Notes

• The Champion’s Hockey League returns this week (if you’ve forgotten what that is, Ryan Biech had a breakdown of the European tournament back in August), as they’ve reached the quarterfinal rounds. There were originally four teams with Canucks prospects in the tournament, though only the Vaxjo Lakers (Elias Pettersson) and Bili Tygri Liberec (Lukas Jasek) remain. Frolunda (Kristoffer Gunnarsson) was eliminated by Liberec in the round of 16 last month, while TPS Turku (Petrus Palmu) failed to make the playoff rounds. Olli Juolevi of course also plays for TPS now, but the team was eliminated from Champion’s League contention before the young Canucks blueliner got a chance to participate.Pettersson’s and Jasek’s squads are now among the final eight remaining teams. Victories over their respective opponents would have the two teams faceoff in the semifinals, which will take place in mid-January. Both the quarterfinals and the semifinals are played in two separate legs with aggregate scores. The second leg of this round will take place on December 12th.
• Not sure if you’ve heard, but Nikita Tryamkin was just named the KHL defenceman of the month for the second month in a row. With seven goals and 21 points in 36 games, he’s a goal and a point away from doubling his career highs in both categories, and in 17 fewer games no less. I’m going to go ahead and file that under ‘bittersweet’. Hey, at least things are looking up in Vancouver. Plus, the Canucks own Tryamkin’s rights for a few more years, so who knows what the future holds.
• Sticking with Russians, Dmitri Zhukenov continues to be a tough player to follow. He’s currently playing in the MHL, Russia’s Junior A league, which isn’t at all ideal for a 20-year. You have to wonder at this point if he regrets heading back to his home country after the sheer lack of opportunity he’s gotten in the KHL. Things were finally looking up for him in the QMJHL playoffs last season. But again, the Canucks still own his rights for another year and a half, so I guess we’ll see how this plays out into next season and beyond.
• Jack Rathbone played a hockey game! His high school hockey season officially started last Wednesday, as Dexter School took on Cushing Academy, and he’s got two more games this week. Actually, as it turns out, he’s actually already played eight games for the Cape Cod Whalers U18 team. I’d heard that he was in some tournaments a few weeks ago, but I’d been having trouble tracking down stats. Apparently he scored four goals in those eight games, so good on him.
• Kole Lind returned from his bout with mono on Saturday night and score a goal and added an assist. That extended his personal point streak to eight games, after tallying points in seven straight before succumbing to illness.