Last season the Mississauga IceDogs represented the Eastern Conference in the OHL finals against the Guelph Storm, and although star center Patrick O’Sullivan had quite a lot to do with the team’s success, the 2003-04 IceDogs had a number of veterans and even rookies (including Panthers goaltender David Shantz) who proved to be a strong and complimentary group of players.

A large portion of that team is gone now, including fellow Wild prospect Ryan Stokes, who started the season in the ECHL playing with the Pensacola Ice Pilots. With the loss of veterans it was logical to see that O’Sullivan now wears the captain’s C on his chest, and whether he knows it or not he has more weight on his shoulders than the average leader of a team. Through trade and other signings the IceDogs have a number of capable supporters surrounding O’Sullivan, but how successful the 2004-05 team is will depend in very large part on how O’Sullivan and Shantz play throughout the year.

Right out of the gates both players have answered the call, and O’Sullivan has responded well to captaincy. His conditioning and skills seem to have somehow surpassed the level he exhibited at the end of last season. The main reason O’Sullivan is even back with the IceDogs instead of with the AHL Houston Aeros is the NHL lockout, and his play so far in the OHL this season has him standing out among peach-fuzzed teenagers. His puck control, skating, and play making improvements are especially noteworthy. IceDogs’ coach Greg Gilbert apparently recognizes the commodity he has at his disposal and has been playing O’Sullivan on multiple line combinations, power play, and penalty-killing, all in an apparent effort to get the 19-year-old as much ice time as possible.

As of the end of October, O’Sullivan was second only to London’s Corey Perry in scoring in the OHL, racking up 11 goals and 18 assists in 14 games while leading the IceDogs to an 8-3-2-1 record. Their 19 points was third best in the OHL as of October 31st. Second place Brampton Battalion, who also leads the ‘Dogs in the Central Division, has 22 points, while the IceDogs have three games in hand on them.

Throughout his junior career, O’Sullivan has been a goal scorer first and foremost, but last season that began to change somewhat as the season wore on and he made big playmaking improvements when a shoulder injury made it difficult for him to keep his shot velocity up. So far in 2004-05 O’Sullivan is second in assists and sixth in power play assists in the OHL, whereas last year he only appeared on goal scoring OHL leader boards, an area he still holds strong in this season. Through the end of October he was fifth overall in goals and tied for first in short handed goals with two. Not only that, but his plus/minus rating of +13 is third best in the league.

In his three complete seasons in the OHL, O’Sullivan averaged 59 games played per season (WJC, injury, and coach punishments account for his missed appearances), and with his current pace of just over two points per game he would be projected to end up with 122 points on the season. His previous scoring best was his rookie season when he was named the OHL and CHL rookie of the year with 92 points in 68 games played. The boost in point production this season can, in large part, be attributed to O’Sullivan’s increased rate of gathering assists. He has a mark of 1.29 assists per game thus far, whereas in the past he’s always hovered around .80 assists per game.

His recent efforts resulted in his second OHL player of the week award in three weeks on October 31st. He was also named by USA Hockey as one of eight returning players to their World Junior team. The IIHF tournament will begin December 25^th, 2004 and is to take place in North Dakota and Minnesota.

If there’s been one knock against the Winston-Salem, NC native throughout his career it’s that his attitude and discipline has held him back and landed him in coach’s doghouses too often. O’Sullivan’s attitude has improved slowly over time and he appears to be much more mature on the ice than in the past; however he has also slipped back into his former pattern of behavior on at least one occasion this season.

On October 15^th the IceDogs were playing host to the division rival Toronto St. Michael’s Majors and at the end of the first period the home team held a 2-0 lead. O’Sullivan had scored shorthanded on a beautiful shot from the slot and earlier in the period Majors’ goalie Justin Peters (CAR) had made an excellent save on an equally excellent shorthanded breakaway move by O’Sullivan. At the end of the first period the ‘Dogs were in complete control of the game and playing well with O’Sullivan leading the way. About halfway through the second period the momentum began to shift towards the Majors side and with two goals less than a minute and a half apart, including a short handed tally of their own, they’d tied the game. O’Sullivan and all of the IceDogs began to play with indecisiveness and, eventually, frustration. Near the end of the second O’Sullivan tried in vain to get something started offensively but couldn’t, and when he skated into the Majors zone without the puck Majors’ defenseman Scott Lehman (ATL) pestered him with his stick unmercifully, but within legal limits. When that offensive drive was broken up and the puck cleared, O’Sullivan was the last to vacate the Majors’ zone and on his way out he cross-checked Lehman’s defensive partner, apparently mistaking him for Lehman, and took what would turn out to be a costly penalty.

