Lipon Defies Scouts
Western Hockey League
Nicolas Petan had an assist on April 10th to extend his points streak to four games. He has five goals and 15 points in 10 post-season contests as his Portland Winterhawks get ready for the Western Conference Championship Series. They'll be playing against the Kamloops Blazers and J.C. Lipon, who has recorded a point in all of his 2013 playoff contests. Lipon now has five goals and a league-high 21 points in 10 games. Meanwhile, in the Eastern Conference, goaltender Chris Driedger has led the Calgary Hitmen to the conference finals. Driedger has a 1.73 GAA and .946 save percentage in 10 post-season matches. Henrik Samuelsson was selected as the WHL Player of the Week after recording four goals and five points in two games. He was selected by the Phoenix Coyotes with the 27th overall pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.
Ontario Hockey League
Boston Bruins prospect Malcolm Subban was named the OHL Player of the Week after posting back-to-back shutouts. He has a 1.31 GAA and .951 save percentage in 10 post-season games with the Belleville Bulls. Vincent Trocheck briefly caught fire early last week with four goals and seven points in two contests. He’s cooled off since then, but the Florida Panthers prospect still leads the league with 21 points in 10 playoff games. London Knights forward Max Domi had a goal and two assists on Friday to help his team eliminate Kitchener. Domi now has five goals and 14 points in nine matches in the playoffs.
Quebec Major Junior Hockey League
Sven Andrighetto is a big part of the reason the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies has coasted to the QMJHL Semi-Finals. He has six goals and a league-leading 22 points in 10 playoff games. His teammate Jean-Sebastien Dea has backed Andrighetto up with 10 goals and 16 points in the post-season. Dea is on a three-game goal scoring streak going into the semi-finals. Stefan Fournier has been similarly effective, with 11 goals and 19 points as his Halifax Mooseheads posted back-to-back series sweeps. Christopher Clapperton has five goals and 12 assists in nine contests in the postseason after recording 77 points in 67 regular season contests.
American Hockey League
Torey Krug scored two goals and seven points en route to being named the AHL Player of the Week. The 22-year-old blueliner has 13 goals and 44 points in 62 games with the Providence Bruins this season. He also registered an assist in a match with Boston in 2013. The AHL announced its first and second all-star teams. Among the notable entries on the first all-star team is Justin Schultz, who had an incredible 48 points in 34 games with the Oklahoma City Barons before the lockout ended and he started his NHL career with Edmonton. Twenty-three-year-old netminder Niklas Svedberg was the goaltender of the top team. He spent years developing his craft in the Swedish Elite League and has made a superb transition to North American hockey this season with a 2.15 GAA and .925 save percentage in 47 Providence games. Tampa Bay Lightning prospect Tyler Johnson was among the forwards who got the nod. Johnson had 68 points as an AHL rookie in 2011-12 and hasn’t missed a step this season, scoring 33 goals and 60 points in 60 games. He also has three goals and six points in 14 contests with the Lightning.
National Collegiate Athletic Association
Yale earned a 4-0 victory over Quinnipiac in the NCAA’s Championship game. Goaltender Jeff Malcolm turned aside 36 shots to best Hobey Baker Award finalist Eric Hartzell. Malcolm had a 2.24 GAA and .919 save percentage in 30 games. Although Hartzell allowed three goals on 30 shots in the determining match, he still had an amazing 1.57 GAA and .933 save percentage in 42 contests. Hartzell’s efforts earned him a one-season contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins that runs through what’s left of the 2013 campaign. Clinton Bourbonais and Andrew Miller each had a goal and an assist for Yale in the final match. Bourbonais had 17 points and 64 penalty minutes in 36 games while Miller netted 18 goals and recorded 23 assists in 37 contests.
