Greetings, all! I’m running late this week due to vacation so we’re going to focus on a big week for one prospect and two prospects who made debuts with new teams.
Kole Sherwood-Flint Firedbirds (OHL)
Season Stats 38GP 22-28-50 +8 38PIM
We open in the Dow Event Center in Saginaw not the Dort Event Center (Michigan ladies and gentlemen) where the Firebirds call home. In this game, Kole had himself a night which began a big week for Kole. Starting off in the first with the Birds leading 1-0, off a steal, Kole skated in on a two on one with Ryan Moore. Moore finished it for his 21st goal of the season. Just under three minutes later Kole struck for the first time (trust me you’ll hear this a lot) when Moore skated in. His shot was stopped but a Spirit player tried to clear and the puck went to Kole who tapped it in to make it 3-0 and end Evan Cormier’s night…for now. Late in the first, the Spirit scored before Kole struck again and again. 54 seconds after the Spirit goal, Kole took a homerun pass just before the blueline and was off to the races finishing with a very Sonny Milanoesque backhand to make it 4-1. Just 35 seconds later, Kole completed the first period hat trick when, off a point shot, Kole picked up the rebound to make it 5-1.
In the second, the Firebirds scored three straight goals without Kole, and there was also a Spirit goal before Kole was part of Flint’s last three goals. Flint’s seventh goal ended the Spirit’s backup’s night meaning they went back to Cormier. Late in the second, Kole made it 9-2 when, off a three on two, Kole took a pass from Moore and fired a rocket for his fourth of the night. 2:45 later Maurizio Corella passed to a pinching in Alex Peters who shot but he wouldn’t get enough of it. The Spirit goalie stopped it and sent the rebound right to Kole at the goalline for his fifth goal of the game. (catches breath). Finally, just 15 seconds into the third, Kole started a pretty tic tac toe passing sequence which Maurizio Colella would finish to end the scoring in the 11-2 route.
In the win, Kole was named first star(duh) while tying a Flint franchise record for goals in a game set by Kevin Brown of the Detroit Jr. Red Wings on December 1st, 1993. The five goal game was one short of an OHL record set which has happened 10 times, most recently in 1988 by Colin Miller of the Niagara Falls Thunder. Here’s are Kole’s postgame comments.
Up next it was off to Niagara for a game with the IceDogs. In the first, Kole got the Birds on the board when he came out of the penalty box after serving a too many men penalty. Ryan Moore slid a pass to Kole who finished to make it 1-0. In the second, Kole drove into the zone and passed to Moore who dropped the puck to Alex Peters in the slot. Peters hammered a shot home to make it 2-1 Firebirds. Sadly, the Dogs would score four straight to make it 5-2.
Closing out the week against Erie, Kole had another big night. Early in the first, Kole took a pass and almost gave the puck to an Otter before tapping it to Ryan Moore who skated in and fired to make it 1-0. Three straight Otters goals made it look like this might get ugly, but Kole helped start the comeback. With just seconds left in the second period, Jalen Smereck kept the puck in at the blueline and passed to Kole who fired a one timer to make it 3-2 in what would be a 4-3 shootout loss. Kole shot first in the shootout but he was stopped.
For those scoring at home the Firebirds scored 16 goals and Kole was part of 11 of them: scoring nine and assisting on two. Kole’s big week earned him the double honor of being both the OHL and CHL Player of the Week.
This is the second time a Jackets prospect has been named CHL Player of the Week. Vitaly Abramov was named CHL Player of the Week for the week of December 12-18. Here is an interview Kole did with local media after receiving the honor.
Dante Salituro-London Knights (OHL)
Season Stats 3GP 2-0-2 E 0PIM
Yes folks you read that right. On OHL Trade Deadline day, the London Knights swung a deal with the Ottawa 67s to acquire Dante and a eighth round pick in 2021 for giant Dman Chris Martenet (he’s 6’7”) and three picks. Since signing with the CBJ, Dante had only played 12 games in either the AHL with Cleveland or in the ECHL with Cincinnati and Norfolk. Dante joining the Knights means he’s back to terrorize the OHL where he collected 259 points in 265 games wearing the barber pole (Ottawa’s jerseys are top 5 in the CHL in my opinion) and will probably be part of a long playoff run with the Knights.
As for his debut against Saginaw, early in the third, Cliff Pu passed to Alex Formenton who chipped a pass to a streaking in Dante who fired a shot on the rush to make it 3-1 in a 5-1 Knights win.
Next up in the rematch, Dante ended up being the hero. Late in the third, while Dante was held up behind the net, Pu came from behind the net with the puck and centered it for a Knights player who missed on the shot, but Dante wouldn’t. He had an empty net to shoot into and clinched the Knights a 4-3 victory. In the win Dante would be named first star.
Dante was held without a point in the Knight’s final game of the week, a 4-3 overtime loss to Sault Ste. Marie.
Pierre-Luc Dubois-Blainville-Boisbriand Armada (QMJHL)
Season Stats 25GP 10-17-27 +9 35PIM
We’re going to go back one extra day in the week so we can include PLD’s debut with the Armada. When the trade first happened, I talked about it here and predicted that PLD would play in the Armada’s top six. In his debut, Dubois started on the team’s second line.
The Armada opened up against the Rimouski Oceanic and it wouldn’t take long for PLD to get on the good side of Armada’s fanbase. Midway through the first, an Oceanic defenseman tried to clear/pass the puck but his teammate missed and Pierre was there. He skated through Rimouski’s other three players to score his first goal with Blanville. After the Ocaenic tied it, Pierre-Luc and his linemates skated in on a three on two and PLD sent a candygram to Yvan Mongo who put it past the Rimouski goalie to make it 2-1. Early in the third, Pierre-Luc pressured the goalie and that led to a board battle that PLD won. He came out of it with the puck, skated around the net and centered the puck in front with Connor Bramwell banging it home to make it 5-1. In the win PLD was named first star. I’m only basing this on the highlights but stuff like this is what I expected from him.
Up next it was off to Quebec for a game against the Remparts and PLD would shine again. Early in the first, Dubois entered the zone and fired a shot that was stopped with Yvan Mongo gathering the puck before passing to PLD. Dubois gathered the puck and threaded the needle with his shot based how the goalie was set to make it 1-0. Five minutes later with the Armada on the power play, PLD took a pass down low and sent a pass to Alexander Alain who had an almost empty net to shoot into. After a Remparts goal, PLD earned another assist when he took a pass and drew the attention of three players before pass to Yvan Mongo whose shot trickled through to make it 3-1 in a 4-1 Armada victory. In the win PLD was again named first star.
Pierre would go without a point in a win over Chicoutimi, before bouncing back with another big night.
It was off to Baie Comeau next and well, due to the fun of in-arena streams for highlights, it’s a little hard to see. But. From what I can tell, off a faceoff PLD went to the net and someone fired a shot that was stopped before PLD picked up the rebound for his third first goal of the game. Late in the third PLD scored an empty net goal when he took a pass from Joel Teasdale with a Drakkar player all over him and slid in to make it 4-2, the Drakkar would add a late goal to make PLD’s goal the game winner. For the third time in four games PLD was named first star in the win.
There you have it, folks, a quick recap on some of the Jackets prospects who made big impacts on their teams last week.
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