Chilliwack at Brandon

February 27 2008

The Bruins continue their road trip through the Eastern Division with a game in Brandon Wednesday. Chilliwack has dropped the first three games of the road trip including a 4-2 defeat last night in Moose Jaw. The Bruins are in 7th place in the Western Conference wit arecord of 26-29-4-4.

2007/08 Bruins Regular Season Leaders:

Goals: Oscar Moller (34)

Assists: Mark Santorelli (66)

Points: Mark Santorelli (90)  

Powerplay Goals: Oscar Moller (14)

Powerplay assists: Mark Santorelli (38) 

Powerplay points: Mark Santorelli (47)  

Shorthanded Goals: Mike Proudley / Mark Santorelli / Brandon Campos / David Robinson / Jadon Potter (1)

Plus/Minus: Oscar Moller / Mark Santorelli (+10)

Penalty Minutes: Matt Strong (102)

Wins: Matt Esposito (18) 

Goals Against Average: Mark Friesen (3.11)

Shutouts: Matt Esposito (1)

Save Percentage: Mark Friesen (90.3%)

Roster Notes: The Bruins currently have 22 players on their active roster including two goaltenders, six defencemen and fifteen 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).

Called Up: In addition to the 22 players on the active roster, the Bruins have called up three players for their current road trip. Defenceman Tyler Stahl and Carter Berg, both selected by Chilliwack in the 2007 WHL Bantam Draft will join the Bruins as will 16 year old forward Tanner Exner, a free agent signing by the Bruins. Berg made his WHL debut last night in Saskatoon.

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

Injuries: Matt Meropoulis (hand) 1-2 weeks 

Hot Bruins: Mark Santorelli has 21 points (3g 18a) in his last 17 games…Nick Holden has 13 points (7g 6a) in his last 11 games…Oscar Moller has 16 points in his last 12 games (8g 8a).

Scoring Race: Bruins forward Mark Santorelli is in second place in WHL scoring with 90 points. Santorelli trails Kelowna’s Colin Long by two points.  

Offensive Defence: Bruins defenceman Nick Holden ranks third among defenceman in league scoring with 51 and leads all WHL defencemen in goals with 19.

Player of the Month: Brandon Campos was named the Bruins player of the month for January after scoring six goals and six assists in 11 games.

Iron Mark: Mark Santorelli is the only player to have appeared in every game the Bruins have played. Including five playoff games, Santorelli has played in 140 consecutive games.

Milestones: Dylan Chapman played in his 200th WHL game on January 26th. Chapman played his first 102 WHL games with the Moose Jaw Warriors before joining the Bruins. Mike Proudley and Evan Pighin both played in their 100th WHL game February 15th in Seattle.

Player Record Watch: Mark Santorelli has set a new Bruins record for assists in one season with 66, 13 more than the team high he set last season. Santorelli has also set a new points record with 90, eight more than the record he set last season. Nick Holden has set new Bruins season highs for goals by a defenceman (19), assists by a defenceman (32) and points by a defenceman (51).  Last season, in 67 games, Holden set the previous standards when he scored eight times and finished with 31 points. Oscar Moller has 34 goals this season bettering the team record of 32 which he set last season…Goaltender Matt Esposito has set a new personal best and Bruins team record with 18 wins.

Team Record Watch: With 26 wins and 60 points the Bruins have bettered last season’s totals of 25 games won and 57 points. The Bruins have won ten games on the road this season, one better than all of last season. Chilliwack has scored 180 goals in 62 games, 11 more than they scored in 72 games last season.

Let’s Get Ready To Rumble: The Bruins have received 59 fighting majors this season, putting them in 11th place in the WHL. Saskatoon leads the league with 86, Tri City has the fewest with 38. Matt McCue, who was traded to Brandon at the trade deadline, still leads the Bruins this season with nine fighting majors. David Robinson and Partik Bhungal rank 2nd with 7. Bhungal is the Bruins career leader in fighting majors. Including playoffs, Bhungal has dropped the gloves 17 times while with the Bruins. Matt McCue is in second place with 14. Myles Stoesz ranks third with 13.

After forty tells the story: Chilliwack has a record of 18-2-0-1 when leading after forty minutes of play. When trailing after two periods, the Bruins are 2-24-1-0.

Extra Man: The Bruins have the best road power play success rate in the WHL, currently clicking at 23.7% (36/152). Over the last 11 seasons, only the four teams listed below have finished with a higher success rate on the road:

Seattle 2001-02: 27.6% (51/185)

Calgary 1999-00: 27.1% (48/177)

Kootenay 1999-00: 24.5% (51/208)

Medicine Hat 2003-04: 24.3% (51/110)

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

Tame Game: In the Bruins 3-2 win over the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings on February 19th the two teams combined for a total of 10 penalty minutes tying the Bruins record for fewest penalty minutes by both teams in one game. Chilliwack and Tri City combined for 10 minutes penalty minutes in a 4-3 Tri City win on January 10th 2007.

Quick Hits: The Edmonton Oil Kings scored two goals in 9 seconds against the Bruins on February 19th, setting a new Bruins standard for fastest two goals against. The previous record of 20 seconds was set by the Kamloops Blazers in a 7-4 win over the Bruins earlier this season.

Shorthanded: Chilliwack is 18th in the league in power plays vs times shorthanded differential. The Bruins have had 312 power play opportunities and have been shorthanded 358 times for a differential of -46. Complete list: