Comets Milita Weekly Prospect Report – February 20th, 2014
By Josh W
10 years ago
Image courtesy of UticaComets.com
Things are getting intense over in Sochi with the semi finals set to take place tomorrow morning. Obviously discussing how Canucks prospects are doing these days isn’t nearly as fun as talking Canada/USA and what not, but the other leagues around the world have carried on without missing a beat during this NHL Olympic break, so we’ve got lots to look at as it relates to the former.
Continue past the jump to read the latest in Comets Militia updates, the OHL, and the NCAA. As always, follow me @nuckprospects on Twitter for the latest in prospect news. Please feel free to send me any feedback on anything prospect related you wish me to cover.
Utica Comets
Note: Since we’re going to be covering games individually on this platform while the Canucks are off, this section looks slightly different than it has in past weeks. In the last week we covered back to back games against Rochester, and a third game against the Toronto Marlies. All things considered, it was a pretty successful week for the Comets as they continue to try to salvage their season.
They’ve got 4 games on the schedule in the upcoming week – Friday @ Syracuse, Saturday @ Binghamton, Sunday @ Albany and Wednesday vs San Antonio – so we’ll continue to have recaps up here following each and every one of those games.
Players Performance
Players stats who have played at least one game with the Comets, (X) indicates not currently on the active roster, so far are:
| # | Player | POS | AGE | GP | G | A | PTS | PPG | SOG | SOG/G | +/- | PIM | SH% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 78 | Benn Ferriero | R | 26 | 49 | 17 | 20 | 37 | 0.76 | 133 | 2.71 | -15 | 30 | 12.8 |
| 10 | Colin Stuart | L | 31 | 40 | 11 | 7 | 18 | 0.45 | 108 | 2.70 | -2 | 34 | 10.2 |
| 17 | Nicklas Jensen | C | 20 | 44 | 12 | 4 | 16 | 0.36 | 117 | 2.66 | -1 | 20 | 10.3 |
| 25 | Darren Archibald | L | 23 | 38 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 0.53 | 89 | 2.34 | 1 | 65 | 11.2 |
| 28 | Alexandre Grenier | R | 21 | 50 | 15 | 17 | 32 | 0.64 | 113 | 2.26 | -4 | 48 | 13.3 |
| 24 | Brandon DeFazio | F | 24 | 50 | 8 | 11 | 19 | 0.38 | 110 | 2.20 | 4 | 67 | 7.3 |
| 7 | Henrik Tommernes | D | 23 | 40 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 0.35 | 81 | 2.03 | -17 | 6 | 4.9 |
| 23 | Pascal Pelletier | C | 30 | 43 | 10 | 31 | 41 | 0.95 | 77 | 1.79 | 1 | 44 | 13 |
| 4 | Yann Sauve | D | 23 | 43 | 0 | 10 | 10 | 0.23 | 71 | 1.65 | -16 | 45 | 0 |
| 14 | Patrick Mullen | D | 27 | 40 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 0.43 | 64 | 1.60 | -5 | 21 | 10.9 |
| 3 | Alex Biega | D | 25 | 48 | 1 | 14 | 15 | 0.31 | 74 | 1.54 | 10 | 29 | 1.4 |
| 26 | Frank Corrado | D | 20 | 40 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 0.20 | 61 | 1.53 | -6 | 34 | 6.6 |
| 15 | Jeremy Welsh | C | 25 | 23 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0.17 | 35 | 1.52 | -7 | 2 | 2.9 |
| 16 | Cal O’Reilly | C | 27 | 26 | 3 | 16 | 19 | 0.73 | 36 | 1.38 | 5 | 0 | 8.3 |
| 44 | Patrick Kennedy | F | 25 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.07 | 20 | 1.33 | -1 | 6 | 0 |
| 19 | Kellan Lain | C | 24 | 39 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 0.31 | 40 | 1.03 | 0 | 86 | 17.5 |
| 42 | Guillaume Lepine | D | 26 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0.50 | 4 | 1.00 | 1 | 14 | 0 |
| 11 | John Negrin | D | 24 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 2 | 1.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | Kent Huskins | D | 34 | 40 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0.13 | 35 | 0.88 | 3 | 17 | 5.7 |
| 40 | Peter Andersson | D | 22 | 40 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 0.28 | 34 | 0.85 | 8 | 10 | 2.9 |
| 8 | Alex Friesen | F | 22 | 28 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0.07 | 23 | 0.82 | -3 | 19 | 0 |
| 12 | David Marshall | C | 21 | 40 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.03 | 32 | 0.80 | -7 | 17 | 0 |
| 27 | Alex Mallet | C | 21 | 39 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0.08 | 27 | 0.69 | 0 | 15 | 3.7 |
Goalies so far:
| # | Goalies | GP | Mins | W | L | SL | SO | GA | GAA | SVS | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | Joacim Eriksson | 30 | 1753:48:00 | 13 | 14 | 2 | 4 | 75 | 2.57 | 797 | 0.914 |
| 34 | Mathieu Corbeil | 3 | 116:33:00 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 3.09 | 54 | 0.9 |
| 35 | Joe Cannata | 18 | 972:37:00 | 5 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 52 | 3.21 | 438 | 0.894 |
Transactions:
- With the NHL on a break there have been no transactions; expect it to get busier after the Olympics.
