth among North American Skaters in the NHL CSS Final Rankings.

“It’s great actually; it’s something I’ve been working for my whole life,” said Beyers. “I’m a little disappointed dropping from the Mid Season Rankings into the Final Rankings but I didn’t play too many games this year so I’m not too worried about it. Hopefully come June I’ll get drafted and the dream will come true.”

Fighting the injury bug for most of the season, Beyers managed to get into only sixteen games during the regular season in which he put up eleven goals and twelve assists.

The fact that he remained on the list at all though despite such limited action is a testament to how highly regarded he is in the eyes of a lot of scouts.

“It’s a huge measuring point so I know if I’m healthy it can only help me that much more,” said Beyers. “If I can stay healthy and play the way I can, I know that I can definitely move up on that ranking come the draft for sure.”

The seventeen year old forward missed the first two and a half months of the season recovering from an injury sustained during the 2009 playoffs. Returning to the Crushers’ line up on November 14^th, 2009 against the Upper Canada Patriots, Beyers competed in fourteen games putting up solid numbers during that stretch - nine goals and twelve assists – before ultimately succumbing to another injury on December 20^th, 2009 in a game also against the Upper Canada Patriots.

During the postseason, however, when he was finally back playing with close to one hundred percent health, Beyers was dominant, leading the Crushers in scoring with five goals and six assists in six games before bowing out to the Streetsville Derbys.

“I started getting back into my groove and got a bit healthy there during the playoffs,” said Beyers. “Our team started clicking toward the end of the season, we had some rough games but we had some good ones as well. Unfortunately, we ended up losing in the end.”