Esposito and Roy are League’s Best This Week

On Monday, the league announced that Montreal Juniors forward Angelo Esposito and Cape Breton Screaming Eagles goaltender Olivier Roy are the offensive and defensive players for the week ending October 5th. Over a two game period, Esposito scored twice with one of them coming shorthanded, added five assists, and finished with a +4 rating.

In his first game back last season, he assisted on Nick Layton’s game-winner in a 4-3 win over the Acadie-Bathurst Titan. Sunday was his best day as he netted a franchise-high six points as Montreal beat Victoriaville 8-4. The Juniors now have a four game win streak. Roy’s teammate Mathieu Tousignant, Shawinigan Cataracte Cédric Lalonde-McNicoll, and Cape Breton Screaming Eagle Chris Culligan (Screaming Eagles) also received consideration.

Roy went 2-0 with a 1.00 GAA, and 0.961 SAV%. One of those wins was a 5-0 shutout on Friday night; he is 7-0-0 this season. Cape Breton is in first place in the Atlantic Division with seven wins in eight games this season. Also up for the honors were Acadie-Bathurst's Drew Paris (Titan), Esposito’s teammate T.J. Brennan, and Quebec Rempart Charles Lavigne.

Mahbod, Riopel and Kulikov are Players of the Month

On Wednesday, the league announced that Drummondville Voltigeurs' teammates, forward Samson Mahbod and defenseman Dmitry Kulikov, and Moncton Wildcats’ netminder Nicola Riopel won the offensive, rookie, and defensive players of the month awards for September. Over a six game period, Mahbod scored six times (two game-winners), added seven assists, and was a +5. His 13 points gives him second race in the scoring statistics. Drummondville has won five of their six games this season. Shawinigan Cataractes' teammates, Dave Labrecque and Nicholas Peterson, and Baie-Comeau Drakkar Félix Petit were also nominated.

Kulikov has found the back of the net twice while assisting on six other goals and maintaining a +3 rating over the course of his first five games. He leads the rookie scoring race with eight points and also has 12 body-checks. Also receiving consideration were Victoriaville Tigre Andrej Nestrasil, Moncton Wildcat Sasha Famin, and Chicoutimi Sagueneen Sean Coulton.

Riopel has won all six of the games that he has started (one shutout), has a 1.48 GAA, and 0.942 SAV%. Over that period he has allowed the fewest goals against in the League with nine. Shawinigan teammates, Gabriel Lemieux and Gabriel Girard, and Cape Breton Screaming Eagle Jan Piskacek also received consideration.

Sea Dogs Send Gauthier to Foreurs

On Monday, the Saint John Sea Dogs sent winger Francois Gauthier and their 2009 QMJHL entry draft fifth round pick to Val-d’Or for the Foreurs’ 2009 CHL import draft first round selection. Gauthier has played 195 games in the QMJHL over the past five seasons and was acquired by Saint John from Cape Breton midway through the 2006-07 season. Over that period he has scored 41 times and assisted on 69 others.

Stacey Receives Three-Game Suspension, Olympiques Fined

On Tuesday, the league handed Gatineau Olympiques forward Travis Stacey a three-game suspension for punching Montreal Juniors forward Pat O’Keefe after O’Keefe came to the defense of teammate T.J. Brennan, who Stacey checked into the boards from behind.
He received an automatic one-game suspension for being the aggressor, and two additional games for the incident. The organization also received a $500 fine.

Antoine Lafleur Traded

On Wednesday, the PEI Rocket sent goalie Antoine Lafleur to the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies for their 2009 QMJHL entry draft eighth round pick. Lafleur is a N.Y. Rangers 2007 NHL entry draft second round pick. He has played the past three seasons with the Rocket with a 43-44-1 record, 3.96 GAA, and 0.888 SAV%. His best season was the 2006-07 season when he went 27-19-0 with a 2.97 GAA, and 0.909 SAV%.

Moncton, Cape Breton, Drummondville, and Shawinigan Make CHL Top 10

When the CHL Top 10 was revealed on Wednesday, Moncton, Cape Breton, Drummondville, and Shawinigan made the top 10. With their 6-0-0 record, the Wildcats finished second, with Cape Breton (6-1-0-0) third, Drummondville (5-0-0-1) seventh, and Shawinigan (5-2-0-0) 10th.

Top 10 Rankings – Week 2

1. Windsor Spitfires - (4-0-0-0)
2. Moncton Wildcats - (6-0-0-0)
3. Cape Breton Screaming Eagles - (6-1-0-0)
4. Swift Current Broncos - (4-0-0-0)
5. Guelph Storm - (4-0-0-0)
6. Spokane Chiefs - (3-1-0-0)
7. Drummondville Voltigeurs - (5-0-0-1)
8. Vancouver Giants - (4-0-0-1)
9. Belleville Bulls - (2-1-0-0)
10. Shawinigan Cataractes - (5-2-0-0)

Games This Week

Two games kicked off the week’s play on Wednesday as Taylor Lambke led Acadie-Bathurst to a 5-2 win over Gatineau with two goals and one assist; while Victoriaville edged Drummondville 3-2 on Samson Mahod’s game-winner with 5:11 left in regulation. Matthew Pistilli and Pierre-Alexandre Vandall added a goal and assist each in Shawinigan’s 3-1 win over Saint John on Thursday.

