We’re back with another week of Prospect updates!
Starting off in Springfield, the team went 1-2-0-1 last week starting off on Monday in a MLK Day matinee with Adirondack. The Falcons opened the scoring seven minutes into the second when Jean-Francois Jacques received a pass from Spencer Machacek to make it 1-0. Four minutes later, Jacques worked a two on one with Lukas Sedlak with Lukas finishing it for his sixth of the season. Six minutes later, Cody Goloubef stole the puck and was off to the races on a breakaway converting for his sixth. A minute later Michael Chaput took a pass from Goloubef. Chaput was able to get behind the Phantoms defense to make it 4-0 Falcons. The Phantoms scored midway through the third but couldn’t beat the baby birds. Mike McKenna made 30 saves in the victory.
Next up was a trip to Hartford with the Falcons falling to the Pack for the first time in seven tries this season. Michael Chaput and Tim Erixon scored in the 5-2 loss – a game that included allowing a goal seven seconds into the game. Jeremy Smith only made it 23:34 into the game – he allowed four goals and stopped only 11 of 15. Mike McKenna stopped 21 in relief but the team would allow an empty net goal.
In a game against Bridgeport, Jack Skille scored off the rebound of a Ryan Craig shot but the Falcons fell 3-1 with Mike McKenna making 25 saves and the team also allowed an empty net goal.
To close out the week, Sunday was a game against Portland. Sean Collins opened the scoring 1:26 into the first when he deflected a Jonathan Marchessault shot to make it 1-0. After that the Pirates scored two goals in three minutes. 26 seconds after the Pirates second goal, Sean Collins won a board battle and got the puck out to Michael Chaput who fired a one timer from the circle. 10 minutes later with the Falcons on the power play, Ryan Craig took a pass from Blake Parlett below the goal line and then sent a pass out to Jack Skille who fired a shot to make it 3-2 Falcons. The Falcons would allow a goal midway through the second to tie it at three. The game went to a shootout with Miami product Andy Miele winning it in the fifth round. Jack Skille was the only Falcon to score in the shootout. Jeremy Smith stopped 21 of 24 and three of five in the 4-3 shootout loss.
Oscar Dansk-Erie Otters (OHL)
Season Stats 28GP 21-5-1-0 2.12GAA .921Sv% 6SO
Oscar and the Otters went 1-1 last week with another game being cancelled due to weather. It was a rough week for Oscar who allowed eight goals in two games after allowing eight goals in his last seven games. Starting off against Niagara, Oscar stopped 17 of 21 in a 4-3 loss which was the Otters first two game losing streak of the season. Saturday’s game against Belleville was cancelled but Sunday’s game against Oshawa would go on with Oscar making 22 saves in a 4-3 victory. Oscar allowed three goals in the third period after the Otter held on to a 3-1 lead going into the second intermission.
Kerby Rychel-Guelph Storm
Season Stats 38GP 21-35-56 +25 23PIM
Kerby and the Storm played two games last week with one postponed due to the weather. On Friday against Owen Sound, with the Storm leading 2-1 and playing shorthanded, Kerby gathered a loose puck at the redline and then skated in to slide the puck to Pias Suter for Suter’s seventh of the season. Later, Kerby worked a tic tac toe play with Robby Fabbri and Zack Mitchell with Mitchell finishing it for his 20th. Kerby was named third star in the 4-2 victory.
To close out the week the Storm had a game against fellow Jackets prospect Nick Moutrey and the Saginaw Spirit. The 4-2 victory was a game that the Storm Beat writer Tony Saxon said was Kerby’s best game in a Storm uniform. The Jackets prospect scored two goals and added an assist. Kerby got the puck from Zac Leslie and performed a spin move to find Robby Fabbri (who the Storm’s TV host think the CBJ should draft due to his chemistry with Kerby) to make it 1-0. Kerby gave the Storm a 2-1 lead when he got credit for redirecting a point shot for his 20th goal of the season. That goal earned Kerby the honor of being the Storm’s fifth 20 goal scorer. After Nick Moutrey scored (more on that later) Kerby struck again. After a pretty bit of passing from the Storm, Kerby banged home the rebound of a Robby Fabbri shot to make it 3-2 Storm. The goal also marked Kerby’s first game winning goal of the season. Kerby was named first star in the 4-2 win. The win clinched the Storm a playoff spot – their 22 appearance of the franchise’s 23 seasons including 22 in a row. Here are Kerby’s postgame comments from after the game.