Other:
- Currently the Comets are in 14th place (first time all year out of last, woo hoo!) with 47 points (20-23-3-4). The Comets have been outscored 129 to 160 (-31), and have been outshot 1466 to 1510 (-44). They’re controlling 49.26% (acknowledging score effects) of the shots with an on ice shooting percentage of 8.1% and a save percentage of 90.3%. A simple version of PDO puts them at 98.4% which has not really changed this week.
- Their special teams continue to be terrible with their PP going 1 for 15 in three games this week bringing the team to 20th place with a 16.24% conversion efficiency. Sounds familiar. Their PK is just as bad having gone 14 for 19 this week to earn a PK rate of 77.39% which is good enough for 29th in the league.
- Injuries continue to mount for the Comets who are going to face some difficulty when the Canucks start recalling players. So far Lepine, O’Reilly, DeFazio, Andersson and Tommernes are all injured and did not play in the most recent game against Toronto. Negrin has finally returned after 5 months of injury following a concussion he suffered during the Canucks training camp.
- Only two prospects on the Comets scored a goal this week: Corrado and Jensen.
- Dimitri Filipovic gave a mid-season review of the Canucks Army #11-20th ranked Prospects. If you haven’t read it yet make sure to put it on your reading list.
For some other Comets related reading:
- Meet Yann Sauve! [Utica Comets]
- What does Frankie Corrado do on game day? [Canucks]
- CDC’s latest Comet’s Rewind [Canucks]
- Full Speed Ahead for Jensen [Canucks]
- Darren Archibald was on a local radio station in Utica, check out his interview.
OHL
| Name | Position | Team | GP | G | A | P | PPG | +/- | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bo Horvat | C | London | 45 | 26 | 40 | 66 | 1.47 | 19 | 32 |
| Dane Fox | C | Erie | 56 | 56 | 36 | 92 | 1.64 | 37 | 107 |
| Brendan Gaunce | C | Erie | 31 | 15 | 19 | 34 | 1.10 | 22 | 30 |
| Belleville | 22 | 10 | 16 | 26 | 1.18 | -5 | 27 | ||
| Cole Cassels | C | Oshawa | 51 | 20 | 38 | 58 | 1.14 | 8 | 79 |
| Jordan Subban | D | Belleville | 54 | 11 | 26 | 37 | 0.69 | -5 | 47 |
| Evan McEneny | D | Kingston | 33 | 3 | 19 | 22 | 0.67 | 8 | 45 |
| Kitchener | 15 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 0.47 | -11 | 23 | ||
| Miles Liberati | D | North Bay | 33 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0.12 | -8 | 17 |
| London | 22 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0.18 | 5 | 18 |
- The OHL Prospect of the week was Horvat. In the 4 games he suited up for he registered 3 goals, 5 assists, a +1 and 2 PIM. He has now scored more points in a single season than in any of his previous seasons (and in less games). He continues to progress quite nicely.
- Jordan Subban played three games this week earning two assists, a -4 and 6 PIM.
- Cole Cassels played in 3 games scoring 2 goals this week, and earning himself a -2.
- Dane Fox played three games in which he managed 1 goal, 1 assist, a +1 and 4 PIM. He’s 8 points away from breaking the 100 point plateau, but his PPG ratio has slowed down a bit as he’s no longer near the 2.0 PPG mark. He has been ranked #1 in Canucks.com latest prospect ranking.
- Fox’s line mate Gaunce also played three games, scoring 2 goals, 1 assist, and earning a -1 with 4 PIM.
- Evan McEneny played in two games this week with Kingston earning 2 assists.
- Liberati played in 3 games with North Bay scoring a single goal. He now has 4 on the year with North Bay (and 1 with London).
WHL
| Name | Position | Team | GP | G | A | P | PPG | +/- | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hunter Shinkaruk (IR) | L | Medicine Hat | 18 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 0.89 | -2 | 29 |
| Anton Cederholm | D | Portland | 59 | 2 | 11 | 13 | 0.22 | 34 | 80 |
- Cederholm has played in 4 games this week, bringing his +/- up to +34 and earning 4 PIM.
- Portland 2nd in the WHL West, having clinched a playoff spot with 91 points. Shinkaruk’s Medicine Hat is down to 4th place in the East with 75 points.
