Greetings, all! Time for the week in review starting off with the Monsters as we always do.
Lake Erie was off on a three in three road trip to Iowa and Rockford. First up for a pair against the Wild. Friday night, when the CBJ would lose two Dmen to injury, two Monsters defensemen were doing all the scoring for their club. In the second period, Jamie Sifers started and finished a sequence when he passed to Nick Moutrey. Moutrey dumped the puck, TJ Tynan gathered it and found Sifers again who fired a shot to make it 1-0 Monsters. After two Wild goals, Justin Falk struck when he took a pass from Tynan fired a shot to make it 2-2. Midway through the third, Sifers got on the board again when he scored off a pass from Markus Hannikainen to earn his first multi goal game since at least 2005-06 (as far back as I could go on the AHL site). Joonas Korpisalo made 31 saves in the 3-2 win.
In the rematch on Saturday, the Monsters fell behind late in the first before Ryan Craig tied it up on a very meh one timer (just as the commentators are dropping the “there’s 60 minutes in the game cliché” — Craig’s troll game is strong) 41 seconds later. After the Wild scored 50 seconds into the second, Daniel Zaar did what he seems to do best – scoring a late period goal. Daniel started the sequence when he passed to Justin Falk who sent the puck down low before Alex Broadhurst found Daniel in front to tie it with three seconds left. In the third period, Derek DeBlois, fresh off signing a PTO, picked up the rebound of a Justin Falk point shot for his first career game winning goal. Anton Forsberg made 19 saves in the win.
The next night it was off to Rockford for a matchup with the IceHogs. DeBlois struck again when, with the Monsters trailing 2-0, Derek redirected a shot past one time Jacket, Michael Leighton, (if you blinked you missed him) to make it 2-1 in a 3-1 loss in which Korpisalo made 28 saves.
As for next week the Manitoba Moose come to town for two games before the Monsters head to Grand Rapids with a game with the Griffins.
Down in Cincinnati, Peter Quenneville went on a tear last week that included scoring his first pro goal in a school day game against Alaska. Late in the third, with the Clones trailing 2-0, Joe Pendenza skated along the wall and found Peter in the slot who hammered the puck home for his first pro goal in a 3-1 Cyclones win.
Up next against the Indy Fuel, Peter helped with the opening goal when, out of a board battle, he found Joe Wilson for the Cyclones only goal in a 2-1 loss.
To close out the weekend against Orlando, Peter received a pass from a dman and found Wilson for his fourth of the season in a 4-3 shootout win on Superhero night.
Kole Sherwood-London Knights (OHL)
Season Stats 20GP 8-13-21 +11 14PIM
Kole opened the week with a game against Oshawa and picked up an assist on Owen MacDonald’s seventh goal. Kole drove into the zone and sent the puck into the slot dropping it to…no one really, but MacDonald got to it and fired a shot that appeared to hit off the boards and must’ve bounced off the back of the goalie’s leg and in. The announcers thought Kole scored it and the goal made it 3-1 in a 5-2 Knights win. Kole was held off the scoresheet in the Knights’ next game against Kitchener and would be a healthy scratch in a blowout win over Mississauga to close out the week but I never heard a reason.
Olivier LeBlanc-Cape Breton Screaming Eagles (QMJHL)
Season Stats 24GP 2-16-18 +10 41PIM
Olivier opened the week by taking part in the CHL Canada / Russia series and he served as an assistant captain on Team QMJHL. Olivier played on the third pair and killed penalties. He wasn’t able to pick up any points but, it’s worth noting he did have a goal called back. In off-ice antics, Olivier and his fellow assistants were interviewed by Team QMJHL Captain/Screaming Eagles teammate Clark Bishop.
In regular season action, Olivier opened the week with a pair against the Charlottetown Islanders. In the opener against the Isles, Olivier was held pointless before picking up his fifth multi-point game of the season. Olivier earned two assists on Evgeni Svechnikov’s hat trick in a 4-2 Eagles win. Olivier was then held pointless in a loss to Halifax.
Julien Pelletier-Sherbrooke Phoenix (QMJHL)
Season Stats 21GP 12-8-20 -7 15PIM
It was a light week for Julien and the Birds with Julien continuing his hot streak through November. Julien scored his 12th goal of the season in a 5-4 overtime loss to Drummondville. Julien picked up an assist in a 3-2 loss to Victoriaville which was also his 100th career point.
