CHL Coast-to-Coast: Three teams enjoy timely success
Wednesday March 4, 2015
By Josh Sweetland/CHL
With just over 50% of all available playoff positions across the CHL now occupied, the intensity is cranking up in the final weeks of the 2014-15 season as teams jostle for position. For some, a late season surge is coming at just the right time as several clubs across the country are finding their stride and getting healthy bodies back into the lineup.
An additional nine teams clinched playoff spots over the past week with the Regina Pats, Guelph Storm, Niagara IceDogs, London Knights, Owen Sound Attack, Saint John Sea Dogs, Sherbrooke Phoenix, Val d’Or Foreurs and Shawinigan Cataractes all securing positions.
One team doing everything in its power to lock down a playoff berth has been the WHL’s Prince George Cougars who have won three straight and six of their last 10 contests. The 26-33-2-2 Cougars are currently in a heated three-way dance for the final playoff spot in the B.C. Division with the Vancouver Giants and Kamloops Blazers, with the trio separated by just a single point. Prince George has taken three of its four meetings with Kamloops on the season but has four encounters remaining on the schedule and also split their eight game season series with the Vancouver Giants.
Draft eligible forward Jansen Harkins has played a big part in Prince George’s recent success, notching points in each of his last eight games as well as a total of 10 in his last three to earn Denny’s WHL Player of the Week honours. Harkins, who represented Team Cherry in the 2015 BMO CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game is joined offensively by 19 year-old veteran Chase Witala who leads the team with 32 goals, and overage St. Louis Blues prospect Zach Pochiro who joined the club midway through the season after a brief stint in the ECHL.
Moving east to Ontario, the Niagara IceDogs have enjoyed one of the biggest turnarounds in the nation, reversing a 2-13-0-0 start through their first 15 games of the season to charge up the standings and clinch a playoff spot. The Dogs have been among the OHL’s hottest teams since Christmas, playing to a 19-6-0-0 record since the turn of the new year.
Much like Jansen Harkins in Prince George, draft eligible winger Graham Knott has been a steady contributor in St. Catharines on an IceDogs club that features top NHL prospects in Brendan Perlini (Arizona), Josh Ho-Sang (New York Islanders) and Carter Verhaeghe (Toronto Maple Leafs). Knott netted his first career OHL hat-trick on Tuesday to lead Niagara to a 7-1 win over Sudbury. The 17 year-old is second on the IceDogs with 25 goals this season along with 18 assists for 43 points in 59 games.
A busy week in the QMJHL saw four teams secure playoff destinies and one other pull themselves into the thick of things with a six-game winning streak. The Gatineau Olympiques have emerged from the bottom of the QMJHL’s West Division to improve their record to within four games of .500 on the season at 26-30-0-5. Coached by Canadian World Junior gold medalist Benoit Groulx, the Olympiques have taken recent victories from contenders in Rimouski, Quebec and Moncton.
A key part of Gatineau’s success has been draft eligible Russian winger Yakov Trenin who had six points (2-4–6) in two victories last week. Trenin, who suited up for Team Cherry at the 2015 BMO CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game, is second in Gatineau scoring with 16 goals, 42 assists and 58 points in 51 games. Overage winger Louick Marcotte leads the way for the Olympiques with 30 goals, 32 assists and 62 points in 56 games.
The Olympiques have even received some unexpected offence from their goaltender this season. Francois Brassard became the first goaltender in QMJHL history to score two goals in a season on February 28, sinking a shot into the open net in Saint John exactly 11 weeks after his first goal as a member of the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles on December 13.
While Brassard has the bases covered offensively, goaltending partner Nicolas Lachance has been named the Vaughn Hockey CHL Goaltender of the Week after he posted a pair of wins, including a shutout, with a 0.52 goals-against average and .982 save percentage last week.
34 teams across the CHL are left to battle for the 22 remaining playoff spots with three weeks to go in the regular season. Every point counts from here on out.
Be sure to catch Sportsnet Friday Night Hockey between a pair of QMJHL playoff-bound teams in the Quebec Remparts and Blainville-Boisbriand Armada on Friday March 6 at 7:30pm ET on Sportsnet East, Ontario, Pacific, and TVA Sports. QMJHL hockey is back on Sportsnet on Sunday, with the Drummondville Voltigeurs visiting the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada at 3:00pm ET on Sportsnet East, Ontario, Pacific, and TVA Sports.