Greetings all – This post covers the past TWO weeks for our prospects. I’m sorry for the delay – it just means there’s a lot to cover, so let’s get rolling.
Starting off in Springfi…wait no we don’t, we’re going for a change in venue as we start in St John’s Newfoundland at Mile One Centre. We head there for the AHL All Star Game. Unlike normal years, where it’s either the standard East-West or the older Canada-PlanetUSA format, this year the All Star Game was a team of AHL All Stars versus Farjestads of the Swedish Hockey League. Jackets Dmen Frederic St. Denis and Cody Goloubef represented the Falcons in the game with St. Denis serving as an alternate captain.
Starting on Tuesday with the Skills Competition, Cody and Frederic took part in the first event – the puck control relay – with both skating second of their trios. Brett Connolly gave the AHL a slight lead that Frederic then lost with Cody also finishing behind the Swedish skater. St. Denis’ group would lose but local boy Brenden Kichton, with the help of the Farjestads player falling, led to the AHL winning Cody’s heat. Cody and Frederic got the next four events off before taking part in the “Pass and Score” teaming up with Cam Atkinson’s college linemate, and current Albany forward, Joe Whitney. The group faced off against goaltender Frederik Pettersson-Wentzel. In the event all three players have to touch the puck before shooting within 30 seconds. Cody scored on the first attempt with a snapshot from the slot and St. Denis scored on the third when Wentzel went for the double pad stack but he didn’t leave them on the ice allowing the puck to trickle past. In the final event, “the breakaway relay,” every player took part in a group of five. Cody was part of the second AHL group, shooting fourth. He fired a shot into Pekka Tuokkola’s glove. St. Denis was part of the third AHL group, shooting third on Frederik Pettersson-Wentzel. He tried some fancy stickhandling but was stopped. The score was tied after all four groups so the competition went to a sudden death shootout with IceCaps captain Jason Jaffrey clinching the victory in the third round thus giving the AHL a 17-18 victory in the Skills Competition.
As for the game, some people thought it might actually be a game with a pro team against the AHL team, and well, that idea lasted for about…12 minutes as the AHL would roar out to a 3-0 lead, 4-0 after one. Cody Goloubef was the only Falcon player to pick up a point when he got an assist on the AHL’s fourth goal. With only 1:23 remaining, Cody fired a slap shot that, at least to the play by play guy appeared to be Cody’s goal but it would later be changed to Travis Morin of the Texas Stars. The AHL won the game 7-2 . Cody earned the one assist and was a +2; Frederic St. Denis earned a game high(tied) +3.
When the Falcons got back to work (winter storm be darned) it was a three in three homestand welcoming Hartford, Bridgeport and Worchester. Starting off on Friday against the Wolfpack, the Falcons opened the scoring when Jacques-Francois Jacques banged home the rebound of a Jonathan Marchessault shot to make it 1-0 Falcons. After that, it was all Pack as they scored four straight before Michael Chaput made it 4-2 off a pretty passing play with Marchessault finding Chaput in front. The Falcons allowed an empty net goal in the 5-2 loss with Mike McKenna making 18 saves including a penalty shot goal in the third.
The next night went a lot like the night before with the Falcons taking a first period lead before allowing three straight. The Falcons goal came off a Tim Erixon blast after some passing with Michael Chaput. Early in the second period, the Falcons scored when Andrew Joudrey deflected a Cody Goloubef point shot and almost incited a Cody Bass fight as he celebrated the goal (watch the highlight he should’ve gave the guy two shots in the arm “two for flinching”). The Falcons allowed two more goals including another penalty shot to fall 5-2. Jeremy Smith got the start but was pulled after allowing three goals on 10 shots in 12:17 of work. Mike McKenna stopped 18 of 20 the rest of the way.
To finish the weekend, the Falcons got off the schneid when they picked up a win over Worchester with one Falcon having a career first. In the first, after Dalton Prout demolished Jimmy Bonneau in a fight, Michael Chaput fired a shot that bounced off the backwall. Tim Erixon gathered the puck and passed it back to Chaput who waited and snapped a shot over the goalie’s shoulder to make it 1-0. In the second period, Trent Vogelhuber stole the puck and found a streaking Chaput who fired a shot to make it 2-0. Two minutes later the Sharks would strike but the Falcons would continue to battle. In the third, Jonathan Marchessault took a long pass from Paul Thompson that sent J_M off to the races for his 14th of the season. Late in the third Trent Vogelhuber gathered a loose puck and found Chaput for a two on one with Ryan Craig but the veteran captain wouldn’t even have his stick on the ice before saying “take it kid” which Chaput did for his first pro hat trick. Mike McKenna made 29 saves in the 4-1 victory – his 14th of the season.
