E-Mac's 2011 NHL Entry Draft Top 120: Joshua Leivo #103

By Eldon MacDonald

103. Joshua Leivo - “Mr. Hound Dog” - RW - Canada

Vitals: Size - 6’2”, 180 lb.; Shoots right; Born 26-May-93 - Innisfill, ON
Team: Sudbury, OHL
2010-11 Stats: 63-13-17-30-37-(-10) + OHL playoffs - 9-6-7-13-4-(+6)

Rankings:
66 - Christopher Ralph's Top 210
82 - The Scouting Report's Top 100
103 - E-Mac's 2011 NHL Entry Draft Top 120
Unranked - NHL Central Scouting's
Draft result:
86 - Toronto Maple Leafs

Joshua Who, you say??? If you haven’t heard of him or you are a late convert, don’t feel bad, let’s face it, his regular season wasn’t good enough to get him ranked by Central Scouting let alone drafted. His game didn’t take off until late in the season when he was put on a line with Andrey Kuchin and San Jose Sharks prospect Michael Sgarbossa. And then when the playoffs came, his game exploded with 13 points and a +6 in 9 games blowing away higher ranked Ottawa in the process. Here is what head coach Trent Coll had to say about him @ http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/Art...aspx?e=3071619
“He's a kid who plays hard, he's got skill. He's got good feet, he can skate. He's a kid who, when called upon, will physically challenge somebody else. He finishes his checks, works hard defensively and he's got that offensive flair. He's one of those kids I can't say enough about, because I do
like what we have in him and I really do like what he provides for our team. He hounds pucks. He's a dog on the puck. What I mean is he's like a dog on a bone. He hounds the puck and when he wants to get the puck, he's going to get the puck and when he gets it, he's tough to get it off’.’’

It took me a little while to digest on whether Mr. Hound Dog was the real thing or just a playoff flash in the pan because you can get easily carried away with the emotion of the moment. But Mr. Hound Dog is the real thing, In fact his forecheck was so devasting, particularly against Ottawa, that it was close to being classified a “War Crime”.

So if you want a big hound dog who can also score, Joshua Leivo is the real thing not just a playoff flash - too big and too skilled not to go at least by the end of the fourth.