Cole Guttman and Nicklaus Perbix are wearing the red, white, and blue to play for Team USA at the World Junior ‘A’ challenge. The tournament is held prior to the IIHF Men’s U20 World Championship (or World Juniors) and is run by Hockey Canada. It’s an invitational tournament featuring what can essentially be called the ‘B’ teams for national junior hockey. The Bolts prospects have left their USHL teams and played one pre-tournament game for USA so far, and the real games kicked off last night.
For the World Juniors, the Lightning have four players currently attending Team Canada camp in St. Catharines, Ontario: Taylor Raddysh, Cal Foote, Boris Katchouk, and Brett Howden. Alexey Lipanov is going to be at Russian camp in Rochester, New York.
I’ll be at camp this week, so if there’s anything specific you want to know about/hear from these players let me know in the comments or on Twitter.
Ontario Hockey League
#12 – Christopher Paquette (F) – 2G, 1A+1
Peterborough Petes – 15-14-1-1
Dec. 7th: vs Sudbury Wolves
W 5-4 OT – 2G, 0A, +1
A cheery @Chris_paquette9 after netting this year’s Teddy Bear Toss goal! 🐻🐻🐻#RISE #GoPetesGo pic.twitter.com/XoeW0jreBq
— Peterborough Petes (@PetesOHLhockey) December 8, 2017
Dec. 8th: @ London Knights
L 4-3 OT – No Points
Dec. 9th: @ Sarnia Sting
L 3-1 – 0G, 1A
Paquette had one of his best weeks of the season, notching two goals and an assist, a point per game rate.
#12 – Boris Katchouk (F) – 4G, 0A, +5
Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds – 26-3-2-0
Dec. 6th: vs Sarnia Sting
W 6-3 – 1G, 0A, +1
Dec. 8th: vs North Bay Battalion
W 3-1 – 1G, 0A, +1
Dec. 10th: vs Windsor Spitfires
W 6-3 – 2G, 0A, +3
The Greyhounds have taken over as the OHL’s best team, and the high scoring wins will help keep them in first place. Katchouk scored four goals over the week, hopefully he can keep this pace up at the World Juniors camp.
#17 – Taylor Raddysh (F) – 2G, 3A
Erie Otters – 10-16-4-1
Dec. 7th: @ Windsor Spitfires
L 4-3 – 1G, 1A, +1
Dec. 8th: @ Sarnia Sting
L 7-4 – 1G, 0A, -1
Dec. 10th: @ London Knights
L 6-2 – 0G, 2A
The Otters best, most reliable forward may not be with the Otters after the World Juniors. The OHL trade deadline is just a few days after the gold medal game and Raddysh will be a hot commodity on the market.
#17 – Alexei Lipanov (F) – 2G, 0A, +3
Barrie Colts – 17-10-2-1
Dec. 8th: @ Mississauga Steelheads
W 3-2 – No Points
Dec. 9th: vs Oshawa Generals
W 5-0 – 2G, 0A, +2
Dec. 10th: @ North Bay Battalion
L 5-2 – 0G, 0A, +1
Lipanov scored two goals last week, but his scoring is cooling off on the season lately. He’ll be attending Russian world junior camp this week in Rochester, New York.
Quebec Major Junior Hockey League
#89 – Otto Somppi (F) – 0G, 2A, -1
Halifax Mooseheads – 18-9-4-1
Dec. 6th: @ Shawinigan Cataractes
L 3-2 SO – 0G, 1A, +1
Dec. 8th: @ Val d’Or Forerus
W 2-1 – 0G, 0A, -1
Dec. 9th: @ Rouyn-Noranda Huskies
L 7-2 – 0G, 1A, -1
The Mooseheads trip to northern Quebec wasn’t as successful as it could have been, and a 7-2 blasting by the Huskies hurts. Somppi got an assist in each loss, but he alone couldn’t salvage the road trip.
Western Hockey League
#21 – Brett Howden (F) / #76 – Oleg Susonov (D)
1G, A, +2 / 1G, 2A, +1
Moose Jaw Warriors – 25-5-1-1
Dec. 5th: vs Medicine Hat Tigers
W 5-4 – Did Not Play / Did Not Play
Dec. 7th: @ Edmonton Oil Kings
W 4-3 OT – Did Not Play / 0G, 0A, -1
Dec. 8th: @ Red Deer Rebels
W 3-0 – Did Not Play / 1G, 1A, +1
Dec. 10th: @ Calgary Hitmen
W 6-3 – 1G, 1A, +2 / 0G, 1A, +1
Howden sat out resting to be 100% for Team Canada camp, but did come back for his final game before leaving for St. Catharines, and scored two points. Susonov played very well as the Warriors went 4-0 on the week, even chipping in a goal in the shutout of the Rebels.