The next week the Falcons opened against the Manchester Monarchs in a match-up of two of the Eastern Conference’s top teams. Paul Thompson opened the scoring when Sean Collins threw the puck in front where Darryl Boyce drove to the net allowing Thompson to tap in the rebound. Boyce then struck on a shorthanded breakaway. The Monarchs scored twice to tie it. Paul Thompon deflected a knuckleball of a point shot to make it 3-2 but late in the third the Monarchs would again tie it. The game went to a shootout where Andrew Joudrey and Jonathan Marchessault would score to clinch the victory, Mike McKenna made 38 saves in the game and stopped all four shooters in the shootout for the win.
Next up, the Falcons and WolfPack got together and the sparks would fly – Darryl Boyce got into a fight two seconds into the game. As for hockey happening, Ryan Craig opened the scoring when Trent Vogelhuber won a puck battle and found Craig at the blueline. The captain streaked in to the zone and snapped a shot to make it 1-0. After a Pack goal, with the Falcons on the power play, Tim Erixon skated in before sending a crosscrease pass to Jean Francois Jacques to make it 2-1. Five minutes later, after a board battle, Austin Madaisky got a loose puck at the blueline and fired a blast to make it 3-1 with his third of the season. The Falcons allowed three goals in just under three minutes to fall 4-3. Mike McKenna would make 19 saves in the loss.
To close out this stretch the Falcons faced the Norfolk Admirals. The Admirals went into the first intermission with a 2-0 lead before Darryl Boyce snapped a shot from the slot to make it 2-1. Midway through the third, Sean Collins deflected an Andrew Joudrey shot after Collins started the sequence by bringing the puck in. The Falcons allowed a goal six minutes later giving the Admirals a 3-2 win. Jeremy Smith made 22 saves in the loss.
Earlier in the week the Falcons made a trade sending big winger Tim Miller to the San Antonio Rampage for defenseman Denny Urban, Urban is a dynamic offensive defenseman who before playing at Robert Morris University (where he is the all-time leading scorer for defenseman) played for the Ohio Junior Blue Jackets but like Carter Camper he didn’t play in any of the Falcons games after being acquired – not sure of a reason.
Oscar Dansk-Erie Otters (OHL)
Season Stats 34GP 23-9-1 2.36GAA .913Sv% 6SO
After two games off, Oscar returned to the Otters’ crease making 19 saves in a 3-1 win over Barrie, here are his postgame comments. After a night off, Oscar had a rough one allowing six goals on 31 shots – only the eighth time this season he’d allowed more than three goals in a 6-3 loss to Kitchener. In the Otters next game, Oscar took the loss in a 2-0 loss to North Bay. The Otters next game was rescheduled after a rink tech dug too deep while drilling the holes for the net and hit the coolant line. Oscar started the team’s next game against the Soo stopping 26 of 32 in 43:32 of work, not that backup Devin Williams didn’t fare much better allowing a goal 11 seconds into his time and stopping only three of five in a 8-2 loss.
Kerby Rychel-Guelph Storm (OHL)
Season Stats 48GP 27-49-76 +33 34PIM
Kerby and the Storm just keep rolling along with a point streak that coincides with a Storm winning streak. Starting off against the Soo, Kerby picked up an assist when he gathered a loose puck and fired a backhand pass that Justin Auger corralled, then fired with Pius Suter collecting the rebound to make it 4-3 (OHL highlights). The Storm added an empty net goal to make it 5-3 (Soo Highlights). Up next was a game against Saginaw and fellow Jacket prospect Nick Moutrey. In the 6-4 Storm victory, Kerby picked up his 13th multi-point game in his 18 games since joining the Storm. Kerby was named 3rd star and collected a goal and three assists (sorry folks, again, no highights).
After a night off, another game against a Jackets prospects was on tap with the Storm travelling to Plymouth for a game against Gianluca Curcuruto and the Whalers. Late in the first, Robby Fabbri had the puck at the wall and passed into the center where Kerby tapped it back to Nick Ebert. Ebert’s point shot bounced into the corner where Fabbri collected it and tapped it past the Whalers goalie. In the second period with the Storm up 4-1, Kerby scored the Storm’s winning goal when he took a pass from Nick Ebert in the slot and unleashed a rocket to make it 5-1. The Storm won the game 9-3.
