AHL
The St. John’s IceCaps don’t suck anymore! Just two short weeks after dropping their 7th straight game, the Winnipeg Jets are rolling. In the six games since the Caps are 5-0-1 and there has been one constant theme – that theme is Connor Hellebuyck. Hellebuyck has taken over as the IceCaps starter, starting each of the last six games. He went 3-0-0 this week and looks like his is settling into the AHL. His game is starting to look more and more like the “boring” game he played in college. Offensively, the Caps haven’t been scoring a load of goals, but they’ve scored enough.
Points:
Eric O`Dell 1G 1A
J.C. Lipon 1A
Carl Klingberg 2G 2A
John Albert 2A
Helle of a Goalie:
CHL
Nikolaj Ehlers is not slowing down. After recording seven points a week ago, Ehlers added six more points in just two games and extended his point streak to ten games. Ehlers was once again in on half of his team’s goals, including points on four of his Halifax’s eight goals versus Jan Kostalek and Rimouski. Ehlers also got into a scrap that night. Speaking of Jan, he keeps chugging along too. Kostalek picked up a pair of assists in the second of his two games.
Jimmy Lodge had a busy week. Lodge was traded on Friday from the Saginaw Spirit to the Mississauga Steelheads. After the trade, Lodge played a pair of games, scoring in each tallying two goals and an assist. Big picture, it will be interesting to see what the trade does for Lodge. This isn’t a classic junior trade where a player that is likely to be turning pro is traded to a contender as Saginaw has a better record than Mississauga.
While I am admittedly not all that familiar with the Steelheads, I do know a few things. For starters, they were the lowest scoring team in the OHL prior to the trade. They also have one of the worst two period shot differentials in the league (roughly estimates possession) and there were some accusations on Twitter suggesting that their GM is making moves for self preservation as opposed to having the best interest of his team in mind. I am not familiar enough with him or the team to comment. Regardless of the why, Jimmy Lodge will be playing top line minutes and will be asked to do some serious heavy lifting for his team. Lodge is currently riding an eight game point streak.
In the WHL, Josh Morrissey played in three games and picked up a trio of points (1G, 2A), Nelson Nogier played two games and recorded a pair of assists. Eric Comrie played in a single game, but it was a DOOZY. Comrie stopped 55 of 57 shots, for a .965 save percentage, in a 2-1 loss. Comrie's save percentage is .926 on the year, second best in the WHL.
The Winnipeg Winterhawks each played a trio of games. Nic Petan recorded four assists. Chase De Leo recorded three goals and one assist. The dynamic Duo has been spending more time apart as of late. Axel Blomqvist recorded one assist in his three games played.
FIGHT!!:
NCAA
Can’t win em all. Jamie Phillips tried and his run of 10 straight was impressive, but it was due to end eventually. Phillips went 0-2 this week, but didn’t fall apart. He still managed to stop 91.23% of the shots he faced. Jason Kasdorf did not play.
Elsewhere, Jack Glover and Minnesota played in an exhibition game against the US Under-18 Team. He scored a goal, but it does not count as an NCAA goal . Tucker Poolman picked up an assist. It was his first College assist and his 4th point of the season. CJ Franklin also picked up an assist. It was his ninth point through his first twelve games with Minnesota State. Tanner Lane also recorded an assist while Aaron Harstad scored his third goal of the season.
Andrew Copp remains the Winnipeg Jets’ top college prospect and he had himself another solid pair of games. Copp scored a goal and added two assists to extend his point streak to five games.
Three Stars
1) Connor Hellebuyck started the AHL seasons with a few up and down showings, it has been nothing but ups of late. Hellebuyck has taken over as the IceCaps starter and he is playing well. In the past six games Helle has a record of 5-0-1. He has twice shutout his opponents and stopped 181 of the 188 shots he's faced for a .963 save percentage during the streak. Seven goals against in six games is mighty impressive. Hellebuyck is now 8-4-2 on the season with a .927 save percentage. He is also the reigning AHL player of the week.
2) Nikolaj Ehlers is playing some incredible hockey. The Winnipeg Jets top prospect has recorded thirteen poinst in the last two weeks (five games) and is in the middle of a ten game points streak. He has tallied a total of 22 points in these ten games and is showing no signs of slowing down. The fact that he is matching last year’s scoring pace, despite facing tougher opponents, in the absence of Jonathan Drouin, is doubly impressive.
3) Andrew Copp is on fire. As mentioned above, he is currently riding a five game point streak and he has tallied five goals and three assists in that span. Copp has jumped to third in Michigan scoring with ten points in eleven games. This is also Copp's second consecutive appearance in the three stars.
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