Bruins Host Seattle Tonight

January 16, 2007

The Bruins are back in action tonight when they host the Seattle Thunderbirds. Chilliwack and Seattle are currently tied for sixth place in the Western Conference with 44 points. The T'Birds have played four fewer games than the Bruins. The top eight teams in the Western Conference will make the playoffs.

The Bruins (20-19-3-1) are coming off a hard fought 2-1 road loss to the Kamloops Blazers on Saturday. Seattle (19-15-5-1) was defeated 3-1 on home ice by the Tri City Americans on Sunday.

This will be the third of four games between the two teams this season. The Bruins defeated Seattle 6-2 on home ice in October. Chilliwack dropped a 4-3 decision in a shootout in Seattle on December 9th.

The Bruins are 1-3-1-1 all time vs Seattle with a 1-2-0-0 record all time vs Seattle on home ice.

The game will feature a rematch between two participants in the gold medal game of the recently completed World Junior Championships held in the Czech Republic. Seattle defenceman Thomas Hickey was a member of the Canadian team that defeated Oscar Moller and Team Sweden in overtime in the gold medal game. Both players were drafted by the NHL's Los Angeles Kings last June.

The Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia the Honourable Steven L. Point will be the Bruins guest of honour tonight. Fans will have an opportunity to meet the Lieutenant Governor during the first intermission on the concourse of Prospera Centre.

Tickets for all Bruins home games can be purchased through the ticketmaster website, by phone ( 1-800-663-9311) or in person at any ticketmaster location.

Bruins Stats / Game Notes

Bruins Deal: The Chilliwack Bruins made three trades last week. The Bruins acquired 17 year old defenseman Matt Strong from the Red Deer Rebels in exchange for 18 year old forward Colby Kulhanek. Strong, (6’2” 200 lbs), made his Bruins debut last Wednesday in Kelowna.

The Chilliwack Bruins also made a pair of deals on Wednesday, trading defenseman Matt McCue (1988) to the Brandon Wheat Kings in return for the Wheat Kings 4th Round Draft Pick in the 2009 WHL Bantam Draft and sending defenseman Cody Hobbs (1989) to the Prince George Cougars in exchange for the Cougars 7th round pick in 2007.

McCue, a native of Cochrane, AB, joined the Bruins midway through last season and has played a total of 74 games for the Bruins, scoring 2 goals and nine assists and amassing 182 PIM.  ‘With the abundance of young defense on our club, the Bruins have placed an importance on making sure that these younger players get the ice time needed to develop,’ comments Bruins GM Darrell May.  ‘We would like to thank Matt for all of his contributions, both on and off the ice, and wish him success with his new team in Brandon.’

Hobbs, a native of Prince Albert, SK, played in 54 games over two seasons with the Bruins, registering 10 assists and 58 PIM in that span.  ‘This move for Cody will allow him the opportunity to play more regularly.  We wish Cody the best in Prince George,’ comments Bruins General Manager Darrell May.

The Bruins have also released defenseman David Hoda.

McNaught Added: The Bruins have added 17 year old forward Randy McNaught to their active roster. McNaught joins the Bruins from the Nanaimo Clippers of the BCHL. In 25 games with the Clippers this season, McNaught recorded 2 goals and 3 assists to go with 54 penalty minutes. McNaught made his Bruins debut last Wednesday night in Kelowna.

Scoring Race: Bruins forward Mark Santorelli is second in WHL scoring with 65 points, four points behind Colin Long of the Kelowna Rockets. Despite missing eight games while at the World Junior Hockey Championships, Oscar Moller is 13th in league scoring with 50 points. Moller was a member of the silver medal winning team from Sweden.

Bruins in the top ten:

Points: Mark Santorelli 2nd (65)

Goals: Oscar Moller 6th (25)

Assists: Mark Santorelli  2nd (44)

PP Goals: Brandon Campos and Oscar Moller Tied 8th (10)

PP Assists: Mark Santorelli 1st (25)

Defenceman Points: Nick Holden 8th (34)

Iron Men: Cody Smuk and Mark Santorelli are the only two players to have appeared in every game the Bruins have played. Including five playoff games, both have played in 119 consecutive games.

Career Highs: Nick Holden has set new career highs this season with nine goals and 34 points. Last season, in 67 games, Holden scored eight times and finished with 31 points. Matt Esposito has set a new personal best and Bruins team record with 16 wins.

