On Tuesday, the London Knights defeated the Sarnia Sting 4-1 in OHL action. Jackson Edward did not register a point and had 3 SOG in just over 20 minutes TOI. He played almost the entire game as the right defence and for the most part did not look out of place. At this point of the season, Jackson leads Knights defencemen in plus/minus, is second in goals and third in points. The reason Edward played the right side is because the Knights called up Jared Woolley (draft eligible) who had a 4-game stint early in the season. The 6’4”, 214-pound defenceman scored the Teddy Bear toss goal on his first shift.
On Thursday, Linkoping defeated Malmo 2-1 in SHL action. Jonathan Myrenberg did not register a point in this one and finished with a plus-1 with 19:54 TOI. The victory moved them into third spot in the SHL standings. As for Myrenberg, his 8 points on the season is third among defencemen for Linkoping while his plus-6 is second. In fact, there are only two defencemen on the team that have played in at least 20 games that are a plus.
On Friday, the London Knights defeated the OHL’s hottest team and Memorial Cup host Saginaw Spirit by a 7-3 score. Edward set up the 3-0 goal when he fired a perfect wrister from the blueline meant to be deflected, and it was. Then, shortly after the ensuing faceoff, he leveled 2022 Exceptional Status player and 2025 draft eligible Michael Misa with a perfectly clean hit. Misa’s teammates took exception but Edward decided it wasn’t the time to drop the gloves. Throughout the game, there were a couple of opportunities, but then no one wanted to drop the gloves with Edward. I have to say earlier in the season, when Edward played on the right side, he was looking like a deer in headlights. But he’s grown a lot on his off side. Tonight, in his 22+ minutes TOI, he played almost exclusively on the right side and was great except for one goal against where he was totally undressed. Think Mario Lemieux on Ray Bourque. It happens to the best of them.
In NCAA action, U-Mass (insert your own adjective here) Alaska-Anchorage 11-2. Dans Locmelis scored twice in this contest with his first coming off a perfect wrist shot coming down the slot and the second with a perfect wrist shot to the right of the left faceoff dot. But it’s the latter making the highlight reels. Locmelis jumped onto the ice and as he entered the zone, leaped as high as he could to bring down a high clearing attempt. In perfect motion, he brought it down, landed solidly on his blades, took one stride and ripped home his fourth of the season. It’s worth watching if you get the opportunity.
Officially, Minnesota-Duluth and Miami battled to a 3-3 draw but Minnesota-Duluth won the shootout. Miami jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period but M-D tied it up in the second. Then 4 minutes into the third, Cole Spicer put M-D up on a strong solo effort taking the puck from the right-wing boards, moving to the middle of the ice and over the blueline surrounded by 4 opponents and firing home his 5th of the season. The goal ended a 6-game pointless streak for Spicer. Miami would tie it up 1:24 later. Quinn Olson did not factor in the scoring through regulation and overtime but did score in his shootout attempt.
North Dakota lost a heartbreaker to Colorado College by a score of 3-2 in overtime, blowing a 2-0 lead with 6:20 remaining in the game. The tying goal came with just 21 seconds remaining while trying to kill off a penalty. Jake Schmaltz did not factor in the scoring; He finished a plus-2 with two SOG and won 4 of 7 faceoffs he took. It will be interesting to see what the Bruins decide to do with Schmaltz. He’s been jumped by other centers in the system now and his offence has actually regressed into his third season at North Dakota.
In SHL action on Saturday, Linkoping defeated Lulea 5-2. Myrenberg did not factor in the scoring and was a plus-3 with 18:35 TOI. Linkoping has won 4 straight and held onto third place in the SHL standings. Only 12 points separates 1st from 8th. That’s not a lot in a 3-2-1-point system.
In the NCAA, Boston College defeated Providence College 5-4. BC got out to a 2-0 lead before PC came back to take a 3-2 lead. After BC tied it, Oskar Jellvik, who had been quiet through most of the game went to work. With 2:20 remaining, he took a pass at the top of the left circle, took one stride and fired a snap shot in to make it 4-3 BC. Just 1:06 later, Andre Gasseau, who was noticeable at both ends of the ice, won a puck battle and fed it across to Jellvik who fired home another snap shot for his second of the game. PC would add a goal with 9 seconds remaining to pull within one. For Providence, Riley Duran was pretty much invisible through most of the game except for on good chance. Philip Svedeback stopped 28 of 33 shots and there is only one goal he would probably want back.