Josh Anderson-London Knights (OHL)
Season Stats 39GP 19-14-33 +15 59PIM
An account I follow for Knights stuff believed the struggling Knights, who were losers in five of their last six, needed to finally name a captain (despite only having 20-some games left) and on Tuesday they did naming forward Chris Teirney captain with Josh and three other players being named alternates. In the teams first game with the captain the team demolished Sarnia 8-1 with Josh scoring to make it 2-0 when Josh banging home the rebound of Max Domi shot. Later in the game Josh earned an assist on Gemel Smith’s goal to make it 8-1 when he took a pass and then worked on a two on two with Smith. Smith tipped it past the Sting’s goalie for the point. Josh was named third star in the win. Next up a game against Kitchener that resulted in another blowout. With the Knights leading 3-1 Josh tipped a Dakota Mermis point shot to make it 4-1. The Knights would go on to win 6-1.
Gianluca Curcuruto-Plymouth Whalers (OHL)
Season Stats 37GP 4-11-15 -9 10PIM
Gianluca was held scoreless in the Whalers first two games last week before scoring his first goal since December 11th in a loss to Sarnia. In the 6-2 loss Gianluca scored to make it 5-2 in a 6-2 Whalers loss.
Nick Moutrey-Saginaw Spirit (OHL)
Season Stats 48GP 12-15-27 +3 54PIM
A busy week for Nick and the Spirit as the team had four games last week and they went 1-3 with the win coming in a shootout against Sudbury. Nick scored his 12th goal of the season in a loss to Kerby Rychel and the Guelph Storm. In the first period with the Spirit trailing 2-1 a Guelph defender tried and cleared the puck when Dylan Sadowy found Nick in slot. Nick was able to shoot and pick up his own rebound to tie the game at two.
Peter Quenneville-Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)
Season Stats 30GP 14-21-35 -8 6PIM
Peter and the Wheat Kings keep rolling along with Peter picking up three points in the past week. Starting off against Swift Current, Peter picked up an assist when he got the puck down low to Richard Nejezchleb who found Tim McGauley in front to make it 2-0 Kings. Ultimately the Kings would fall 4-3 on a overtime penalty shot. Up next was a game against Prince George. Peter opened and closed the scoring of the 6-3 victory. 5:51 into the first, with the Kings on the power play, Peter took a pass from Nejezchleb who was behind the net and then slammed it home for his 13th. Late in the third Peter scored his second of the game when he got the puck at the redline and fired a shot to make it 6-3 on Matt Calvert bobblehead night.
Oliver Bjorkstrand-Portland Winterhawks (WHL)
Season Stats 46GP 30-36-66 +21 20PIM
Oliver and the Winterhawks added to their winning streak by going 2-0 last week. Starting off against Vancouver, Oliver picked up two assists. Late in the first – Oliver got the puck back to Derrick Pouliot who switched sides with Matt Dumba. Dumba fired a blast to make it 2-1. Late in the game Oliver got the puck to Brendan Leipsec who skated in and scored into an empty net making it 5-2. Oliver was held scoreless in a 5-1 win over Everett.
Martin Ouellette-Maine Black Bears
Season Stats 23GP 11-9-3 .930Sv% 2.08GAA 3SO
This week Martin and the Black Bears took on New Hampshire and earned a split. Friday night Martin made 24 saves in 3-2 loss. Saturday in the rematch, Martin made 23 saves in a 4-2 victory. Martin now has 11 wins this season adding to his career high.
