Well Folks I started off the season keeping track of 21 prospects across the globe and now we’re down to two. The only prospects left are both from the QMJHL and will be playing in the Memorial Cup. Michael Chaput and the Shawinigan Cataractes are the hosts and earned a bye and have been off since April 18 when they lost in the second round, the other one is Saint John Sea Dogs goaltender Mathieu Corbeil who is back in the Cup after serving as Jacob Deserres’ backup. Corbeil is the third CBJ draft pick or prospect to play in multiple Memorial Cups joining Phillipe Dupuis who played in three(03,04,06) and Brent Regner who played in two(06,07). But enough with the history lesson let’s get to it.
Petr Straka-Rimouski Oceanic(QMJHL)
Final Playoff Stats 21GP 10-12-22 -1 6PIM
Petr and the Oceanic took on the Saint Johns Sea Dogs in the QMJHL Final a series that Rimouski lost in four games. Petr provided almost half of the Nics(team nickname) goals scoring three of the team’s eight goals. In a game one double overtime loss Petr was held scoreless and was a -2. Game two was a quick episode of the Petr Straka show as he scored both of the Oceanic’s goals to make it interesting when they were trailing 3-0. Straka’s first goal(2;07) was pretty much a tap in when Mathieu Corbeil let out a small rebound but Straka was right in front. His second was “a goal scorer’s goal”(pays Bill Davidge a nickel-2:40 same video) when off a three on two rush Petr snapped a shot just over Corbeil’s shoulder. In game three when the series switched to Rimouski the Dogs were up 5-2 Straka scored a pretty one when he took a pass at the Blueline and curled in and shot a laser from the slot, the goal despite being a -3 earned Petr second star honors. As for game four…I’m gonna use the “if you cant say anything nice don’t say anything at all” defense, final score 8-0 Sea Dogs. Whats next for Petr i’m not sure what happens as I said in an earlier blog Petr is one of the prospects we must sign or he’ll reenter the draft.
Mathieu Corbeil-Saint John Sea Dog(QMJHL)
Final QMJHL Playoff Stats 17GP 16-0-1 .916SV% 2.17GAA 1SO 0-1-1
Mathieu Corbeil played started and won all four games of the final only allowing more than two goals once. Game one was his busiest games of the season when he stopped 40 of 42 in a double overtime win. The next game I heard Mathieu brought a lawn chair out at times because he only faced 16 stopping 14. In between games two and three Mathieu got a little more hardware when he was named CHL Goaltender of the week because of his 2-0 record with a .931 save percentage and a 1.60 GAA. Back to the series game four was not Mathieu’s best when he allowed four goals on 27 shots in a 6-4 win. Now remember what I said about game four in Straka’s recap well this will be the exact opposite as Mathieu posted his second career playoff shutout with a 8-0 win(celebration gif) making 24 saves but was not named a star(ok I understand the two guys with five points as stars one and two but a guy with just a goal and assist over a shutout? booo). So its off to Shawinigan to take part in the Memorial Cup for the second straight year. I think I said this awhile ago that a win will give Dogs fans some closure as they thought they had the tournament host spot locked last year but the selection committee decided that the Cataractes deserved this putting a bad taste in Sea Dog’s fans mouths. The other teams in the Cup are the host Cataractes that I mentioned the OHL champs the London Knights who won it in 2005 and the WHL Champs the Edmonton Oil Kings who have only been around since 2006 and before this season had never even won a playoff game(see there’s hope CBJ fans).
Oliver Gabriel-Portland Winterhawks(WHL)
Final Playoff Stats 17GP 6-3-9 +5 12PIM
Oliver Gabriel played his last WHL/CHL games ever in the Winterhawks seven game series loss to the Edmonton Oil Kings. Oliver also played some of his best hockey scoring five of his nine points in the finals. The teams split games one and two with Oliver having an assist on Taylor Peters first of the playoffs. In game three scored on what I call a interrupted breakaway when he got the puck just before his own blueline before passing to Tyler Wotherspoon then tapping it through the Oil Kings goalies legs for his third(1:40 in) of the playoffs. Oliver would be held scoreless in games four and five both Oil Kings wins. In game six much like Petr Straka earlier in the playoffs put a Jackets’ prospect on national TV theyll put up points. In the 3-2 Hawks win Oliver scored two goals including the game winner. Oliver’s first goal was pretty easy when he took a pass from a falling/tripped Cam Reid leaving him with a mostly empty net to shoot into. His second was a pretty one when he took a pass from Reid again and blasted it over Laurent Broissoit’s shoulder to clinch it with just a little over two minutes left. In game seven Oliver would score the Winterhawks only goal(1:16) in a 4-1 loss when he took a pass from Cam Reid(Again?) and fought off two Oil Kings to slide it around Broissoit. Oliver will be back in Springfield next season but this time for the whole season as he can’t play in the WHL anymore. In four seasons in the dub Oliver played in 171 games scoring 47 goals and adding 62 assists for 109 points and was a +28, Oliver also played in 30 playoff games scoring 15 points(8-7-15).
Mike Reilly-Penticton Vees(BCHL)
RBC Cup Stats 6GP 1-3-4 2PIM
Mike and the Vees took part in the RBC Cup the junior A version of the Memorial Cup, this was the first time the Vees have won the event since 1986 when they were the Penticton Knights and it was the Centennial Cup. Starting off in the round robin portion the Vees started off 0-2 losing to the Soo Thunderbirds despite outshooting them 45-15 then lost in overtime to the host Humboldt Broncos Mike was scoreless in the first two games. In the teams’s third game against the Woodstock Slammers Mike would pick up a assist on the game winning goal when his point shot was redirected(audio 1:24 in) by Joey Benik. Then in the final game of the round robin against Portage Mike would score his first(2:28) of the tournament with his almost usual a blast from the point on the power play sealing the Vees spot in the semifinals when he made it 3-1. In the semifinals the Vees got a bit of revenge when they got to face the Soo Thunderbirds this time blanking them with a 3-0 victory Mike was scoreless in the win. So it was off to the championship game to face the Woodstock Slammers, in the win Mike had two assists in the first period of the 4-3 win that was clinched with 51 seconds left. After various celebrations and award ceremonies Mike is off to join fellow Jackets draft pick Seth Ambroz at the University of Minnesota.
As usual ill be back next week with a Memorial Cup recap and then my last post until after the draft(maybe before you never know). I havent heard if NHL Network will be showing the games ill let you know. Also ill have an update on how Thomas Larkin and Italy did at the World Championships.
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