Hello all sorry for the delay on updates, here. Either wordpress or my computer decided to crash just as I was about to finish last week’s review and since it was Sunday afternoon I decided to combine all the content and do one of my two week updates.
Starting off in Springfield as we always do, the Falcons opened up against the Hartford Wolfpack. Early in the first, Sean Collins got the puck from a board battle and drove to the net to make it 1-0. The Pack scored next before Dominic Monardo got on the board late in the second. Oscar Lindberg got the Pack’s next two goals including the overtime winner. In the loss Oscar Dansk made 24 saves.
Next, the Portland Pirates came to town for the Falcons annual Pink in the Rink Night. Early in the second Michael Chaput picked up the garbage on a Luke Adam shot but just 11 seconds later the Pirates tied it up. Later in the second the Falcons struck when Corey Cowick scored off a backhand to give the Falcons a lead that would last for about seven minutes before the Pirates would score. The Pirates scored again midway through the third to earn a 3-2 win. In the loss Scott Munroe made 24 saves.
To close out last week the Falcons welcomed the Albany Devils with the Falcons taking an early lead off a Thomas Larkin point shot. Later in the first, the Falcons added to their lead when Sean Collins deflected a TJ Tynan shot. Early in the second, Brian Gibbons scored off a shot from the right circle. In the third period the Devils scored two goals in a 1:16 span before Gibbons got his second of the night when he deflected an Austin Madaisky point shot. In the victory Munroe made 39 saves.
The Falcons finished a seven game homestand with two games against Bridgeport. First up on Friday, the Falcons fell behind early before Tynan scored after starting the play as a two on one with Ryan Craig. After a scramble, TJ picked up the rebound of a Will Weber shot to tie the game. Mike Hoeffel would score early in the second before the Sound Tigers scored twice to take the lead and then the Falcons took over. Chaput added two third period goals with Dana Tyrell adding an empty net goal. Newly returned Anton Forsberg made 23 saves to snap a personal three game losing streak.
Up next in the rematch on Saturday it was all Falcons. Hoeffel opened the scoring with Collins scoring just moments later to make it 2-0. Chaput scored his third of the weekend when he tapped in a Monardo shot. Forsberg had 22 saves for his third shutout of the season.
The Falcons closed out the week with a 2-1 loss to Portland with Mike Hoeffel scoring the only goal. Anton Forsberg made 18 saves in the loss.
Blake Siebenaler-Niagara IceDogs (OHL) Season Stats 59GP 11-22-33 +2 23PIM Blake and the Dogs opened with some fun on President’s Day with their annual Family Day skills competition. During the event Blake won two events: the fastest skater competition with a lap of 14.87 seconds and the hardest shot with a blast registering 99 miles per hour.
As for game action, Blake opened without points in the team’s first two games before picking up two assists in what was a wild one against Nick Moutrey and the North Bay Battalion. In the 6-5 Dogs win, the Battalion roared out to a 3-0 lead before Blake picked up his first assist of the night. Blake stopped a Battalion clearing attempt and fired a shot that the Troops goalie would stop but Mikkel Aagaard (I’d like to buy a vowel) shot and scored for his ninth goal of the season. After a Battalion goal, the third period was almost all Dogs. Watching the highlights it appears to me Blake should’ve had three assists in this game but he didn’t earn one on Billy Jenkins goal (despite passing it to him before he shot it). After Jenkins’ goal, Blake earned one when he took a pass from goaltender Brent Moran, skated in and passed to Graham Knott who found a streaking in Ryan Mantha (Columbus Chill coach Moe’s nephew). Mantha’s blast made it 4-3 and the game ended with the Dogs picking up a 6-5 victory. Blake was held without a point in victories over Mississauga and North Bay. The win against North Bay – along with some help – clinched the Dogs a playoff spot.
Nick Moutrey-North Bay Battalion Season Stats 53GP 19-35-54 +15 48PIM Nick and the Troops would go up against the Peterborough Petes this week. Midway through the first, Nick scored his 17th goal of the season and set a new career high. Kyle Wood came out of a board battle and passed to Mike Amadio in the slot who passed to Nick at the doorstep who made it 1-0 in a 3-2 Petes win.
After a three game dry spell, Nick scored an empty net goal against Barrie to finish off the Troops 4-2 victory over the Colts. The goal came when Nick fired from the blueline after gathering a loose puck. The victory clinched the Battalion a playoff spot.
Up next it was off to Kitchener where Nick had another big night in green. In the first, Nick passed to Miles Liberati whose point shot was tipped to make it 2-1. Midway through the second, Nick Paul picked up the rebound and found Nick in front for his 18th goal of the season. Nick picked up his third point of the game by being part of a three on two with Brett McKenzie who finished the play. Nick was named second star in the win. Nick was held without a point against North Bay.
Sonny Milano-Plymouth Whalers (OHL) Season Stats 42GP 18-41-59 -14 22PIM Plymouth opened the stretch by playing the final games in the rivalry against the Windsor Spitfires. In a 3-1 Whalers win, Sonny picked up a goal and an assist and he was held pointless in the rematch. Sonny earned six points in two wins over Sarnia which were separated by a week. In both games, he scored two goals and four assists. In their third game in a row (first one with highlights) against the Sting, the teams decided to work on the power play with four of the games five goals being scored on the power play. In the Stings overtime win, Sonny picked up his 41st assist of the season. Sonny was held without a point in a 3-1 win over Ottawa.
Markus Soberg-Windsor Spitfires (OHL) Season Stats 54GP 13-16-29 -7 22PIM Markus only picked up two points during this stretch – scoring the opening goal in both games against Plymouth. Those goals turned out to be the only ones the Spitfires scored in each game – both Spitfire losses. After two games without a point, Markus earned an assist in a 4-2 loss to Sarnia.
Olivier LeBlanc-Cape Breton Screaming Eagles (QMJHL) Season Stats 53GP 4-24-28 +20 77PIM Olivier started the week by picking up an assist on Stephen Anderson’s goal in a 7-2 loss to Moncton before going without a point in the Eagles next five games. An article was written about how Olivier has fit in perfectly with the Eagles since being acquired.
Peter Quenneville-Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL) Season Stats 63GP 20-41-61 +19 18PIM Peter kept his goal scoring streak alive in a win over Regina when he fired a one timer to make it 1-0 in a 5-3 Wheat Kings win. Despite his goal scoring streak being snapped, Peter made an appearance on the scoresheet by picking up an assist in a 6-4 loss to Prince Albert. In the second period, Peter got the puck to Morgan Klimchuk who skated behind the net and found Tim McGauley for his 35th goal of the season that made it 4-2 Raiders.
Next against Saskatoon, Peter picked up an assist on Morgan Klimchuk’s goal that made it 1-1. Peter picked up another assist on Tim McGauley’s second goal of the game in a 7-3 win. In a 5-0 win over Medicine Hat, Peter collected an assist on the fifth when he skated in with Klimchuk and gathered the puck to find Ivan Provorov (on my draft wishlist btw).
The Kootenay Ice came to town for a back to back and Peter had his eight game point streak snapped on Friday after collecting four goals and seven assists. Saturday night Peter got back on the scoresheet starting in the second period when he took a cross-crease pass from Morgan Klimchuk and found an almost completely empty net to shoot into. Early in the third, Peter became the Wheat Kings seventh 20 goal scorer when he skated in, stickhandled and slid the puck past the Ice’s goalie. The second goal was the game winner in a 6-5 win.
Oliver Bjorkstrand-Portland Winterhawks (WHL) Season Stats 49GP 48-43-91 +49 33PIM The Great Dane just keeps rolling along. Starting off against Tri-City he picked up an assist on Paul Bitner’s goal when he found a streaking Bittner who skated in to make it 1-0 Hawks. Two minutes later, Oliver scored when Nic Petan found Oliver in the slot to make it 2-0. After an Americans goal, Oliver returned the favor by finding Petan in the slot who made it 3-1. Oliver picked up his fourth point of the game in an assist on Paul Bittner’s empty net goal to put the score at 5-1, he was also named first star.
Up next against Vancouver, in the third period off a Giants faceoff win, Paul Bittner skated in with Oliver getting the puck and firing to make it 2-1 in a 5-2 Hawks win. The Lethbridge Hurricanes came to town and Oliver picked up three more points. Oliver’s first point came with the game tied at one when Paul Bittner deflected his shot. After a Canes goal, Oliver started the sequence with a check leading to Nic Petan getting the puck behind the net and finding Oliver in front. After a Bittner goal, Oliver struck from his office on the power play after taking a crossrink pass to make it 5-1 in a 5-2 Hawks win with Oliver being named second star.
In another game against Tri-City, Oliver scored in the third on a breakaway and added an empty net goal later in the game to make it 6-4.
