North American prospect report: The Peterborough goon squad strikes gain

Coming into this week’s report I was going to spend this opening paragraph talking about JD Greenway and his move from Wisconsin to the USHL to Maine, but word got out to cottage country that the Petes won’t be the centre of attention and the kids were having none of that. Sorry JD, maybe next week.

After returning from his suspension last week, Semyon Der-Arguchintsev couldn’t help himself but get involved in a good old fashioned line brawl (line scuffle, really) on Saturday night.

Nick Robertson gets a pass from SDA and finishes his hat-trick shorthanded. Then, everyone starts throwing hands. Leafs fans gonna love every second of this. pic.twitter.com/BRTT9sAyA4

— Stan Temming (@stantemming) October 27, 2019

At a time when Leafs fans are hoping for somebody, anybody, in Toronto to stand up for their teammates we have two players willing to do anything for each other and the rest of the Petes in the prospect pool.

From the Peterborough Examiner:

Robertson is getting a lot more attention from opposing players this season as he racks up the goals.

”It comes with being a name,” Robertson said. “It’s definitely different from last year. Being older I can take it.”

Still, it’s nice to see teammates come to his aid, he said.

”They’re two of our oldest guys and they’re strong and tough guys. You need guys like that and even the ‘02 younger guys stuck up for me. You have to, as an older guy, respect that.”

Petes head coach Rob Wilson didn’t think either team did anything untoward.

“You want to make sure your team sticks up for each other,” Wilson said. “You can’t allow teams to take liberties.”

He acknowledged you don’t often see three fights in one game anymore.

”It’s good to see when you have passion and stick up for each other,” said Wilson. “We don’t want to be a team that has tons of penalty minutes. We want to have power plays. If things happen and we stick up for each other, good for the boys.

Despite the fighting lately, the Petes are in the bottom half of the league in penalty minutes per game with eleven, and are sitting second overall in the OHL, just behind their rivals -  the Oshawa Generals.

As for the rest of them? They performed as expected.

Ontario Hockey League
#19 - Semyon Der-Arguchintsev (C) / Nicholas Robertson (C/LW)
0G, 3A, +2 / 4G, 1A, +3
Peterborough Petes - 10-4-0-0

Oct. 24th: vs Sarnia Sting
L 4-2 - 0G, 1A, +1 / 1G, 1A, +1
Oct. 26th: vs Mississauga Steelheads
W 10-3 - 0G, 2A, +1 / 3G, 0A, +2

The Petes are sitting second overall in the OHL, and will be fighting the Oshawa Generals for first in the league, conference, and division all season. It also seems those rumours of trade demands out of Peterborough have dried up.

#25 - Kalle Loponen (D) - 1G, 2A, -1
Sudbury Wolves

Oct. 25th: @ Flint Firebirds
L 5-2 - No Points
Oct. 26th: @ Saginaw Spirit
W 5-2 - 0G, 1A, +1
Oct. 27th: @ Windsor Spitfires
L 4-3 - 1G, 1A, -2

The Wolves didn’t have a great road trip down to the southern most teams in the league (Otters aside), coming away with only one win, but Loponen did well at the end of it, with a two point game against the Windsor Spitfires. The Wolves came out of the weekend still in first place in the Central Division,

Western Hockey League

#18 - Riley Stotts (C) - 1G, 3A, +1
Calgary Hitmen - 8-2-1-0

Oct. 25th: @ Moose Jaw Warriors
W 4-2 - 1G, 1A
Oct. 27th: @ Regina Pats
W 5-4 OT - 0G, 2A, +1

Stotts had a great weekend, and got a great experience in the Sunday game against Regina - the two teams faced off at Mosaic Stadium on the rink built for the Heritage Classic. 15,000+ people turned out to watch the game, which is an amazing crowd for a regular season WHL game.

#18 - Filip Kral (D) - 2G, 2A, +3
Spokane Chiefs - 6-6-1-0

Oct. 23rd: vs Brandon Wheat Kings
W 7-1 - 1G, 1A, +2
Oct. 25th: vs Portland Winterhawks
L 6-3 - 1G, 1A, +3
Oct. 26th: vs Prince Albert Raiders
L 4-1 - 0G, 0A, -2

A good individual weekend for Kral, but the Chiefs spent all their offence earlier in the week against Brandon.

#33 - Ian Scott (G)
Prince Albert Raiders - 9-2-3-0

Scott is still not cleared to play or be re-assigned from the Marlies. The Raiders are doing well without him though, they sit first in the East Division, and their starter Boston Bilous has  a 1.96GAA and a .916sv% in 13 games. If Scott does get assigned to the WHL when he’s healthy the Raiders would be all set to trade him and reap the rewards of their Memorial Cup run last season.

Quebec Major Junior Hockey League

#9 - Mikhail Abramov (C/RW) - 3G, 1A, -1
Victoriaville Tigres - 4-10-0-3

Oct. 24th: @ Cape Breton Eagles
L 4-3 - 2G, 0A
Oct. 26th: @ Moncton Wildcats
L 4-2 - 0G, 0A, -1
Oct. 27th: @ Saint John Sea Dogs
W 5-2 - 1G, 1A

Abramov had a good offensive week, but had some disappointing news when he wasn’t selected to play for Russia in the Canada/Russia Series games held in the QMJHL.

#33 Zachary Bouthillier (G) - 81sv, 91sv, .890sv%
Saint John Sea Dogs - 5-10-1-0

Oct. 23rd: vs Sherbrooke Phoenix
L 4-1 - 27sv, 31sh, .871sv%
Oct. 26th: vs Halifax Mooseheads
W 4-1 - 25sv, 26sh, .962sv%
Oct. 27th: vs Victoriaville Tigres
L 5-2 - 29sv, 34sh, .853sv%

It’s not shocking that Bourthillier won’t be competing in the Canada/Russia series for the QMJHL, that honour is going to Alexis Gravel and Olivier Rodrigue.

USHL

Michael Koster (D) - Did Not Play
Tri-City Storm - 4-5-1-1

Oct. 25th: @ Omaha Lancers
W 3-2 - Did Not Play
Oct. 26th: @ Omaha Lancers
W 3-2 OT - Did Not Play

Michael Koster! what is your deal? I’ve asked! Hopefully we get some answers. Does his contract stipulate that he doesn’t have to do long road trips (skipped games in Pittsburgh to open the season, now Nebraska)?

NCAA

Ryan O’Connell (D) - 0G, 1A, -1
Ohio State Buckeyes
Overall: 3-1-1 / Conference: 0-0

Oct. 25th: @ Mercyhurst
W 7-2 - 0G, 1A, -1
Oct. 26th: @ Mercyhurst
W 3-1 - No Points

O’Connell made his season debut for the Buckeyes this weekend and helped them go 2-0 on their trip to Erie, PA.

Nicholas Abruzzese (C)
Harvard Crimson

Season begins on November 1st.

#14 - JD Greenway (D) - No Points
Maine Black Bears
Overall: 4-2 / Conference: 1-1

Oct. 25th: @ Vermont
W 2-1 - No Points

A quiet weekend trip to Vermont is just what this team needed to bond and rekindle their spark. A win over the Catamounts bumped up their record and will help get Maine back on the right side of the ledger.

Maple Leafs Prospect stats