The Flyers Junior Hockey Prospect Report (Oct. 17 – Oct. 29)

Welcome to The Flyers Junior Hockey Prospect Report!   

This 2nd edition for the 2023-2024 season covers the period that was in the CHL and the BCHL from Tuesday October 17th – Sunday October 29th.

WHL (Western Hockey League) 

Carson Bjarnason #64 (G) – Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)

SEASONGPWLSOMINSSHSAVGAASAV%
2023-2024    114616303543223.05.910
  • (Oct. 17) The Brandon Wheat Kings travelled to face the Seattle Thunderbirds at the Showare Center.  Carson Bjarnason would get the start although the start of the game would be delayed about an hour due to an ice plant malfunction.  In the opening period, Brandon would strike early with a powerplay goal at 2:37 but Seattle would tie the game with just over a minute remaining to make it 1-1.  Down 2-1 in the second period, the Wheat Kings would get goals from Brett Hyland (his 3rd) and Dominik Petr (his 7th) to take a 3-2 lead.  The score would remain until late in the third period when the game went crazy.  Brandon would take a 4-2 lead at 17:24 looking like the game was well in hand.  But the Thunderbirds Luca Hauf would strike twice on the powerplay to lead the charge with three goals in 55 seconds (plus an empty-netter) as the Wheat Kings dropped the contest by a score of 6-4.  Bjarnason was tagged with the loss, allowing 5 goals on 29 shots and making 24 saves.

Video is courtesy of the WHL

  • (Oct. 18) Back in action the following night, the Brandon Wheat Kings went right back to Carson Bjarnason as they visited the impressive Portland Winterhawks.  This game was dominated by Portland from the opening faceoff as Bjarnason allowed 4 goals on 12 shots in the opening period.  Bjarnason was pulled from the game as backup Ethan Eskit replaced him to open the second period.  The goaltending change made no difference as the Winterhawks would score five goals in the second period and added another two in the final frame to absolutely crush the Brandon Wheat Kings by a score of 11-1.

Video is courtesy of the Portland Winterhawks

  • (Oct. 20) The Brandon Wheat Kings road trip continued with a game against the Everett Silvertips on Pink in the Rink Night.  Brandon would go right back to Carson Bjarnason for the start.  In the opening period, the Silvertips would get on the board at 16:33 with an even strength goal to lead 1-0.  After a scoreless second period, Brandon would tie the game 1-1 as Roger McQueen would score his 8th of the season on a breakaway only 16 seconds in.  The game would need overtime to break the goaltender’s duel.  In the extra frame, Bjarnason would stop the initial shot by Niko Tsakumis but Austin Roest would pounce on the rebound to hand the Wheat Kings a 2-1 loss.  Bjarnason responded well after a few tough games to allow 2 goals on 26 shots (making 24 saves).  Bjarnason was named the game’s 2nd Star.

Video is courtesy of the WHL

  • (Oct. 21) The Brandon Wheat Kings continued their road trip by facing the Wenatchee Wild.  Carson Bjarnason would get the start and after allowing a shorthanded goal to the Wild, Brandon would tie the game 1-1 with Brett Hyland’s 4th of the season.  In the second period, Arizona Coyotes prospect Conor Geekie would score his 4th on the powerplay via a sharp angle shot that Bjarnason would want a second chance at.  Down 2-1 in the third period, the Wheat Kings would respond with two powerplay goals early in the frame to lead 3-2 but Wenatchee would tie the game 1:10 later.  The game would go to a shootout after a scoreless overtime, and the Wild would win the game 4-3 on a shootout goal by Kenta Isogai.  The Wheat Kings were not able to score on any of their shootout attempts.  Bjarnason took the shootout loss and allowed 3 goals on 44 shots (41 saves) and should have been considered one of the game’s Three Stars.  