To close out a very successful month for Oliver, the Hawks were off to Seattle. Late in the first with the game tied, Paul Bittner skated from behind the net and found Oliver in front for his 47th goal of the year. Oliver scored but it was later identified that Paul Bittner actually deflected the puck to make it 3-1. After a Tbirds goal, Paul and his linemates skated in with Oliver firing a shot that was stopped but Paul Bittner hammered home the rebound. Oliver finished the game off with an empty net goal giving him 48 on the season. Oliver picked up 21 points in February scoring in every game including a goal in each. This production came as part of a franchise record-tying run with goals in 11 straight breaking Tony Currie’s record set in the 76-77, he’ll go for 12 straight next game.
Quickly in injury updates – Dillon Heatherington returned to the Broncos lineup on February 28th after missing 14 games (Broncos went 9-5 in his absence) with an upper body injury. It was also announced on Sunday that Dillon had signed his entry level contract meaning whenever the Broncos are done Dillon can join Springfield and that he will be turning pro next season.
Tyler Bird-Brown Bears (ECAC) Final Regular Season Stats 25GP 2-2-4 -5 4PIM Tyler and the Bears finished up the regular season against Princeton, a game in which Bird picked up his second goal of the season. In the 4-1 Bear win, Tyler opened the scoring when Sam Lafferty took a hit and found a streaking in Tyler who skated through traffic and fired to make it 1-0. Tyler went without a point in the Bears final three regular season games going 0-1-2. Brown finished 11th in the ECAC and will play Harvard in the first round of the playoffs.
Seth Ambroz, Ryan Collins, Mike Reilly-Minnesota Golden Gophers(Big 10) Season Stats SA: 32GP 9-11-20 +3 30PIM RC: 25GP 0-7-7 +4 14PIM MR: 32GP 6-31-37 +17 42PIM The Gopher boys last week were off to University Park, Pennsylvania for a big series with Penn State. The Jacket prospects were held off the scoresheet but Seth made his presence known with a big hit. Saturday the Lions got out to a 2-0 lead before Mike set up Travis Boyd by skating into the zone and finding Boyd in the slot who made it 2-1. 37 seconds after a Lions goal, Mike found Boyd again who fired a one timer to make it 3-2 Lions. The Gophers ultimately fell 4-3 in overtime.
Next up Michigan State came to town for a Thursday-Friday night series. Thursday night was an odd sight as, for the first time since March 2013, Adam Wilcox didn’t start for the Gophers. Nick Lehr’s first start went well with the Spartans taking a 3-0 lead before Travis Boyd got the Gophers on the board with Ryan Collins picking up an assist on the goal, snapping a five game pointless streak. Early in the second, Mike struck when he took a pass from Seth Ambroz and fired a shot and scoring from an odd angle to make it 3-2. Mike picked up an assist on Hudson Fasching’s goal that tied the game. Seth got another assist on Sam Warning’s first goal of the game with Mike earning his third point of the game on Sam Warning’s empty net goal to seal the 5-3 victory.
All three Gophers were held pointless in a 4-2 loss to Sparty on Friday night.
Next week the Gophers will be close as they travel to Columbus for a series with the Buckeyes.
Daniel Zaar-Lulea (SHL-Sweden) Season Stats 53GP 9-16-25 -7 18PIM Daniel opened up this time with a two game pointless streak before picking up an assist against MODO. Daniel checked a MODO player and got the puck away from him to find Per Ledin in front to make it 2-0 Lulea. Daniel was held without a point in the team’s last three games in February.
Joonas Korpisalo-Ilves (Liiga-Finland) Season Stats 35GP 2.33GAA .919SV% 2SO Joonas opened the week as the backup in a game against SaiPa before going into the crease for a 4-1 loss to the Blues. Joonas made 22 saves in the loss. After another night on the bench, Korpisalo made 35 saves in a 6-3 win over HIFK and then took another loss to Blues making 23 saves in a 5-3 game before serving as the back up against SaiPa.
Elvis Merzlikins-HC Lugano (National League-Switzerland) Regular Season Stats 22GP .914Sv% 2.61GAA 1SO 0-3-3(tied for league lead) 8PIM Elvis and the Panthers finished up the regular season during the time period we’re covering. Elvis served as the backup for the team’s first two games before picking up his final win of the season. He had 26 saves in a 3-2 win over Bern, but did not dress for the team’s final game due to the flu. In the playoffs, the Panthers will play Genève. Lugano lost game one with Elvis serving as the backup.
There you have it folks! A whole two weeks full of updates on the Jackets prospects. As I said above, Jacket fans can get a look at three prospects as the Gophers come to Columbus to play OSU this Friday at 5pm and 6pm on Saturday, if not for the CBJ game on Saturday I’d be at both games but I will definitely be in attendance for Friday – hope to see some of you there.
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