PELLETIER REWARDED FOR ‘EFFICIENCY ON ICE’
Flames forward prospect named winner of QMJHL’S Selke Award for sportsmanship
Calgary Flames forward prospect Jakob Pelletier wants to be on the short-handed staff.
For that, there is one simple criteria.
“I love to play on the P.K. side — and when you’re in the box, you can’t,” Pelletier said. “I’m one of those guys who wants to be on the ice a lot. And when you take a penalty, you don’t play hockey.”
The Flames’ first-round pick last summer, Pelletier was dinged for only eight minor penalties in 57 outings this past season as captain of the Moncton Wildcats.
On Thursday, the 19-year-old was saluted as the winner of the Frank J. Selke Trophy as the QMJHL’S most sportsmanlike player.
While the NHL’S Selke Trophy is a nod to the best defensive forward, the namesake award at the junior level is essentially the equivalent to the Lady Byng. As longtime NHLER and three-time winner David Desharnais put it during the virtual announcement, this honour goes to the young chap who best “combines both respect for opponents and officials, as well as his efficiency on the ice.”
Pelletier certainly fits that bill. He finished in a tie for eighth in the QMJHL’S scoring race with 82 points — 32 goals and 50 helpers — and posted an eye-popping plus-57 rating.
He squirmed for all of 16 minutes in the sin bin.
“It’s an honour for me and my family, and I think it’s a great season-ending to receive an award like that,” Pelletier said Thursday from his home in Quebec City. “Some of my old coaches have been texting me — my coaches from peewee, bantam … It’s great that they helped me along the way to become the person and the player that I am.”
The scouting report on Pelletier — listed by the Wildcats at 5-foot-9 and 167 pounds — is that the up-and-coming left-winger has some grit to his game, and he insisted that his most-sportsmanlike status doesn’t change that.
“I think I can combine both,” he said. “I think I’m of those guys who works hard and also plays the right way. I don’t take a lot of penalties, to be honest, but I think I can still be a gritty player and play until the whistle. I try to work hard but still stay out of the box, and I think it has worked great so far for me.”
Important, too, is a respectful relationship with the men in stripes.
“If you’re good to the refs, I think they’re going to be good to you,” Pelletier reasoned.
Smart thinking.
The list of past winners of the QMJHL’S Frank J. Selke Trophy includes Colorado Avalanche blueliner Sam Girard and Florida Panthers forward Mike Hoffman.
Going further back, would-be stars such as Mike Bossy, Ray Bourque, Daniel Briere and Pat Lafontaine all had their names engraved on their path to prime time.
Pelletier hopes to eventually follow their skate strides to the highest level.
Unfortunately, the youngster missed out on some potential big-game experience over the past few months.
He was invited to Canada’s world junior selection camp but missed those final auditions — and the tournament — due to a concussion. The Wildcats were loaded up for a title drive, but the playoffs and 2020 Memorial Cup were cancelled because of the global health crisis.
He wasn’t expecting to be into his off-season training program so soon.
“Another big step forward. He’s a really good player,” said Flames general manager Brad Treliving on his weekly conference call with local media. “It’s a unique time for those kids, too, when you talk about unfortunately not being able to get a really important developmental step.
“These are important times for them. In Jake’s case, it’s continuing to develop physically. Our development team is working with all of those kids and has a plan for all of them to do what they can during this time. A big step forward, and I thought a very, very good year for Jakob.”
Pelletier wasn’t the only Flames prospect among the hat-trick of nominees for the QMJHL’S Frank J. Selke Trophy.
Dmitry Zavgorodniy, a seventh-round selection in 2018, was also shortlisted. He totalled only six penalty minutes in 40 appearances for the Rimouski Oceanic while also racking up 67 points as one of Alexis Lafreniere’s top-line sidekicks.
“He’s a great hockey player, like we all know,” Pelletier said of Zavgorodniy, who also missed world juniors due to a broken collarbone
“We kind of play the same way, I think. We’re both kind of small, gritty, and we play the right way. He had a pretty good season, even though he was injured, so I think he can be proud and the whole Flames staff can be proud of him, too.”
Pelletier is now a finalist for the Canadian Hockey League’s Cavendish Sportsman of the Year Award.