Video courtesy of the WHL

  • (Oct. 26) Carson Bjarnason got the star as the Brandon Wheat Kings hosted the visiting Moose Jaw Warriors.  Jagger Firkus of the Warriors got things going with a powerplay goal at 6:27, but Roger McQueen scored a powerplay goal of his own (9th of the season) at 8:43 to tie the game 1-1.  Brayden Yager would regain the lead for the Warriors less than two minutes later to go into the break leading 2-1.  The final two periods saw Moose Jaw outshoot the Wheat Kings 15-7 and 10-7 respectively, but Bjarnason would be sharp and keep Brandon in the game.  In the second period, the Wheat Kings would tie the game 2-2 on Brett Hyland’s 6th of the season at 9:38.  Nate Danielson would give Brandon a 3-2 lead with his 2nd of the season only 40 seconds into the final frame, and Hyland would score his second goal of the game to add some insurance with a 4-2 lead.  It was all Bjarnason would need on this night.  Although the Warriors would get a late powerplay goal, the Wheat Kings would skate away with the 4-3 win.  Carson Bjarnason made 34 saves on 37 shots and allowed 3 goals in the victory.  He was named the game’s 1st Star.

Video courtesy of the Brandon Wheat Kings

  • (Oct. 28) The Brandon Wheat Kings hosted the Saskatoon Blades with Carson Bjarnason getting the start in goal.  This game turned into a good old fashioned goaltenders duel as Bjarnason and Saskatoon’s Austin Elliot had tremendous efforts.  In the opening period, Brandon outshot Saskatoon 20-7 and were rewarded with the opening goal of the game from defenseman Quinn Mantei for his 1st of the season at 14:00.  The Wheat Kings would capitalize with the man advantage as Roger McQueen scored his 10th at 16:32 to give Brandon a 2-0 lead.  There was no scoring in the second period, but Elliot kept the Blades in the game and almost pulled one back as Bjarnason was bailed out by the iron to keep it 2-0.  The shutout bid would be spoiled in the third period as Trevor Wong pounced on a loose puck on the goal line, but it would not be enough as Brandon would defeat Saskatoon 2-1.  Bjarnason picked up the win and allowed only 1 goal on 28 shots (27 saves).  He was named the game’s 2nd Star.

Video courtesy of the WHL

Carter Sotheran #59 (D) – Portland Winterhawks (WHL)

SEASONGPGAPTS+/-SPIM
2023-2024    10347+32023
  • (Oct. 18) The Portland Winterhawks welcomed the Brandon Wheat Kings to town looking to win their 7th consecutive game.  Carter Sotheran and the Winterhawks would do just that as they dominated the shots in every period and outshooting Brandon 45-18.  Portland’s Kyle Chyzowski and Gabe Klassen would each register a hat-trick as Portland cruised to an 11-1 drubbing of the Brandon Wheat Kings.  Sotheran finished the game with 1 assist (on the final goal of the game), a +3 rating, 1 SOG, and 5 PIMs for fighting Brandon’s Jayden Wiens.

Video is courtesy of the Portland Winterhawks

  • (Oct. 21) The Portland Winterhawks looked to extend their winning streak to 8 games as they visited the Everett Silvertips.  Everett would strike first as Carter Sotheran could not deflect the cross-ice pass as Jesse Heslop scored his 2nd of the season only 3:21 in.  Entering the second period 1-1, Sotheran would score his 3rd of the season after getting on the ice, finding some space and scoring to give Portland a 2-1 lead.  In the third period, Kyle Chyzowski would add an insurance goal (7th of the season) and the Winterhawks would add two powerplay goals to defeat Everett 5-1 for their 8th win in a row.  Sotheran finished the game with 1 goal (GWG), an even rating, and 2 SOG.

Video courtesy of the Portland Winterhawks

  • (Oct. 27) The Portland Winterhawks played their first game in a three games in three nights stretch as they visited the Red Deer Rebels.  Portland would outshoot Red Deer in all three periods to a total of 36-24 in the game but neither side could score in the opening period.  Portland would get on the board in the second period as Kyle Chyzowski scored his 8th of the season at 2:21.  The Rebels would end up tying the game 1-1 at 11:00 with a powerplay goal, and convert with the man advantage again at 14:49 to take a 2-1 lead.  With no scoring in the third period, Red Deer would hang on to snap the Winterhawks 8-game winning streak with a 2-1 win.  Portland could not score with the man advantage (even up 2 players in the opening period) and finished the game 0 for 6.  Carter Sotheran finished the game with no points, an even rating, and 4 SOG.
  • (Oct. 28) The Portland Winterhawks continued their road trip by visiting the Edmonton Oil Kings.  In the first period, the Oil Kings opened the scoring but Marcus Nguyen would score on a shorthanded two-on-one with his 4th of the season to tie the game 1-1.  Nguyen would get his second of the game (5th of the season) on a breakaway from a huge clearing pass by Jack O’Brien to give the Winterhawks a 2-1 lead at 6:01.  The tide in the period would turn as the Edmonton Oil Kings would score four consecutive goals to lead 5-2.  Before the end of the period, the goal frenzy would continue as Carter Sotheran would pick up a powerplay assist on John Zakreski’s 3rd of the season to make it 5-3.  In the third period, Portland would make it interesting with a goal by James Stefan but the tying goal would elude them as they dropped their second game in a row falling to the Oil Kings 5-4.  Sotheran finished the game with 1 assist, an even rating, 1 SOG, and 6 PIMs (three minor penalties for a Check to the Head, Interference, and Roughing).
  • (Oct. 29) Playing their third game in three straight nights, the Portland Winterhawks visited the Calgary Hitmen looking to avoid a three game losing streak.  In the opening period, Portland outshot Calgary 19-9 but the Hitmen took a 2-0 lead with goals at even strength and while shorthanded.  The Winterhawks responded 1:23 after Calgary’s second goal as Marcus Nguyen scored his 6th of the season to make it 2-1.  In the second period, Calgary erupted for four goals including a powerplay goal and a second shorthanded marker on 18 shots.  Portland managed to score only one goal on 19 shots of their own through Gabe Klasen’s 7th of the season at 9:21.  With the score 6-2, Josh Davies and Kyle Chyzowski made it interesting in the third period with even strength goals to make it 6-4.  But Calgary would put the game out of reach once more as Carter MacAdams scored his 4th of the season to seal a 7-4 defeat for the Winterhawks.  Carter Sotheran had a night to forget as he finished the game with no points, a -4 rating, and 3 SOG.

Video courtesy of the Calgary Hitmen  

QMJHL (Quebec Major Junior Hockey League)

Matteo Mann #76 (D) – Saint John Sea Dogs (QMJHL)

SEASONGPGAPTS+/-SPIM
2023-20245000-124
  • (Oct. 21) Matteo Mann made his season debut as the Saint John Sea Dogs hosted the visiting Moncton Wildcats.  Moncton would jump out to a 2-0 lead with two powerplay goals in the opening period.  In the second period, Caleb Desnoyers scored his 3rd of the season to make it 3-0 at 10:16.  Saint John would get a goal back as Danny Akkouche scored his 1st of the season to make it 3-1 at 11:25.  But Sea Dogs penalties and the Wildcats powerplay would be the story in this game as Moncton converted with the man advantage late in the second period and in the third period to defeat Saint John by a score of 5-1.  Mann finished the game with no points, a -1 rating, and 1 SOG.
  • (Oct. 22) Sunday night saw the Saint John Sea Dogs host the Acadie-Bathurst Titan.  The opening period saw both sides register 9 shots apiece, but it was the Sea Dogs that opened the scoring with a powerplay goal by Noah Reinhart (his 3rd of the season) at 12:27.  In the second period, Acadie-Bathurst would tie the game 1-1 at 6:48 but Reinhard would score his second of the game on the powerplay at 7:52 to make it 2-1.  Saint John would add an even strength goal to lead 3-1 after forty minutes.  In the third period, Egan Beveridge would score for the second game in a row to make it 4-1 only 1:16 in.  The Titan would get a late goal back, but it would not be enough as Saint John won the game 4-2.  Matteo Mann finished the game with no points, an even rating, and no shots on goal.
  • (Oct. 26) The Saint John Sea Dogs visited Prince Edward Island as they took on the Charlottetown Islanders.  The opening period saw both sides score a goal on 12 shots to make it 1-1.  In the second period, the Islanders scored twice in the opening 2:35 to make it 3-1; but the Sea Dogs Pavel Simek scored his 4th of the season at 5:31 to cut the lead to 3-2.  In the third period, Saint John scored three goals in the first half of the period to take a 5-3 lead; but Charlottetown would score a powerplay goal and an even strength goal in 38 seconds to even it up 5-5.  After overtime, Pavel Simek scored for Saint John in the shootout but Charlottetown would score twice to complete the comeback and hand the Sea Dogs a 6-5 shootout loss.  Matteo Mann finished the game with no points, a +1 rating, and 0 SOG.
  • (Oct. 27) The Saint John Sea Dogs visited their provincial rivals as they took on the Moncton Wildcats.  The first period saw both teams get on the board as the Sea Dogs Danny Akkouche scored his 3rd of the season at 6:52 and Peter Reynolds scored his 7th at 9:00 as the game was tied 2-2 after twenty minutes.  Moncton would score a shorthanded goal only 39 seconds into the second period and get an insurance goal with 5 seconds left in the period to really put the pressure on Saint John with a 4-2 lead.  In the final period, Moncton would add an empty netter as the Wildcats defeated the Sea Dogs 5-2.  Matteo Mann finished the game with no points, and even rating, and 1 SOG.
  • (Oct. 29) The Saint John Sea Dogs were back in action as they hosted the Quebec Remparts.  The opening period saw Quebec capitalize on the man advantage with two powerplay goals to take a 2-0 lead with both goals scored by Kassim Gaudet.  On the second goal, it was Matteo Mann who was in the penalty box as he took a boarding penalty shortly after the Remparts scored the opening goal.  In the second period, the Sea Dogs got on the board after allowing another powerplay goal as Noah Reinhart notched his 5th of the season at 14:46.  But Quebec would tally again with 17 seconds left in the period to kill any possible momentum and take a 4-1 lead.  Saint John would get no closer as the Remparts scored at even strength and on a penalty shot to convincingly thump the Sea Dogs 6-1.  Matteo Mann finished the game with no points, a -1 rating, no shots, and 4 PIMs.

OHL (Ontario Hockey League)

Oliver Bonk #59 (D) – London Knights (OHL)

SEASONGPGAPTS+/-SPIM
2023-20241201010+374

Denver Barkey #86 (RW) – London Knights (OHL)

SEASONGPGAPTS+/-SPIM
2023-2024127916+8234
  • (Oct. 18) The London Knights travelled to face the Brantford Bulldogs in a midweek tilt.  In the opening period, the Knights struck first as Denver Barkey picked up a secondary assist on a blast from Jackson Edward.  Easton Cowan would continue his impressive production since returning from Maple Leafs camp with his 3rd of the season to give London a 2-0 lead.  In the second period, Cowan would score his second of the game while on shorthanded breakaway to give the Knights a 3-0 lead.  Oliver Bonk would pick up a shorthanded assist on the play.  Kasper Halttunen would score twice as well with Cowan adding two assists to his total, and the London Knights paced themselves to an impressive 5-1 victory over Brantford.  Barkey finished the game with 1 assist, a +2 rating, and 4 SOG.  Bonk registered 1 assist, a +1 rating, and no SOG.
  • (Oct. 20) The London Knights were back in action on Friday night as they hosted the Erie Otters.  London would open the scoring at 14:30 of the first period as Sam O’Reilly finished his 4th of the season off a pretty passing play by Denver Barkey and Oliver Bonk.  In the second period, the Knights would make it 2-0 as Bonk would set up his defense partner Isaiah George for his 2nd goal of the season.  The Otters would storm back with two goals in 36 seconds to stunningly tie the game 2-2.  In the third period, London would retake the 3-2 lead as Jacob Julien scored his 2nd of the season with Bonk picking up his 3rd assist of the contest.  Erie would not be denied though, as they scored two even strength goals and an empty-netter to hand the Knights a 5-3 loss.  Barkey finished the game with 1 assist, a -1 rating, and 3 SOG.  Oliver Bonk registered 3 assists, a +1 rating, and 0 SOG.  Bonk was awarded the 2nd Star of the game.

Video courtesy of the London Knights

Video courtesy of the London Knights

  • (Oct. 22) The London Knights travelled to Michigan as they took on the Saginaw Spirit.  After no scoring in the opening period, both teams traded goals in the second period.  Kasper Halttunen (8th and 9th) of London and Nic Sima (1st and 2nd) of Saginaw both scored twice to tie the game 2-2.  In the third period goals would come fast and furious as Sima recorded his hat-trick at 2:01; and both teams once again traded two goals apiece by the 4:55 mark to make it 4-4.  Saginaw would get the eventual winning goal at 7:20 and add an empty-netter to hand the Knights a 6-4 loss.  Oliver Bonk finished the game with no points, a -2 rating, and 3 SOG.  Denver Barkey registered no points, a -3 rating, and 4 SOG.
  • (Oct. 27) The London Knights welcomed the Ottawa 67’s to the Budweiser Gardens on Friday night.  In the opening period, Ruslan Gazizov got the scoring underway only 1:48 in with his 2nd of the season to put the Knights up 1-0.  The 67’s would tie the game 1-1 with a powerplay goal at 11:55.  With an 18-6 shots advantage in the second period, London would have liked to have more of an advantage heading into the final frame but would get a 2-1 lead thanks to Sawyer Boulton’s 1st of the season at 5:04.  Ottawa would not go gently into the night though and would tie the game 2-2 at 5:49 of the third period and eventually force overtime.  In the extra period, London would take home the two points as Denver Barkey picked up a secondary assist on Eason Cowan’s winner (his 5th of the season) as the Knights defeated the 67’s 3-2.  Barkey finished the game with 1 assist, a +2 rating, 3 SOG, and was 7/10 on faceoffs.  Oliver Bonk did not register a point, had an even rating, and 3 SOG in the contest.

