Tomas Jurco (Credit: David Connell/Saint John Sea Dogs)
Tomas Jurco and his Saint John Sea Dogs are tearing apart the QMJHL as they continue their quest to win a second straight Memorial Cup.
The Sea Dogs have piled up 58 goals through seven straight playoff wins and are on the verge of advancing to the QMJHL semifinals, up 3-0 on the Baie-Comeau Drakkar heading into Wednesday’s Game 4 of the quarter-finals.
On a team averaging more than eight goals per game, the 19-year-old Jurco is tied for second on the team with seven goals in seven games and tied for third with 10 assists, while sitting fourth in team scoring with 17 points.
Sea Dogs teammates Zack Phillips (22 points), Charlie Coyle (20 points) and draft pick Stanislav Galiev (19 points) join Jurco to sit 1-2-3-4 in QMJHL playoff scoring. Phillips and Coyle are Minnesota Wild prospects while Galiev is a Washington Capitals draft pick.
Florida Panthers third overall pick Jonathan Huberdeau is not far behind with 12 points.
Although games are expected to get much tighter in the semifinals, the powerhouse Sea Dogs are favoured to win the QMJHL title after a first-place 50-win season.
Jurco, who the Red Wings drafted in the second round (35th overall) last year, has had a tremendous season, finishing fourth on the Sea Dogs with 30 goals and 38 assists for 68 points in just 48 games. He also had eight points in five games for Slovakia at the IIHF world junior championship.
The 6-foot-2, 187-pound winger is known for his high-end skills but has also worked hard to round out his game and is a favourite of Sea Dogs head coach Gerard Gallant, a former Red Wings forward.
Entering his 20-year-old junior season, Jurco is eligible for another year in the QMJHL but is expected to sign with the Red Wings and play in the American Hockey League next season similar to Louis-Marc Aubry and Trevor Parkes with the Grand Rapids Griffins this season.
NOTES: Forward Calle Jarnkrok (Brynas, Swedish Elite League) missed the opening game of the SEL final against Skelleftea because of an illness. Brynas won 6-3 and Jarnkrok, the team’s second-leading scorer, could be back for the next game … Winger Teemu Pulkkinen (Jokerit, Finnish SM-Liiga) returned to his team’s playoff lineup in the semifinals this week and had an assist in two games. He had been out with a foot injury and appeared in two games with the club’s junior team, recording one assist … Defensemean Xavier Ouellet (Blainville-Boisbriand, QMJHL) missed out on the QMJHL’s top defenseman award to Jerome Gauthier-Leduc, but his team is up 2-1 on Leduc’s Rimouski Oceanic in the QMJHL quarter-finals. Ouellet is averaging a point per game … Forward Riley Sheahan signed a three-year contract with the Red Wings and made his NHL debut on Saturday against Chicago … Defenseman Ben Marshall (Minnesota, NCAA) and his Golden Gophers lost 6-1 to Boston College in the Frozen Four semifinals on Friday … Defenseman Alexei Marchenko (Krasnaja Armia Moscow, Minor Hockey League) is still active at Russia’s second level and is averaging more than a point-per-game in the playoffs.
Following is this week’s statistical report.
