Ty Rattie Sizzles in Playoffs
Western Hockey League
Ty Rattie already has two hat tricks in the playoffs. The St. Louis Blues prospect has a league-leading 10 goals and 16 points in nine postseason contests. Kale Kessy has also been a prolific goal scorer in the playoffs. After netting 19 goals in the regular season, Kessy has scored nine goals and 11 points in nine playoffs contests with the Kamloops Blazers. His teammate Brendan Ranford was selected as the CHL Player of the Week after scoring three goals and recording five assists in three contests. That gives Ranford five goals and 16 points in nine post-season contests with the Blazers. Edmonton Oil Kings goaltender Laurent Brossoit has continued his dominance. He’s already recorded three shutouts in the playoffs and has an incredible 0.85 GAA and .966 save percentage in eight contests.
Ontario Hockey League
Andreas Athanasiou had two goals and four assists in three contests en route to being named the OHL Player of the Week. He has six goals and 13 points in eight playoff contests. The Barrie Colts have swept their first two playoff series on the strength of goaltender Mathias Niederberger. The 20-year-old netminder has a 1.87 GAA and .948 save percentage in the postseason. Winnipeg Jets prospect Mark Scheifele has also played a big role in the Colts’ early success. He has five goals and 15 points in eight playoffs contests. Anthony Stolarz has a 1.75 GAA and .944 save percentage in seven postseason games with the London Knights. The Philadelphia Flyers took Stolarz with the 45th overall pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.
Quebec Major Junior Hockey League
Zachary Fucale earned the CHL Goaltender of the Week award after posting back-to-back shutouts. He has an stunning 0.63 GAA and .961 save percentage in seven playoff games with the Halifax Mooseheads. No one has come close to matching those numbers in the QMJHL, but netminder Philippe Cadorette is certainly worthy of recognition too. Cadorette has earned seven straight postseason wins with Baie-Comeau Drakkar by posting a 1.71 GAA and .927 save percentage. His teammate Petr Straka has also played a key role in Baie-Comeau Drakkar’s success thus far in the playoffs. Straka has eight goals and a league-leading 17 points in seven games. The Victoriaville Tigres have had their hands full against Baie-Comeau Drakkar, but Philippe Halley has more than held his own in the playoffs with four goals and 11 points in eight games.
American Hockey League
Twenty-two-year-old forward Reilly Smith was sent down to AHL Texas by the Dallas Stars on April 3rd. Since then he’s scored a goal and three points in three games, extending a points streak that started on January 6th to eight games. Ryan Spooner has a goal and three assists in his last three contests. The Boston Bruins prospect leads AHL Providence with 51 points in 54 contests this season. Jordan Schroeder played in three games in as many nights from April 5th-7th, but still managed to record at least a point in each contest. He ended up with four assists over that span. Schroeder was taken by Vancouver in the first round of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft and has nine points in 31 contests with the Canucks in 2013. Milwaukee Admirals forward Juuso Puustinen registered an assist on Sunday to extend his points streak to six games. He has 14 goals and 29 points in 67 contests this season.
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The three finalists for the Hobey Baker Award, which goes to the NCAA’s top player, have been announced. The first candidate is goaltender Eric Hartzell of Quinnipiac University. Hartzell has been dominant in each of his last three seasons, but set new career highs in 2012-13 with a 1.55 GAA and .933 save percentage in 40 games. Boston College's Johnny Gaudreau also made the list after scoring 21 goals and 51 points in 35 contests this season. Gaudreau was selected by the Calgary Flames with the 104th overall pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. Rounding out the list of finalists is Drew LeBlanc of St. Cloud State. LeBlanc had 13 goals and a career-high 50 points in 41 contests. He’s also been the captain of his squad for two years.
