It was a busy week for Frederic Brunet and Rimouski Oceanic with 4 games that began with a 4-2 victory over the Victoriaville Tigres on Monday. Brunet had a powerplay helper on the game’s opening goal just over 7 minutes into the second period and Rimouski never looked back. It was the first game in five tries that Brunet finished in plus territory.
On Wednesday there was a pair of important Champions League games. Matias Mantykivi had an assist for Ilves Tampere in a loss. The loss left Tampere in last spot in Group E. Peter Cehlarik had 2 goals and 2 assists in EV Zug’s 5-2 victory. The win put Zug into top spot in Group B and tied with Lulea and Rogle with 17 points for most among the 32 teams. Back in North America, Ryan Mast and his Sarnia Sting hosted the Owen Sound Attack. Mast had two assists in the game, including on the game winner to leaf Sarnia to a 3-2 victory.
On Thursday, Philip Svedeback stopped 24 of 26 shots he faced as Providence defeated Clarkson 5-2. Svedeback is 2-0-0 on the season with a .929 save percentage. In the same game Riley Duran notched two goals for Providence for his third goal and fourth points of the young season. For Clarkson, Dustyn McFaul did not dress.
It was a busy Friday. Brett Harrison made his return from the injured for the Oshawa Generals but was eased into action. He didn’t make the scoresheet as his team lost 4-1 to the Ottawa 67’s. Jackson Edward got his first point of the season – an assist – as his London Knights fell 5-4 in overtime to the Mississauga Steelheads and his physical game reached another level. Mast had his 4-game point streak – 5 assists – end as the Windsor Spitfires defeated Sarnia 6-3. Matthew Poitras extended his point streak to 5 games (2 goals, 6 assists) with an assist in a 6-1 loss to the Saginaw Spirit. Reid Dyck dropped to 0-4-0 on the season as the Swift Current Broncos dropped a 4-3 decision to the Regina Pats. Dyck did his part stopping 30 of 34 shots.
In NCAA action Friday, it was a night to forget for Ty Gallagher and Boston University as they were pummeled 9-2 by Michigan. The game was virtually over by the ten-minute mark but credit to Gallagher for continuing to put in an effort. And he only finished a minus-1. For Quinn Olson, Cole Spicer and Minnesota-Duluth it was a 6-0 loss to Minnesota State. It appears goal scoring will be an issue for Minnesota-Duluth again this season. If there was a bright light for them Friday it is that both Olson and Spicer both had as many shots on net as any two other teammates combined – not including each other. There was a 0-0 game between Ohio State and Connecticut. Mason Lohrei led the way with seven shots on net in this one. The next best belonged to Chase Bradley of Connecticut while a few of Lohrei’s teammates had three.
On a busy Saturday, beginning in the NCAA, the trio of Trevor Kuntar, Oskar Jellvik and Andre Gasseau spent some time together on a line for Boston College as they defeated New Hampshire 4-2. Kuntar was the only one to hit the score sheet with an assist. For Providence College, it was a pair of Bruins prospects leading the way in a 2-1 victory over Northeastern. Philip Svedeback stopped 30 of 31 shots and remains undefeated while Riley Duran scored his team leading 4th goal of the young season. Minnesota-Duluth lost to Minnesota State for the second time in as many days, this time by a 2-1 margin. Once again, Olson and Spicer were kept off the scoresheet but unlike Friday, were unable to generate many offensive chances. It wasn’t the rematch with Connecticut that Ohio State and Lohrei were looking for as the former thrashed the latter 6-1. You won’t hear this often this season so we’ll get it out of the way early: Lohrei was kept off the scoresheet in consecutive games.
In the CHL on Saturday, Brunet assisted on both goals for Rimouski but were thrashed 7-2 by Rouyn-Noranda Huskies. Harrison scored his first goal of the season after returning from injury (Friday) but the Generals lost a 3-2 heartbreaker to the Mississauga Steelheads. It must be noted that Harrison played the majority of his first two games back on left wing.
On Sunday in the CHL, the Guelph Storm dropped a 6-3 decision to the Ottawa 67’s. Poitras was held off the scoresheet for the second consecutive game. Part of that is probably due to linemate Sasha Pastujov serving a two-game suspension for a slew foot. Now, Poitras faces supplemental discipline as he was ejected from this game for a slew foot. Mast and his Sarnia Sting lost a 3-2 decision to Mississauga. There were no points for Mast in this one. The London Knights defeated the Hamilton Bulldogs 4-2. Edward was held pointless, but his physical game continues to improve. Brunet assisted on Rimouski’s lone goal in a 3-1 loss to Val-d’Or.