Those who have seen O’Sullivan play in the OHL over the years have witnessed him become frustrated with the extra attention a skilled player receives from opponents on countless occasions, but this particular incident against the Majors came off as worse than just a selfish penalty with the ‘C’ now sewn on his jersey. Within the first minute of the third, on the power play that O’Sullivan created, the Majors scored the go-ahead goal and never looked back while O’Sullivan continued to react to the Major’s instead of controlling play as he is capable of doing.

O’Sullivan has been a part of 29 of the 52 goals the team has scored so far this season and, so it is with any star, the target on him is even larger this season because teams know that if they can knock him off his game the IceDogs’ offense shrivels up for the most part. He has 32 minutes in penalties in those 14 games and will need to better focus on avoiding retaliation penalties in the future.

Occasional setbacks aside, O’Sullivan appears completely ready for the next step, and should even be a valued contributor when he makes the jump to pro, whenever that might be.

Other Wild Player Notes

Defenseman Clayton Stoner missed the first 11 games of the season for the WHL Tri City Americans with a knee injury but he made his season debut on October 29^th a memorable one for the Amerks, garnering an assist and scoring the game winning goal in overtime to give the team a 3-2 win over the Everett Silvertips. Then he did it again the very next day, assisting on a power play goal in the third that tied the game, and then scoring the winner early in the overtime session. Those two performances earned Stoner the WHL player of the week honor and vaulted him up to sixth in Amerks scoring where he is surrounded on the score sheet by players who have played ten or more games than him.

Right wing Mathieu Melanson is at a cool point per game pace through the end of October in the QMJHL. He had 9 goals and 9 assists in 18 games with the Quebec Remparts, putting him at 27^th in the league in scoring.

Defenseman Jean-Michel Bolduc played the first 7 games of the season for Rimouski of the QMJHL and had 2 goals and 1 assist before breaking a thumb that has kept him out of the line up since October 1^st. Like Stoner, he had a great start to the season, scoring two goals including the game winner in the team’s opener (and he still only managed to be the second star behind Sidney Crosby). Bolduc should return to the Oceanic lineup in the next two weeks. He was one of five Rimouski players to be tabbed recently to represent the QMJHL Selects in exhibition play against Russia later in November.

Another player felled by injury is the Wild’s, Mikko Koivu, who played in just one game for the AHL Houston Aeros. Koivu scored his first North American goal in the opening game of the season, and then missed the following game before having an appendectomy on October 18^th. He’s expected to be out until late November.

Brent “Slash” Burns had an excellent start to 2004-05 in his bid to become Wild coach Jacques Lemaire’s favorite offensive defenseman, netting 2 goals and 3 assists in 7 games played. The unexpected change in his career trajectory of returning to defense is still in its infancy, but its progress should be as interesting to watch as the unfortunate mop he is currently sporting on his head. Burns was tied for 12^th in the AHL in defensive scoring on October 31^st and fourth on the Aeros.

Goaltender Josh Harding began his pro career in mediocre but acceptable fashion with the Aeros. He played in five games, one more than Stars goaltending partner Mike Smith, and had a better goals against average (2.67) and save percentage (.896) than Smith, but had only 1 win to Smith’s 3. Harding’s GAA was 21^st in the league through to the end of October.

A.J. Thelen had a goalless start to his season, but his 5 assists topped Michigan State in helpers and tied him for third on the team in overall scoring and sixth overall for all CCHA defensemen.

In the WCHA, University of Minnesota right wing Danny Irmen was tied for ninth in scoring for both the conference and overall leader boards on October 31st. He’s second in scoring for the team, and the hard working sophomore really looks to be coming into his own as a capable all-around forward.

Finally, left wing Roman Voloshenko of the Soviet Wings is off to a good start in the High League in Russia where he had 7 goals and 2 assists through the first 12 games, placing him at third on the team in scoring. NHL veteran Alexander Korolyuk leads the Wings scoring with 18 points.

Copyright 2004 Hockey’s Future. Do not duplicate without permission of the editorial staff.