NCAA
| Name | Position | School | GP | G | A | P | PPG | +/- | S | S/G | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ben Hutton | D | uMaine | 28 | 11 | 12 | 23 | 0.82 | 9 | 86 | 3.07 | 4 |
| Joseph LaBate | F | uWisconsin | 26 | 10 | 8 | 18 | 0.69 | -3 | 78 | 3.00 | 8 |
| Mike Williamson | D | Penn State | 17 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0.24 | -4 | 29 | 1.71 | 21 |
| Matthew Beattie | F | Yale | 17 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 0.29 | 2 | 23 | 1.35 | 17 |
| Patrick McNally | D | Harvard | 16 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 0.50 | -5 | 31 | 1.94 | 10 |
- The University of Maine played Merrimack twice this week winning both times, 3-2 and 2-1. Four games remain on their schedule, with two this upcoming weekend at Northeastern. Ben Hutton had an eventful weekend playing in both games, scoring a goal, earning 9 SOG and 2 PIM. Don’t forget to vote for Hutton in the Hobey Baker memorial award once a day.
- Wisconsin played at Ohio State this weekend, winning 4-2 and losing 2-1. Wisconsin plays Michigan State twice this upcoming weekend. LaBate suited up in both games notching 7 SOG, a -2 and 2 PIM.
- Penn State lost twice this weekend to Michigan State and will play twice at Michigan this weekend. Williamson earned 2 SOG and a -1 in 2 games.
- Yale lost to Quinnipiac 0-4 and then beat Princeton 7-5 this weekend. The Bulldogs will play at Harvard and Dartmouth this weekend. Beattie did not play in either game.
- Harvard beat Clarkson 1-0 and tied with St. Lawrence 2-2. The Crimson will play vs Yale and Brown this weekend. McNally played in two games earning a +1 and 2 PIM.
ECHL/CHL
| ECHL | Position | Team | GP | G | A | P | PPG | +/- | SOG | S/G | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blain (IR) | D | K-Wings | 11 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0.45 | 4 | 21 | 1.91 | 33 |
| Pacan | RW | K-Wings | 48 | 9 | 21 | 30 | 0.63 | 13 | 85 | 1.77 | 20 |
| Blomstrand (IR) | LW | K-Wings | 31 | 8 | 6 | 14 | 0.45 | -4 | 68 | 2.19 | 10 |
| Myron | F | Kwings | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0.40 | -1 | 12 | 2.40 | 7 |
| Anthony | F | CHL St Charles | 28 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 0.50 | -10 | 50 | 1.79 | 10 |
| Guimond | D | Ontario | 13 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 0.62 | 1 | 17 | 1.31 | 2 |
| Gwinnett | 31 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 0.23 | -14 | 66 | 2.13 | 12 |
- Pacan had the most eventful week playing in 3 games earning two goals, two assists, a +5 and 5 SOG.
- Myron has played in 3 games earning 5 SOG and a -1.
- Blain and Blomstrand are still injured.
- Seven Anthony is back from injury and in 2 games he has earned 2 assists, a +2 and 10 SOG.
- Guimond played in 4 games with Ontario earning 3 assists, a +3 and 6 SOG.
| Goalies | Team | Position | GP | Min | GA | GAA | W | L | OTL | SV | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathieu Corbeil | ECHL Gwinnett | G | 4 | 241 | 14 | 3.49 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 103 | 0.88 |
| ECHL Wheeling | G | 6 | 331 | 14 | 2.53 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 143 | 0.911 | |
| CHL St. Charles | G | 6 | 236 | 21 | 5.35 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 103 | 0.831 |
- Corbeil played in 1 game this week stopping 16 of 20 shots for a .833 Sv% bringing his year average to .880.
Europe
| Name | Position | Team | Age | GP | G | A | P | PPG | +/- | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anton Rodin | W | SHL Brynas | 22 | 41 | 10 | 20 | 30 | 0.73 | -10 | 34 |
| Ronalds Kenins | LW | Swiss ZSC | 22 | 36 | 7 | 17 | 24 | 0.67 | 14 | 26 |
- Ronalds Kenins has now played in 5 games at the Olympics and has garnered some good reviews. In 5 games he has played an average of 13:19, notched 11 shots on goal, been on the ice for one goal for and zero against. Here are some notes on him..
- From Feb 15th: “Ronalds Kenins played a fine game, finishing plus-1 thanks to his strong
forecheck that helped free up the puck for the second Latvian goal. He
had just 12 minutes of ice time, however, as Ted Nolan relied upon his
veterans, particularly Sandis Ozolins, rather than his younger players.” - From Feb 18th: “Ronalds Kenins seems to be earning more and more trust from Ted Nolan,
playing just short of 17 minutes in this game after playing just over 10
minutes in Latvia’s first game of the tournament. His speed,
particularly through the neutral zone, is very noticeable, as was his
physical play. He had one particularly massive hit, I believe on
Matthias Bieber, that sent the Swiss player spinning to the ice and his
stick flying.” - Meanwhile, Anton Rodin didn’t play any games this week. Which is good for him, because it means that he avoided free-falling any further..
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