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It's spring, the time of year when a hockey player's thoughts turn to hoisting gaudy, oversized trophies over his head and taking a lap around a rink trailed by 19 jubilant teammates. This annual playoff rite extends from the NHL all the way down to North America's amateur leagues, which is where the next generation of college hockey standouts ply their trade in the hopes of not only capturing postseason glory, but also of catching the eyes of pro and college scouts.

A handful of the lucky ones get to do both.

Followers of Canadian junior A hockey might be growing weary of hearing Kyle Turris' name. Wisconsin Badger fans, on the other hand, can't get enough information about yet another of their team's high-end recruits.

Based on his play over the last year, the forward from the British Columbia Hockey League's Burnaby Express has made Wisconsin head coach Mike Eaves look like Nostradamus for extending him a scholarship offer during the 2004-05 season, when Turris was a 15-year-old playing junior B hockey.

"If one had to project," said Burnaby coach Rick Lanz, who spent a decade in the NHL as a defenseman with Vancouver and Toronto, "I wouldn't hesitate to say that one day Kyle will be a pro."

His statistics back up Lanz's bold statement. In his first go-round with Burnaby, Turris  who's scheduled to arrive in Madison in the fall of 2007  was his side's third-leading scorer with 36 goals and 36 assists in 57 games. For good measure, the BCHL Coastal Conference Rookie of the Year tallied 10 goals and 13 assists in 20 playoff games as the Express won the league's playoff championship.

Then came the Royal Bank Cup, Canada's Tier II junior A hockey championship.

In the RBC semifinal match against the Fort William (Ont.) North Stars, Turris' wicked wrister from the point sailed just underneath the crossbar of the Fort Williams goal with 12 seconds left in regulation. The Express would win on a goal 6:19 into extra time on a goal scored by Bemidji State recruit Mark Soares (Turris and Denver recruit Keith Seabrook, featured in last month's INCH Recruiting Trail, earned assists.)

But Turris saved his best for last. In the RBC title game against the Yorkton (Sask.) Terriers, Turris' hat trick turned what was supposed to be a thrilling final into an 8-2 rout. The New Westminster, B.C., native also added an assist, finishing as RBC's leading scorer with six goals and 13 points in six games.

Turris, who'll spend another season in the BCHL, has, for all his success so far, nothing but better days ahead. Recruiting is a high-risk business, especially when it comes to 15-year-olds. But if there was one scouting staff with which you'd be wise to invest your money, Wisconsin's team of Mike Eaves and Mark Osiecki would be it.

Keeping current with college recruits can be difficult at times, especially when so many of them carry the same name. For example, Turris wasn't the only outstanding postseason performer with the first name of Kyle.

Kyle Okposo led the Des Moines Buccaneers to the United States Hockey League's Clark Cup title. The 18-year-old, who'll enroll at Minnesota this fall, is sure to go in the first round  perhaps in the top 10  at next month's NHL Entry Draft in Vancouver.

A St. Paul native, Okposo's father is a Nigerian immigrant who came to the United States when he was 18, eventually settling in Minnesota's capital city. It's also where his son got hooked on the game on ice.

A right-shooting forward, Okposo progressed quickly through the minor hockey ranks quickly, and then skated for the prestigious Shattuck St. Mary's program in Faribault, Minn., for three seasons. It was at Shattuck where he first caught the collective eye of the Golden Gopher coaching staff, and he eventually committed to coach Don Lucia before donning a Bucs sweater.

This season was Okposo's lone tour of duty in USHL and it wouldn't be a shock if the league's coaches chipped in to buy a parting gift for the 6-foot, 195-pound forward, happy as they must be to see him go. In 56 games, Okposo  who'd spent most of his career at center but transitioned to the wing with the Bucs, scored 35 goals and 75 points to wind up second in the circuit in scoring.

In the postseason, Okposo shared the USHL scoring lead with teammate (and Michigan recruit) Trevor Lewis. Both tallied 16 points, but Okposo, who scored five playoff goals to Lewis' three, stirred the Bucs' drink  but it took a stern chat with Des Moines coach Regg Simon two games into the Clark Cup final series against Sioux Falls to jump start his game.

"To be honest, his first two games or so were only average," said Simon, a former Alaska Anchorage standout. "I pulled him aside and said, 'Kyle, you have to be better, and you can be.' So what does he do? He goes out and scored the OT game winner in game three."

Okposo's all-around game shined in Games 4 and 5. He tallied two assists in that span, including a critical helper in the series clincher.

"I'm still working on finding my teammates on the ice, but I'm really learning to love to score," Okposo told Red Line Report earlier this season. "I may not have a lot of open-ice hits, but I'll go into the corner when I need to and roll to the net."

He'll do all that and more at Minnesota.

"He's all class," Simon said. "I'd let him date my sister and believe me, I'm pretty protective."

The NBA had the Chicago Bulls of the mid-'90s. The NHL had the Montreal Canadiens of the '70s, and the New York Islanders and Edmonton Oilers in the '80s. Now, the North American Hockey League has a dynasty of its own -- the Texas Tornado.

Coached by Detroit native and ex-Calgary Flames defenseman Tony Curtale, Texas completed its trifecta in mid-May by winning the NAHL's Robertson Cup for the third time in as many years. After claiming the NAHL's South Division regular season championship with a stellar 42-12-4 record, Texas cruised through to the Robertson Cup tournament with a five-game series victory over Wichita Falls and a four-game sweep of Texarkana.

At the Robertson Cup tourney, Texas was stunned by NAHL Central Division champ Southern Minnesota in the opener, 7-3. The Tornado rebounded, however, with a 5-3 victory over Cleveland and a 4-3 triumph against Southern Minnesota before defeating league regular-season champ Bozeman in the title game by a 4-2 score.

"This one was really special," Curtale said. "Especially after we lost so many players from the teams that won the last two championships. We won a lot of games in different ways this year. And in the playoffs, the guys knew what needed to be done and they went out and did it."

While the Tornado lost a number of key contributors from its first two championship teams  current Maine goalie Ben Bishop being one of the most notable  it's not as if the suburban Dallas outfit was completely bereft of talent. One of the more dynamic players was '86-born defenseman Brett Blatchford, who'll attend Notre Dame in the fall. A native of Temperance, Mich.a community that sits about a clearing attempt from the Ohio border  the 5-foot-11, 182 pound Blatchford scored three goals and 46 assists in 54 regular-season games, then added two goals and five assists in 13 postseason contests. As good as he is offensively, Blatchford is sound in his own end as well.

"He's flat out a great kid who is very coachable," said Curtale. "He has very good mobility and on ice vision. When he came here, he needed to work on his strength and he's done that. He loves jumping into the play, knows where and when to pinch, and 99 percent is in the right place."

Even his midget coach can't say enough good things about Blatchford, though it's been three years since they worked together.

"He's a perfectly blended, well-rounded defenseman," said Brian Burke of the Ann Arbor-based Victory Honda AAA club. "He can read plays and makes great decisions both with and without the puck."

One can only imagine the Fighting Irish's anticipation of having Blatchford in the lineup.

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