SKATERS: REGULAR-SEASON REPORT
| NAME | TEAM | LEVEL | LEAGUE | GP | G | A | P | PIM | +/- | SOG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coetzee, Willie | Grand Rapids | PRO | AHL | 58 | 9 | 11 | 20 | 23 | -5 | 131 |
| Ferraro, Landon | Grand Rapids | PRO | AHL | 56 | 9 | 11 | 20 | 47 | -6 | 87 |
| Nyquist, Gustav | Grand Rapids | PRO | AHL | 56 | 22 | 36 | 58 | 18 | +7 | 152 |
| Tatar, Tomas | Grand Rapids | PRO | AHL | 73 | 22 | 33 | 55 | 39 | +3 | 211 |
| Andersson, Joakim | Grand Rapids | PRO | AHL | 70 | 21 | 28 | 49 | 32 | +5 | 140 |
| Aubry, Louis-Marc | Grand Rapids | PRO | AHL | 59 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 34 | -7 | 89 |
| Callahan, Mitchell | Grand Rapids | PRO | AHL | 48 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 103 | -3 | 58 |
| Ehrhardt, Travis | Grand Rapids | PRO | AHL | 38 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 23 | +6 | 42 |
| Lashoff, Brian | Grand Rapids | PRO | AHL | 73 | 7 | 11 | 18 | 37 | -9 | 101 |
| Pare, Francis | Grand Rapids | PRO | AHL | 72 | 14 | 34 | 48 | 14 | -6 | 171 |
| Parkes, Trevor | Grand Rapids | PRO | AHL | 44 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 23 | 0 | 66 |
| Raedeke, Brent | Grand Rapids | PRO | AHL | 61 | 11 | 7 | 18 | 33 | -1 | 102 |
| Smith, Brendan | Grand Rapids | PRO | AHL | 54 | 10 | 24 | 34 | 86 | +6 | 107 |
| Pyett, Logan | Grand Rapids | PRO | AHL | 70 | 2 | 24 | 26 | 50 | -4 | 156 |
| Nestrasil, Andrej | Grand Rapids | PRO | AHL | 22 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -4 | 21 |
| Fournier, Gleason | Grand Rapids | PRO | AHL | 13 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 14 | 0 | 4 |
| Sheahan, Riley | Grand Rapids | PRO | AHL | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | -2 | 6 |
| Almqvist, Adam | Grand Rapids | PRO | AHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 |
| Quine, Alan | Grand Rapids | PRO | AHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Fournier, Gleason | Toledo | PRO | ECHL | 55 | 2 | 16 | 18 | 32 | -9 | 101 |
| Nestrasil, Andrej | Toledo | PRO | ECHL | 51 | 7 | 22 | 29 | 20 | -10 | 88 |
| Parkes, Trevor | Toledo | PRO | ECHL | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 2 | +1 | 17 |
| Ouellet, Xavier | B.-Boisbriand | JR | QMJHL | 63 | 21 | 39 | 60 | 67 | +16 | 202 |
| Macek, Brooks | Calgary | JR | WHL | 54 | 14 | 24 | 38 | 19 | +8 | N/A |
| Nedomlel, Richard | Swift Current | JR | WHL | 72 | 10 | 36 | 46 | 83 | -35 | N/A |
| Tvrdon, Marek | Vancouver | JR | WHL | 60 | 31 | 43 | 74 | 62 | +1 | N/A |
| Sproul, Ryan | Sault Ste. Marie | JR | OHL | 61 | 23 | 31 | 54 | 53 | +16 | N/A |
| Quine, Alan | Peterborough | JR | OHL | 65 | 30 | 40 | 70 | 21 | -19 | N/A |
| Jurco, Tomas | Saint John | JR | QMJHL | 48 | 30 | 38 | 68 | 37 | +46 | 186 |
| Hudon, Philippe | Victoriaville | JR | QMJHL | 34 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 29 | -3 | 65 |
| Jensen, Nick | St. Cloud State | COL | NCAA | 39 | 6 | 26 | 32 | 4 | +14 | 68 |
| Nicastro, Max | Boston U. | COL | NCAA | 27 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 32 | -2 | 41 |
| Cayer, Julien | Clarkson | COL | NCAA | 30 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 30 | -4 | 50 |
| Marshall, Ben | Minnesota | COL | NCAA | 41 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 31 | +13 | 79 |
| Sheahan, Riley | Notre Dame | COL | NCAA | 37 | 9 | 16 | 25 | 24 | 0 | 118 |
| Pulkkinen, Teemu | Jokerit | EUR | FIN | 56 | 16 | 21 | 37 | 41 | 0 | 235 |
| Almqvist, Adam | HV-71 | EUR | SEL | 42 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 26 | +16 | 66 |
| Axelsson, Dick | MoDo | EUR | SEL | 36 | 9 | 11 | 20 | 59 | -7 | 79 |
| Jarnkrok, Calle | Brynas | EUR | SEL | 50 | 16 | 23 | 39 | 22 | -3 | 109 |
| Backman, Mattias | Linkoping | EUR | SEL | 42 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 14 | +7 | 60 |
| Marchenko, Alexei | CSKA Moscow | EUR | KHL | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -4 | 3 |
| Marchenko, Alexei | CSKA Moscow | EUR-JR | MHL | 5 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 10 | +2 | 7 |
GOALIES: REGULAR SEASON REPORT
| NAME | TEAM | LEAGUE | GP | W | L | O/S | SO | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mrazek, Petr | Ottawa | OHL | 50 | 30 | 13 | 6 | 3 | 2.84 | .917 |
| Pearce, Jordan | Grand Rapids | AHL | 17 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 3.53 | .874 |
| McCollum, Thomas | Grand Rapids | AHL | 26 | 11 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 3.44 | .893 |
