Minnesota Wild Prospect Update: Peterson’s Huge Weekend, Michalek Gets Shutout
Alexandre Bélanger
Rouyn-Noranda (QMJHL) had three games over the last week and it was a tough week for Bélanger. He got the start against Val-d’Or on Wednesday (the former team of Iowa Wild defenseman Guillaume Gélinas), but didn’t get to finish the game. He was pulled after allowing four goals in just over two periods on 23 shots.
On Friday, Jérémy Belisle got the start, but Bélanger was back between the pipes on Saturday against Sherbrooke. He allowed seven goals on 31 shots and was left in the entire game. Rouyn-Noranda lost all three games.
Louie Belpedio
Belpedio and his Miami (OH) Redhawks swept their two-game weekend series with Colorado College. The freshman defenseman finished the weekend with a goal, five shots, a plus-2 rating, and two blocked shots.
Reid Duke
The Brandon Wheat Kings beat the Saskatoon Blades 6-2 on Friday and Duke contributed three assists and a plus-3 rating.
Tanner Faith
The Kootenay Ice announced following their October 31 game that Tanner Faith would be out indefinitely. That may have something to do with this fight that Faith was involved in on the 31st.
He appears to get injured almost immediately in the fight, with the ref almost holding him back so he takes a brief pummeling. He falls to the ice holding his shoulder or elbow. It’s tough tell in this video, though that’s the shoulder that he injured last season, ending his season and making him fall much further down in the draft than he might have otherwise.
The Ice have only announced, so far, that Faith is out “indefinitely.”
Pavel Jenys
If you read these weekly updates you might wonder if I have any adjectives left to describe what a rough season the Sudbury Wolves are having. Guess what? Don’t need any adjectives this week (at least for describing the pain of Sudbury fans) because the Wolves won a game.
On Saturday the Wolves beat the Belleville Bulls 7-6. They did, however, lose on Friday to the Barrie Colts by a score of 9-2.
For his part, Jenys had two assists on the weekend and was a minus-4 on Friday.
Dylan Labbé
Defenseman Dylan Labbé and his Shawinigan Cataractes went 2-0 over the weekend, posting a 5-4 win over Baie-Comeau on Saturday and a 6-1 win over Chicoutimi on Sunday.
On Saturday, Labbé didn’t get involved in the scoring, but finished the game a plus-3. Sunday was a different story, as Labbé posted a goal and two assists, and ended the weekend a cumulative plus-4.
Through 18 games this season, Labbé has four goals, eight assists, 15 penalty minutes, and 35 shots.
Chase Lang
The Calgary Hitmen played four games this week, but Lang missed the first three serving a suspension for a cross-check to the head he threw last week.
Stephen Michalek
Michalek‘s season finally started as on November 1, as Harvard hockey (and the entire Ivy League) get going a little later than the rest of the NCAA.
This week, in Michalek’s second start, he held RPI (the team of Wild prospect Louis Nanne) scoreless on Friday turning away all 14 shots he faced, leading Harvard to a 3-0 win.
Saturday, Michalek and Harvard earned a tie against Union State behind an impressive performance from Michalek, who stopped 42 of 44 shots.
Avery Peterson
In a weekend series with Ohio State, the University of Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks won two with a huge weekend from Wild prospect and Maverick freshman forward Avery Peterson.
In Friday’s game Peterson, who entered the game with one goal and no assists through six games, had a goal and an assist. Saturday, he posted two goals, an assist, and a plus-3 rating, making for a very big couple days. The Grand Rapids, MN-native had his first huge NCAA weekend and now has four goals over his last three games.
Hunter Warner
Warner‘s Prince Albert Raiders lost both their games this week with Warner taking three shots, ten penalty minutes, and a cumulative minus-5 rating.