Paul Bittner-Portland Winterhawks (WHL)
Season Stats 21GP 7-10-17 -1 21PIM
Paul and the Hawks played a pair of US Division rivals last week opening against Tri-City. Late in the second, Paul snapped a six game goalless streak when he drove wide and skated in on net before snapping a shot from the goal line. The puck flew over the Americans goalie’s shoulder and closed out the scoring in a 5-2 Hawks win.
Up next was a game in the I5 rivalry as the Hawks traveled to Seattle to face Keegan Kolesar and the Thunderbirds. In the first, Paul drove in and absorbed a check allowing Rihards Bukarts to get the puck to Caleb Jones. Jones’ shot was stopped but Paul gathered the rebound and tipped it out of the air to tie it. Later in the game, with the TBirds leading, Jack Dougherty dumped the puck towards the net and the puck bounced off the boards right to Paul who made it 3-2 in a 5-2 Hawks loss.
Sam Ruopp-Prince George Cougars (WHL)
Season Stats 22GP 2-4-6 +8 25PIM
Sam and the Cougars opened the week against the Calgary Hitmen and suffered a 3-1 loss, Ruopp was held pointless. Up next against Lethbridge Sam would help open the scoring when he’d chip the puck ahead to Colby McAuley who’d drive in and use his reach to get the puck past the Canes goalie. Sam would score his second goal of the season when he’d clear the puck into the empty net to make it 4-2 Cougars win. Sam would be held pointless in a 5-2 win over Medicine Hat.
Keegan Kolesar-Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL)
Season Stats 22GP 15-16-31 +12 29PIM
Keegan and the Tbirds opened the week against the Swift Current Broncos. Keegan picked up an assist when he got the puck down low and passed to Ryan Gropp. Gropp passed to Ethan Bear who hammered home a shot to make it 3-1 in a 5-4 Seattle win. Up next against Kamloops, Keegan was the hero. First up in the second, Keegan picked up an assist on the second goal of Ryan Gropp’s natural hat trick when Gropp collected the rebound of Keegan’s shot. The game went to overtime with Keegan scoring the game winner just 58 seconds into overtime.
To close out the week in the I5 Rivalry, Keegan picked up an assist when he and Mathew Barzal sped in on a two on one with Barzal finishing it to make it 1-0.
Quickly in traveling news, after a game against Cornell, Tyler Bird and the Brown Bears loaded up and were off to Belfast, Ireland for a tournament called the Friendship Four. The Bears will open the tournament against Cornell who Brown played Friday night and will play either Northeastern or UMass-Lowell on Staurday.
Kevin Stenlund-HV71 (SHL)
Season Stats 16GP 1-0-1 -2 4PIM
After missing the Chainsaws last two games (I have no idea as to why), Kevin returned to the lineup against Brynas. Early in the first, Kevin showed why the CBJ drafted him in the second round when he powered through the Brynas defense and wrapped the puck past the goalie to make it 1-0. In the 2-1 OT loss, Kevin played more than 10 minutes (10:23) for the first time since September 26th in a game that was also against Brynas. Kevin set a season high in icetime playing 12:06 in a win over MODO but didn’t score any points. Kevin was also held pointless in a loss to Skelleftea.
Vladislav Gavrikov-Lokomotiv (KHL)
Season Stats 19GP 1-2-3 +6 2PIM
Vladislav picked up his first point since September (even though he did miss all of October due to an injury) last week. After being held pointless in wins over Ufa and Avtomobilist, in a 3-1 win over Ugra, Gavrikov earned an assist on Emil Galimov’s empty net goal. Ex-Jacket Jiri Novotny also picked up an assist on the goal. Vladislav was held pointless in a win over Jokerit to close out the week.
Elvis Merzlikins-HC Lugano (National League A)
Season Stats 21GP 11-6-2-1 2.66GAA .927sv% 1SO
The only people who saw more rubber last week than Elvis Merzlikins probably work at Goodyear. In back to back games last week, Elvis saw 40+ shots and made 40+ saves in each game.
First up against SC Bern, Elvis stopped 41 saves in a 6-3 win for his 10th win of the season. Up next against EV Zug, as part of a back to back, in the 4-3 victory Elvis made 44 saves in his 11th win of the season.
Elvis has started the Panthers last 11 games and he should continue to be the Panthers workhorse as the team’s backup, Daniel Manzato, was loaned to Bern, although there are a few provisions. Manzato can’t dress in any of the two games between the teams and they could recall him if something happens to Elvis.
There you have it folks – another week in the world of CBJ prospects.
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