Bruins Host Hurricanes

January 29, 2008

Lethbridge forward Zach Boychuk is expected to be a top ten pick in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.

The Bruins are back in action on home ice tonight when they host the Lethbridge Hurricanes. Game time is 7pm.

The Bruins are currently in eighth place in the Western Conference with a record of 22-23-3-1.

The Hurricanes are in third place in the Eastern Conference with a record of 31-14-2-3 and are coming off lopsided wins in Prince George (9-0) and Kamloops

(8-1).

This will be the first and only meeting between these two clubs this season and is the third meeting all time. Last season, the Hurricanes managed a 2-1 shootout win in the first ever meeting between the Canes and the expansion Bruins on Dec.15/06. The Bruins then tallied a 2-1 win in Chilliwack on February 16th/07.

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.

Win / Loss Record:

Overall Record 22-23-3-1

Home Record: 14-12-0-0

Road Record: 8-11-3-1

Tuesday Record: 2-0-0-0

January Record: 4-6-0-0

vs Lethbridge 07/08: 0-0-0-0

vs Spokane All Time: 1-0-0-1

2007/08 Power Play:

Overall: 4th  52/248 (21.0%)

Home: 15th  23/135 (17.3%)

Away: 1st  29/113 (25.7%)

SHGA: 5

2007/08 Penalty Killing:

Overall: 11th  227/276 (82.2%)

Home: 11th  121/145 (83.4%)

Away: 9th  106/131 (80.9%)

SHGF: 3

2007/08 Bruins Regular Season Leaders:

Goals: Oscar Moller (26)

Assists: Mark Santorelli (52)

Points: Mark Santorelli (73)  

Powerplay Goals: 13 – Brandon Campos (1 with Everett, 12 with Chilliwack)

Powerplay assists: Mark Santorelli (30) 

Powerplay points: Mark Santorelli (39)  

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

Plus/Minus: Mark Santorelli (+9)

Penalty Minutes: David Robinson (70)

Wins: Matt Esposito (16) 

Goals Against Average: Matt Esposito (2.99)

Shutouts: Matt Esposito (1)

Save Percentage: Mark Friesen (90.4%)

Bruins in the top ten:

Points: Mark Santorelli 2nd (73)

Goals: Oscar Moller 8th (26)

Assists: Mark Santorelli  2nd (52)

PP Goals: Brandon Campos Tied 3rd (13)

PP Assists: Mark Santorelli 1st (30) / Oscar Moller Tied 8th (20)

Defenceman Points: Nick Holden Tied 7th (37)

Roster Notes: The Bruins currently have 23 players on their active roster including two goaltenders, six defencemen and fifteen forwards. By age, Chilliwack has three 16 year olds (Howse, Ramsay, Hankin), 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).

Hankin Called Up: The Bruins have called up 16 year old Ryan Hankin from the Hope Ice Breakers of the Pacific International Junior Hockey League. Hankin was the Bruins 5th pick, 73rd overall in the 2006 WHL Bantam Draft. The pick used to select Hankin was acquired from the Kamloops Blazers in exchange for the Blazers selection in the 2006 WHL Expansion Draft. In 23 games with the Ice Breakers this season, Hankin has 3 goals, 8 assists and 10 penalty minutes.

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

Injuries: Partik Bhungal (leg) – indefinite   Cody Smuk (shoulder) – 3-6 weeks  Matt Meropoulis (hand) – 3-6 weeks

Hot Wing: Brandon Campos has six points (4 goals, 2 assists) in his last three games.

Scoring Race: Bruins forward Mark Santorelli is in second place in WHL scoring with 73 points. Santorelli trails Kelowna’s Colin Long by six points.  

Iron Mark: Cody Smuk missed his first WHL game Friday night, leaving Mark Santorelli as the only  player to have appeared in every game the Bruins have played. Including five playoff games, Santorelli has played in 126 consecutive games.

Milestones: Dylan Chapman played in his 200th WHL game Saturday night night. Chapman played his first 102 WHL games with the Moose Jaw Warriors. Tonight is his 100th game in a Bruins jersey.

Career Highs: Nick Holden has set new career highs this season with 12 goals and 37 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 was 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 1-1891-0.

