RIMOUSKI – The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League can win its second Hershey Cup Wednesday night when the QMJHL Dilio Conference All-Stars take on the Western Hockey League’s Western Conference All-Stars in the third and final game of the 2002 Hershey Cup CHL All-Star Series.
Game time is 7 p.m. and the game will be broadcast live on RDS in Quebec and on Rogers Sportsnet.
The inaugural Hershey Cup was won last year by the QMJHL’s two all-star teams and the league has a chance to make it two for two by winning Wednesday night’s game, to be held at the Colisee de Rimouski, the beautiful home arena of the l’Oceanic de Rimouski of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
The 2002 Hershey Cup CHL All-Star Series opened up in Ottawa on Jan. 16, when the QMJHL Lebel Conference All-Stars defeated the OHL East Conference All-Stars 4-2. Frederic Faucher of the Drummondville Voltigeurs sparked Quebec with a pair of goals, while Jonathan Bellemare of the Shawinigan Cataractes added three assists.
Matthew Lombardi of the Victoriaville Tigres and Jason Pominville of the Cataractes scored the other goals for the winners. Olivier Michaud of Shawinigan, Jean-Francois Racine of Drummondville and Pascal Leclaire of Montreal all played very well in the victory before 5,439 fans in Ottawa.
Zenon Konopka of the Ottawa 67′s and Blaine Down of the Barrie Colts scored for the OHL, while Peter Budaj and Andy Chiodo of the Toronto St. Michael’s Majors and David Chant of the Barrie Colts played in goal for Ontario.
The series continued Jan. 31 in Red Deer, Alberta, when the OHL Western Conference All-Stars defeated the WHL Eastern Conference All-Stars 7-2 before 6,259 fans. Ray Emery of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and Jason Bacashihua of the Plymouth Whalers combined to make 38 saves to lead Ontario to the win.
Steve Ott of the Windsor Spitfires, Rick Nash of London Knights, Brent Kelly of Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, Brad Boyes of Erie Otters, Jay McClement of Brampton Battalion and Kris Newbury and Dusty Jamieson, both of Sarnia Sting, scored the OHL goals. Colby Armstrong of Red Deer Rebels and Garth Murray of Regina Pats replied for the WHL East.
That sets the stage for Wednesday night’s finale. If the QMJHL Dilio Conference wins, Quebec wins the Hershey Cup. The WHL Eastern Conference All-Stars will have to win by eight goals for the WHL to win the Hershey Cup and if they win by less than that total, then the OHL wins the Hershey Cup. The WHL Western Conference All-Stars feature five members from Canada’s silver medal winning team at the world junior hockey championships. Jared Aulin of the Kamloops Blazers, Dan Hamhuis of Prince George Cougars, Chuck Kobasew of Kelowna Rockets, Jarrett Stoll of Kootenay Ice and Scottie Upshall of Kamloops Blazers all played for Team Canada.
The QMJHL Dilio Conference All-Stars feature three of the league’s top scorers in Pierre-Marc Bouchard of the Chicoutimi Sagueneens, and Charles Linglet and Yanick Lehoux from the Baie-Comeau Drakkar. The Quebec goalies - Dany Dallaire of Halifax Mooseheads and Adam Russo of Acadie-Bathurst Titan – are ranked in the top five of all goaltender categories in the QMJHL.
The Hershey Cup CHL All-Star Series is an annual three-game all-star showcase featuring two all-star teams from each of the CHL’s three leagues. At the conclusion of the series the league that wins the most games or has the best goals for/goals against ratio, wins the Hershey Cup.
SASKATOON’S JUSTIN KELLY IS THE CHL PLAYER OF THE MONTH
The CHL Player of the Month for January, 2002 is forward Justin Kelly of the Saskatoon Blades of the Western Hockey League.
Kelly was selected as the WHL’s Eastern Conference Player of the Month recently and he beat out several other CHL players to earn CHL Player of the Month honours for his outstanding work in January, 2002. He becomes the first WHL player to win the CHL’s monthly award this season.
The 20-year-old Abbotsford, British Columbia native had 13 goals and 10 assists for 23 points during the month. His totals included seven power play goals, one shorthanded goal and three game-winning goals.
Kelly got the nod over the WHL’s Western Conference Player of the Month, forward Duncan Milroy of the Kootenay Ice; the Molson OHL Player of the Month Cory Pecker of the Erie Otters and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s Players of the Month, Ales Hemsky of the Hull Olympiques (Offensive) and his teammate Eric Lafrance (Defensive). Details on the league winners are listed below.
The CHL Player of the Month is selected from among the three CHL league nominees and announced during the first week of every month. The CHL Player of the Week is selected from among the three leagues’ nominees and announced in Tuesday’s editions of the CHL Daily News.
