Dahlen hasn’t been timid in Timra
Forward proving to be clutch performer in Swedish league’s playoffs
It’s the latest edition of the weekly tracker, where we tally up the efforts of the Canucks’ highest-profile prospects.
Jonathan Dahlen
Jonathan Dahlen’s goal to start the Allsvenskan season was simple: help his Timra team get promoted to the top-tier Swedish Hockey League.
After putting the boots to Leksand in a 3-0 series sweep last week, Dahlen is one best-of-seven series away from that goal.
Dahlen was a force in the three playoff games, putting up four points in the first two games before scoring two goals and assisting on another in the series-clinching win.
Talk about being clutch. Dahlen now has 14 goals and 20 points in 12 games over the last three playoffs for Timra.
Timra will face Karlskrona, who finished last in the SHL, on March 27 to begin the high-stakes series.
Adam Gaudette
Adam Gaudette’s Northeastern Huskies suffered a heartbreaking 3-2 overtime loss to Providence College in the Hockey East semifinals on Friday, knocking them out of the regional playoffs.
Despite the loss, the Huskies received a wild-card entry into the NCAA playoffs, a 16-team national tournament. Northeastern was given a No. 3 seeding in their grouping and will now face No. 2-seeded Michigan March 24 in Worchester, Mass.
The winner will face either Boston University (No. 4) or Cornell (No. 1) for a spot in the Frozen Four.
Gaudette had an assist in the loss to Providence, upping his points streak to 10 games and points total to 60 in all competitions.
With that, Gaudette was named the Hockey East player of the year.
Michigan is already prepping for Gaudette and Co. with head coach Mel Pearson calling Gaudette’s line “the best line in college hockey.”
Could we have another Ryan Kesler — minus the attitude — on our hands? The two-way talent that Gaudette, a Hobey Baker finalist, possesses makes it possible.
Elias Pettersson
After a first-round bye in the SHL playoffs, Elias Pettersson’s Vaxjo Lakers were back in action Sunday, beating 10th-seeded Brynas 4-1 to open the best-of-seven series.
Pettersson, playing right wing, had 16:30 of ice time in the Game
1 win, but didn’t register a point for his top-ranked team. Vaxjo plays against Brynas Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
Thatcher Demko
Thatcher Demko’s Utica Comets played three nights in a row over the weekend with Demko starting two games. On Friday, Demko didn’t have a great outing, making 19 saves as the Comets lost 4-2 to the Laval Rocket. The Comets went with Richard Bachman in net Saturday, a 4-3 loss to the Belleville Senators, but went back to Demko Sunday as he made 38 saves in a 3-1 win over the Toronto Marlies.
Demko now has a 21-11-6 record with the Comets, who have 10 games left in their season.
It’s still unclear if Demko will get called up to the Canucks this season, though the feeling among most in the hockey world is it would be best to stay in the AHL and play a pivotal role for the Comets’ playoff drive.
Kole Lind
Kole Lind finished the season with a bang for the playoff-bound Kelowna Rockets, notching a goal and an assist Saturday in an 8-1 shellacking of the Vancouver Giants. Lind also had two assists Wednesday in a 6-3 win over the Prince George Cougars.
In what was a shortened season for the Canucks’ 2017 second-rounder, Lind still managed to finish 11th in WHL scoring, amassing 95 points in 58 games.
Had he played the full 72-game schedule, Lind would probably have finished among the top five scorers.
The Rockets finished atop in the B.C. Division and face the Tri-City Americans beginning Thursday.
Jonah Gadjovich
The Owen Sound Attack are streaking into the playoffs and Jonah Gadjovich has played a big role.
The Attack, winners of six straight, scored 25 goals in three games last week. Gadjovich put up six points
in those games. His lone goal was a thing of beauty, picking up his own rebound and shooting the puck through his legs to beat the goalie.
Gadjovich finished his injury-riddled Ontario Hockey League season with 48 points in 42 games.
The Attack will now face the London Knights in what’s expected to be a barnburner of a series.
Mike DiPietro
Mike DiPietro’s week didn’t start off on the right foot, but the Canucks’ goalie prospect bounced back to lead his Windsor Spitfires to victory.
DiPietro was chased from the net against Gadjovich’s Attack Thursday, giving up four goals on 21 shots in 30 minutes of action.
It was probably for the best, though, as Gadjovich’s between-the-legs wonder goal was scored against the Spitfires’ backup — so big Gadjovich can’t chirp DiPietro about it when they line up together at Canucks camp in the fall.
DiPietro was given one more start Saturday, a 4-2 win against the Flint Firebirds in which he made 24 saves.
Off the ice, DiPietro shared his story of losing his mother to cancer at the age of five. His father later remarried and his stepbrother, a house-level goalie six years older than him, was his inspiration to play the position.
DiPietro finished the OHL regular season third in goals-against-average (2.79), fifth in save percentage (0.910) and tops in shutouts with seven. The Spitfires face the Sarnia Sting Friday to begin a best-of-seven playoff series.
Olli Juolevi
Olli Juolevi’s TPS, the second-ranked team in the Finnish SM-Liiga, were handed a first-round bye and didn’t see the ice last week.
TPS will now play against the seventh-ranked SaiPa in a best-of-seven series that begins Tuesday.