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Canadiens pick Zach Fucale may be fastest to QMJHL’s century club: CHL Hot & Cold

The combo of needing few nights off while playing for a top team has put Zachary Fucale on the verge of another notation in the record book.

The Halifax Mooseheads goalie will become the fastest in Quebec League history to reach 100 career wins if he gets the desired result during Tuesday's game at Saint John. The current mark is 150; Fucale's next start will only be his 145th.

The Montreal Canadiens second-rounder has come back with three one-goal games since returning from the world junior championship, where his play was hardly a culprit for the podium-less finish. (Indeed, without Fucale vs. Team USA in the round-robin, Canada might have wound up in a doomsday scenario that would have started with a quarter-final vs. Russia.)

Fucale's bid for the record has been boosted by playing on a powerhouse, but the heart of the matter is that penciling him in night after night has represented what's best for the Mooseheads' chances. He also has the lowest goals-against average in the Q, by the way.

Here is a look at who is flowing and who is ebbing heading into the start of the week in the CHL, following an eight-day week thanks to the Martin Luther King Day holiday in the United States.

OHL

Hot: Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds

The 'Hounds' six-game skein has moved them 13 points clear of Windsor for the No. 2 playoff seed in their division. Sault Ste. Marie has shared the wealth over this stretch, winning twice in shootouts and getting four different game-winning goal scorers. The streak began Jan. 8, the day players began drifting back from international tournaments and likely not coincidentally, first-round pick Blake Speers has been on the scoresheet in all six games. Undrafted 19-year-old Bryan Moore has also got a point in each game since coming over in an divisional trade with Sarnia.

Sault Ste. Marie, under Sheldon Keefe, is the OHL's second-least penalized team. That's a contrast from Greyhounds teams of recent vintage. Meantime, feel free to fire up the debate for OHL goaltender of the year between the Soo's Matt Murray (2.43 average, .923 save pct. over 36 games) and Erie's Oscar Dansk (1.97 and .927 over 26). Murray's played more games and see more shots per night, for what that is worth.

Not: Kingston Frontenacs

Perhaps the Fronts have been watching too much Australian Open tennis, which might explain why they lost 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 during a road junket. The stretch includes losses to three of the OHL's top teams, Barrie, Erie and Guelph. The Frontenacs have been outscored 21-4 since leading scorer Sam Bennett sustained a groin injury in Barrie on Jan. 11 and have also been without another cog up front, 17-year-old wing Ryan Verbeek, who had a hot start after coming over in a trade with Windsor.

Bennett's absence doesn't wholly account for the swoon; Kingston's allowed at least 35 shots in three of the losses and its defensive play can sometimes be a little loose. Its two games this week are against Ottawa and Belleville, the teams outside the Eastern Conference playoff picture, and thus should be winnable. Emphasis is on the should be.

Canadian NHL team prospects

Matt Finn, Guelph (No. 35 by Toronto Maple Leafs in '12) — Plus/minus is far from a perfect metric, but look who took over the OHL lead at plus-37 over 38 games. Finn's on a now league-leading team, chips in offensively with 38 points over 44 games and is having a stellar if not overly spectacular 19-year-old season as the Storm's rock on the back end. He's been a minus player only seven times all season, although Ottawa Senators-drafted blueline mate Ben Harpur has been in the red on only four occasions.

Cole Cassels, Oshawa (No. 85 by Vancouver Canucks in '13) — Cassels had six points and was plus-5 during the Gennies' wins over Owen Sound and Sarnia, neither of which is in contention. With 17 goals, 48 points and a plus-10 over 39 games, Cassels is giving Ottawa the complementary centre it needs behind Philadelphia Flyers first-rounder Scott Laughton. Most of Cassel's big offensive binges, though, come when Oshawa is whipping up on sub-.500 teams. You could look it up.

Brady Vail, Windsor (No. 94 by Montreal Canadiens in '13) — Vail is helping Windsor keep its head above water in the Western Conference, with 25 points over 13 games since the start of the second half. The Spits broke a six-game losing streak, which included two shutout losses, by beating Plymouth and Sudbury on back-to-back days with Vail notching three points in each win.

Connor Brown, Erie (No. 156 by Toronto in '13) — As inconceivable as it seems that the OHL's top scorer was left off Team Canada, what's even more inconceivable is that on June 23, 2012, the second day of the NHL draft, there was a player who would someday average two points a game in the OHL available, and the Leafs nabbed him? Flabbergasting. Brown's up to 92 points over 45 games for Erie. Three of the Otters' next four games are vs. sub-.500 Eastern teams, so he'll hit 100 before Feb. 1, barring injury.

Brown and Erie were shut out by Guelph last Saturday and fell out of top spot in the league. The previous night, Brown had a natural hat trick.

QMJHL

Hot: Baie-Comeau Drakkar

The new Quebec League leader has yet to lose since the calendar turned, going 5-0 to take over first overall. Coach Éric Veilleux's team cleared a trap game on Sunday during Shawinigan and it got Charles Hudon (and Los Angeles Kings second-rounder Valentin Zykov) on the same page. The Drakkar are off on a three-game east coast swing this week. Speaking of which ...