Extra Time: The Bruins are 1-3 in overtime and 4-1 in shootouts this season.

Lethbridge Game Notes

Drafted Players: Jeff May (5th round, 151st overall – Detroit 2005), Ben Wright (4th round, 113 overall - Columbus 2006), Mitch Fadden (4th round, 107th overall – Tampa Bay 2007), Dwight King (4th round, 109th overall – Los Angeles 2007), Colton Sceviour (4th round, 112th overall – Dallas 2007)

Milestones:

- Mitch Fadden will play his 256th WHL game tonight; Mike Wuchterl his 263rd Nick Hotson his 243rd; Wuchterl has tallied 500 penalty minutes over his WHL career, 210 while in a Hurricanes uniform.

- Fadden’s assist on a Colton Sceviour goal in Calgary on Dec.28/07 was the 200th WHL regular season point of his career, Dwight King broke the century mark (103 career points) with a four point night (1G, 3A) in P.G. on Jan.26, Ben Wright has 93, Boychuk’s goal on Dec.5/07 against Spokane was his 175th career point

- Zach Boychuk won a gold medal as a member of Team Canada at the IIHF U20 World Championships in the Czech Republic.

- Rookie Luca Sbisa (5G, 21A) represented the Swiss National Team at the IIHF U20 World Championships in the Czech Republic. - Both Boychuk and Sbisa played in the 2008 Home Hardware CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game in Edmonton on January 22nd and 23rd. Boychuk finished second in the Fastest Skater competition and was named the Team White Player of the Game. Both players were ranked in the top 20 North American skaters in the CSS Midterm rankings (Boychuk - 11th overall, Sbisa – 18th)

- Hurricanes rookie goaltender Juha Metsola tallied his first WHL shutout on Jan.26/08 in Prince George (W9-0)

- Rookie Craig Orfino tallied his first WHL goal on Jan. 27th in Kamloops

- ADT Canada Russia Challenge – Mitch Fadden (28th & 29th), Zach Boychuk (28th) and Ben Wright (29th) were all chosen to represent Team WHL at the ADT Canada Russia Challenge Nov.28th and 29th in Cranbrook and Medicine Hat.

Player Notes:

- Mitch Fadden (24G, 36A), Dwight King (22G, 24A) and Zach Boychuk (19G, 21A) are the Hurricanes current scoring leaders. King has 14 points (5G, 9A) in his last ten games while Fadden has 13 points (4G, 9A) in his last ten

- Colton Sceviour Since arriving from Portland has tallied 30 points (19G, 11A) in 30 games along with 3 GWG. All while improving his plus/minus from a minus-8 to a plus-9

- Hurricanes Captain Ben Wright has 28 points (3G, 25A) and a plus-15 plus/minus as well as 4 points (4A) in his last three games

- The ‘Kid Line’ – Rookies Cam Braes (9G, 5A), Craig Orfino (1G, 5A) and Dan Iwanski (5G, 8A) have all played over 40 games this season together and have a combined plus/minus of +12

- Michael Maniago has tallied a 21-9-2-2 record including a 4 shutouts this season - Calgary (Oct.25); Edmonton (Sept.30); Edmonton (Jan.11); Tri City (Jan.19) Maniago is currently ranked 8th in the WHL with a GAA of 2.35 and a save percentage of .901

- Rookie Juha Metsola has tallied a record of 10-5-0-1 and a 2.32 GAA and a 0.899 save percentage

- The Hurricanes currently have seven rookies: G- Juha Metsola, D- Luca Sbisa, F- Dan Iwanski, F - Craig Orfino, F - Carter Ashton, F – Cam Braes, and D – Brennan Yadlowski

- And five draft eligible players for 2008: Zach Boychuk, Luca Sbisa, Craig Orfino, Dan Iwanski and Lucas Alexiuk

Special Teams: The Canes power play is currently 14th in the league with a success rate of 18.2%. The penalty kill is 10th in the league with an 82.8% success rate.

Injuries: Paul MacDonald (Fractured Wrist – 6-8 Weeks), Jesse Craige (Knee – Indefinite), Mitch Versteeg (Eye – DTD)

Next up: The Lethbridge Hurricanes take on the Vancouver Giants on Wednesday, Jan.30th at 8:00 PM MST in Vancouver