With Christmas in the rear-view mirror, the unofficial second half of the season begins. The World Juniors round robin is over, with the ‘real’ games starting on Saturday. The Spengler Cup was also decided this morning, so that’s exciting, I guess.
The NCAA is back after a small winter break, while the CHL continues to chug along with many of their top players at the World Juniors. So let’s take a look at the week that was for Canucks prospects around the world.
World Juniors
| Name | Pos | Age |
| Country | GP | G | A | P | P/G |
| +/- | PIM | S | S% | S/G |
| Brock Boeser | RW | 18.309 | | USA | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.25 | | +2 | 0 | 8 | 0.0% | 2.00 |
| Jake Virtanen | C | 19 | | Canada | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | | +1 | 4 | 10 | 0.0% | 2.50 |
- Brock Boeser has one secondary assist through the round-robin games. He has been spending most of his time on the third line, with the occasional promotion due to line shuffling.
- Jake Virtanen has been remarkably unnoticeable offensively. He has been physical but has taken a couple of bad penalties. Like most of Team Canada, he needs to step up his game in the quarter-finals for Canada to have a chance to advance.
CANADIAN HOCKEY LEAGUE
| Name | Pos | Age | League | Team | GP | G | A | P | P/G |
| +/- | PIM | S | S% | S/G |
| Carl Neill | D | | QMJHL | Carl Neill | 33 | 5 | 29 | 34 | 1.03 | | -7 | 45 | 71 | 7.0% | 2.15 |
| Dmitry Zhukenov | C | 18.282
| QMJHL | Chicoutimi | 33 | 9 | 22 | 31 | 0.94 | | 1 | 32 | 49 | 18.4% | 1.48 |
| Tate Olson | D | 18.285 | WHL | Prince George
| 31 | 3 | 24 | 27 | 0.87 | | +17 | 50 | | | |
| Kyle Pettit | C | 19.347
| OHL | Erie | 33 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 0.30 | | +11 | 8 | | | |
| Guillaume Brisebois | D | 18.163 | QMJHL | Acadie-Bathurst | 33 | 6 | 12 | 18 | 0.55 | | -6 | 16 | 67 | 9.0% | 2.03 |
| Mackenze Stewart | LW | 20.143 | WHL | Tri-City | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | | +1 | 0 | | | |
- Carl Neill continues to do Carl Neill things. On Monday night against Quebec, Jeremy Roy (SJS 2nd round pick) and Neill were split up for the first time in a long time, and Neill was held pointless. They remained split for Wednesday night’s game against Gatineau, but Neill was able to notch 2 assists.
- Dmitry Zhukenov pushed his point streak to 9 games with 1 goal on Monday night, and then adding an assist on Wednesday night. His improvement over the course of the season in the QMJHL has been fascinating to watch.
- Prince George played in Victoria on Sunday & Monday – Olson put up 1G & 1A during Monday nights contest. He played in Vancouver last night and put up another 2 assists. The Giants and Cougars play in P.G. twice this weekend.
- With Dylan Strome playing at the World Juniors, Kyle Pettit’s role has increased. He did nothing on Tuesday night, finishing the game -1.
- Guillaume Brisebois’s Titans played the Saint John Sea Dogs on Monday and Tuesday night. Brisebois had 2 assists on Monday, but surprisingly had zero points in their 6-5 game on Tuesday.
- Although never formally announced by the Canucks, Mackenze Stewart was assigned to Tri-City in the WHL – so he will move up to the CHL part going forward.
NCAA
| Name | Pos | Age | League | Team | GP | G | A | P | P/G |
| +/- | PIM | S | S% | S/G |
| Brock Boeser | RW | 18.309 | NCAA-NCHC | North Dakota | 20 | 13 | 8 | 21 | 1.05 | | +22 | 0 | 68 | 19.1% | 3.40 |
| Adam Gaudette | C | 19.084 | NCAA-HE | Northeastern | 18 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 0.28 | | -7 | 0 | 36 | 8.3% | 2.00 |
| Mike Williamson | D | 22.117 | NCAA-Big-10 | Penn State | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.17 | | -2 | 2 | 14 | 0.0% | 2.33 |
- As mentioned above, Brock Boeser is at the World Juniors.
- Adam Gaudette did not play any games this week.
- Mike Williamson played one game this week against Robert Morris (not one guy, that’s the name of the school) where he had 1 SOG.
| Name | Pos | DOB | AGE | Team | GP | Mins | GA | SA | SV | Sv% | GAA | Record | SO |
|---|
| Thatcher Demko | G | 95-12-08 | 20 | Boston College | 18 | 1081 | 31 | 486 | 455 | 0.936 | 1.72 | 13-4-1 | 6 |
- Thatcher Demko lost both games this week; on Monday vs Ohio State (2-3) and on Tuesday against Providence (1-2) in the Florida College Classic. He wasn’t particularly busy on Monday, facing only 19 shots but followed that up with a solid 27 save effort in the 2-1 loss. Brandon Tanev (Chris’s brother) had the winner for Providence.
| Name | Pos | Age | League | Team | GP | G | A | P | P/G |
| +/- | PIM | S | S% | S/G |
| Nikita Tryamkin | D | 21.123 | KHL | Avtomobilist | 42 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 0.26 | | -1 | 28 | 66 | 6.1% | 1.57 |
| Anton Rödin | LW | 25.040 | SHL | Brynäs | 29 | 16 | 18 | 34 | 1.17 | | 9 | 14 | 83 | 19.3% | 2.86 |
| Lukas Jasek | RW | 18.125 | Extraliga | HC Trinec | 17 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0.18 | | 0 | 14 | 7 | 28.6% | 0.41 |
- Nikita Tryamkin did not play any games in the KHL this week, as Avtomobilist was competing in the Spengler Cup. Tryamkin ended the tournament with 1 assist.