Not: Moncton Wildcats

Hurry up and get here, Vladimir Tkachev. The 'Cats, who will add the slick Russian later this week, are on a four-game losing streak. Moncton had the Halifax Mooseheads' Maritime Division edge down to five points on Jan. 10 after beating their rival for the fourth time, but then overworked its league-leading penalty kill in a loss to last-place Shawinigan and got upended by rival Saint John, the other team outside the playoff pack. Moncton couldn't regroup for last weekend, where it was outscored 11-3 over two games and spotted Cape Breton a four-goal lead in the first 15 minutes.

Moncton is home for six of its next eight, giving Tkachev and Ivan Barbashev a chance to renew their rapport. Barbashev is a pass-first type, but it's striking that the league's best NHL draft prospect is only fifth on the 'Cats in dangerous shots.

Canadian NHL team prospects

Zach Fucale, Halifax (No. 36 by Montreal Canadiens in '13) — Fucale's had three one-goal games with a .952 save percentage (59-of-62) since returning. That has moved the 18-year-old into first in the Q with a 2.36 average, a smidge ahead of Baie-Comeau's Philippe Cadorette (2.38).

Charles Hudon, Baie-Comeau (No. 122 by Montreal Canadiens in '12) — Hudon was granted an extra week off following the world junior and came back rejuvenated, with five points (1G-4A) over his first two games with the Drakkar. That's essentially to be expected from him as the Drakkar's big-ticket addition for their drive for a league championship.

Fabrice Herzog, Quebec (No. 142 by Toronto Maple Leafs in '13) — Whether Herzog is affected adversely by Mikhail Grigorenko returning to the Remparts and forcing a re-allocation of some ice time remains to be seen, but the Swiss has eight points in five games this month since returning from the world junior championship. Herzog's a big part of Quebec's ambition to host the 2015 Memorial Cup, since he and the likes of the league's No. 3 scorer, New York Rangers pick Anthony Duclair, will be around for it.

Jérémy Grégoire, Baie-Comeau (No. 186 by Montreal Canadiens in '13) — Grégoire is out of the throes of a six-game point drought that bridged the New Year, having scored in each of B-C's past two games. The 18-year-old also had a particularly memorable shift during a big win over the Gatineau Olympiques.

WHL

Hot: Seattle Thunderbirds

There is no middle ground with the T-Birds, eh? Seattle went right out of a five-game skid into a six-game win streak that's brought it within two lengths of the Portland Winterhawks in the U.S. Division. Anaheim Ducks first-rounder Shea Theodore has 10 assists and is plus-5 during this skein, which might underscore any sneaking suspicion that Seattle's fortune goes hand in hand with the play of its star offensive defenceman.

Has any team ever given up 10 goals in a game and had back-to-back shutouts in the space of two weeks? Seattle pulled that off after new goalie Taran Kozun won his first two starts. The T-Birds might be better defensively than their negative goal differential indicates; some blowout losses have inflated their goals-against record.

Not: Prince Albert Raiders

Coach Cory Clouston rotating goalies during a slump? Where has that occurred previously? The Raiders, droppers of four in a row, have fallen into a pattern of giving up early goals and being unable to rally back, which should be beneath a team with two NHL first-rounder talents in Leon Draisaitl and Josh Morrissey. Prince Albert missed a gimme when it lost to lowly Saskatoon last Friday. It faces a four-pointer against Red Deer, holder of the final playoff position in the Eastern Conference, on Wednesday. It could get a list for its Friday roadie at Swift Current if Broncos star Julius Honka is unable to go after being injured in Sunday's game between the teams.

Canadian NHL team prospects

Morgan Klimchuk, Regina (No. 28 by Calgary Flames in '13) — Klimchuk and the Queen City kids showed some good bounce-back last Saturday at Prince Albert, where they won 4-2 after being outclassed by Kootenay the previous night. Klimchuk had his second hat trick of the season in that one, giving him 11 points (5G-6A) over eight games this month.

Nic Petan, Portland (No. 43 by Winnipeg Jets in '13) — Petan has nine points (2G-7A) over seven games since the world junior, less than his usual torrid pace. But the 18-year-old scored one of his characteristic goals during Portland's win over Vancouver during a Martin Luther King Day game, finding a sliver of space to make a slick move after Brendan Leipsic did the legwork by stealing the puck.

Tim Bozon, Kootenay Ice (No. 64 by Montreal Canadiens in '12) — The 19-year-old flying Frenchman has an eight-game point streak going, with 13 counters over that span. Bozon has been separated from 18-year-old stars Sam Reinhart and Jaedon Descheneau (#FreeJaedon), giving the Ice a good 1-2 punch with his current linemates Luke Philp and Austin Vetterl.

Coda Gordon, Swift Current (No. 165 by Calgary Flames in '12) — Gordon's four-point night in Swift Current's 7-0 stomping of Prince Albert last Sunday didn't come in a vacuum, since he's had 14 over eight games since Jan. 1. Gordon would conceivably be in the Dub's top 20 scorers if not for missing 13 of the Broncos' 48 games.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca.