Two days after dominating the Winnipeg Jets prospect, the Canucks prospects were, in turn, dominated. The Calgary Flames prospects took advantage of some sloppy defence by the Canucks and peppered Michael DiPietro with 33 shots. Five of those shots got past DiPietro and the Flames added an empty netter for the 6-2 win.
It gets a lot harder to pick three stars when the team as a whole performs poorly, but there were a few players who stood out.
3rd Star: Brock Boeser
The Canucks’ top prospect at the 2017 Young Stars tournament has somehow yet to pick up a point through two games, but it’s certainly not because he’s failing to show up. Indeed, Boeser was, at times, the Canucks’ best player on the ice, showing the poise and skill that makes him a solid bet to make the Canucks roster out of training camp.
Just like last game, however, he hit the post on his best scoring chance.
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Prior to that - Boeser danced all the Flames and then hit the post.
— Ryan Biech (@ryanbiech)
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Boeser showed great patience with the time and space he was given, waiting for the goaltender to go down before taking his shot, but hit the post low on the glove side.
Part of me thinks the bounces will start going Boeser’s way soon, just in time for preseason, while another part of me says, “That’s not how probability works, dum-dum.”
2nd Star: Aaron Irving
Irving benefits in the the three stars selection from only playing in the first period, thereby avoiding some of the disastrous defending that followed for the Canucks. You could even suggest that his absence led to some of that disastrous defence.
The invitee defenceman started the game on a pairing with Olli Juolevi and looked comfortable in that role, quickly and safely moving the puck up ice when called upon and providing some defensive stability on the right side.
That’s where Jalen Chatfield played in the Canucks’ first game of the tournament and Irving filled a similar role. He even scored a goal in a similar fashion to Chatfield, taking a won faceoff and wiring a well-placed wrist shot top corner past the screened goaltender.
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Aaron Irving scores to cut the lead to 2-1
— Ryan Biech (@ryanbiech)
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Brett Mackenzie won the faceoff, with help from Griffen Molino, and they got the two assists, while Boeser was in the vicinity looking for the tip.
Regrettably, Irving got injured and didn’t return for the second or third period. He took a hard hit from Zack Fischer with 4 minutes left in the first, but bounced back to his skates, seemingly none the worse for wear. Even still, he didn’t play another shift in the game.
1st Star: Yan-Pavel Laplante
Laplante gets the nod as the first star not necessarily because he was the best player on the ice for the Canucks, but because he had the biggest impact. He came an assist short of a Gordie Howe Hattrick and was noticeable throughout the latter stages of the game as the Canucks attempted a comeback.
I’m not a huge fan of fights in a meaningless prospect game — heck, I’m on the fence when it comes to fights in general — so I can’t say I liked the fight between Yan-Pavel Laplante and Hunter Smith. I will say, however, that like good comedy, Laplante punched up. Might have been the 7 inch height difference.
It was an odd time for a fight — in the middle of a Flames power play at the end of the first period — but Laplante handled himself well against the 6’7” Smith. Even the way it began was odd: the two were not engaged with each other when Michael DiPietro held the puck for a stoppage and Smith turned and dropped the gloves like he and Laplante had planned the fight ahead of time.
Shortly after Laplante got back on the ice, Alexis D’Aoust sent him in on a breakaway. While he was stopped, he stayed in the play and finished off a rebound from a Mackenze Stewart shot set up by Jonah Gadjovich.
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Yan-Pavel Laplante scored to tie the game at 2
— Ryan Biech (@ryanbiech)
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Laplante was buzzing after scoring, but wasn’t able to create another goal. In fact, he ended up on the ice for the Flames’ empty netter, skating to the bench to get Michael DiPietro back on the ice after he was pulled during a Canucks power play. The puck slid right past him as he went for the change, though you can’t really blame him: he was expecting his teammates to keep the puck in at the time.
Honourable Mentions:
- Griffen Molino continues to play like a 23-year-old amongst teenagers. He picked up an assist on Irving’s goal and had one of the Canucks’ best scoring chances on a drive to the net, forcing a great right pad save.
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Griffen Molino with a great chance in the second period
— Ryan Biech (@ryanbiech)
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- Alexis D’Aoust showed some offensive flair in this game, setting up a scoring chance for Johnny Corneil in the first period, then getting a returned favour from Corneil later in the period, forcing a good save from Flames goaltender Nick Schneider. In the third period, he was partly responsible for the Canucks best shift with Kole Lind and Jonah Gadjovich.
- I continue to like Cole Candella, who has been a pleasant surprise given his mediocre year in the OHL. He moves the puck effectively from the backend and seems to pick the right times to jump up in the play offensively. He didn’t do anything spectacular, but in a game where the Canucks defence struggled, Candella was decent.
Dishonourable Mentions:
- It’s been worrying to see how frequently Olli Juolevi has been beat wide in the first two games of Young Stars. He’s put on some additional weight and muscle, which makes one wonder if his mobility has suffered because of it. He was caught standing still when Spencer Foo came flying into the zone and ringed the puck off the post, then again when Brett Pollock went end-to-end and scored the Flames’ fifth goal.
- Guillaume Brisebois had a quietly effective first game of the Young Stars Classic, but had some rough moments against the Flames. On the second Calgary goal, he was miles away from Zach Fischer in the slot when he fired the puck past Michael DiPietro, and he had an ugly giveaway later in the first, losing the puck in his own skates in the Canucks’ zone. To top it off, he took two bad penalties in the second period. Not a great showing for Brisebois.
- At one point, the Canucks tried to convert Mackenze Stewart into a winger. It seemed like a desperate move to justify their use of a draft pick and a contract on someone with little to no chance of playing in the NHL. But he showed his finish in the first period, tipping a centring pass into the net. Regrettably, it was his own net.
- Curt Blefary was a professional baseball player in the 60’s and 70’s. He was nicknamed “Clank” because that’s the sound the ball made when it bounced off his hands in the field. I bring this up because Jakob Stukel has all the speed in the world, but it’s hard to ignore his hands of stone. “Clank” definitely seems like the sound the puck makes when it hits his stick.
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It was a tough first showing for Michael DiPietro, who gave up five goals on 33 shots. He wasn’t solely to blame by any means, as the Canucks defence did him no favours.
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