Daily Dose

Daily Dose of the DUB: More first goals, alumni movement, and more

Written by Paul Figler on

McCleary scores first WHL goal

2003-born Portland Winterhawks defenseman Ryan McCleary scored his first WHL goal at 12:29 of the second period in the Winterhawks 7-4 win over the Seattle Thunderbirds. McCleary’s goal tied the game at three. The Winterhawks fifth-round pick at the 2018 WHL Draft was playing his fifth WHL game. McCleary now has two points on the season.

Ludwig scores first WHL goal

2004-born Seattle Thunderbirds forward Gabe Ludwig scored his first WHL goal at 9:04 of the second period in the Thunderbirds 7-4 loss to the Portland Winterhawks. Ludwig’s goal gave the Thunderbirds a 3-1 lead. The Thunderbirds second-round pick at the 2019 WHL draft was playing in his fifth WHL game. Ludwig now has three points on the season.

Chyzowski scores first WHL goal

2004-born Portland Winterhawks forward Kyle Chyzowski scored his first WHL goal at 10:01 of the third period in Portland’s 7-4 win over Seattle. Chyzowski’s goal gave the Winterhawks a 6-4 lead. The Winterhawks third-round pick at the 2019 WHL Draft was playing in his sixth WHL game.

Shtrom scores first WHL goal

2004-born Medicine Hat Tigers forward Oren Shtrom scored his first WHL goal in overtime as the Tigers downed the Lethbridge Hurricanes 5-4. Shtrom scored at 4:11 of extra time. The Medicine Hat Tigers selected Shtrom in the third round of the 2019 WHL Draft. He was playing in his ninth WHL game and now has five points.

Nielsen scores first WHL hat trick

2000-born forward Tristen Nielsen scored his first career hat trick in the Vancouver Giants 6-0 win over the Kelowna Rockets. Nielsen’s hat trick was of the natural variety, scoring all three goals in a span of 14:13 in the first period of the night’s game. He also scored his goals in three different ways, one short-handed, one with the man-advantage, and his final goal came at five-on-five. Nielsen now has 71 WHL career goals.

Leslie scores first WHL goal

2005-born defenseman Mazden Leslie scored his first (and second) WHL goals in the Vancouver Giants 6-0 win over the Kelowna Rockets. At 3:45 of the second period, Leslie’s goal gave the Giants a 4-0 lead. He also scored at 17:45 of the second period. Leslie is a former first-round pick of the Giants at the 2020 WHL Draft.

Scott reassigned to Marlies

Goaltender Ian Scott (175GP, 87-64-14, 2.90GAA, .905sv% with Prince Albert ’15-’19) has been reassigned by the Toronto Maple Leafs from their taxi squad to the Toronto Marlies. Due to a variety of injuries over the last two seasons, Scott has not played since the Raiders Memorial Cup appearance in May 2019. Scott is a signed fourth-round draft pick of the Maple Leafs

Heponiemi reassigned to Panthers’ taxi squad

Forward Aleksi Heponiemi (129GP, 56G, 148A with Swift Current ’16-’18) has been reassigned to the Florida Panthers taxi squad from the Syracuse Crunch. The 2017 fourth-round draft pick of the Panthers has played three games with the Panthers this season, registering a single goal. Heponiemi has also played three games with the Crunch, registering four assists. Heponiemi was an Ed Chynoweth Cup winner with the Broncos in 2017-18.

Strand reassigned to Kings’ taxi squad

Defenseman Austin Strand (268GP, 40G, 82A with Red Deer and Seattle ’14-’18) has been reassigned by the Los Angeles Kings to their taxi squad from the Ontario Reign. With the Kings this season, Strand has played seven games and registered an assist. In his 11 games with the Regin, Strand has four assists. While with the Seattle Thunderbirds in 2016-17, Strand won the Ed Chynoweth Cup as WHL champion.