Seth Ambroz, Mike Reilly-Minnesota Golden Gophers (Big 10)
Season Stats SA: 24GP 11-6-17 +7 16PIM MR: 24GP 8-12-20 +17 12PIM
Mike and Seth took part in the inaugural North Star College Cup and the Gophers would win the tournament. First on Friday against St Cloud, Seth was held scoreless but Mike added to his season totals. In the second period with the Gophers on the power play, following a bit of a scrambling sequence Mike got the puck to Nate Condon who waited and fired a shot to make it 2-1 Gophers. Four minutes later with the Gophers again on the power play, Mike passed to Travis Boyd who fired a slapshot that was stopped but the rebound got to Hudson Fasching who made it 3-1 Gophers. The Gophers would go on to win the game 4-1.
In the final against Minnesota-Duluth, the Jacket prospects would have big nights. Starting off in the first with the Gophers trailing 2-1, Seth picked up an assist on Nate Condon’s goal when Condon tipped in the rebound off a scramble in front. Seth had an interview during the second intermission where he talked about what the Gophers needed to do. Mike then got in on the act very early in the third when, with the Gophers on the power play, he fired a shot that freshman Hudson Fasching picked up off the rebound to make it 3-2. After a Bulldogs goal just a minute later that tied the game, the Gophers struck again. Again with the Gophers on the power play, Mike faked a shot and made some pretty moves to get the puck to Travis Boyd who fired a shot for his eighth of the season.
The Bulldogs struck again six minutes later to tie it at four. The fun thing about these new tournaments is sometimes even the coaches don’t know how overtime works – the Bulldogs coach noted they didn’t know until their game went to OT on Friday. So the game went down as a tie in the standings but since its a tournament we need a winner and this would be decided by a shootout (don’t boo I didn’t decide this). After the Bulldogs shooter missed, Kyle Rau shot and scored with the second Bulldog shooter also missing. Up next for the Gophers was Seth (I was shocked to read this as most of Seth’s goals are either deflections or empty netters but anyhoo) Seth skated in and faked out Crandall by firing a backhand and clinching the tournament championship for the Gophers (look close you see Mike has quite a grip on Seth in the team photo). Mike actually was going to shoot third if needed.
Alexander Wennberg-Frolunda (SHL)
Season Stats 38GP 15-4-19 -4 8PIM
Alexander and the Indians went 1-1-0-1 last week with Alexander scoring his 15th goal of the season in a loss to Leksands. Alexander was held without a point in a shootout loss to MODO and again in a win over AIK. In the game against Leksands, with the Indians trailing 2-0, they went on the power play. That was when Team Sweden teammate Sebastian Collberg fired a shot that bounced off Alexander and fell behind the Leksands goaltender to make it 2-1. Quickly in off ice antics/for a good cause Alexander and his teammates got crafty against cancer (NSFW Language).
Daniel Zaar-Rogle BK (Allsvenskan)
Season Stats 40GP 12-15-27 +3 22PIM
Daniel and Rogle went 2-0 last week with one win coming by a shootout where Daniel was the star. In the 2-1 win over Djurgarden, Daniel scored the game winner in the shootout. For some reason in Allsvenskan the shootout goal counted towards Daniel’s season total. Andreas Holm, who helps me with Rogle stuff, believes it was because it was the game winner. Daniel was held scoreless in a win over Bjorkloven.
Quick in transaction news: Rogle/Swedish source Johan Svensson reported that Frolunda was looking into signing Daniel for next season similar to how they added Alexander Wennberg this season after a successful season in Allsvenskan. According to the article it sounds like Frolunda wanted to add Daniel earlier this season but it fell through.
Markus Soberg-Frolunda J20 Team
SuperElit Stats 6GP 3-2-5 +4 0PIM
The little Indians just keep rolling along going 1-0 last week, in the 5-2 win over Rogle, Markus open the scoring midway through the second period. That’s all the update I could gather from our Swedish friends.
There you have it folks another week in the world of Blue Jackets prospects-catch you all again next week!
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