| McCollum, Thomas | Toledo | ECHL | 15 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2.62 | .909 |
| Pearce, Jordan | Toledo | ECHL | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4.05 | .879 |
SKATERS: PLAYOFF REPORT
| NAME | TEAM | LEVEL | LEAGUE | GP | G | A | P | PIM | +/- | SOG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marchenko, Alexei | CSKA Moscow | EUR | KHL | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | -1 | 8 |
| Marchenko, Alexei | Krasnaja Armia | EUR-JR | MHL | 13 | 2 | 13 | 15 | 14 | +7 | 28 |
| Pulkkinen, Teemu | Jokerit | EUR-JR | FIN-JR | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | N/A |
| Pulkkinen, Teemu | Jokerit | EUR | FIN | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 11 |
| Axelsson, Dick | MoDo | EUR | SEL | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 18 | -1 | 13 |
| Jarnkrok, Calle | Brynas | EUR | SEL | 11 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 10 | +10 | 29 |
| Almqvist, Adam | HV-71 | EUR | SEL | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | +3 | 2 |
| Ouellet, Xavier | Blainville-Boisbriand | JR | QMJHL | 7 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 12 | +4 | 34 |
| Jurco, Tomas | Saint John | JR | QMJHL | 7 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 8 | +12 | 24 |
| Hudon, Philippe | Victoriaville | JR | QMJHL | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 4 |
| Macek, Brooks | Calgary | JR | WHL | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | N/A |
| Tvrdon, Marek | Vancouver | JR | WHL | 6 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 0 | -4 | N/A |
GOALIES: PLAYOFF REPORT
| NAME | TEAM | LEAGUE | GP | W | L | SO | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mrazek, Petr | Ottawa | OHL | 9 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 2.48 | .927 |
Great to see Gerry Gallant’s team having so much success. He was limited on talent but huge on heart and played hard every shift. .I hope he’s a good coach because he is sure as heck a great roll model as how to play the game hard. Good for him and the Sea Dogs. Also, did they really just say they are avg. 8 goals a game. Jeepers!!
Jurco has the look of a solid NHLer, but for me, I still can’t believe that the Wings got Ouellet in the second round last year. In French or English the words leader, captain or professional always appear when people talk about him. He’s always on the ice and in all situations and he isn’t a fighter but he won’t back down either. There is great QMJHL interview with him on youtube where he discusses playing with Lidstrom and the boys at camp last year.
It looks like some of these prospects are doing really great! Unfortunately, some of them are at least a year, two, maybe even three years away from wearing the Winged Wheel. I’m hoping to see Jurco next year in Grand Rapids. Will Ouellet play another year in juniors? Or will he come over too?
I feel like one of these days there will be a Rookie Five, like there was a Russian Five.
In a recent Hockey News the Wings were ranked 21st in their “future watch” issue. This is a little disingenous, since it includes players under 23 playing in the NHL. We’ll see how these players shake out at the next level. Look for the Wings to draft some bigger prospects size wide to balance out Nyquist, Jankrok, Quinne, Marshal, Almquist..if available.
Will be interesting to see who is on the big club in 5 years. Mrazek, Jurco, Tvrdon, Pulkinen, Jarnrok, Ouellet, Almquist, all seem to have pretty good potential. BY then I expect Smith to be an all star caliber NHL’er, and maybe the same for Nyquist. I have almost as high hopes for Sheahan as well. The future looks good, but the next few years could be a bit iffy if none of the top UFA’s end up in Detroit this summer. (Parise, Jones, Semin, or Suter)
Are articles done for the season? Come on RWC we need our weekly fix of prospect reports.
Was at the game last night Sea-Dogs- Sags, the Sea Dogs lost in OT and Jurco scored a Beaut of a goal , using his tremendous speed he broke in on Gibson and deaked him for a short handed goal. At 6-2, 190 pounds , sounds good but he has too build up his upper body strenght, he got nailed in the 3rd period at we didnt see very much of him in OT . i got a chance to see Ouellet play this year , a true leader all the way and his play got better as the year progressed, this guy will surprise many people, solid dman who was helped by ex NHL’ers Joel Bouchard and Stephane Matteau up in Blainville -Boisbriand