Inside the CHL
The Spitfires are riding an 11-game winning streak and have lost just once in 18 games this season despite playing a league-high 11 games on the road but the Brampton Battalion and Saginaw Spirit have also been hot of late.
Brampton’s resurgence has been fuelled by the return of captain Cody Hodgson and the arrival of Russian star Evgeny Grachev, who both missed the start of the OHL season while in NHL camps.
Sophomore forward Matt Duchene has been a consistent offensive contributor all season and has Brampton off to a 7-1-0-0 record in eight games on home ice
Meanwhile, the Spirit won their past two games to improve to 7-3-0-0 in their past 10 games. They have moved into second place in the West Division on the strength of a 7-2-0-0 home record.
Spitfires’ teammates Taylor Hall and Ryan Ellis are tied at the top of the OHL scoring race with 33 points each. Ellis was named the Boston Pizza OHL player of the week after scoring seven points in two games last week.
John Tavares of the Oshawa Generals is third in the OHL scoring race and is tied with Stefan Della Rovere of the Barrie Colts for the league lead with 14 goals.
Western Hockey League
The Vancouver Giants remain the only team in the CHL without a regulation loss this season and improved to 12-0-0-3 with a pair of one-goal wins over the Tri-City Americans and Brandon Wheat Kings last weekend.
Sunday’s win over Brandon was coach Don Hay’s 400th career win in the WHL and helped the Giants move ahead of the Kelowna Rockets in the Western Conference.
The Calgary Hitmen picked up a pair of wins last weekend and extended their first place lead over the Giants by four points.
The Swift Current Broncos have won four straight and moved into a tie with the Regina Pats for first place in the East Division.
In Kelowna, Jamie Benn leads the WHL point parade with 18 goals and 32 points in 16 games while teammate Colin Long is tied for second with Brett Sonne of the Hitmen for second with 29 points each.
Quebec Major Junior Hockey League
In the Quebec League, the Shawinigan Cataractes and Moncton Wildcats continue their battle for first place overall. The Cataractes are riding a 10-game winning streak while the Wildcats have won nine straight and they are tied with 34 points each. The Wildcats have three games in hand and could move ahead this weekend.
Shawinigan forwards Cedric Lalonde-McNicoll (13 goals, 39 points), Nicholas Petersen (11 goals, 33 points), Matthew Pistilli (19 goals, 30 points) and Dave Lebrecque (five goals, 29 points) sit atop the QMJHL scoring race and have helped the Cataractes amass a league-leading 104 goals.
The Rouyn-Noranda Huskies are coming on of late and have won five straight games while the 2009 MasterCard Memorial Cup host Rimouski Oceanic won both of their games last weekend and are winners of seven of their past 10 games.
Meanwhile in Gatineau, Mario Richer resigned as head coach after the squad lost their 10th straight game on the weekend. Jerome Dupont, who played in the NHL with the Chicago Blackhawks and Toronto Maple Leafs, takes over for the defending QMJHL champions.