BCHL (British Columbia Hockey League)

Ryan MacPherson #7 (C) – Penticton Vees (BCHL)

SEASONGPGAPTSPIM
2023-202413711180
  • (Oct. 21) The Penticton Vees hosted the visiting Merritt Centennials at the South Okanagan Events Centre.  Merritt would open the scoring only 1:37 in, but Penticton’s Max Heise would score a natural hat-trick for his first three goals of the season to give the Vees a 3-1 lead.  In the second period, Merritt got the better of the play as they scored twice to tie the game 3-3.  The Vees Billy Renfrew would score his 2nd of the season at 17:25 to give Penticton a 4-3 lead; but the Centennials would tie the game 4-4 only 1:33 later.  In the third period, it was Ryan MacPherson’s brother Connor who scored the go ahead goal for his 4th of the season and added an empty-netter to seal the 6-4 win.  Ryan MacPherson did not resister a point in this game.
  • (Oct. 23) The Penticton Vees travelled to face the Cowichan Valley Capitals.  In the opening period, Cowichan doubled up Penticton 12-6 in shots and scored first but Attila Lippai would tie the game 1-1 with his 4th of the season.  Neither side would find the back of the twine in the second period, but the Vees but the pedal to the floor and outshot the Capitals by a 42-7 margin in the final two periods.  The breakthrough would finally come in the third period as Ryan MacPherson would get a primary assist on Connor MacPherson’s 6th of the season at 1:13.  The Vees would add goals by Lippai (his second of the game), and Daniel Buchbinder 1:32 apart as Penticton would get the victory by a score of 4-1.  Ryan MacPherson finished the game with 1 assist.
  • (Oct. 24) The Penticton Vees returned home as they faced the visiting Powell River Kings.  Penticton would get on the board in the opening period as Conyr Hellyer scored his 2nd of the season at 18:05 to make it 1-0.  The Kings would score on the powerplay to tie thing up in the second period, but Callum Arnott’s 5th of the season at 18:03 would restore the 2-1 lead for Penticton.  In the third period, Ryan MacPherson would pick up his 9th assist of the season on Max Heise’s 4th of the year to make it 3-1.  Anselmo Rego’s 3rd of the season would extend the Vees lead to 4-1 at 7:15.  Powell would get a late powerplay goal, but it was not enough as the Vees won the game by a score of 4-2.  Ryan MacPherson finished the game with 1 assist.
  • (Oct. 27) On Friday night, the Penticton Vees hosted the Vernon Vipers.  In the first period, the shots were 11-10 in favor of the Vees but the scoring was more lopsided.  Callum Arnott scored his 6th of the season at even strength at 6:04, James Fisher notched his 7th with a powerplay goal at 9:28 assisted by Ryan MacPherson, and Fisher’s second of the game came with 19 seconds remaining to give Penticton a 3-0 lead.  In the second period, Vernon would get a goal back but Fisher would net a hat trick with another powerplay goal assisted by Ryan MacPherson only 39 seconds later.  Vernon’s Adam Csabi would score his second of the contest as the score was 4-2 after forty minutes. In the third period, Vernon would get a powerplay goal of their own to cut the deficit to 4-3.  But Thomas Pichette scored his 3rd of the season to give the Vees some insurance on the way to a 5-3 victory.  Ryan MacPherson finished the game with 2 assists.

Video courtesy of the Vernon Vipers      

***

Hope you enjoyed this edition of The Flyers CHL Prospect Report.

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Until next time from BrotherlyPuck.com,

I remain,

Manny Benevides

@mannybenevides

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