Up next – a game against Kerby’s old team the Windsor Spitfires and it was a big one for Kerby. With Guelph up 2-1, Kerby had a two on two with Robby Fabbri. Kerby passed to Fabbri who had a wide open net to shoot into. Late in the second again, Fabbri and Rychel teamed up with Kerby finishing after Zack Mitchell passed to Fabbri who found Kerby at the goal line. This is not a recording but it would be Mitchell who would shoot into an open net again as Kerby got the puck at the boards and passed to Fabbri who passed through a Windsor defender to Mitchell who finished. To close out the scoring, with the Storm leading 5-4, off a feed from Fabbri Kerby drove tothe net with Nick Ebert picking up the rebound to secure the win. Kerby was named first star in the win. Kerby ultimately had his seven game point streak snapped in a 6-3 loss to Nick a Moutrey and the Spirit. During his point streak Kerby collected 17 points including two four point games.
Josh Anderson-London Knights (OHL)
Season Stats 51GP 23-22-45 +25 72PIM
Josh and the Knights opened last week against the Sarnia Sting and, well. it was ugly for the Sting as the Knights put 11 on them. Josh struck early while the game was within reach. With the Knights leading 1-0, Josh worked a cycle with the Rupert Boys and dropped a pass to Matt who passed to twin brother Ryan who found Josh in front to snap a shot to make it 2-0. Later with the Knights leading 10-0, Josh passed the puck to Ryan Rupert who shot with Matt picking up the rebound to make it 11-0.
The next night was the rematch and it was more of the same – but hey, the Sting at least scored a few goals in one of the defense optional games I bring up from time to time. Early in the second period with the game tied at two, Josh hustled and gathered the puck to get it to Matt Rupert who tried to pass it to Ryan but a Sting defender blocked it directing the puck straight to the big Russian Nikita Zadorov to make it 3-2. After another Zadorov goal, Josh deflected a Brady Austin point shot to make it 5-2 and Josh’s 11th power play goal out of his 22. The Knights would win the game 9-5.
Josh would be held scoreless in a 6-3 win over Oshawa.
Next up was a trip to Windsor and the game in which the Spits honored the memory of Captain Mickey Renaud who passed away six years ago. It’s not shown in the highlights but Josh had an assist on Max Domi’s goal that made it 2-1 Knights. Early in the second Josh struck when Matt Rupert sent a cross-crease pass to Josh having almost an empty net to shoot into. The Knights would win the game 6-5 in overtime.
The Knights next game would be against the Ottawa 67s with Josh having another big night. Josh picked up an assist on Gemel Smith’s opening goal when he whacked at it before Smith finished the play. After a 67s goal, Josh picked up another assist when he passed the puck to Max Domi to make it 2-1. In the third, Josh had a two on two shorthanded break in which Josh did most of the work before Ryan Rupert gathered a loose puck and snapped a shot to make it 4-3 in a 6-3 victory. Josh would be held pointless in a 4-3 win over Plymouth.
Gianluca Curcuruto-Plymouth Whalers (OHL)
Season Stats 49GP 6-17-23 -12 14PIM
Gianluca opened last week being held pointless in a shootout loss to Saginaw but picked up an assist in the team’s next game. In the game against Kitchener, Gianluca scored the Whalers’ only goal on their 39th shot. Gianluca started the rush by getting the puck and dumping it with another Whaler chasing it into the corner who found Gianluca. He faked a shot and snapped the puck past the Rangers’ goalie through traffic. The Whalers would win the game 2-1 in a shootout with Gianluca being named the Labatt Blue Collar Player of the Game. Gianluca was held scoreless in a 9-3 loss to Guelph. In the team’s next game, Gianluca picked up an assist off a bit of passing with Zach Lorentz finishing it. The Whalers won the game 5-1. Up next was a game against Sarnia. In the 3-2 win Gianluca had an assist but you can’t see it in the highlights. Gianluca was held without a point in a 4-3 loss to London.
Nick Moutrey-Saginaw Spirit (OHL)
Season Stats 60GP 15-20-35 +10 69PIM
Early in the week Saginaw source Cory Butzin wrote an article about Nicks unique skill set. As far as play, Nick picked up an assist on Dylan Sadowy’s 21st goal of the season to tie it at two 1:02 into the third of a 3-2 shootout win.(That link shows the highlights but its dark and no sound).
Up next was a game against Guelph. Nick scored his 14th goal to make it 5-2 Storm. Nick was held scoreless in the Spirit’s next two games; but for the Spirit’s next game against Owen Sound I have highlights!!!! With the Attack leading 1-0, Nick skated the puck around the net and got it out to Sean Callaghan whose point shot was deflected by Justin Kea to make it 2-1. The Spirit won the game 5-2. Also in the 5-2 victory, Nick took on Kurtis “The Sledgehammer” Gabriel and all I can say is Kurtis must’ve given himself that name because I give the decision to Nick in this bout. To close out the weeks, Nick and the Spirit faced off against Kerby Rychel and the Guelph Storm. In the 6-3 Spirit win Nick scored his 15th goal of the season on an empty net goal with 1:14 remaining.
