Jets Prospect Update | February 28th, 2017

Another great week in the WHL, Berdin’s return, and a few wins for the Moose highlight this week’s prospect update. Let’s take a look at the stats!

Jansen Harkins was not a factor in the Cougars first game of the week, but took charge in back-to-back wins over the Oil Kings. Harkins was the 1st star of the game on Friday with a goal and an assist, and followed up with a pair of assists on Saturday. The Cougars still sit atop the BC Division and have clinched a spot in the playoffs.

Matteo Gennaro registered at least a point in all four games this week, helping the Hitmen collect two wins and hold their Wild Card spot over Saskatoon. Gennaro is far and away the driving force behind the Hitmen offence this year, now at 37 goals on the season. He scored just 18 a year ago.

Michael Spacek also put up at least a point in each game he played. The Rebels won two of three games, helping to keep third place in the Central Division. Spacek was handed a game misconduct after his final assist on Sunday, but there was no indication why on the broadcast or in either team’s post game report.

I created a shift-by-shift video of Logan Stanley‘s last game of the season on January 17th. Take a look at his play:

Luke Green got back on the score sheet after an eight-game absence. Green was credited with a secondary assist on Thursday, although he wasn’t the one to touch the puck (let’s keep that between you and me). Green’s other assist was indeed an assist. The Sherbrooke Phoenix are at the bottom of the West Division and don’t have a realistic shot at the playoffs.

Mikhail Berdin played quite well against the Lincoln Stars this week, but couldn’t come out with the win. Berdin stopped 41 of 44 shots in the loss.

CJ Franklin and Minnesota State were involved in a low-scoring two-game battle against Bemidji State this weekend, winning 2-1 and losing 2-1. Franklin had a secondary assist on Minnesota State’s only goal on Friday night. Franklin had seven shots on net and was 50% on the faceoff dot. Minnesota State will face Alaska-Anchorage this weekend in the first round of the WCHA Tournament.

Tucker Poolman put four shots on goal this weekend against Nebraska-Omaha. North Dakota took the first game 6-4, but were shut out 3-0 the following night. 

Erik Foley had a pair of assists on Friday in a 6-2 defeat of UMass, including a nice backhand saucer pass and showed us the definition of the old adage “taking a hit to make a play”. Providence plays UMass again this weekend in the first round of the Hockey East Tournament.

Mason Appleton was held scoreless this week against a strong Penn State team; his team managing just three goals over the weekend. Appleton did get four shots on net.

Matt Ustaski has been starting on the first line with Trent Frederic and Luke Kunin. We will see if this continues next week as it is quite the jump for Ustaski who, until recently, was a regular on the fourth line.

Jack Glover was scratched again in the weekend series.

Pavel Kraskovsky and Lokomotiv have started off strong in the KHL playoffs. Lokomotiv darted out to a 3-0 lead but could not pull off the sweep as Dinamo Minsk lived to play another game. Kraskovsky had a secondary assist on Lokomotiv’s first goal of the playoffs. He is an unfortunate 19% on faceoff draws (7 of 36).

Sami Niku also registered himself a secondary assist, dumping the puck off to a teammate and going for a line change. The assist came in a game in which Niku recorded a monster total of seven shots on goal. JYP won all three games this week and are 4th in league standings.

Jacob Cederholm continues his loan with IK Pantern, playing three games this week. Cederholm had three shots on net and took a slashing penalty.

The Manitoba Moose escaped the week with a winning record, going 2-1-0-1 in four games played. MVP honours this week go to the two rookies, Jack Roslovic and Kyle Connor. 

The week started with a close loss, dropping a 4-3 game to Rockford at home. The most surprising stat you’ll see on this game log is that Brian Strait’s first goal of the season came unassisted and… shorthanded?

The rematch the following night was even closer, resulting in a 1-0 shootout loss. Eric Comrie was a perfect 26 for 26 in regulation time, but allowed the only shootout goal. Connor, DeSalvo, and Roslovic were unsuccessful for Manitoba.

Saturday night against San Antonio, Kyle Connor found his game and recorded his first pro hat trick. Eric Comrie was brilliant again, saving 37 of 39. The Moose would go on to win 4-2.

Game two yielded a similar 4-2 score, with Connor and Roslovic both scoring a goal. Chase De Leo scored his 12th of the year on a neat feed from Roslovic and Connor scored another beauty.

The Moose are back at it again tonight in Rockford.

Be sure to check out highlights of Jack Roslovic at the AHL All-Star Skills Competition I recently put together as well!