Armada lead CHL in early stages of season
By Aaron Bell
Eight games into the 2013-14 Canadian Hockey League season, the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada are doing exactly what they set out to do – score goals and win hockey games.
The Armada have won their first eight games of the season and are the only team in the CHL that have yet to be defeated.
They opened the season with a 5-2 win over the Sherbrooke Phoenix on September 13 and won their eighth straight on Sunday with a 3-2 overtime win over the Quebec Remparts.
But it hasn’t all been easy pickings for the Armada.
In their second game of the season, they needed a third period tying goal and then an overtime marker to beat the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies and on Sunday they needed a powerplay marker late in the third to push the Remparts to an extra frame.
19-year-old winger Christopher Clapperton has led the way offensively so far this season for the Armada and leads all QMJHL scorers with eight goals and 20 points in the first eight games of the season.
The Florida Panthers’ prospect has at least one point in every game so far this season and is heating up with 14 points in his past four games.
The Armada knew coming into the season that they could fill the net.
They returned most of their deep group of forwards including Latvian winger Nikita Jevpalovs, who already has 11 points this season, and St. Louis Blues’ prospect Ryan Tesink, who has a goal and eight points so far.
But a lot of their success so far this season has come in their own end.
The Armada have given up a league-low 15 goals against and that stingy defence is paying huge dividends.
Meanwhile the Charlottetown Islanders are enjoying their new look and have stormed out of the gate with a 7-1 record through eight games. They trail the Armada by just one point and are no doubt looking forward to their first head-to-head matchup in December.
In the Western Hockey League, the Spokane Chiefs have won all but one of their first seven games and are in a tie for first place overall with the Prince Albert Raiders, who are 6-2 in their first eight games.
Mitch Holmberg is leading the way offensively for the Chiefs and tops the WHL scoring race with 10 goals and 21 points in seven games.
In the Ontario Hockey League, the Kingston Frontenacs have rebuilt their roster from the ground up over the past few seasons and are seeing the fruits of that youth movement in a big way so far this season. They are off to a 6-0-0-1 start and lead the OHL with 13 points in seven games.
NHL prospect Sam Bennett is the Frontenacs’ top scorer so far with five goals and 10 points but there is a three-way tie at the top of the OHL scoring list between Gemel Smith of the Owen Sound Attack, Josh Sterk of the Oshawa Generals and Mathew Campagna of the Sudbury Wolves, who all have 14 points.
