Canucks Weekly Prospect Report – December 5th, 2013

Welcome back to the Weekly Prospect Report. This past weekend was a big one for the Utica Comets, who went to Abbotsford and came up victorious twice (in front of a largely pro-Comets crowd). Meanwhile, the OHL and WHL prepare for the World Juniors. In the NCAA McNally, Hutton and Labate are all continuing their strong play, and with Rodin’s almost at a point-per-game in the SHL, there’s some good stuff to talk about.

As always, follow me @nuckprospects on Twitter for the latest in prospect news and feel free to send me feedback on anything prospect-related you wish me to cover.

Without further ado..

The Comets started their week with back to back games in their home away from home. They took on the aforementioned Heat (1st in conference, 26th in possession, 102% PDO). The game was mostly dominated by the Heat from a possession perspective, but the Comets were able to strike first with a goal by newly signed Cal O’Reilly (initially credited to Weber).  The Comets managed to score in each period with goals from Pelletier and Archibald, and were looking for the shutout before a pair of power plays at the end of the third allowed the Heat to get on the board. The final score wound up 3-2 for the Comets.

Joe Cannata was starting in net, marking his first start in nearly a month. Despite being dominated largely by the Heat throughout the game he kept the Comets in it, with a 35/37 performance, earning himself the 1st Star. The shots on goal were 37-17 for the Heat. For the Comets, the assists came from Hamill, DeFazio, Ferriero(2) and Weber.  On the special teams front the Archibald goal was on the power play (1 for 4) and the penalty kill went 3 for 5.

With his great performance in Friday night’s game Cannata was given the start again on Saturday. This game was much more back and forth, and while Abbotsford dominated possession, it was much more competitive than the previous night. The Heat got on the board first but the Comets were quick to come back with Lain getting his first professional goal. The game ended up going to overtime where Pelletier scored 2:07 in to give Comets the win and another two points. The final score was 4-3 with goals from Lain (2), Stuart and Pelletier. The first goal was also initially credited to Weber but was tipped in by Lain. The dude can’t buy a break, eh? Shots were 36-27 in favour of the Heat with Pelletier leading the team in SOG with 4.  Cannata made 33 of 36 saves to get his second win in a row. The power play went 0 for 2 and the penalty kill went 3 for 4.  

Lain has improved a lot and I am hearing (and seeing) good things from him. He plays a strong defensive game, he’s managed to get his first two goals of the year earning him the first star of the game.

With his strong performance over the weekend Canatta earned himself a 3rd straight nod when the Comets went up against the Amerks in Rochester. The Comets controlled the first period but after that it was all Rochester. Cannata was pulled halfway through the game as Eriksson came into the game in a relief efffort. The final score was 6-1 for Rochester, with the lone goal for Utica being scored by Ferriero and assisted by O’Reilly and Weber. Shots on goal were 29-26 in favour of Rochester. Archibald lead the team in SOG with 4. The powerplay went 1 for 3 and the #POWERKILL was only 1 for 3. Cannata stopped 10 of 13 while Eriksson stopped 13 of 16.  

Players stats who have played at least one game with the Comets so far are [Note: (X) indicates not currently on the active roster]:

Goalies so far:

Currently the Comets are in 15th place with 14 points (6-12-1-1).  They have been out-scored 44 to 63 (-19), and have been outshot 548 to 595 (-47).  They are controlling 47.94% (acknowledging score effects) of the shots, are 15th in possession heading into the week, and have an on ice shooting percentage of 8.1% and a save percentage of 89.3%.  A simple version of PDO puts them at 97.1% which would have regressed closer to the norm but their goaltendering stats became worse this week. Their PP is currently at 16.76% (14th place) and their PK is 75.90% (28th place). 

Jensen almost had his first goal this weekend, but upon review it was taken away. Weber had two goals taken away this weekend as well.

With Edler being hurt in Vancouver it is rumoured there might be a call up for Corrado. But as of yesterday morning all D-Men in Utica were still in New York.

