Allen Douglas

November Three Stars of the Month

It’s that time again as the calendar turns from November to December. We’ve tallied up the nightly three-star selections by our very own Ben Dooley and the results are in. These players were the best of the best on nights throughout the month of November. Let’s get to it.

Oliver Okuliar (Photo: Erica Perreaux)

Honorable Mention: Oliver Okuliar

On back-to-back nights in early November (1st and 2nd), Okuliar went to town on the opposition, scoring a hat trick on both nights. Winnipeg and Brandon were the victims of his offensive prowess. On the second night, he also added an assist for seven points in two games — on the road no less. He was named the first star for his performance against Brandon and the second star in the other game. For the month of November, Okuliar scored 11 goals and added eight assists. His 36 points on the season have him seventh in WHL scoring.

Dustin Wolf/Bryce Kindopp (photo-Chris Mast)

Third Star Tie: Bryce Kindopp / Cole Reinhardt

Kindopp was twice named first star of the night. On November 3rd, against Spokane, he had two goals including the overtime winner. Again on November 25th, Kindopp was named the first star after scoring twice (including the game winner) and adding two assists in a win over the Tri-City Americans the night previous. He is currently 20th in WHL scoring with 15 goals and 13 assists. In the month of November, Kindopp added five goals and four assists.

Cole Reinhardt (photo-Brian Liesse)

Reinhardt was also twice named the DUBNetwork first star. The first came on November 18th in a 5-4 shootout win over the Edmonton Oil Kings. He contributed two goals and an assist in that game. On the second-to-last night of the month, Reinhardt put up a career-best five points (3G,2A) in a 7-4 victory over Brandon’s provincial rival, the Winnipeg ICE. Reinhardt is 19th in WHL scoring this season with 17 goals and 11 assists. The bulk of his points came in November as he piled on 11 goals and eight assists.

Hamblin (tigershockey.com)

Second Star: James Hamblin

Hamblin had three exceptional nights throughout the month and was named the second star on each occasion. On November 2nd, Hamblin scored three times, including two on the power play, as the Tigers defeated the Royals 6-3. Two goals and two assists came off the stick of Hamblin on November 16th, as the Tigers soundly defeated the Oil Kings 5-1. Finally, on November 29th, the Tigers defeated Moose Jaw 6-0. Hamblin scored the game-winning goal and added the sixth goal to go with an assist. The Tigers forward is second in WHL scoring with 41 points, scoring 17 times and adding 24 assists. In November, he had 11 goals and 13 assists.

Connor Zary. Photo by Allen Douglas/Kamloops Blazers.

First Star: Connor Zary

On four separate occasions, Zary was named to the DUBNetwork three stars. He hit each of the three positions in addition to earning one honourable mention. With two goals against the Portland Winterhawks on November 3rd, Zary was the second star of the night. Again scoring twice, including a short-handed marker in a 7-4 win over the Seattle Thunderbirds on November 8th, Zary was named the night’s third star. Continuing the theme, Zary scored two more goals just a night later as the Blazers pounced on the Tigers 7-3. He had a power-play marker in that win. On the 20th of November, the hats rained down as Zary scored a hat trick on an early power play in the third period. He also scored shorthanded and had the game-winning goal early in the second period. With 14 goals and four assists, Zary kept pace with the leaders in the WHL scoring race. He is currently fourth with 39 points, just three points behind the leader.

As a special note, Zary also scored the teddy bear toss goal on December 1st.