Pighin Awarded: 19 year old forward Evan Pighin has been named the Bruins Player of the Month for December. In 11 games in December, Pighin scored six times and added five assists. On December 4th vs Prince George Pighin had a personal best four points (2g 2a).

After forty tells the story: Chilliwack has a record of 15-1-0-0 when leading after forty minutes of play. When trailing after two periods, the Bruins are 1-15-1-0.

Howse named to Team Pacific: Bruins rookie forward Ryan Howse scored two goals and added three assists at the World Under 17 Challenge held in London Ontario recently. Howse was a member of Team Pacific who finished fourth in the ten team tournament.

Moller at World Juniors: Bruins forward Oscar Moller won a silver medal with Team Sweden at the World Junior Championships that ended Saturday in the Czech Republic. Sweden was defeated by Canada in overtime in the Gold Medal Game. Moller, a 2nd round pick of the Los Angeles Kings in the 2007 NHL had three goals and two assists in six games during the tournament. Moller leads the Bruins with 25 goals this season.

Extra Time: The Bruins are 1-3 in overtime and 3-1 in shootouts this season.

Road Warriors: On the road this season the Bruins power play is clicking at a league best 26.5% (26/98). Since the 1996-97 season only five WHL teams have finished a season with a better success rate on the road. Three teams did it during the 1996-97 season: Brandon 30.3% (37/122), Lethbridge 29.9% (47/157) and Red Deer 29.7% (41/138). The Calgary Hitmen finished the 1999-00 season at 27.1% (48/177) and the Seattle Thunderbirds at 27.6% (51/185) in 2000-01. Last season the Bruins were 29/217 (13.4%).

2007/08 Bruins Regular Season Leaders:

Goals: Oscar Moller (25)

Assists: Mark Santorelli (44)

Points: Mark Santorelli (65)  

Powerplay Goals: 10 – Brandon Campos (1 with Everett, 9 with Chilliwack) / Oscar Moller

Powerplay assists: Mark Santorelli (25)  

Powerplay points: Mark Santorelli (34)  

Shorthanded Goals: Mike Proudley / Mark Santorelli / Brandon Campos (1)

Plus/Minus: Mark Santorelli (+10)

Penalty Minutes: Chris Van Duynhoven (56)

Wins: Matt Esposito (16) 

Goals Against Average: Mark Friesen (2.71)

Shutouts: Matt Esposito (1)

Save Percentage: Mark Friesen (91.7%)

Roster Notes: The Bruins currently have 22 players on their active roster including two goaltenders, six defencemen and fourteen forwards. By age, Chilliwack has two 16 year olds (Howse, Ramsay), seven 17 year olds (Robinson, Metz, Darragh, Einhorn, Friesen, Strong, McNaught), seven 18 year olds (Meropoulis, Potter, Proudley, Smuk, Moller, Van Duynhoven, Esposito), three 19 year olds (Santorelli, Bhungal, Pighin) and three 20 year olds (Campos, Holden, Chapman).

Drafted Players: Mark Santorelli (Nashville 4th round 2007) Oscar Moller (Los Angeles 2nd round 2007)

Injuries: Partik Bhungal (leg) - indefinite

Hickey Returns From World Juniors With Team Canada…Defenseman Thomas Hickey returned to the Seattle on Friday in Everett. He won a gold medal with Team Canada at the World Junior Championships. He played in seven games and had one assist with a plus/minus rating of +2. Hickey also played in the eight-game Super Series against Russia in August. Hickey has been away form the T-Birds since Monday, December 10.

Riku Returns From World Juniors With Team Finland…Goalie Riku Helenius returned to the Seattle lineup on Friday in Everett. He was playing for Team Finland at the World Junior Championship. Helenius played in four games and had a save percentage of .836 and a goal against average of 3.36. He had a 2-2 record with one shutout.

First For Wells…Rookie Charles Wells scored his first WHL goal on Saturday, January 12, at KeyArena against the Portland Winter Hawks. It was a shorthanded goal and he beat goalie Kurtis Mucha.

Rockin’ Richard…David Richard has five goals and six assists in the last 12 games.

DeSerres At The Top…Goalie Jacob DeSerres leads the WHL in Save Percentage with a .927 mark. He is fourth in the league in goals against average with a 2.21 rating. DeSerres has a 9-7-0-1 record.