#25 – Libor Hajek (D) – 1G, 1A
Saskatoon Blades – 12-16-2-1
Dec. 5th: @ Seattle Thunderbirds
L 4-1 – 0G, 0A, -1
Dec. 9th: vs Kamloops Blazers
L 4-1 – 1G, 0A
Dec. 10th: vs Prince Albert Raiders
W 3-2 – 0G, 1A, +1
Hajek set up the Blades second goal in their only win for the week, and scored their only goal in a 4-1 loss.
#25 – Cal Foote (D) – 0G, 4A, +1
Kelowna Rockets – 18-9-2-1
Dec. 8th: @ Regina Pats
W 7-5 – 0G, 1A, +2
Dec. 9th: @ Brandon Wheat Kings
L 7-4 – 0G, 3A, -1
Foote did all he could to try and get the Rockets back to back wins, but his three assists weren’t enough to get the Rockets past the Wheat Kings.
USHL
#19 – Cole Guttman (F)
Dubuque Fighting Saints – 9-7-2-1
Dec. 8th: vs Madison Capitols
W 7-1 – Did Not Play
Dec. 9th: @ Cedar Rapids RoughRiders
L 7-1 – Did Not Play
Guttman didn’t play in the USHL last week as he’s with Team USA at the World Junior A Challenge, in Truro, Nova Scotia.
#14 – Nicklaus Perbix (D)
Omaha Lancers – 11-7-1-0
Dec. 8th: @ Tri-City Storm
W 3-1 – Did Not Play
Dec. 9th: @ Sioux City Musketeers
W 3-0 – Did Not Play
Perbix didn’t play in the USHL last week as he’s with Team USA at the World Junior A Challenge, in Truro, Nova Scotia.
World Junior ‘A’ Challenge
#14 – Nicklaus Perbix (D) / #19 – Cole Guttman (F)
Team USA
Dec. 8th: vs Canada West (Pre-Tournament warm up)
W 7-0 – 0G, 1A / No Points
In the warm-up game for Team USA, the Americans dominated Canada West 7-0, and Perbix was the only Bolts prospect to come out with a point, a secondary assist on goal #6.
High School
#26 – Samuel Walker
Edina High School
No games last week
NCAA
#33 – Kris Oldham (G)
U. Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks
Overall: 7-8-1 / Conference: 2-6-0
Dec. 8th: vs Minnesota-Duluth
W 7-5 – Did Not Play
Dec. 9th: vs Minnesota-Duluth
L 6-2 – Did Not Play
The third strong goalie didn’t get into a game again this week.
#20 – Ross Colton (F) – 0G, 0A, -2
U. Vermont Catamounts
Overall: 4-10-3 / Conference: 1-6-2
Dec. 9th: vs Brown
T 2-2 – 0G, 0A, -2
#18 – Ryan Lohin (F)
U. Mass-Lowell River Hawks
Overall: 9-8 / Conference: 6-6
Dec. 8th: vs Boston University
W 3-2 – 0G, 0A, +1
Dec. 9th: @ Boston University
L 9-3 – 0G, 0A, -1
#16 – Johnathan MacLeod (D)
Boston U. Terriers
Overall: 8-10-1 / Conference: 6-6-1
Dec. 8th: @ U-Mass Lowell
L 3-2 – No Points
Dec. 9th: vs U-Mass Lowell
W 9-3 – 0G, 0A, +4
MacLeod got into the big win, and played solid defense in keeping the Terriers in the winners circle.
#20 – Ryan Zuhlsdorf (D)
U. Minnesota Golden Gophers
Overall: 10-9-1 / Conference: 4-7-1
Dec. 8th: @ Ohio State
L 2-1 OT – No Points
Dec. 9th: @ Ohio State
L 4-1 – No Points
Zuhlsdorf didn’t score, but he did keep the opposition from scoring on him, which is fine, but the Gophers still lost both games.
Lightning prospects points
| Player | League | Points | Games | PPG | NHLe |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Samuel Walker | Big 10 | 18 | 26 | 0.69 | 19.87 |
| Ryan Lohin | Hockey East | 22 | 21 | 1.05 | 31.78 |
| Alexey Lipanov | OHL | 21 | 43 | 0.49 | 12.81 |
| Cole Guttman | NCHC | 18 | 25 | 0.72 | 24.21 |
| Nicklaus Perbix | NCHC | 13 | 26 | 0.50 | 16.81 |
| Ryan Zuhlsdorf | Big 10 | 4 | 24 | 0.17 | 4.78 |
| Gabriel Fortier | QMJHL | 64 | 50 | 1.28 | 27.29 |
| Radim Salda | QMJHL | 23 | 31 | 0.74 | 15.82 |
| Alex Green | ECAC | 1 | 5 | 0.20 | 3.77 |
| Cole Koepke | NCHC | 11 | 26 | 0.42 | 14.22 |
