The week didn’t really begin until Thursday when Linkoping defeated Oskarshamn 6-4 in SHL action. Midway through the first period, Oskarshamn built up a 3-0 lead when Linkoping switched goalies and Jesper Myrenberg came in. Yes, he is the older brother of Jonathan Myrenberg who both signed two-year contract extensions last month. Oskarshamn was able to build a 4-2 lead entering the third. After pulling within one, Myrenberg scored his first SHL goal to even it up before taking a 5-4 lead. Things got tense again when Myrenberg took a slashing penalty with 4 minutes remaining but Linkoping was able to kill it off before scoring an empty netter with 4 seconds remaining on the clock.
On Friday in WHL action Swift Current defeated Portland 4-3 in a shootout. Reid Dyck may want the first two Portland goals back as he lost his angle on both of them. But when he needed to make a save for his teammates, he was there stopping 29 of 32 shots including a big save in overtime and then stopped 4 of 5 in the shootout. Swift Current is 8-7-1-0 on the season and with Dyck manning the crease are 6-2-0-0. As Dyck goes, so do the Broncos. At this point, it looks like the Bruins goaltending situation is going to be very good and crowded for years.
Last week I told you that if you could watch one game, make it Friday’s tilt between London and Brantford in the hopes of finally seeing some fisticuffs between Jackson Edward and Florian Xhekaj. Well, it didn’t happen and won’t happen this season as London won the final meeting of the season 3-2 in overtime. Jackson did go after Marek Vanacker and dropped the mitts and was given 2 for instigating, 5 for fighting and a 10 minutes misconduct. This kid will always stand up for his teammates.
In the NCAA, Boston College defeated Mass-Lowell 3-2. Oskar Jellvik set up the 2-0 goal on a beautiful pass across the slot to keep his point streak alive at 6 games on 5 goals and s assists. I feel I can say Jellvik’s transition to North American hockey is complete and some good times are ahead for him. After a hot start to the season, Andre Gasseau did not register a point in this one and has just one helper in his last 4 games. I have no doubts Gasseau can work through this mini-slump and get back to producing.
UMass defeated Northeastern 2-1 in overtime. Dans Locmelis did not register a point, but he’s coming along in his first season in North America. Centering the third line, he was very good on the draw and you can see his confidence building with each passing game. He was already behind the eight ball with his suspension to start the season.
Cornell defeated Yale 3-1 with Ryan Walsh scoring his second of the young season, the game winner. Walsh is up to 2 goals and an assist through his first three NCAA games. Centering the third line, Walsh was also 73.3% on the dot (11 for 15) and has given Cornell some depth scoring.
Harvard and Princeton battled to a 4-4 draw. Mason Langenbrunner did not register a point, but he continues to show some promise. Already a very good skater, it appears he has taken it up a notch this season. With limited ice time a year ago, he’s being given more opportunities this season, He just needs to build some confidence in his abilities to take the next step.
Minnesota defeated Minnesota-Duluth 5-1. After having his 6-game point streak come to an end last week (1 goals, 7 assists) Quinn Olson got back on the horse with an assist in this game, but Minnesota-Duluth was never really in it. It’s a big year for Olson, who is in his fifth season and will need a contract either from the Bruins or another NHL club. Cole Spicer was held off the scoresheet for the second consecutive game.
North Dakota lost 3-2 to Boston University but it did end a 5-game slide for Jake Schmaltz when he assisted on the game’s opening goal. Schmaltz has turned into an enigma of sorts. Things looked promising as a freshman, but his production has dropped since then. And he’s been passed by a number of Bruins prospects on the depth chart. For BU, Ty Gallagher finally got on the scoresheet this season with a helper on the game’s tying goal. It ended a 6-game draught for Gallagher who, once again dressed as the 7th defenceman.
Officially, Providence College and New Hampshire battled to a 1-1 tie but Providence won the shootout. Philip Svedeback stopped 28 of 29 shots and then 4 of 4 in the shootout. If you go back to what I said about Reid Dyck at the beginning, you can echo that sentiment here with Svedeback. Riley Duran was held pointless for the 4th consecutive game. As I’ve said so many times, he brings so much more to the table than points, but he’s playing top line and at some point, you need to produce.
Last but not least on Friday, Sioux Falls defeated Lincoln 3-2 in a shootout in USHL action. Chris Pelosi helped set up the third of the season for Beckett Hendrickson that put Sioux Falls up 2-0. They couldn’t hold onto the lead and Lincoln tied it up with a pair of goals in the third. Overtime solved nothing and Pelosi could have ended it in the shootout, however he missed on his attempt. With the goal and assist respectively, Hendrickson and Pelosi increased their point streaks to 3 games.
On Saturday, beginning with the J20 Nationell, Kristian Kostandinski scored his first goal of the season while Casper Nassen added an assist But Frolunda HC dropped a decision to Sodertalje SK 4-3 in overtime. Kostadinski continues to impress on many nights and despite the goal, I had some concerns about an early roughing penalty and a late boarding penalty. On the other end, Nassen continues to disappoint.
In the SHL, Linkoping defeated Skelleftea3-0 to improve to 7-3-6-1 and third place in Sweden’s top league. Myrenberg did not have a point in 18:51 TOI but continues to be a rock defensively and in transition. I know it isn’t much – and this is a developmental year – but I had Myrenberg tagged with 2 goals and 11 assists for the 52-game schedule this season. He is on track.
In the NCAA, Boston College defeated Mass-Lowell on consecutive nights by the same 3-2 score. Unfortunately for Jellvik, his point streak came to a halt at 6 games. Gasseau was also held off the scoresheet, for the second consecutive game.
Cornell had a lopsided 7-1 win over Brown to improve to 4-0-0 on the season. Walsh scored his third goal of the season with just 32 seconds remaining. A lot of questions were asked about what Walsh could do in his first year and so far, at a point-per-game, he’s doing well and could exceed even more than my expectations were for him coming into the season – which I was told was too high for him.
Harvard was spanked 6-0 by Quinnipiac and the score was being kind. Obviously, there were no points for Langenbrunner, but if you ask me, he was Harvard’s best right shot defenceman on this night. But that isn’t saying much.
After being handled by Minnesota Friday night, Minnesota-Duluth battled them to a 3-3 draw Saturday. Spicer scored his 4th goal of the season, surpassing the 3 he scored last year as a freshman. Spicer is tied for third in team scoring with 4 goals and 3 assists in 9 games. Olson was held off the score card for just the second time and is second in team scoring with 1 goal and 8 assists.
North Dakota defeated BU 5-4 on overtime and maybe I should criticize Schmaltz more often. He has helpers in back-to-back games for the first time in almost a year when he last did it on November 11 and 18 2022. It would be great to see Schmaltz get on a role, but I don’t see an easy path for him to Boston – at least down the middle.
Svedeback stopped all 20 shots he faced to earn his first shutout of the season as Providence defeated New Hampshire 2-0. The Sophomore improved to 6-1-2 on the season with a sparkling 1.80 goals against average and .926 save percentage. Duran went pointless in this game and is on a bit of a slide when it comes to productivity. On the losing side, Gallagher had a helper for the second consecutive game while still dressing as the seventh d-man.
In the OHL, London defeated Owen Sound 3-2. Edward was pointless in this one and had a couple of defensive question marks but he was once again a physical force and the first player there when the opposition was taking liberties with his goaltender of teammates. I wonder out loud how much more offence Edward could provide if he concentrated more on it, but I certainly wouldn’t want to be the one to change his game. I had Edward to hit 7 goals and 31 assists in the preseason. He is on track to get there.
In the USHL. Fargo defeated Sioux Falls 5-2. Fargo held the territorial advantage for most of this game especially in the first and third periods. Although they didn’t factor in the scoring, Sioux’s best chances were when Hendrickson and Pelosi were on the ice.
On Sunday in the J20, Frolunda lost 4-2 against Vasteras. Kostadinski had an assist for a mini-2-game point streak while Nassen had his end at 2 games. With just 5 games remaining in divisional play, the loss was a major blow to Frolunda who sit in 8th place and on the verge of missing out in top-10 play (Top 5 teams from each division move on to the top-10).
In the OHL, the London defence could not hold off the high-flying Kitchener offence as the Rangers defeated the Knights 4-2. While Edward did not register a point there is a piece of good news. While he is looking more comfortable on his off side, there is still some work to be done. And he’s still rotating between the left and rights sides almost every shift.
In the WHL, Everett outshot Swift Current 34-27 but it was the Broncos winning on the scoreboard by a 4-1 margin thanks again to Dyck. After his teammates had built up a 3-0 first period lead, Dyck withstood a second period onslaught as he was outshot 16-5 and stopping all but one of those shots. He was once again Swift Current’s first star of the game and it was well deserved.
Here’s a look at the Providence Bruins leaders:
Coming up this week:
There are no games in Sweden this week.
| PLAYER | M- 6 | T- 7 | W- 8 | T- 9 | F-10 | S-11 | S-12 |
| NASSEN/KOSTADINSKI | |||||||
| MYRENBERG | |||||||
| BYCHKOV | Vs MET | ||||||
| JELLVIK/GASSEAU | At MNE | At MNE | |||||
| LOCMELIS | Vs VER | Vs VER | |||||
| WALSH | Vs DAR | Vs HAR | |||||
| LANGENBRUNNER | At CLG | At COR | |||||
| SPICER/OLSON | Vs NDK | Vs NDK | |||||
| SCHMALTZ | at MND | at MND | |||||
| DURAN/SVEDEBACK | Vs NOE | At NOE | |||||
| GALLAGHER | At UML | Vs UML | |||||
| EDWARD | At WSR | Vs O S | Vs GPH | ||||
| HENDRICKSON/PELOSI | at OMA | vs OMA | |||||
| DYCK | Vs WEN | Vs SAS |
AROUND THE GLOBE
WHO’S HOT:
Philip Svedeback has appeared in every game for Providence College and has a 6-1-2 record. His 1.80 goals against average is 9th while his .926 save percentage is 16th in the NCAA.
Reid Dyck is Swift Current’s early season MVP. His 2.68 GAA and .923 SV% are 8th in the WHL. His team is just 2-5-1 without him while 7-2-0 with him.
WHO’S WARM:
Chris Pelosi has a goal and 2 assists in his last 4 games and 4 goals, 2 assists in his last 8 games.
Beckett Hendrickson has 2 goals and an assist in his last 4 games.
Oskar Jellvik had his point streak end at 6 games with 5 goals and 3 assists.
Ryan Walsh has 3 goals and 1 assist in 4 games (non-consecutive) on the young season.
Cole Spicer ended a mini 2 game pointless streak which came on the heals of a 5-game streak with 3 goals, 3 assists.
Quinn Olson has points in 7 of his 9 games on the season – 1 goal, 8 assists.
WHO’S COLD:
Andre Gasseau has just 1 assist in his last 5 games.
Riley Duran is pointless in his last 5 games.
Dom - Hockey 