Utica will play Friday night at home vs Bridgeport, their only meeting of the season. On Saturday the Comets will then take on the Adirondack Phantoms. 

Cassels has had an active week off the ice.  He has been hurt so he has not played a game, but.. He was not invited to the US World Junior selection camp. It’s not a total a surprise as he was not invited to the summer camp, but his production this fall has attracted attention.  So much so that the Canucks have signed him to an Entry Level Contract that was later cancelled by the league as it was deemed invalid. It’ll get done eventually, no doubt.

Liberati continued his strong defensive play this week.  In one game he was on the ice for all four North Bay goals including two that were shorthanded.

Gaunce continues his production in Erie.  It is looking like he is playing on the second line with Conner Brown rather than on the first line with McDavid.

Two Canucks Prospects were invited to the Canada WJC selection camp this year: Shinkaruk and Horvat.  It is not surprising to see Gaunce left off as he was on the bubble.  We might see a Horvat/Shinkaruk duo at the World Juniors this year!

In the OHL east, Oshawa is first with 44 points, Kingston is 3rd with 33 points, North Bay is 6th with 27 points and Belleville is 9th with 18 points.  In the West, Erie is first with 47 points and London is 4th with 42 points.  Erie is first, Oshawa is ranked 10th in the BMO CHL standings while London is an honourable mention.  The stats of the players in the last week are as follows:

And so far this year the stats of these players are:

Not much to add from the WHL. Cederholm continues his strong defensive play with little offense and it is clear that Shinkaruk is injured as his production has dropped. Hopefully it doesnt hurt him at the WJC.

Medicine Hat is ranked 2nd in the East with 37 points while Portland is 1st in the West with 45 points.  Portland is 5th in the CHL rankings while Medicine Hat is an honourable mention.

And so far this season the players stats in the WHL are:

Ben Hutton continues his surprisingly strong start to this year.  He is now producing over 3 SOG/G, hopefully this is sustainable. In the last week he earned 2 assists in 2 games.  uMaine will be playing on Dec 8th vs UMass-Lowell.

Wisconsin will be playing twice in this upcoming week against Penn state.  We will get a chance to see LaBate vs Williamson (if he gets to play).  Williamson did not play this last week.

Yale had one game this week against Merrimack winning 3-2.  They will be playing twice this upcoming week against Dartmouth and then Harvard on Saturday, another Prospect v. Prospect match.  For Yale, Beatie was quiet as he only registered a single SOG.

Harvard played a game this week against Dartmouth losing 1-2.  McNally continues strong play after his suspension, in only 4 games he is contributing fairly actively.  Hopefully he can continue that all season.  Harvard has two games this week against Brown on Friday then Yale Saturday.  Then they go on Christmas break and wont play until Dec 29th against the Russian Reds Stars.

Statistics of NCAA players:

Anthony has been playing well in the CHL after coming back from the IR. In 6 games he has 5 points and is producing at nearly 2.5 SOG/G.  It’s a small sample size but hopefully he keeps it up.  If he does I would like to see him in Utica next year.  The Chill play four times in the next week: Friday, Saturday, Tuesday and Wednesday, twice in Denver.

The K-Wings went 2 for 3 this week with Blomstrands goal streak ending at 3 games.  Blain has not played this week but has not been put on the IR, not sure if he is benched or injured.  The K-Wings play away from home 4 times this week including a game against Sasha Guimond’s Gwinnett.  Games are Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Tuesday.

While Guimond continues to play his offensive D game, his +/- (obligatory mention of how terrible this stat is) is the 2nd worst on
the team.  To be fair, most of the players on the team are slightly negative and he is going to see more ice time as a defenceman.  Gwinnett plays Friday and Sunday.

Corbeil got his first start with Wheeling and got the shutout on 39 saves.  Definitely an impressive start so hopefully he will get another chance to play in this upcoming week when Wheeling plays Friday and Saturday.  Hopefully he can put up much better numbers than he did in St Charles. 

Statistics of players in the ECHL so far are:

Statistics of Corbeil on the year:

Rodin is continuing his near PPG pace in the SHL.