On Thursday, Bruins General Manager Don Sweeney announced the Providence Bruins roster. This promises to be one of the most skilled and quickest Providence rosters in years. But there are still a lot of bodies with the Baby Bruins.
The moves mean Brandon Bussi, under contract with the big club, will be with the Maine Mariners to face pucks. Also pegged for the ECHL is goaltender Francois Brassard who is under an AHL deal with Providence. Forward Keltie Jeri-Leon, who was with Boston on a PTO will head to Maine along with defencemen Fedor Gordeev and Grant Gabriele, all under AHL deals with Providence.
Here’s a look at the Providence Bruins scoring leaders:
Coming up this week:
| PLAYER | MON 17 | TUE 18 | WED 19 | THU 20 | FRI 21 | SAT 22 | SUN 23 |
| CEHLARIK | Vs LUG | At BER | Vs SCL | ||||
| BYCHKOV | Vs SEV | Vs DYN | Vs DIN | ||||
| MANTYKIVI | At LUK | Vs SAI | |||||
| LOCMELIS | Vs LEK | Vs LEK | Vs MOR | ||||
| JELLVIK | At NOE | Vs N H | |||||
| GASSEAU | At NOE | Vs N H | |||||
| KUNTAR | At NOE | Vs N H | |||||
| LOHREI | Vs BEN | Vs BEN | |||||
| LANGENBRUNNER | *Vs GUE | ||||||
| SPICER | Vs WIS | Vs WIS | |||||
| OLSON | Vs WIS | Vs WIS | |||||
| SCHMALTZ | At MIN | At MIN | |||||
| DURAN | At DEN | At DEN | |||||
| GALLAGHER | Vs CON | Vs CON | |||||
| MCFAUL | Vs MRC | Vs MRC | |||||
| POITRAS | Vs OSH | Vs KIT | |||||
| HARRISON | At GUE | Vs KGN | |||||
| MAST | At FLT | Vs FLT | Vs NIA | ||||
| EDWARD | At O S | Vs SAG | At SAG | ||||
| BRUNET | Vs B-C | Vs B-C | |||||
| SVEDEBACK | At DEN | At DEN | |||||
| DYCK | Vs LET |
*Click on scheduled game for television/streaming options.
NCAA streaming/TV schedule can be found here: Tuesday October 18, Thursday October 20, Friday October 21, Saturday October 22, and Sunday October 23.
AROUND THE GLOBE
WHO’S HOT:
Riley Duran has goals in all three of his games to start the season and 4-1 totals in those 3 games. Everything we saw last year and in the summer at the WJC is just that much better.
Philip Svedeback has a perfect 3-0-0 record to start his NCAA career with a 1.33 GAA and .945 save-percentage. Couldn’t ask for a better start after injuries hampered his USHL season last year.
WHO’S WARM:
Matthew Poitras had his 5-game point streak end with 2 goals and 6 assists and is now on a 2-game pointless streak and facing a suspension.
Frederic Brunet is up to 6 assists through his first 8 games and that’s enough to put him tied for tops in scoring with Rimouski Oceanic despite having played fewer games.
WHO’S COLD:
Reid Dyck dropped his fourth straight decision, but it’s not all on him as Swift Current has only won 2 of 8 games. But he is better and needs to be better than his 4.48 GAA and .866 save percentage.
In Other News:
The Guelph Storm named their Captain and Alternate Captains last week and Poitras was not one of them. Poitras will still take on a leadership role and help the younger players. The Oshawa Generals named their Captain and Alternates. Missing was Harrison, who wore the A for the Generals a year ago.
Keeping tabs on a trio of players the Bruins invited to development camp is an added bonus. Let’s start out looking at a pair of Ontario Hockey League players that took part in camp: James Hardie of the Mississauga Steelheads and Ryan Humphrey of the Hamilton Bulldogs. The third is Brayden Schuurman of the Victoria Royals of the Western Hockey League.
Hardie was named an Alternate Captain with the Steelheads last week. The natural goal scorer has 4 goals and an assist through 7 games while averaging 4 shots on net per game. Would be fan favorite Humphrey has no goals and 3 assists through 4 games but dare I say he is more tenacious than I remember him? Schuurman has yet to play for the Royals this season as he is out with an injury.
A blog update for you: Back this week is my Wednesday Mailbag which was popular among many of you last season. Have a Bruins related question, comment, or just need to vent? Best to send an email to ohlwriters@gmail.com and I will respond in the Mailbag.
Dom - Hockey 