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Keeping Up with the Kids: Monarchs and Modo, Nov. 17 - 24 (Updated)
Time for the weekly check-in on the kids. Updated on 11/24.
Since the Manchester Monarchs only played three games this week, the post is going up a couple days early.
Modo Hockey
Modo lost all three of its games this week but Adrian Kempe has continued to see a steady increase in his ice time with his average going from 16:11 to 16:36, though he hasn't been able to generate much offense from it, registering only one assist in his past three games.
Obviously without watching him in full games, I can't say for sure, but judging by his highlights (an inaccurate thing to do, but it's all I've got), he appears to be a very smart player who uses the boards well and is excellent at puck protection. In most of his assists, he's usually fending off two or three guys who are almost always right on top of him. It's easy to see why the Kings scouting staff would be high on him.
Video: Omgång 22. 1-0 Victor Olofsson (Adrian Kempe, Simon Önerud)
Watch #51 in red. What a smart play along the boards, gets open, sweet little saucer pass.
Up Next: Modo will have a home game on Tuesday then play their next two games on the road on Thursday and Saturday. They only play 55 games in the SHL and will reach the halfway mark a week from Thursday.
Manchester Monarchs
| # | Player | GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | PIM | PP | SHG | SOG | SH% |
| 37 | Nick Shore | 17 | 10 | 8 | 18 | 13 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 45 | 22.2 |
| 22 | Brian O'Neill** | 17 | 6 | 12 | 18 | 8 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 49 | 12.2 |
| 19 | Jordan Weal | 17 | 8 | 9 | 17 | 1 | 18 | 5 | 0 | 43 | 18.6 |
| 6 | Colin Miller | 17 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 2 | 18 | 3 | 0 | 36 | 13.9 |
| 16 | Sean Backman** | 17 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 54 | 7.4 |
| 26 | Nic Dowd | 17 | 1 | 12 | 13 | 4 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 4 |
| 39 | Justin Auger | 17 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 4 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 15 |
| 14 | David Van der Gulik** | 14 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 27 | 14.8 |
| 25 | Scott Sabourin | 17 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 48 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 7.7 |
| 27 | Michael Mersch | 17 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 52 | 5.8 |
| 55 | Jeff Schultz** | 17 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 6.9 |
| 3 | Derek Forbort | 17 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 9.1 |
| 5 | Vincent LoVerde | 17 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 10.5 |
| 10 | Zach O'Brien** | 12 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 6.3 |
| 23 | Nick Ebert | 10 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14.3 |
| 4 | Kevin Gravel* | 11 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 16.7 |
| 33 | Kevin Raine* | 14 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 34 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 9.1 |
| 24 | Ryan Horvat* | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 13 | Josh Gratton** | 13 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 36 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| 7 | Andrew Bodnarchuk** | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 21 | Andrew Crescenzi** | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 29 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| TOTALS | 17 | 57 | 94 | 151 | 75 | 324 | 14 | 4 | 529 | 0.108 | |
| # | Goalies | GP | Mins | W | L | SOL | SO | GA | GAA | SVS | SV% |
| 35 | Jean-Francois Berube | 14 | 801:23:00 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 26 | 1.95 | 302 | 0.921 |
| 30 | Patrik Bartosak | 4 | 219:38:00 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 3.01 | 89 | 0.89 |
| TOTALS | 17 | 1027:39:00 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 38 | 2.22 | 391 | 0.911 |
* Indicates prospect on an AHL only contract.
** Not a prospect.
While Nick Shore may be leading the team in points, Jordan Weal is a close second is on a seven game point streak, going 6-3-9 in that time span (s/t The AHL).
Wednesday, Nov. 19
The Monarchs only played at home once this week, facing the Worcester Sharks (San Jose Sharks) at 10:30 AM for Education Day (an AHL tradition apparently). It was a complete, thorough dominant performance from start to finish as the Sharks looked sluggish to start the game.
Defenseman Kevin Gravel scored a goal while skating as a forward in the lineup.
Game Story: Mayor's Manor: Monarchs Magnificent in Morning Matchup .
Friday, Nov. 21
The Monarchs' six game winning streak came to an end versus the Binghamton Senators (Ottawa Senators). Shore scored twice and Weal scored once as Manchester rallied three times before falling 1:43 into OT. Despite the loss, the Monarchs are still undefeated in regulation through seven games.
This game also featured a line brawl - sort of. Crescenzi, Gravel and Raine all engaged in three separate fights, after a fight Sabourin had engaged in had finished.
Game Story: Monarchs fall to Binghamton in OT, 4-3
Warning: NSFW. Sound is quiet, but has extremely loud moments at weird times, especially when the players are screaming the F word at each other.
Hilariously, Sabourin is still chirping away while he's in the penalty box.
Saturday, Nov. 22
Manchester started a new streak thanks to Weal's eighth goal of the season as they held on for a 3-2 win over the Wilkes Barre/Scranton Penguins (Pittsburgh Penguins). Mersch got his third goal of the season (first in the last four games, I believe) just over midway through the period on the suddenly red hot power play (it has had its issues so far this season) while van der Gulik doubled the score a minute later with a tip from O'Brien. Early in the second period, Weal's wrist shot beat former Monarch/King Jeff Zatkoff through traffic.
Game Story: Weal, Monarchs end road trip with 3-2 win over Pens
Fun facts:
- Berube is fourth in the league with a .921 sv% (as of 11/23/14) and first with nine wins. He's also tied for second with most games played (third in total minutes played).
- Shore is fifth in league scoring with 18 points, one point behind being tied for fourth. Shore has played three fewer games than the player in the fourth spot and has the least amount of PIM in the Top 10 scorers with only two PIM.
- Weal is tied for 12th in the AHL with 17 points and has amassed more PIM (18) than he has played in games./
Up Next: The Monarchs will close out November with back-to-back games on (American) Thanksgiving at home before hitting the road on Friday.
Update
Monarchs are third in the league in fenwick close % according to @joshweissbock, a dude who does hockey analysis and data mining.
I'm not sure if possession numbers work quite the same way down in the American league since it's a little slower and the competition isn't as tough, but either way, it's nice to see the Monarchs near the top. It's a small sample, but in what little data we have from last year, they were always a middling fenwick team under Mark Morris (not to say that he was by any means a bad coach; he had 300 wins and the Monarchs were second overall in the league. I'd call that pretty good).
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