Peter Quenneville-Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)
Season Stats 42GP 16-29-45 -15 10PIM
Peter and the Kings opened last week in Medicine Hat for a game against the Tigers with Peter picking up an assist on Brandon’s only goal in a 5-1 loss (don’t see it in the highlight). Up next was a game against the garbage fire that is the Lethbridge Hurricanes- a team that’s last in the WHL and has had numerous players either ask for trade or just flat out leave. In the 3-2 overtime loss, Peter picked up an assist on the opening goal off a three on two when he took a pass from Tim McCauley with Peter passing it to Richard Nejezchleb to finish it to make it 1-0. Peter was held scoreless in the Wheat Kings’ next three games and suffered an injury in a loss to Regina resulting in him missing the team’s next three games.
Oliver Bjorkstrand-Portland Winterhawks (WHL)
Season Stats 60GP 43-53-96 +32 30PIM
Oliver and the Hawks just keep rolling along. Opening up against Prince George on BC Family Day -Oliver would score his 39th goal of the season when Taylor Leier skated out of the corner, took a backhand shot that Oliver picked up to make it 3-1 in a 8-4 victory. Two days later in the rematch Oliver opened the scoring 2:05 into the game when he took a pass from Taylor Leier behind the net for his 40th. Midway through the third Oliver fought off a Cougar defender and sent a crossrink pass to Chase De Leo who shot with Taylor Leier picking up the rebound to make it 6-4.
Up next was a game against Kamloops. In the 7-4 Hawks win, Oliver picked up an assist when he took a pass from Nic Petan. Oliver raced in and gathered the puck to find Leier in front to make it 5-2. To close out last week against Vancouver, Oliver picked up three assists. First with the Hawks leading 2-0, Oliver passed to Derrick Pouliot at the point who passed to Brendan Leipsec who got credit despite it looking like Petan’s goal. Later with the Hawks up 5-0, Oliver found Leipsec down low. He’d pass it to Nic Petan to make it 6-0. To finish out his three point night, Oliver worked a shorthanded two on one with Pierre Turgeon’s son Dominic. Dominic shot into a wide open net to make it 7-1 in a 7-4 victory.
Up next was another game against the Prince George Cougars with Oliver being part of three of the Hawks five goals in the 5-1 win. Oliver struck with only 11 seconds left in the first when Matthew Dumba skated around the net and passed to Nic Petan who found Oliver in front to make it 1-1. In the third, Oliver gathered a loose puck and took a shot that the goalie challenged leaving a wide open net for Keegan Iverson to tap it into. Three minutes later, Oliver passed to Derrick Pouliot whose blast would make it 4-1.
In a win over Kamloops Oliver picked up another assist on what seems to be a set play with Oliver finding Nic Petan behind the net who then found Leipsec to make it 4-2.
Portland took on the Prince Albert Raiders next with Oliver putting up another three point game. The Raiders had a 2-0 lead when Oliver passed the puck to Keoni Texeira. His point shot was deflected by Chase De Leo. Late in the second period Oliver scored on the rebound of a Chase De Leo shot right off the faceoff to make it 5-2 Hawks. To close out the scoring Oliver passed the puck to Brendan Leipsec – he waited and passed to a net crashing Nic Petan who notched a goal to clinch the 6-3 win. Oliver was named second star in the win. The three point night gave Oliver a new Winterhawks import player points record with 95 points in 59 games beating the record set by Flames first rounder Sven Baertschi who had 94 in 47 games. Here are Oliver’s post game comments.
To close out the week and go for 20 wins in a row, the Winterhawks took on the Everett Silvertips. After being scoreless through two periods the Tips scored seven seconds in before Oliver scored seven minutes later to tie it. The Hawks outshot Everett 18-4 in the third and 4-0 in overtime. The game went to a shootout where Oliver would be the only player to score. During the team’s 20 game winning streak Oliver has scored 16 goals to go along with 21 assists for 37 points including 13 multipoint games.
