FIRST BIG DOMINO FALLS IN OHL
The rumour mill took a break and gave way to reality last week when the Belleville Bulls dealt captain and Vancouver Canucks prospect Brendan Gaunce to the Erie Otters on Wednesday.
Gaunce didn’t come cheap for the surging Otters, who paid a steep price with a pair of second round picks, two third round picks and 18-year-old forward Stephen Harper. Sportsnet’s Gare Joyce spoke with some NHL scouts, who felt the Otters overpaid for an unneeded luxury instead of addressing a need.
The Otters added another forward to a mix that already includes the likes of Connor McDavid, the top two league leading scorers Connor Brown and Dane Fox, along with Washington first-rounder Andre Burakovsky and second overall pick Dylan Strome. The Otters clearly aren’t short in scoring, with an average of 4.71 goals in 28 games so far this season.
Chances are the Otters didn’t bring Gaunce in solely to add more offence, though he undoubtedly will help light up the scoreboard some nights. Erie head coach Kris Knoblauch is known for his staunch defensive approach, and bringing in a reliable, two-way forward like Gaunce has more to do with shutting down opposing teams’ top lines when the playoffs roll around. Knoblauch is adaptable given he has the horses to play a more offensive game, but a coach who once won a Western Hockey League title with a defence-first team in Kootenay in 2011 knows the value a player like Gaunce will have against other offensively-charged teams in the playoffs.
Gaunce brings versatility and a defensive presence that will help his coach better play the matchups. Knoblauch has already spread out his lines with veterans Brown, Gaunce and Fox on one line, and McDavid between Burakovsky and veteran Michael Curtis on another.
The Gaunce trade came days after the Niagara IceDogs dealt their captain, New York Islanders prospect Jesse Graham, to the Saginaw Spirit for a bevy of picks. Dealing Graham now, as opposed to waiting – or holding onto him and rolling the dice he comes back for an overage season – was all about beating the rush and getting top dollar now, rather than waiting in a market where his value could diminish beside other defencemen.
SUBWAY SUPER SERIES STAYS IN CANADA
For the second year in a row, the Subway Super Series came down to the finale. The Western Hockey League all-stars overcame an early 2-0 deficit in Thursday’s final game by scoring four unanswered goals to win 4-2, giving the series back to the CHL by a 10-8 margin in points – the same point differential the Russians won with last year.
The Russians were playing their sixth game in a span of 12 days across the country, and as Sportsnet’s Sam Cosentino indicates, fatigue may have played a part in their demise in Game 6.
The beauty of this series is that it gives players the opportunity to showcase themselves to Hockey Canada prior to the selection camp roster being named. Generally, one player finds a way to raise his stock enough to force his way into Hockey Canada’s plans, and this year it could be Calgary’s Greg Chase, who scored twice in Game 6. Cosentino makes a point for Sudbury’s Nicholas Baptiste, whose story in becoming an NHL prospect alone is well worth the read.
By now, most everyone has heard of anthem singer Dirk Edwards, who had some difficulty getting through both anthems in Lethbridge on Thursday. In case you haven’t seen it, here’s the video:
Making matters worse is a tweet from earlier in the day, believed to be from Edwards.
Despite the embarrassment, Edwards has some backers.
Russia’s Vladimir Tkachev certainly made a name for himself in the Subway Super Series with four points and a highlight reel goal in the first game. His take on the goal that was Connected’s Play of the Day on Nov. 18: “I got the puck, deked around two guys and scored. Nothing special,” he told Yahoo’s Andrey Osadchenko.
BROUILLARD LEAVES GATINEAU AFTER LOSING PASSION FOR GAME
The Gatineau Olympiques overhauled their roster during the summer, and one of Benoit Groulx’s biggest acquisitions was the addition of overage scorer Marc-Olivier Brouillard from Bathurst. Brouillard scored seven times and added 15 assists for 22 points in 20 games, which is where his stats line will conclude now that he left the team.
As Brouillard explained to Le Droit’s Jean-Francois Plante, he was contemplating the decision for a month before breaking the news to Groulx last Monday.
“It’s sad to leave, but it’s the best thing for me,” Brouillard told Plante. “I lost the passion to play. Major junior hockey is demanding. I was no longer in the right frame of mind to continue making sacrifices. There was also some tension between myself and the head coach. All of that played a part in my decision.”
Brouillard didn’t ask to be dealt, and said he hoped to rediscover his passion for hockey before playing university hockey next season. He plans on playing AAA the rest of this season in St-Agathe.
– Yahoo’s Sunaya Sapurji looks at the cluttered mess in Griffin Reinhart’s four game suspension at last year’s world juniors and how it affects his status for this year’s tournament.
– 2012 WHL first overall pick Matthew Barzal models his game after Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, a player whom he followed behind at the Burnaby Winter Club.
– Meanwhile, 2013 OHL first overall pick Travis Konecny registered a beautiful assist last Sunday. Konecny and his Ottawa 67’s will face McDavid’s Otters on Friday Night Hockey this week.
– Sad news in the OHL as Ken Bodendistel, the OHL’s longtime Officiating Supervisor, died at age 73 after a battle with cancer. The Guelph Mercury’s Tony Saxon paints the picture of a man whose impact on the league was immense.
– Sudbury’s Connor Crisp, a Montreal Canadiens prospect, beat the buzzer with this bone-crushing hit on the Soo’s Sergei Tolchinsky.
– The Prince Albert Raiders pulled off this week’s huge rally, erasing a 5-0 second period deficit with four goals in the third period en route to a 7-6 overtime win on Friday.
– The Shawinigan Cataractes traded captain Frederick Gaudreau to the Drummondville Voltigeurs in exchange for Antoine Kilanowski and a first- and second-round pick. The Cats weren’t done there, as they added overage goaltender Maxime Lagace in a deal with Cape Breton.
– Injuries continue piling up in Quebec, as Yannick Turcotte is now sidelined until next November.
– Moose Jaw Warriors goaltender Justin Paulic made his case for save of the year.