Central Division – At the Break

calgaryThe Hitmen headed into the Christmas break winning 2 of their last 3 games and were winners of 5 of their last 7.

So far in December Jordy Stallard has 3 goals 7 assists for a team best 10 points.

Jake Bean returned after missing 16 games with an upper body injury, played in 5 games before going to the WJHC. In those games the 2016 Carolina Hurricane draft pick produced 2 goals and 6 assists for 8 points.

Beck Malenstyn 8 points, Carsen Twarynski 7 points and Matteo Gennaro 6 points have also hit the scoresheet consistently in December.

Goalies’ Cody Porter 3.71 (G.A.A.) and Kyle Dumba 4.35 (G.A.A.) have combined for 5 wins in 9 games played this month.

Calgary’s longest winning streak this season is 3 games and they have had losing streaks of 4 and 5 games.

The Hitmen start the 2nd half of the season with a home-and-home against the Central Division’s 1st place Medicine Hat Tigers and then a home-and-home against Edmonton, a team they are trying to catch for a Wild Card spot.

edmonton

The Oil Kings have kept themselves in a playoff position with 4-2-1-1 record in December and are 6-2-1-1 in their last 10.

Davis Koch has led the club in the 8 games this month with 4 goals 8 assists for 12 points.

Lane Bauer 10 points and Aaron Irving 9 points have also averaged over a point per game thus far in December.

Goalie Patrick Dea has been a workhorse, playing in 20 of the last 21 games and in December he has a 2.61 goals against average.

Edmonton has made the playoffs the last 6 seasons and will start the 2nd half with home-and-home series’ with Red Deer and then with Calgary.

 

kootenay

The ICE went into the break on a 6 game losing streak and have 1 win in their 12 games.

5 of the last 11 losses have been 1-goal decisions.

Third year forward Vince Loschiavo has led the club in December with 8 goals 10 points in 8 games.

Zak Zborosky 9 points and Matt Alfaro 8 points are also averaging at least a point per game.

Goalies Payton Lee 4.39 (G.A.A.) and Jakob Walter 5.40 (G.A.A.) have not been at the top of their this month.

Their 2nd half schedule will see them face Lethbridge twice and then Red Deer to wrap up 2016.

 

lethbridgeEven though the Hurricanes went into the break with 2 losses they have been one of the hottest teams. Since November 19th they are 11-1-2.

In December Tyler Wong has 4 goals 18 points, Jordy Bellerive has 7 goals 13 points and Giorgio Estephan has 5 goals 9 points.

Goalie Stuart Skinner has appeared in 16 of the last 17 games and in December has a 3.45 goals against average and .900% save percentage.

After the break they will play 4 of the next 5 games on the road starting with a home-and-home with Kootenay.

 

medicineHAt

 

The Tigers have been riding a rollercoaster the last 7 weeks. After a 10 game winning streak they lost 5 in row and then went into Christmas victorious in 4 in a row.

In 9 games this Month, Chad Butcher has 4 goals 14 points, Mason Shaw 6 goals 13 points, David Quenneville 6 goals 11 points and Steven Owre 3 goals 9 points.

Goalie Nick Schneider has appeared in 18 of the last 19 games and in December has a 4.00 goals against average and a .871 save percentage.

A home-and-home against Calgary will kick-off the second half of the season.

 

redDeerThe Rebels limped into the break with 1 win in the last 5 games although 2 losses were in overtime.

In October they had a 6 game winning streak but since then they have won back-to-back games only once.

In December Evan Polei has a team best 5 goals 8 points, Austin Pratt had 2 goals 8 points, Michael Spacek Colton Bobyk and Adam Musil each have 7 points.

Goalie Lasse Petersen has a 2.61 average in 6 games while Riley Lamb is 3.55 in 2 games.

Rebels are 2 points ahead of the Edmonton and will play the Oil Kings in a home-and-home coming out of the break.

 

Central Division Players at WJHCu20

Calgary – Jake Bean Canada

Medicine Hat – John Dahlstrom (Sweden), Kristians Rubins (Latvia)

Red Deer – Adam Musil and Michael Spacek (Czech Republic), Lasse Petersen (Denmark)