CHL

• Carson Focht continues his strong stretch of play adding another goal and assist to his season totals in 2 games this week. He has 12 points in his last 9 games while averaging 4.5 shots a night.

• Jett Woo has 10 points in his last 10 games. The Calgary Hitmen have clinched a playoff spot with 9 games remaining in their regular season.
• Arturs Silovs made 2 starts this week for the Barrie Colts. He had a solid outing against the Ottawa 67’s where he stopped 32 of 36 shots in an overtime loss. He was lit up by the Peterborough Petes on Sunday allowing 5 goals on 35 shots before being pulled for the third period.

NCAA

• Will Lockwood was quiet this week only registering 2 shots on goal in 2 games.
• Aidan McDonough had a 2 assist game on Friday and then was held pointless on Saturday. His primary-assist from Friday was a great example of his effectiveness on the forecheck. He looks like he can be a fantastic complimentary player for a line.

• Jack Rathbone had 2 primary helpers on the power-play on Saturday. His 1.08 points-per-game remains third in the NCAA for all defencemen.

• Jack Malone had a fantastic primary-assist on Friday night for Cornell who clinched the number-one seed in the nation with their win.

Russia

• Vasili Podkolzin began his KHL playoff career with an assist, 2 shots on goal and a healthy 12:25 of ice time. He has 9 points in his last 14 KHL games.

Sweden

• Nils Hoglander scored a beautiful goal this week as well as showcasing his creativity in the shootout while playing 12:10 on the night. Hopefully, this leads to a bit of a hot streak for Hoglander who was pointless in 6 games heading into Saturday. He also had not scored a goal since January 21st.

• Arvid Costmar continues to dominate the SuperElit with a 4 goal game plus an assist on Thursday and another power-play goal on Saturday. I haven’t watched enough of Costmar which will hopefully change soon but when I do, it’s clear he is too good for the league. When he has the puck on his stick, the confidence he has in his abilities to hold onto the puck and push the puck up the ice and create makes him a dangerous play driver. His shot is lethal. For a player under 6 feet, he can really create a lot of torque on his shaft and get the puck off of his stick quickly with some zip. It’s allowed to score 26 goals in 28 games and his 1.71 points-per-game is first in the SuperElit. How he compares historically is difficult, there aren’t many recent examples of players playing their draft+1 year in the SuperElit but it should be noted that Costmar was on the younger side of his draft class with a July birth date.

• Linus Karlsson scored a ridiculous between-the-legs goal this week.

Czech

• No games for Karel Plasek this week.

Finland

• Petrus Palmu finally found the scoresheet with his 12th of the season.

AHL

• With Zane McIntyre traded at the deadline, Mikey DiPietro will be getting the lion’s share of starts for the Utica Comets. He started in 3 games this week and finished 2 of them. He was fantastic against Rochester stopping 34 of 36 and a couple more in the shootout for the victory. Friday, he stopped 26 of 29 for another victory against the Toronto Marlies. Playing his third game in 4 nights, DiPietro allowed 4 goals on 9 shots on Saturday and was relieved of his duties. Jake Kielly made his AHL debut in relief. It will be interesting to see how DiPietro adjusts to playing an overwhelming majority of the Comets’ games as the season gets into the final stretch.

• Brogan Rafferty had a goal and an assist this week.

• Kole Lind had 2 primary-assists on Friday. Fantastic effort on his assist for Justin Bailey’s goal. Hustles up the ice as he sees a potential opportunity and outmuscles his man for position at the blueline to be first to the puck. Fantastic pass too.

• Jonah Gadjovich had another power-play goal this week.