- Anton Rodin played 3 games this week – finishing with 1 goal, 1 assist, -1, 2PIM and 8 SOG (6 of which came in one game). In the last 5 games, Rodin has played over 21 minutes a game.
- After Lukas Jasek was cut by the Czech World Junior Team – he returned to Trinec in the Czech league and scored his second goal of the season. Assisted by former Florida Panther Tomas Kopecky:
AHL
| Name | Pos | Age | League | Team | GP | G | A | P | P/G |
| +/- | PIM | S | Sh% | S/G |
| Hunter Shinkaruk | LW | 21.079 | AHL | Utica | 25 | 13 | 12 | 25 | 1.00 | | +5 | 10 | 63 | 20.6% | 2.52 |
| Alexandre Grenier | RW | 24.117 | AHL | Utica | 31 | 6 | 13 | 19 | 0.61 | | -2 | 24 | 76 | 7.9% | 2.45 |
| Brendan Gaunce | LW | 22.281 | AHL | Utica | 20 | 9 | 9 | 18 | 0.90 | | +8 | 10 | 50 | 18.0% | 2.50 |
| Jordan Subban | D | 20.303 | AHL | Utica | 24 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 0.63 | | +2 | 12 | 42 | 11.9% | 1.75 |
| Linden Vey | C | 24.167 | AHL | Utica | 26 | 3 | 12 | 15 | 0.58 | | -5 | 8 | 43 | 7.0% | 1.65 |
| Alex Friesen | C | 24.335 | AHL | Utica | 26 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 0.50 | | +7 | 34 | 45 | 15.6% | 1.73 |
| Nicklas Jensen | RW | 22.300 | AHL | Utica | 25 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 0.48 | | +5 | 16 | 78 | 5.1% | 3.12 |
| Andrey Pedan | D | 22.181 | AHL | Utica | 19 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 0.47 | | +6 | 49 | 41 | 4.9% | 2.16 |
| Ashton Sautner | D | 21.218 | AHL | Utica | 19 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 0.42 | | +1 | 2 | 25 | 12.0% | 1.32 |
| Cole Cassels | RW | 20.241 | AHL | Utica | 24 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0.08 | | -4 | 9 | 16 | 6.3% | 0.67 |
| Ronalds Kenins | LW | 24.306 | AHL | Utica | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.13 | | -1 | 8 | 9 | 0.0% | 1.13 |
- Hunter Shinkaruk continues to lead the Comets in scoring and is looking like the dynamic goal scorer that the Canucks drafted in 2014. It’s amazing what a full summer of training can do. Other teams are starting to specifically target Shinkaruk with their physical play and chirping but Hunter seems to be shaking it off:
- Jordan Subban is the last remaining Utica Comet defenceman with a NHL contract, and he is making the most of it. He had points in all three Utica Comets games this week.
- Brendan Gaunce has been playing centre regularly.
- Andrey Pedan, Joe Cannata, Linden Vey, Alex Biega, Ronalds Kenins and Ashton Sautner are all up with the Canucks.
- Same as every other week, our own Jeremy Davis has an in depth of the previous week for Utica. (excludes last nights and today’s game against Albany)
ECHL
| Name | Pos | Age | League | Team | GP | G | A | P | P/G |
| +/- | PIM | S | Sh% | S/G |
| Dane Fox | RW | 22.079 | ECHL | Kalamazoo | 28 | 9 | 15 | 24 | 0.86 | | -4 | 57 | 78 | 11.5% | 2.79 |
| Ludwig Blomstrand | LW | 22.298 | ECHL | Kalamazoo | 29 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 0.48 | | -17 | 24 | 70 | 7.1% | 2.41 |
| Anton Cederholm | D | 20.313 | ECHL | Kalamazoo | 27 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 0.19 | | +2 | 30 | 35 | 0.0% | 1.30 |
| Evan McEneny | D | 21.223 | ECHL | Kalamazoo | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1.00 | | -1 | 0 | 3 | 0.0% | 1.50 |
- Dane Fox put up zero points in Kalamazoo’s Friday night game but followed that up with a 4 point effort (1G & 3A) effort on Saturday. He finished the week with 11 PIM, 2 SOG and +2
- Ludwig Blomstrand had a rough week finishing -5 with 5 SOG and 4 PIM. That’s okay, I don’t think the Canucks know he is still around.
- Anton Cederholm only played in Friday’s contest – he had 1 SOG.
- Even McEneny did not play a game this week as he remains on IR.
| Name | Pos | DOB | AGE | Team | GP | Minutes | GA | SV | SA | SV% | GAA | Record | SO |
|---|
| Clay Witt | G | 91-08-24 | 24 | Kalamazoo | 5 | 234 | 17 | 110 | 127 | 0.866 | 4.35 | 0-4-0 | 0 |
- With Ryan Miller injured, Joe Cannata was recalled to Vancouver and so Clay Witt was recalled to Utica where he didn’t play a game this week.
With that, another week in the Canucks prospect world is over.
Happy New Year!
