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Keeping Up with the Kids – Monarchs and Modo, Feb 9 – March 2

I know I said I’d get better at weekly updates with the prospects but I lied – sorry! I meant to but things got a little busy in the month of February.

Modo Hockey

Date Home Visitor Series G A TP +/- PIM PPG SHG GWG SOG TOI
2015-02-28 FBK MODO SHL 0 0 0 -2 4 0 0 0 0 11:02
2015-02-26 MODO FHC SHL 0 0 0 -1 2 0 0 0 2 12:48
2015-02-24 MODO HV71 SHL 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 15:10
2015-02-21 MODO LHF SHL 0 0 0 -3 4 0 0 0 3 11:39
2015-02-20 LHC MODO SHL 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 3 12:44
2015-02-18 MODO LIF SHL 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 13:06
2015-02-14 SAIK MODO SHL 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 15:32
2015-02-12 MODO VLH SHL 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 4 15:09
2015-02-10 DIF MODO SHL 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11:01

Not much has changed for Adrian Kempe over the last few weeks. He has seen a slight uptick in his average TOI but has only registered one point since returning from the World Junior Championships. Kings management seems happy with his progress thus far and don’t expect to see him on Ontario (or even Los Angeles) full time until at least 2016 when his contract with Modo SE ends.

As John Hoven noted in this LAKings.com piece, management is more concerned with his attitude and preparation in terms of being a pro than his scoring. That’s something to focus on later.

Video: ASSIST MODO Hockey – Leksands IF 1-1 Round 48. 1-1 Joonas Nättinen (Jonas Ahnelöv, Adrian Kempe)

Kempe picked up the secondary assist after a clean faceoff win.

Manchester Monarchs

You guys, I can’t wait until they become the Ontario Reign so they’ll be easier to cover.


Manchester Monarchs Player Statistics

# Player Pos GP G A PTS +/- PIM PP SHG SOG SH%
22 Brian O’Neill RW 51 18 40 58 21 45 6 2 129 14
19 Jordan Weal C 55 14 36 50 6 46 6 0 130 10.8
37 Nick Shore (X) C 38 20 22 42 23 16 7 3 101 19.8
6 Colin Miller D 50 14 24 38 7 64 8 0 123 11.4
16 Sean Backman RW 55 10 19 29 5 14 3 0 171 5.8
26 Nic Dowd C 54 5 21 26 7 37 1 0 72 6.9
27 Michael Mersch LW 55 11 12 23 5 23 4 0 147 7.5
10 Zach O’Brien* RW 42 10 13 23 8 0 0 0 83 12
14 David Van der Gulik** LW 46 11 11 22 12 35 1 2 84 13.1
39 Justin Auger RW 51 6 15 21 10 35 0 0 83 7.2
7 Andrew Bodnarchuk** D 41 4 10 14 5 62 1 0 82 4.9
18 Mike Richards** C 13 3 10 13 5 4 1 0 32 9.4
5 Vincent LoVerde D 51 6 6 12 12 52 2 0 65 9.2
4 Kevin Gravel* D 40 4 8 12 5 21 2 0 52 7.7
55 Jeff Schultz** D 35 3 8 11 13 24 1 0 46 6.5
3 Derek Forbort D 49 2 9 11 16 37 0 0 69 2.9
21 Andrew Crescenzi** C 42 4 5 9 -9 52 1 1 42 9.5
23 Nick Ebert D 32 5 3 8 8 14 0 0 39 12.8
13 Josh Gratton** LW 31 4 4 8 -1 63 0 0 22 18.2
25 Scott Sabourin RW 32 3 5 8 -3 75 0 0 46 6.5
24 Ryan Horvat* LW 34 1 6 7 0 52 0 0 31 3.2
33 Kevin Raine* D 39 2 2 4 5 44 0 0 39 5.1
15 Paul Bissonnette** (total) LW 37 0 3 3 -7 56 0 0 23 0
POR LW 8 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 8 0
MCH LW 29 0 3 3 -6 56 0 0 15 0
TOTALS 55 169 299 467 164 892 46 8 1745 0.096
# Goalies GP Mins W L SOL SO GA GAA SVS SV%
35 Jean-Francois Berube 38 2222:31:00 25 8 2 2 77 2.08 854 0.917
30 Patrik Bartosak 19 1117:07:00 9 6 0 1 40 2.15 466 0.921
Totals 55 3360:28:00 34 14 2 3 123 2.2 1320 0.915

X Indicates players not on active roster
* Indicates prospect on AHL only contract
** Indicates not a prospect

Mike Richards seems to be fitting in well, being a PPG player. I think that sh% might be actually higher than his career average in the NHL. Too mean?

Nick Shore being the third leading scorer despite playing in 17 (Weal) and 13 (O’Neill) fewer games than the top two scorers tells you a lot about this team. Anyway, the two smallest guys on the team are one-and-two in scoring. Figures. Both of them have some trouble staying out of the penalty box as does (currently on the team) the third leading scorer Colin Miller.

Speaking of Miller, he actually had his first fight of the season on Feb. 28 against Portland’s Alexandre Bolduc, who’s kind of an enforcer type. He didn’t wait very long to have his second one and was subsequently ejected following it. Mayor’s Manor correspondent Andy Tonge indicated little surprise on twitter, remarking what a pest Miller can be on the ice.

This particular game was a chippy, penalty-filled affair which ended with a disappointing 4-3 OTL after surrendering two late goals in the third period. You can read the recap here. I bring it up only because this is a great rivalry that will be missed next season when the Monarchs become an ECHL team. Like parent club like affiliate club, I guess?

J.F. Berube remains practically king of the AHL, slotting in fifth with 2.08 GAA. Interestingly, he’s not in the top 20 (he’s #21) in save % while his teammate Patrik Bartosak ranks 13.

Bartosak got his first shutout of the season and second of his career (he’s technically a rookie this year but did play a few games last year) on Sunday afternoon, turning aside all 29 of Worcester’s shots. The recap and highlights are available here.

The Monarchs are second overall in the AHL, two points behind the Hershey Bears (Washington Capitals) with a game in hand and one point ahead of the Oklahoma City Barons (Edmonton Oilers). They’re unshockingly running away with the division title (their division is kinda crappy), holding a 9 point lead over the Worcester Sharks (San Jose Sharks) and tied in games played.

News

LA Kings Insider

NOTES ON THE DEADLINE, RFA CONTRACTS, SHORE’S TRANSACTION Nick Shore was briefly “returned” to the AHL before being “recalled.” All this took place on paper so it’s whatever.

Mayor’s Manor

Patrik Bartosak’s Guide To Being A Better Driver The Czech native has a personality he’s unafraid to show off and loves to take to twitter to air his complaints about New Hampshire drivers. I really can’t wait until he comes to SoCal next fall.

Coming Up

The Monarchs have a tough schedule next week, playing six games in nine days. After that, it’s their usual three-in-three against some good teams.

March 2015 »

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1

Sharks

W 0-2

2
3
Kid’s Club Party

06:00 PM – 07:30 PM

4
5
6

Penguins

7:00 PM

7

Penguins

3:00 PM

8

Wolf Pack

3:00 PM

9
10
11

@ IceCaps

6:00 PM

12
13

@ IceCaps

6:00 PM

14

@ IceCaps

6:00 PM

15
16
17
18
19
20

@ Bruins

7:05 PM

21

IceCaps

7:00 PM

22

Pirates

3:00 PM

23
24
25
26
27

@ Bears

7:00 PM

28

@ Bears

7:00 PM

29

@ Phantoms

3:05 PM

30
31

Talking Points