The WHL’s mid-season division leaders – the Everett Silvertips, Prince George Cougars, Medicine Hat Tigers and Regina Pats – represent a refreshing changing of the guard.
At the holiday hiatus, there is a chance of having a wholesale change in division winners in the Dub for the first time since 2011-12. Each team’s strong start certainly involves star power, whether it is Everett being buttressed by Team Canada goalie Carter Hart’s 1.85 average or Regina rolling thanks in part to unexpectedly having Adam Brooks return for an overage season. Star power counts for a lot, but teams can also make small tweaks that enable them to outperform the pre-season prognostications.
For instance:
• Everett (.803 point pct., 12 points ahead of Tri-City) is still largely in the Kevin Constantine template of being taut defensively, built from the goal out with Hart and a defence corps helmed by fellow Team Canada pick Noah Juulsen (Montreal Canadiens).
However, a by-product of the Silvertips’ collective maturation is that they have improved to third in penalty killing (from 16th in 2015-16) and eighth on the power play (from 21st). That first stat speaks to the effect of having Hart and Juulsen, but obviously it requires a group effort. Another right-shot defenceman, 19-year-old Kevin Davis, has also found a niche running a power play that could make a difference in those one-bounce games that close-checking teams like Everett can get into come the post-season.
• Prince George (.750, eight points clear of Kelowna) has become a more disciplined unit under coach Richard Matvichuk, the former NHL defenceman who’s new to the junior level. One year after a season where they burned too much gas playing short-handed, Winnipeg Jets prospect Jansen Harkins and the Cougars have a WHL-best 88.1 per cent penalty kill. Giving up fewer power-play goals has lessened the burden on their top players and freed up the likes of Harkins and recent Boston Bruins signing Jesse Gabrielle to take the fight to opponents more frequently.
• Medicine Hat (.708, 10 points ahead of Lethbridge) has pared its goals-against record from nearly four per game to just more than three. That owes to a combination of generating more offensive zonetime thanks to a deep attack led by overage Chad Butcher and draft-eligible Mason Shaw, but David Quenneville (New York Islanders) and three other returning rear guards have apparently made major strides.
• Regina (.806, five ahead of Moose Jaw with two games in hand) averages a ridiculous 5.35 goals in regulation, far and away the highest in the league. Beyond Brooks and surprise Team Canada cut Sam Steel, Regina has one of the league’s best import tandems with left wing Filip Ahl (Ottawa Senators) and defenceman Sergey Zborovskiy (New York Rangers) among the nine Pats averaging at a point per game or higher.
Beyond that, Regina might have been ahead of the curve in the WHL with creating a skilled game. John Paddock started that, but the shift began three seasons ago under his predecessor Malcolm Cameron.
No one has an insurmountable lead heading into the second half.
Lack of ‘O’ on Team Canada’s D an anomaly
Hockey fans generally read too much into the league-by-league breakdown of Team Canada’s roster for the world junior championship, wondering if there is bias or favouritism afoot. Generally, it’s not really noteworthy – things go in cycles – but some fans might wonder about having zero OHL defencemen on the squad that will try to get Canada back on the WJC podium.
Short answer, it’s a fluke, especially since 18-year-old Jakob Chychrun made the jump directly from the Sarnia Sting to the Arizona Coyotes. Nor is it a shock. The past few incoming cohorts in the OHL have been thin in defencemen. That is in line with an unintended consequence of the dog-eat-dog mentality of minor hockey in Ontario that authors Jim Parcels and Ken Campbell detailed in their 2013 book Selling The Dream: How Hockey Parents And Their Kids Are Paying Their Price For Our National Obsession. Essentially, the constant focus on stacking players on the best teams might yield bumper crop after bumper crop of skilled forwards, but few all-around defencemen. That point should not be overlooked in the context of the WJC, which is a short tournament where a dominant defenceman – think Team USA in 2013 with the tag team of Jacob Trouba and Seth Jones – can have an outsized impact.
Two Quebec league talents, Thomas Chabot (Ottawa Senators) and Philippe Myers (Phiadelphia Flyers) are pencilled in as Team Canada’s first pairing tonight for a pre-competition game against Finland.
Sea Dogs grab Booth, Wildcats clear table
The QMJHL trading period started in earnest with Callum Booth (Carolina Hurricanes), arguably the circuit’s best 19-year-old goalie, moving from the Quebec Remparts to the Saint John Sea Dogs. The ante, which includes erstwhile starting goalie Alex Bishop and a 2017 first-round choice, is considerable, but Booth should furnish league-leading Saint John with a first-rate netminder as it looks to recapture the glory of the Jonathan Huberdeau years.
The Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, who are second overall, have yet to make a transaction, at least at this writing. Meantime, other top-of-the-table teams have gone out to get a notable scorer. Pierre-Luc Dubois (of Columbus Blue Jackets and Team Canada fame) is now with the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada, whereas the Shawinigan Cataractes picked up 30-goal scorer Cam Askew.
The Askew deal was part of a major sell-off by the Moncton Wildcats. Director of hockey operations Roger Shannon moved Askew and 17-year-old defenceman Alex Lavoie to Shawinigan, twin forwards Kelly Klima and Kevin Klima to the Chicoutimi Saguenéens and defencemen Adam Holwell and Zach Malatesta to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan. Moncton’s return includes a half-dozen first- or second-round choices over the next three drafts.
The Quebec league’s deadline is on Jan. 7.
Canadian NHL team prospect of the week: Adam Brooks, C, Regina Pats (WHL)
In spite of an extended stay in an AHL camp, the Toronto Maple Leafs prospect is now neck-and-neck with teammate Sam Steel in the scoring race with 53 points across 25 games. The 20-year-old Brooks responded to being kept scoreless in back-to-back games – ending a 22-game point streak – with a hat trick plus two assists against Moose Jaw on Friday to end the first half.
Brooks would be a first-year pro in many NHL organizations, but the Leafs have quite a stockpile of younger players with the Toronto Marlies. That creates the fun of seeing how much Brooks can dominate at a lower level, as he tries to become the WHL’s first repeat scoring champion in 30 seasons.
New name to know: Jeremy McKenna, RW, Moncton Wildcats (QMJHL)
McKenna, one of the pieces in the Wildcats’ rebuilding, went into the break on a good note after having his second two-goal game of the first half against Halifax last Friday.
It might seem odd to describe a 17-year-old rookie as “much travelled,” but it fits for McKenna. The Summerside, P.E.I., native spent last season at the Red Bull Hockey Academy in Salzburg, Austria, and prior to that, pursued his hockey ambitions at the famed Notre Dame College boarding school in Wilcox, Saskatchewan.
With all the ice time now available in Moncton, McKenna and other young players will have ample opportunity to audition for lead roles in the second half.