Seven contests were featured on Friday as Nick MacNeil led the way for Cape Breton with a two goals and one assist, and Oliver Roy made 22 saves in their team’s 5-0 shutout of Lewiston; Chris Doyle and Mathieu Tousignant had two goals and one assist each to help PEI lay a 7-2 pasting on Halifax; Mark Barberio and Randy Cameron each scored once and assisted on one other as Moncton doubled Shawinigan 4-2.

Baie-Comeau could only manage 15 shots on net in their 3-0 shutout loss to Quebec; with 9:06 left in the third Nick Layton netted the game-winner in Montreal’s 4-3 win over Acadie-Bathurst; Sebastien Piche, Ryan Kavanagh, and Luca Cunti each scored as Rimouski nipped Chicoutimi 3-2; and Drummondville got past Rouyn-Noranda 2-1 on the strength of Samson Mahbod’s goal and assist.

On Saturday, the lone Atlantic Division tilt saw Halifax continue to struggle as they lost 5-1 to Saint John with Christopher DiDomenico leading the way with one goal and two assists. Four all-Quebec contests saw Guillaume Goulet and Pierre-Marc Lessard score once and add an assist each in Baie-Comeau’s 4-1 victory over Rimouski; Mikael Stefanovich, Dmitri Kugryshev, Marc-Olivier Vallerand, and Jonathan Audy-Marchessault all light the lamppost as Quebec skated to a 4-2 win over Chicoutimi; Yannick Riendeau netted the game-winner 3:11 into overtime as Drummondville nipped Victoriaville 2-1; and Sergey Ostapchuk’s two goals helped Rouyn-Noranda to beat Gatineau 4-1.

In the two Atlantic-Telus games, Nick MacNeil had a had trick as Cape Breton swept their series with Lewiston with a 6-2 drubbing; and Cedric Lalonde-McNicoll had a goal and a hat trick of assists as Shawinigan concluded their swing through Atlantic Canada with a 7-4 win over PEI.

On Sunday, captain Jean-Philip Chabot’s two goals gave Gatineau a 4-2 victory over Val-d’Or; Alexander Beaton’s two goals and Etienne Brodeur’s goal and assists helped Halifax’s woes continue as Lewiston came out of Halifax with a 7-3 victory; Christopher DiDomenico’s game-winner 38 seconds into overtime saw Saint John nip Moncton 3-2; and Angelo Esposito had six points (2G, 4A), and Luke Adam had a hat trick and two assists in Montreal’s 8-4 win over Victoriaville.

The Leaders

Cape Breton leads both the Atlantic Division and the overall standings with their 8-1-0-0 record and 16 points. Drummondville sits atop the Telus Central Division with 15 points (7-1-0-1), while Quebec leads the Telus West with seven wins versus one loss, zero overtime losses, and no shutout losses; and Montreal tops the Telus West as they are 5-3-0-0 with 10 points.

Among skaters Mahbod (9G, 8A, 9 GP), Lalonde-McNicoll (6G, 10A, 8 GP), and Culligan (5G, 11A, 6 GP) are one, two, and three respectively; while PEI center Ben Duffy (5G, 5A, 7 GP),Victoriaville left winger Andrej Nestrasil (5G, 4A, 10 GP), and Rouyn-Noranda right winger Sergey Ostapchuk (3G, 6A, 7 GP) top the rookie list.

Between the pipes based on five games played, Riopel leads the way as he is now 7-1 with a 1.73 GAA, and 0.935 SAV%. Backstopping his way into second place is Quebec’s Charles Lavigne (5-1, 2.14 GAA, 0.927 SAV%), with Roy (7-0, 2.57 GAA, 0.911 SAV%) rounds out the top three.

Among rookies a 2-3 record, 2.59 GAA, and 0.878 SAV% puts Victoriaville’s Loic Boivin in the top spot. Rouyn-Noranda’s Luke Gallant (2-1, 2.71 GAA, 0.889 SAV%) is second; while a record of three wins and two losses 2.73 GAA, and 0.887 SAV% Chicoutimi’s Sean Coulton backstops his way into third place.

Upcoming Games

Action resumes on Tuesday nigh with one game as Victoriaville makes their way to Sydney to take on Cape Breton.

Four games will take place on Wednesday as Shawinigan is at home to Drummondville, Gatineau hosts Val-d’Or, and Montreal makes their way into Rimouski in the all-Quebec matches. The Atlantic Division game will feature PEI at Saint John.

Thursday’s lone game has Victoriaville continuing their swing through Nova Scotia with a stop in Halifax.

Weekend action kicks off on Friday with seven games. In the lone Atlantic Division game, Cape Breton travels to Acadie-Bathurst.

Montreal will make their way into Halifax for their first game against the Mooseheads since relocating from St. John’s, Baie-Comeau hosts PEI, and Victoriaville continues their Eastern Canada swing with a visit to Moncton in the Atlantic-Telus tilts.

The Battle of Quebec will feature Chicoutimi hosting Quebec, and Shawinigan at Rouyn-Noranda. Drummondville travels to Lewiston in the other Telus match-up.

On Saturday night, PEI and Cape Breton continue their Quebec swing with stops in Chicoutimi and Rimouski respectively, while Victoriaville concludes their trip through Atlantic Canada with a visit to Bathurst to face the Titan, and Montreal makes their way down the Trans Canada Highway to Saint John in the Atlantic-Telus contests.

The two all-Telus games has Baie-Comeau hosting Quebec, and Val-d’Or at home to Shawinigan.

Sunday afternoon will see Montreal conclude their trip through the Atlantic Division with a visit to Moncton, while Drummondville hosts Lewiston, Gatineau is in Rimouski, and Rouyn-Noranda travels to Val-d’Or.