2001-2002 CHL PLAYERS OF THE MONTH
JANUARY, 2002 – Justin Kelly, Saskatoon Blades, WHL
DECEMBER, 2001 – Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau, Chicoutimi Sagueneens, QMJHL
NOVEMBER, 2001 – Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Chicoutimi Sagueneens, QMJHL
OCTOBER, 2001 – Nathan Robinson, Belleville Bulls, OHL
CHL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Feb. 5 – Eric Johansson, Tri-City Americans, WHL
Jan. 29 – Jason Spezza, Belleville Bulls, OHL
Jan. 22 – Jarret Stoll, Kootenay Ice, WHL
Jan. 15 – Brad Boyes, Erie Otters, OHL
Jan. 8 – Ryley Layden, Lethbridge Hurricanes, WHL
Dec. 17 – Andre Martineau, Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, QMJHL
Dec. 10 – Shawn Roed, Portland Winter Hawks, WHL
Dec. 3 – Andy Chiodo, Toronto St. Michael’s Majors, OHL
Nov. 27 – Philippe Lacasse, Hull Olympiques, QMJHL
Nov. 20 – Yanick Lehoux, Baie-Comeau Drakkar, QMJHL
Nov. 13 – Marek Svatos, Kootenay Ice, WHL
Nov. 6 – Ales Hemsky, Hull Olympiques, QMJHL
Oct. 29 – Tomas Plihal, Kootenay Ice, WHL
Oct. 22 – Brad Boyes, Erie Otters, OHL
Oct. 15 – Jason King, Halifax Mooseheads, QMJHL
WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE
There are four games in the WHL on Wednesday night. Lethbridge plays at Calgary, Prince George is at Tri-City, Brandon travels to Prince Albert and Moose Jaw is in Saskatoon.
There were three games in the WHL on Tuesday night. Brandon knocked off Regina (8) 4-3, Tri-City beat Prince George 5-2 and Medicine Hat stopped Lethbridge 6-3.
At Brandon, Travis Young scored 2:47 into overtime to give the Wheat Kings the victory after Josh Garbutt’s goal had tied the score at 13:53 of the third period. Ryan Stone added three assists for the winners while Tyson Moulton had one goal and one assist for the losers.
At Tri-City, Scott Kelman had two goals and one assist for the Americans while Ben Kilgour added one goal and two assists. Ken Davis had one goal and one assist for Prince George while Joel Martin made 31 saves in goal for the winners.
At Medicine Hat, Ben Thomson scored twice and Joffrey Lupul had one goal and three assists to lead the Tigers to their win. Jay Bouwmeester and Chris St. Jacques both added one goal and two assists to the winner’s offence while Scott Borders had two assists for the losers. Sean Connors made 20 saves in goal for Medicine Hat.
The WHL’s Players of the Month were announced recently in both the Eastern and Western Conferences.
Forward Justin Kelly of the Saskatoon Blades was selected as the WHL’s Eastern Conference Player of the Month. The 20-year old Abbotsford, British Columbia native also earned honours as CHL Player of the Month, making him the first WHL player to win the award this season.
Kelly had 13 goals and 10 assists for 23 points in just 11 games in January. His totals included seven power play goals, one shorthanded goal and three game-winning goals. Kelly, 20, is a free agent.
Forward Duncan Milroy of the Kootenay Ice is the WHL’s Western Conference Player of the Month for January.
Milroy, 18, fired seven goals and added 10 assists for 17 points to win the Western Conference award. His totals included three power play goals, a shorthanded goal and three game-winning goals. Milroy is an Edmonton native.
ONTARIO HOCKEY LEAGUE
There are no games in the OHL on Tuesday night and there are no games on Wednesday night.
The OHL’s Performers of the Month were announced recently, led by the OHL Molson Player of the Month, forward Cory Pecker of the Erie Otters.
Pecker, a 20-year-old native of Montreal, scored 16 goals and added seven assists for 23 points in 13 games last month, helping Erie post an 8-5-0-0 record. The veteran right winger had five multiple goal games in January, including his first hat trick of the season Jan. 5 against Kitchener.
Pecker, a seventh round draft pick of the Calgary Flames, recorded 15 points over a six game stretch (10 goals, five assists), from January 5-13.
The OHL Rookie of the Month was forward Nathan Horton of the Oshawa Generals.
Horton scored nine goals and added five assists for 14 points in 10 games during January as he continued his outstanding rookie season. The 16-year-old Dunnville native had a career-high five point game against the North Bay Centennials Jan. 25.
The OHL Goaltender of the Month is Michael Mole of the Belleville Bulls.
Mole, who was acquired from the Mississauga IceDogs on Jan. 3, posted a 7-1-0 record this past month, along with a 1.88 goals against average and a .941 save percentage. The 19-year-old Moncton, New Brunswick native posted his first career OHL shutout in a 2-0 win over the QMJHL’s Victoriaville Tigres in inter-locking play Jan. 20.
QUEBEC MAJOR JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE
There are no games in the QMJHL on Wednesday night.
There was one game in the QMJHL on Tuesday night as Rouyn-Noranda and Val-d’ Or battled to a 3-3 tie.
At Val-d’Or, Pierre Morvan’s goal at 17:57 of the third period gave the Foreurs a 3-3 tie with the visiting Huskies. Jean-Francois Nogues made 34 saves in goal for Rouyn-Noranda, while Eric L’Italien and Jonathan Gagnon both had one goal and one assist.
The QMJHL Players of the Month for the month of January, 2002 are forward Ales Hemsky of the Hull Olympiques (Offensive), goaltender Eric Lafrance of the Olympiques (defensive) and Marc-Antoine Pouliot of the Rimouski Oceanic, the RDS/JVC Rookie of the Month.
Hemsky continues to rack up the points with Hull as the Olympiques have moved into first place in their division. In 10 games in January, Hemsky had six goals and 16 assists for 22 points while also compiling a plus 11.
Lafrance was also outstanding in goal for Hull during January. He appeared in nine games and posted an 8-1-0 record and one shutout. His goals against average was a very impressive 1.77 and his save percentage was .940.
Pouliot is one of the bright young stars on the Oceanic and he turned in a stellar month. In 11 games in January, he had five goals and eighth assists for 13 points.
For complete QMJHL statistics and standings, visit the official QMJHL site.
