Hello all! With the CHL season being two plus weeks old I figured it’s time to get the weeks in review rolling along. We have got a lot to cover so let’s get going.
Kole Sherwood-London Knights (OHL)
Season Stats 4GP 2-3-5 +1 6PIM
Kole and the Knights faced off against the newly created Hamilton Bulldogs (RIP Belleville Bulls) with Kole collecting his first two OHL points. First in the second with the Knights trailing 1-0, Kole received a pass from Matthew Tkachuk from below the goal line and tried to shoot but ended up tipping the pass back to Owen MacDonald who scored to make it 1-1. Early in the third with the Knights on the power play, Kole took a pass at the redline and skated in before firing a shot in the slot for his first OHL goal in a 5-3 Knights win.
The next night against Kingston, Kole opened the scoring 2:01 into the game when Tkachuk got the puck at the blueline and fluttered a pass into the slot. A teammate missed the puck and Kole gathered it up before firing to make it 1-0 in a wacky 6-5 shootout loss.
Kole then found his way back to the scoresheet against the Memorial Cup Champion Oshawa Generals. In the second, Kole earned an assist on Aiden Jamieson’s first OHL goal when a check he threw started the sequence that got Jamieson the puck. Later in the second Kole got the puck to Sam Militec who sent a pass down low that found Owen MacDonald for the score. Kole was named first star in the 5-2 Knights win.
Blake Siebenaler-Niagara IceDogs (OHL)
Season Stats 5GP 1-2-3 -3 2PIM
Blake and the IceDogs opened the season against the Sudbury Wolves and Blake had a big night. In the 8-1 Dogs win, Blake earned a goal and two assists – the goal was the game winner. Blake was held pointless in four straight games.
Olivier LeBlanc-Cape Breton Screaming Eagles (QMJHL)
Season Stats 5GP 0-4-4 +5 21PIM
Olivier LeBlanc opened the season on a three game point streak picking up an assist in his first two games after being returned from Columbus. In the next game against Moncton, Olivier had a big night that started with the first fight by a CBJ prospect when Leblanc took on Kelly Klima. The third period is when Olivier picked up his points for the night. First, 17 seconds into the third, Olivier passed to Maxim Lazarev who sent a crossrink pass to Evgeni Svechnikov to make it 6-2. Olivier added another assist on the Eagle’s next goal but it didn’t make the highlights.
In the rematch, Olivier was held without a point but he did pick up a game misconduct due to a checking from behind call. According to play by play man Patrick McNeil, Olivier knew he messed up and he wasn’t suspended – he played Sunday in a game against Gatineau in which he was again held pointless. Olivier has been serving as an alternate captain so far this season.
Julien Pelletier-Sherbrooke Phoenix (QMJHL)
Season Stats 3GP 3-0-3 E 2PIM
Julien opened his first season with the Phoenix in a game against the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada. Pelletier missed time in the game with an injury before scoring on a wild one timer from Jan Dufek to make it 6-2 Phoenix. Julien missed the Phoenix’s next game apparently because he was still feeling the effects of the injury but he was back for their next game in which he was held pointless. Julien returned to his high scoring preseason ways to close out the week in a 6-5 loss to Quebec when he scored two goals to give him three in three games.
Paul Bittner-Portland Winterhawks (WHL)
Season Stats 3GP 1-0-1 -3 11PIM
Paul opened the season in a game where he was held pointless – a 4-1 loss to Victoria. In the rematch, Paul gave the Hawks a 2-1 lead when he skated in and fired a shot that was stopped but he was able to gather his own rebound out of a scrum in front to make it 2-1 in a 6-5 loss. In the home opener, Paul was held pointless but he was playing with a bit of an edge and received a coincidental roughing minor and then got himself into a fight in a 3-1 loss. Paul served as an alternate captain in the home opener.
Sam Ruopp-Prince George Cougars (WHL)
Season Stats 3GP 0-1-1 +4 0PIM
Sam is serving as the Cougar’s captain for the second season and opened with a back-to-back series against Everett in which he was held pointless in the season opener, a 2-0 loss. In the rematch, Sam was +3 and picked up his first point of the season when, late in the first, Sam’s point shot started a scramble in front that Colby McAuley finished. Sam was held pointless in a matchup against Jackets prospect Keegan Kolesar and Seattle.
Keegan Kolesar-Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL)
Season Stats 3GP 1-3-4 +1 0PIM
Keegan and the TBirds opened the year in Vancouver and Keegan made it a two point game for himself. In the third, with the Birds trailing 2-0, Keegan won a board battle and found Ethan Bear got the puck to Scott Easnor to make it 2-1. Later in the third, Keegan dropped a pass to Matthew Wedman who found Nick Holowko to tie the game at two. Unfortunately, Seattle would allow a late goal to make it a 3-2 final. Up next against Prince George, Keegan picked up an assist when he took a pass and found a streaking Jerret Smith for his second of the night.
