Bruins Road Trip Begins Tonight in Saskatoon

February 22, 2008

The Bruins begin a six game road trip tonight that sees them visit each team in the Eastern Division over the next nine days. Game one is tonight in Saskatoon tonight beginning at 5:05pm pacific time.

The Saskatoon Blades are coming off a 7-2 victory over Prince Albert on Wednesday, snapping a two-game losing streak, but have already been eliminated from playoff contention. The Blades are 15-10-1-1 on home ice, and will play nine of their final 10 games at home.

The Bruins snapped a three-game losing skid with a 3-2 victory over the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings on Tuesday, and clinched a playoff berth in the Western Conference in the process. Chilliwack’s power play is clicking at 25.0 percent efficiency on the road this season.

It’s the only meeting of the season between the Bruins and Blades. The Bruins defeated the Blades 5-2 in Chilliwack on October 24th, 2006 in the only meeting between the teams last season.

2007/08 Bruins Regular Season Leaders:

Goals: Oscar Moller (30)

Assists: Mark Santorelli (63)

Points: Mark Santorelli (86)  

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

Powerplay assists: Mark Santorelli (35) 

Powerplay points: Mark Santorelli (44)  

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

Plus/Minus: Oscar Moller (+14)

Penalty Minutes: Matt Strong (100)

Wins: Matt Esposito (18) 

Goals Against Average: Matt Esposito (3.04)

Shutouts: Matt Esposito (1)

Save Percentage: Mark Friesen (90.5%)

Playoff Bound: For the second consecutive season, the Bruins have clinched a playoff berth.

The Bruins have posted a number of team and personal records so far this season.  As a team, the Bruins have 26 wins on the season to go along with 59 points, exceeding last year’s totals of 25 wins and 57 points.  Mark Santorelli has established a new team record for assists with 63 and points with 86, bettering his totals from last year.  No one over the past two seasons has scored more points in the WHL than Santorelli’s 168.  Nick Holden has established new career highs for points by a Bruin defender, with 18 goals and 47 points so far this season.  Matt Esposito’s 18 wins are 4 better than the team record of 14 that he’ posted one season ago.  All players and the team still have 12 games to improve on these totals as they prepare for the upcoming 2008 WHL Playoffs.

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.

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 17 points (2g 15a) in his last 14 games…Nick Holden has nine points (6g 3a) in his last nine games…Oscar Moller has 11 points in his last nine games (4g 7a).

Scoring Race: Bruins forward Mark Santorelli is in second place in WHL scoring with 86 points. Santorelli trails Kelowna’s Colin Long by three points.  

Offensive Defence: Bruins defenceman Nick Holden ranks third among defenceman in league scoring with 47 points. Holden is tied with Regina’s Logan Pyett for most goals by a defenceman with 18.

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 137 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 played his 100th WHL last Friday night in Seattle.

Player Record Watch: Mark Santorelli has set a new Bruins record for assists in one season with 63, ten more than the team high he set last season. Santorelli has also set a new points record with 86, four more than the record he set last season. Nick Holden has set new Bruins season highs for goals by a defenceman (18), assists by a defenceman (29) and points by a defenceman (47).  Last season, in 67 games, Holden set the previous standards when he scored eight times and finished with 31 points. Oscar Moller has 30 goals, two short of the team record of 32 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 59 points the Bruins have bettered their totals of last season. Chilliwack won 25 games and finished with 57 points in their inaugural season. The Bruins have won ten games on the road this season, one better than all of last season. The Bruins have scored 172 goals in 60 three more than they scored in 72 games last season. This season the Bruins have allowed 194 goals and are on pace to allow 230. Last season the Bruins allowed 260.

Let’s Get Ready To Rumble: The Bruins have received 56 fighting majors this season, putting them in 12th place in the WHL. Saskatoon leads the league with 86, Tri City has the fewest with 37. 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. With three fights since returning from the injured list Bhungal is now 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 18-1-0-1 when leading after forty minutes of play. When trailing after two periods, the Bruins are 2-23-1-0.

Extra Man: The Bruins have the best road power play success rate in the WHL, currently clicking at 25% (32/128). Over the last 11 seasons, only two teams have finished a WHL season with a success rate higher than 25%. Seattle in 2000-01 finished at 27.6% (51/185) and Calgary in 1999-00 at 27.1% (48/177).

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