Quickly, the Swift Current Broncos did a player profile on Dillon Heatherington which you can find here along with this piece here showing Dillon with a little Swift Currentian (Swift Currentite?) at a team appearance. In the next few weeks The Hockey News’ Future Watch will be coming out and it appears Alexander Wennberg should be one of the top prospects in hockey. Joonas Korpisalo made it into one of Ilves’ games and made 56 saves in a 4-2 victory over Jokerit (the very team that loaned him to the Lynxes). According to the Liiga site, Joonas is 2-1 in five games with a .97 goals against and a .973 save percentage and a shutout.
Martin Ouellette-Maine Black Bears (Hockey East)
Season Stats 29GP 14-11-4 2.16GAA .929Sv% 3SO
First some awards: despite going 1-1 the week before Martin was named Hockey East Co-Defensive Player of the Week after having a 2.01GAA and a .949 save percentage. If you take out a 24 second sequence, Martin stopped 75 of 77 shots on the weekend. As for game action, Martin went 2-0 in a sweep over Merrimack stopping 43 of 46 in 2-1 win on Friday and a 3-2 win on Saturday having faced 23 shots in each game. As for the next week, against Providence, Martin made 27 saves in a 4-4 tie on Friday night. In the Saturday night game Martin made 33 saves in a 4-3 loss.
Seth Ambroz-Minnesota Golden Gophers (Big 10)
Season Stats 30GP 13-6-19 +5 20
Seth was the only Jackets prospect to pick up a point in the Gophers series with Michigan when he scored the game winner in the Gophers 5-3 victory on Friday night. With the Gophers leading 3-1 Seth deflected a Sam Warning shot to make it 4-1 on his third power play goal of the season. Seth was held pointless in a 4-1 Gopher win on Saturday. Quickly a blogger I follow wrote up what he thought Team USA would have looked like had the NHL not went and instead went with a roster of NCAA and CHL players with Mike Reilly being listed as one of the team’s extra defenseman.
TJ Tynan-Notre Dame Fighting Irish (Hockey East)
Season Stats 33GP 8-23-31 +9 22PIM
Last week TJ and the Irish faced off against the Providence Friars with Tynan scoring a goal and adding an assist. In the second period with the Irish trailing 1-0 TJ took a penalty and, after serving it, Vince Hinostroza found Tynan streaking in. He immediately snapped a shot past the Friars goalie to make it 1-1. TJ’s assist came off a faceoff win when he got the puck to Stephen Johns whose point shot was deflected by Sam Herr. The Irish allowed a goal 1:01 later to tie the game with it ending in a 2-2 tie. TJ was held scoreless in a 3-0 win over the Friars on Saturday. In TJ’s final regular season home series against Boston University TJ was pointless in a pair of 2-0 wins.
Daniel Zaar-Rogle (Allsvenskan)
Season Stats 48GP 15-18-33 -6 24PIM
After a 10 day break, Allsvenskan got back on track to close out the season. Daniel had a three game point streak snapped after going pointless in a 5-1 loss to Malmo. In his next game, a 4-2 victory over Oskarshamn, Daniel picked up an assist when he got the puck to Victor Berglind whose point shot was deflected by Dennis Everberg to make it 4-2. Up next in a game against Vasteras, Daniel scored Rogle’s opening goal. With Rogle trailing 2-0 in the second Daniel took a shot and Jakob Johansson gathered the rebound, getting it back to Daniel who fired a laser to make it 2-1. Sadly Rogle would fall 3-2 but Daniel would be named first star in the loss.
Daniel was held scoreless in a win over Almtuna but he did have a goal and an assist in an overtime loss to Mora. In the third, with Rogle trailing, Daniel won a board battle and got the puck to Dennis Everberg who found Robin Sterner in front to make it 3-2. Two minutes later Daniel struck after working a pretty passing play and finding a wide open net to shoot into to tie the game. Rogle would fall 4-3 in overtime with Daniel being named second star in the loss. Daniel and the whole team were held pointless in a 5-0 loss to Timra.
Markus Soberg-Frolunda J20
Season Stats 11GP5-3-8 +6 10PIM
Markus picked up an assist in a 3-2 loss to HV71 and scored his 5th goal of the season in a 4-3 win over Linkopings. Markus was held without a point in a 7-4 win over HV71.
There you have it folks – the last two weeks in CBJ Prospect land. Again, I apologize for the delay. As for next week, some NCAA teams will be playing their final games of the regular season and it will also be the final two games of the KHL season for Marko Dano and HC Slova Bratislava. Now unlike every other league in the world, the 11th place EaglePenguins will get to play for the Nadezhda Cup which is for the teams that didn’t make the playoffs. One site says the Cup winner gets to pick first in the KHL draft but it appears the team that won it last year didn’t pick first so hopefully I’ll figure this out (the joys of new leagues I have to follow).
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