To close out the week, Keegan and the Tbirds had a matinee game against in-state rival Tri-City and they were nice enough to give them a 5-0 lead before roaring (squawking?) back with Keegan completing the comeback when he scored on the rush for his first of the season. Seattle would fall 6-5 in overtime though. Keegan has been wearing an A during road games
Zach Werenski (NCAA-Michigan)
In a 8-1 exhibition win over the Toronto Varsity Blues, first round pick Zach Werenski had two goals. The first one came when Zach gathered a loose puck and skated right up to the goal line before snapping a shot that even baffled the play-by-play guys on how he found the corner. Later in the game, with the Wolverines up 5-1 and fresh off a penalty kill, Zach skated up on a two-on-one to snap what was a bit of an odd looking shot that made it past the Blues netminder.
Kevin Stenlund
2015 second round pick Kevin Stenlund has been held pointless in six SHL games but he did have a goal in the CHL. In their final game of the group stage, Kevin opened the scoring when he drove to the net and put a shot past the Red Bulls goalie despite not getting much on the shot. HV71 won the game 3-1 and now has a win a game against Ocelari Trinec – a team that features original Jacket Rostislav Klesla – that they must to advance.
Gabriel Carlsson
Much like Stenlund, Gabriel Carlsson has been pointless in the SHL, but he collected an assist in a 2-0 win over HIFK when he sent a rink length pass to Rhett Rahkshani who did some nifty sickhandling to make it 2-0 in a 2-0 win. Linkoping lost game one of the next round 4-1 meaning they have to win by four goals in they want to move on (I think it’s based on goal differential, folks).
Oscar Dansk-Rogle BK (SHL-Sweden)
Season Stats 5GP 2-2-1 1.98GAA .933Sv% 1SO
To all of you that gave up on Oscar Dansk when he decided to return to Sweden, well, I offer a big plate of crow to all of you because, despite playing on a team that was just promoted from Allsvenskan, he’s definitely showing a return to form. In his SHL debut against Frolunda, Oscar was having a man of the match type game before allowing a very soft goal late in the game to give the Indians a 2-1 win (gif of goal lost due to…well, let’s just say it’s “lost”.) In his next game against fellow prospect Gabriel Carlsson, Oscar pitchrf a 28 save shutout in a 3-0 win. Oscar kept his strong play going against the Karlskrona Black Bugs when he made 20 saves in a 3-2 overtime win. After his first night off of the season, Oscar’s team lost 2-1 even though Dansk made 35 saves. In his last game of this recent stretch, Oscar went up against the club he played his junior hockey with, Brynas, and early in the game Oscar again allowed another softie and overall, had 24 saves in the 4-3 overtime loss.
Markus Nutivaara-Oulu Karpat (Liiga-Finland)
Season Stats 9GP 1-1-2 E 4PIM
Markus and the Stoats (that’s what Karpat means) began their title defense with a 2-1 overtime win- a game that had Markus as the hero after he scored the game winner. 2:31 into overtime when he tipped in a Ivan Huml shot. Markus would go six games without scoring, not that it was for a lack of trying. Markus did take 28 shots during these games including 11 in one game alone. In a 3-0 win over Assat, with Oulu leading 2-0, Markus dumped the puck in and Ivan Huml collect the rebound to make it 3-0.
Vladislav Gavrikov-Lokomotiv (KHL-Russia)
Season Stats 12GP 1-1-2 +5 2PIM
The prospect who has played the most so far this season is Vladislav Gavrikov who is playing his first full season in the KHL. After going pointless in five games, Vladislav scored his first ever goal when he picked up the rebound of a Kirill Kaspustin shot to make it 2-0 Lokomotiv. After three games without a point, Vladislav picked up an assist in a 3-0 win over Mettalurg Magnitogorsk. A game and a shift or two later, Vladuslav suffered an injury that has him now on the injured list.
Elvis Merzlikins-HC Lugano (National League A)
Season Stats 7GP 4-0-2 1.98GAA .944Sv%
Elvis was given the Panther’s crease in the team’s second game against Lausanne a 31 save overtime win after playing clean up in the team’s season opener against Zug when he made 12 saves in the third period of a blowout. After making 32 saves in a overtime loss to Davos, Elvis would get two games off before making 36 saves for his second win of the season against Genève-Servette. Elvis only had to make 15 saves in a 4-3 shootout win against SCL but stopped three of five in the shootout. Elvis made a season high 46 saves in a 2-1 shootout loss to Kloten but only stopped one of the four shooters he faced. Closing out this stretch Elvis made 24 saves in a 4-1 win over Fribourg-Gotteron.
There you have it folks – we’ll be back next week for more updates along with the updates on NCAA prospects getting underway.
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