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Kitchener Rangers’ offensive outage powers rumour mill: CHL Hot & Cold
When overages bolt, it's major junior hockey's answer to the canary in the coal mine.
The Kitchener Rangers are not allowed to have down years, yet the flagship franchise seems bent on one during a season when the Memorial Cup is being staged in nearby London, which has created a "restless" franchise. If these trends continue, it will create some drama during the build up to the trade deadline. The biggest asset the Rangers could move is 19-year-Czech centre Radek Faksa and it just so happens that both Memorial Cup-host London and Eastern Conference-leading Oshawa Generals have an open import slot, just saying.
Here's a look at who's up and who's down heading into the week.
OHL
Hot: Oshawa Generals
The Gens are on an 11-1-0-1 run since a certain Scott Laughton laced it up for the first time on Oct. 3. Moreover, coach D.J. Smith has kept his charges chugging along and churning out wins despite being short-staffed. Two weeks ago, while Florida Panthers-drafted captain Josh Brown was suspended and three other regular D-men were out with injuries, Oshawa still managed a 4-of-6 points weekend.
Oshawa will always face the rap of being in the weaker Eastern Conference, where playing at a .794 clip has put it six points clear of Kingston. However, its current run includes beating Guelph and London in regulation and sneaking out a shootout win over Sault Ste. Marie. Laughton and 17-year-old left wing Michael Dal Colle are leading the way offensively, while 18-year-old Josh Sterk is one source of complementary scoring. Oshawa's challenge up front might include cultivating some more regular sources of offence. Rookie Joe Manchurek, a possible late-round NHL draft sleeper, has moved on to the Laughton-Dal Colle line; he needed all of one shift to score on Tuesday in Oshawa.
The Generals will have a litmus-test tilt on Saturday at Erie.
Apologies are due to the Guelph Storm, but we're trying not to recognize the same team two weeks in a row. A honourable mention is due to the Windsor Spitfires, whose five-game win streak has pulled them up to a .600 point percentage.
Not: Kitchener Rangers
It's been 31 days since Kitchener scored four goals in a game. This is probably more of a case of a team being young and the bottom of a building cycle than of performing below expectations. The highly touted U.S. newcomers, Ryan MacInnis and Nick Magyar, are only 17 and have a lot of adjusting to do to a new league, whereas Buffalo Sabres-drafted centre Justin Bailey probably won't peak as a junior player until next season, when he is 19.
Informed Rangers fans knew last season that it could be a long 2013-14, especially if then coach-GM Steve Spott's deadline moves failed to yield a deep playoff run. It didn't and for the time being, Kitchener is adjusting to a different standard of living. The Rangers-Peterborough Petes game on Thursday should be interesting insofar as one team will break a losing streak and feel better about itself.
Canadian NHL team prospects
Connor Crisp, Sudbury (No. 71 by Montreal Canadiens in '13) — Paraphrasing that old TV commercial, how do you like your Crisp? Not this cold. The power winger is in a six-game point drought.
Cole Cassels, Oshawa (No. 85 by Vancouver Canucks in '13) — Cassels had a promising sophomore season last year in the 'Shwa, when he was typically a No. 3 centre. Oshawa moved him on to a wing opposite Dal Colle and Laughton and he's kept up well with the two players, notching eight points in his past three games.
Jordan Subban, Belleville (No. 115 by Vancouver Canucks in '13) — Subban's transition from 17-year-old offensive defenceman on a contender to an 18-year-old who's expected to pick the slack for struggler has been somewhat bumpy. Bulls coach-GM George Burnett made the puck-moving D-man a healthy scratch last weekend, along with two other vets. In their absence, Los Toros beat North Bay for just their third regulation win in 17 tries.
Connor Brown, Erie (No. 156 by Toronto Maple Leafs in '12) — Is Brown on a similar track to current Leafs farmhand Josh Leivo, who shone in Sudbury and Kitchener over the past three years? Brown's growth spurt didn't kick in, which explains why he was around in the later rounds for both the OHL priority selection in 2010 and NHL draft two years hence. The Otters captain, who had a hat trick last weekend, still leads the scoring race with 15 goals and 36 points over 17 games.
QMJHL
Hot: Baie-Comeau Drakkar
It's a double entendre, since coach Éric Veilleux, whose slick slinging made it on to Deadspin on Monday, has been heated. His team has been scorching, taking a 10-game point streak (with one shootout loss) into a week that includes roadies to Rimouski and Drummondville (which is on a six-game point streak in its own right).
