Greetings, all! Time for the week in review! It’s a bit of a light week as hockey in Europe took a break for various international tournaments.
We start off in Manitoba where the Monsters took part in a pair against the Moose. The Monsters took an early lead when Justin Scott dumped the puck and Moose goalie Eric Comrie tried to play it. It ended up going right to Nick Moutrey who found Scott who had an empty net to shoot into to make it 1-0. A few minutes after the goal, Moutrey got into a fight against JC Lipon earning him 17 penalty minutes and supposedly an end of his night but he did eventually return (not even the Monsters twitter account didn’t know why/how he was able to come back). The Moose scored two goals before the captain tied it. Late in the second with the Monsters on the power play, after a passing sequence, Daniel Zaar wound up at the point and fired a blast that was tipped by Ryan Craig for his first of the season. Two and a half minutes later, the Moose added another goal to make it 3-2 Antlered Mammals. Early in the third the Monsters again tied it when Jamie Sifers kept the puck in and passed to Cody Goloubef. Goloubef skated in and fired a shot that went off a skate to tie it at three. That would end the offense for the Monsters as the Moose then scored four straight, including two empty net goals. In the loss, Joonas Korpisalo made 19 saves in his first start since returning from injury. For those interested, Columbus native Jack Roslovic had a goal and an assist.
After the Blue Jackets demolishing of the Canadians on Friday, it was time for the rematch. Early in the first, fresh off a penalty kill, Oliver Bjorkstrand gathered a loose puck and set off on a two on one passing to Markus Hannikainen who fired a blast that missed but did bounce to Bjorkstrand. The Great Dane quickly fired into an empty net to make it 1-0 Monsters. Not quite three minutes later the Moose began a goal scoring run before the captain struck late in the second. With the Monsters trailing 4-1 and on the power play, T.J. Tynan passed to Zaar down low who then passed across with Craig scoring as he was pushed to the ice making it 4-1. The Moose added a late second period goal to make it 5-2 and end Korpisalo’s night after he stopped 21 of 26. Anton Forsberg stopped all 14 shots he faced in 23:16 of work. Midway through the second, Jordan Maletta got into his second fight of the season taking on Manitoba’s Jimmy Lodge. Again for those interested Jack Roslovic had two assists.
Kole Sherwood-Flint Firebirds (OHL)
Season Stats 14GP 6-12-18 +8 6PIM
Kole and the Firebirds opened the week in Kitchener for a game with the Rangers. Late in the second, Kole took a pass in the neutral zone and skated through the defense before passing to Ryan Moore who passed back to Kole who scored to make it 2-2 in a 3-2 Firebirds overtime win.
Up next it was off to the Soo. Kole picked up an assist on the opening goal when he won a board battle and sent the puck in front with it bouncing off Nicholas Caamano’s skate to make it 1-0 in a 5-3 Firebirds loss (no idea why the video is so blurry).
Pierre-Luc Dubois-Cape Breton Screaming Eagles (QMJHL)
Season Stats 10GP 3-5-8 +5 8PIM
Pierre opened the week by having his three game point streak snapped in a game against Saint John but he did win 9 of 15 faceoffs.
Up next in a game against Baie-Comeau, late in the second, Pierre-Luc earned his first assist (even though it sounds like he should’ve got one on the Eagles first goal). With the Eagles on the power play, Drake Batherson passed to Pierre-Luc who slid the puck to Massimo Carozza who had an almost empty net to shoot into. Late in the third Pierre-Luc worked along the half wall before passing to Olivier LeBlanc who fired a shot that was stopped but Carozza was there to push the puck past the Drakkar’s goalie. In the win Dubois would win 16 of 25 draws.
To close out the weekend against Chicoutimi, after the Sags took a 2-0 lead, Pierre-Luc received a pass from LeBlanc and skated into the slot befpre firing a backhand with a defender all over him to make it 2-1 Chicoutimi. Late in the third with Chicoutimi leading 3-2, PLD brought the puck into the zone and fired a shot just above the circles. He followed the puck, playing it off the glass before sliding it past the Sags goalie to tie it at three in a 4-3 overtime loss. In the OT loss Pierre-Luc was named first star.
Vitaly Abramov-Gatineau Olympiques (QMJHL)
Season Stats 16GP 11-9-20 -13 28PIM
Vitaly opened what would be a big week for him with a game against Halifax. Vitaly first struck late in the third when he got the puck at center ice and skated in on a two on one with Alex Dostie who finished by potting his shot into an empty net to make it 5-2 Olympiques.
Up next was game with the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies and Vitaly would have himself a night. In the third with the Piques trailing 2-0, Vitaly somehow got the puck (the camera angle in Rouyn-Noranda is a bit odd) and skated into the slot before firing to make it 2-1. Just under three minutes later the Russian Meteor (nickname registered trademark of CBJprospcts Inc LLC DVD BYOB RSVP) stole the puck from a Huskies defender and scored his 11th of the season. After another Huskies goal, Vitaly picked up an assist on Zack MacEwan’s game tying goal when he threw the puck in front. The game went to a shootout and Vitaly showed off his skill scoring the Olympiques first goal in the shootout with a dekefest. Vitaly was named second star in the 4-3 shootout win.
To close out the week against Val-d’Or, Vitaly picked up an assist when, on the power play, he passed to countryman Yakov Trenin who sent a cross crease pass to Zack MacEwan who then scored to make it 4-2 in a 7-2 Gatineau loss. It was a rough night for Vitaly as he was a -4 in the game.
Calvin Thurkauf-Kelowna Rockets (WHL)
Season Stats 15GP 7-7-14 +4 31PIM
Opening the week against Kamloops, the Blazers rolled out to a 2-0 lead before Merkauf ( this is the Rockets twitter account’s nickname for when Calvin and teammate Nick Merkley combine on a goal) would strike. Late in the first with the Rockets on the power play, Calvin got the puck at the top of the circle and fired a shot that would bounce straight to Nick Merkley who had an almost empty net to score into making it 2-1 in a 5-1 Rockets loss.
Up next it was off to Vancouver or well, Langley if you wanna get technical. The Swiss beast ended up having himself a night. Starting off midway through the first, Calvin skated in on a two on one with Merkley before Nick fired. That shot was stopped but Calvin was there to pick up the rebound to make it 1-1. 2:35 later, Merkauf combined again when Calvin fired a blast that Merkley gathered and fired to make it 2-1. Calvin finished his big night when he got the puck to fellow import Tomas Soustal who made a nice move to score his seventh of the season. In the 6-4 Rockets win, Calvin was named third star.
Calvin was then held pointless in a 6-2 loss to Medicine Hat to close out the week.
Sam Ruopp-Prince George Cougars (WHL)
Season Stats 14GP 2-5-7 +2 15PIM
It was a light week for Sam and it’ll be awhile before we hear anything about him again, but more on that later. In Sam’s only game he scored his first goal in seven games. In the second period with Tigers leading 3-1, Jared Bethune got the puck from a board battle to Justin Almeida who then found Sam all alone allowing him a blast to make it 3-2 in a 6-4 Cougars loss.
Now for the unpleasantness. Off a draw at the end of the game all hell broke loose with Josh Anderson (no not ours) facing off with Zach Fischer. Meanwhile, Sam would…let’s go with “go after” Steven Owre. Sam was the aggressor and Owre did get a gloved punch in before they’d officially drop the gloves. For all this, Sam got an, in my opinion, excessive (yes, I’m wearing my CBJ prospect homer hat) eight game suspension – the incident even made Puck Daddy. Yes I think Sam deserved a suspension for this but eight is a bit much in my opinion.
There you have it folks, another week in at least the North American part of the CBJ prospectosphere. (yeah, I’ll work on it). As for next week we’ll be back with a full update as European hockey gets back underway.
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