The rematch between U-Mass and Alaska-Anchorage was a little closer Saturday but U-Mass still took it by a 3-2 score. Alaska-Anchorage took a 1-0 lead but U-Mass scored three straight before Alaska-Anchorage scored with a minute remaining. Locmelis did not register a point in the rematch and finished a plus-1 with one SOG. He went 8 for 16 on the dot.
Minnesota-Duluth defeated Miami by a score of 3-1. M-D got on the board 4 minutes into the game and never looked back. Olson and Spicer set up the opener. That’s about all the offence the pair could muster as they combined for 1 SOG of the 31 M-D had in the game. Spicer would go 8 for 16 in the faceoff circle.
North Dakota lost 3-2 to Colorado College in overtime in a heartbreaker. Schmaltz did not register a point but had one excellent opportunity with his 3 SOG. Faceoffs were a concern for ND in this one with only one player winning more than he lost. Schmaltz won just 2 of the 10 faceoffs he took.
On Sunday in J20 Nationell action, it was a winner take all match between Frolunda and Sodertalje and Kostadinski couldn’t have picked a better time to have the best game of his season. The winner would finish in 5th place and join the top 5 teams from the Norra division to go on to play in the Top-10 portion of the season, the loser would go on to play in the continuation portion. Trailing 1-0, Kostadinski would tie the game up with an unassisted goal, his third of the season. Then, trailing 2-1, he would set up the tying goal. Frolunda would win it with under 8 minutes remaining. Nassen missed his 7th game.
In the OHL, I feel for Edward. The Knights dropped a 5-4 decision to the Soo Greyhounds. He was once again moved from left defence to right defence depending on the shift. It just appears to me that he plays better when he knows where he is going to be from shift to shift. Trailing 5-3, coach Dale Hunter threw another wrinkle into it. With 3:19 remaining, London pulled their goaltender and Edward was out there for the rest of the game. Not on LD, not on RD. At first, he started on RW and then on LW. Talk about a utility player. They did score once, but couldn’t tie it. Edward did not get a point, finished a minus-1 and led his team with 5 SOG.
Here’s a look at the Providence Bruins leaders. You will notice a column named “value” with the Providence Bruins stats. This is provided by our friends at Benchrates. Created by a retired hockey player, Benchrates has created and algorithm that computes values in real time. The value you see below is calculated over more than one season. They do produce a value on the current season only. Give them a look and check out their site.
Coming up this week:
Dans Locmelis looks like the Only Bruins prospect headed to the World Junior Championships. The team of 4 goaltenders, 12 defencemen and 19 forwards will gather in Latvia on December 11 for a week of on ice training camp. They will travel to Sweden on December 18 for two exhibition games against Czechia and the Norwegian U-20 squads. It’s expected that Latvia will not announce its final roster until December 25, the day before the tournament begins. Latvia will be in Group A with Canada, Finland, Germany and Sweden. Joining Locmelis will be his younger brother Ingus, who plays defence for the Fairbanks Ice Dogs of the NAHL. He is eligible for the 2024 NHL Entry Draft.
AROUND THE GLOBE
WHO’S HOT:
Oskar Jellvik has points in 6 of his last 7 games with 4 goals and 5 assists. He has more than doubled the 4 goals he scored last season as a freshman in half the games played.
Kristian Kostadinski finishes the divisional portion of his schedule with 3 goals and 10 assists and he lead his team to the Top-10 portion.
WHO’S WARM:
Andre Gasseau has points in 4 of his last 5 games with a goal and 4 assists. He is on pace to match the 10 goals he scored as a freshman but falling short in the assist department.
Dans Locmelis has points in 2 of his last 3 games with 2 goals and an assist. He’s on pace to hit the goals I had targeted for him but falls short in the assist department. He’s off to join Latvia at the WJC.
Quinn Olson has slowed a bit from his hot start and has 1 goal and 1 assist in his last 4 games. He is still on pace to hit the targets I had for him though.
Cole Spicer ended a 6-game pointless streak this weekend with a goal and an assist in 2 games. He’s already surpassed his production as a freshman and we have half a season to go.
WHO’S COLD:
Jake Schmaltz is pointless in 3 games and his 6 assists on the season have come in just 4 games. His next goal will be his first of the season. He’s played 14 games.
Riley Duran has just 1 goal and no assists in his last 6 games. I have said many times here that it’s more than just production for Duran, but with the opportunities he’s getting, he should be putting up more points.
Philip Svedeback is a workhorse playing in all but 15 minutes of Providence College games. But he’s lost 4 of his last 5 starts and his 2.13 GAA and .908 SV% are below what was expected.
Dom - Hockey 