The Drakkar's M.O. involves being confrontational and then making opponents pay on the power play. They are converting 30.6 per cent of the time with the extra skater(s). Nineteen-year-old Frédéric Gamelin is the the textbook case of a player who was drafted high out of minor hockey becoming a solid contributor. He's undrafted due in part to being 5-foot-8 and 175 pounds, but is 10th in league scoring while complementing Jérémy Grégoire and Valentin Zykov.
Not: Charlottetown Islanders
The Islanders started well but their current six-game slide has dropped them to 10th overall if you go by points, or eighth overall if you are one of those pretentious point-percentage-using pedants. You probably order iced coffee in December right when the Starbucks has a bad rush of holiday shoppers needing their caffeine fix, too.
One can ponder whether that a disallowed goal on Sunday was the straw that broke the camel's back vis-à-vis Charlottetown coach Gordie Dwyer's opinion of Q refs. The Islanders, no doubt, need to play an uncompromising game to have a shot on many nights. They have already been down a man 30 more times than they have been on the power play (105-75), which means burning a lot of energy playing 4-on-5. That's going to spill over into the even-strength play.
Canadian NHL team prospects
Zachary Fucale, Halifax (No. 36 by Montreal Canadiens in '13) — Reading deeply into Fucale getting hooked after the first period last Friday (four goals allowed) is an overreaction. It was a weird game, the first 20-goal contest in the Q since 1992, and any goalie can be off. Fucale was given the next night off as the Mooseheads won at Val-d'Or for their 11th victory in their past 14 tries.
Keep an eye on how the 18-year-old responds this week now that he's ostensibly relaxed and refocused for a set of divisional games vs. Moncton and Saint John.
Martin Reway, Gatineau (No. 116 by Montreal Canadiens in '13) — Both of the QMJHL-seasoned Europeans the Habs drafted in June had good weeks. Former Rouyn-Noranda Huskies standout Sven Andrighetto is producing at a near point-a-game clip of late as a 20-year-old in the AHL.
The 18-year-old Reway, at 5-foot-9 and 173 pounds, can get boxed in during some games. When he gets some open ice, it's great to see.
Charles Hudon, Chicoutimi (No. 122 by Montreal Canadiens in '12) — Hudon made Team Canada as an 18-year-old last season, when the aforementioned Spott was in thrall with his two-way game. The Saguenéens have a minus-13 goal differential, which probably accounts somewhat for Hudon being -7 on the year. That number just jumped out when it's attached to a potential returning member of Team Canada.
WHL
Hot: Medicine Hat Tigers
Star Hunter Shinkaruk has been out for two weeks with a hip injury, but the Tigers have won four in a row and have played .750 hockey over their past 10 to assume the Eastern Conference lead. The Tigers are not completely barren offensively without the Vancouver Canucks first-rounder — hey, Curtis Valk did have 91 points last season — and their power play has been lights-out on home ice. The Tigers also seem to be getting by with what appears to nearly a honest to goodness goalie rotation with Marek Langhamer (2.31 average, .922 save pct.) and Daniel Wapple (2.99, .904).
Shinkaruk is expected to make the trip next week when Medicine Hat has a two-game B.C. trip that includes a stop in his NHL organization's city. In the meantime, coach Shaun Clouston's Tigers play three top teams this week in Spokane, Prince Albert and Calgary, so maintaining their success will be difficult.
Not: Prince George Cougars
One hates to pile on a team which is down. P.G. is listed here since it had an 11-spot drop in the Dynamic Dozen calculations after a week where it had four losses, including a one-goal game, an overtime game and a shootout contest where it crawled out of an early four-goal hole against Kelowna. The results were just not there, unfortunately.
The Cougars have already been in a league-high seven OT games. The good news is they have added 42-goal scorer Todd Fiddler, whose scoring punch might come in hand in some of those close contests.
Canadian NHL team prospects
Dalton Thrower, Vancouver (No. 51 by Montreal in '12) — Thrower has made much of his overage season, with 16 points in 15 games for the young Giants, including seven power-play assists while running the point. Ideally, a second-rounder would not be playing in the Dub at age 20, but at least we get some good highlights from it. Nothing wrong with a post-grad year.
Eric Comrie, Tri-City (No. 59 by Winnipeg in '13) — The easy, lazy and probably correct way out is to draw a line between the Ams' current six-game point streak and the play of Comrie, the poster child for hip surgery. The 18-year-old 'tender is back to being a workhorse. Only one goalie in the entire league has more shots against than Comrie has saves.
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.