Great Scott…Greg Scott has points in 14 of the last 21 games. He has 10 goals and 10 assists for 20 points in the 21-game span. Scott is second on the team in scoring with 30 points on 15 goals and 15 assists.

Holloway’s Hot…Holloway has nine goals and seven assist for 16 points in his last 11 games.

O’Brien On The Upswing…Jim O’Brien has four goals and five assists in the last 13 games. The Ottawa Senators 2007 first round pick has 19 points on 7 goals and 12 assists in 38 games this season.

Jax Nearing Milestones….Defenseman Scott Jackson has played in 294 career games. Jackson could hit the 300 games mark this season as he only needs 6 more games. He moved into sole possession of fifth on the T-Birds all time games played list passing Dustin Johner and Ryan Gibbons on Friday, January 11 in Everett. The 20-year-old from Salmon Arm, BC, also has 103 career points. Jackson has 20 goals and 83 assists in his career.

Hickey with 100…Thomas Hickey, an 18-year-old from Calgary, got his 100th WHL point with an assist against Tri-City on December 1.

Home vs. Road This Season…The T-Birds are 12-5-3-1 at home and 7-10-2-0 on the road so far this season.

Getting That First Goal This Season…Seattle is 15-3-3-0 when they score first. They are 4-12-2-1 when an opponent scores first. 

Outshooting Opponents This Season…The T-Birds are 16-4-2-0 when they outshoot an opponent this year. They are 3-11-3-0 when an opponent outshoots them.

Vs. US and BC Divisions…The T-Birds are 13-6-1-0 against the US Division and 3-3-2-1 against the BC Division.

A Shooting Dozen…The T-Birds held the Everett Silvertips to 12 shots on goal November 30 in Everett which is a season low for shots on goal by a T-Birds opponent. Everett only had two shots on goal in the second period of that game, also a season low for the T-Birds in shots on goal by an opponent in one period.

Shootout Winners…The T-Birds shootout win on November 24 against Everett was their first shootout win in their last 14 attempts. The last time the T-Birds had won a shootout was on February 4, 2006, against the Vancouver Giants. The T-Birds now have two shootout wins in a row with the victory over Chilliwack on December 9 in the shootout.

Super Shooters…The T-Birds put a season high 56 shots on goal against Portland on November 10 at KeyArena. This was the most shots by the T-Birds since they had 55 shots against Portland on February 22, 2003, at KeyArena. The T-Birds had 13 shots in the first period, 26 shots in the second period and 17 shots in the third period.  In their next game against Portland on December 7 in Portland, the T-Birds put 50 shots on goal, the second most this season by the team.

Very Low PIM…The T-Bird and Chilliwack Bruins combined for 12 penalty minutes in the game on December 9 at KeyArena. This is a T-Birds season low for penalty minutes in a game. Seattle had four minutes in penalties while the Bruins had eight penalty minutes.

The Injury Bug…There are no T-Birds currently with an injury. The T-Birds have missed 60-man games due to injury this year.

Here Come The Hats…Boyer had the first hat trick of the season for the T-Birds when he scored three goals in the third period against Tri-City, October 12. The first two goals were scored nine seconds apart, at 8:17 and 8:26 of the third period. The third goal came at 16:40 of the third. Holloway had the second hat trick this season for the T-Birds when he scored four goals against Tri-City on November 3. Scott had the third hat trick of the season when he had three goals, and two assists, against Swift Current on December 15 at KeyArena.

Clean Sheets…Jacob DeSerres had the first shutout this season for the T-Birds. He stopped all 26 shots to get the shutout victory over the Portland Winter Hawks on Saturday, October 20. Riku Helenius made 25 saves on December 7 in Portland to get his first WHL shutout.

Two Fast Goals…Boyer scored two goals nine seconds apart in the third period against Tri-City on October 12. Those two goals were the fastest two goals scored by the T-Birds since the 2002-03 season when the T-Birds scored eight seconds apart against Prince George Cougars. Dustin Johner and Tomas Mojzis had the goals, both on the power play, eight seconds apart in 2002-03.

The New 16’s…The T-Birds have three 16-year-olds on their roster. They are defenseman Steve Chaffin, the T-Birds 2006 First Round Bantam pick; center Charles Wells, one of the T-Birds three 2006 Fifth Round Bantam picks; and center Brenden Silvester, who was on the T-Birds 50-player list.