Giancarlo Nadeau
The final game of the 2023-24 regular season is now here. A win for the North Vancouver Wolf Pack clinches third place in the Tom Shaw Conference, but it won’t be easy against a Port Coquitlam Trailblazers team that would love to end a disappointing season on a good note.
PORT COQUITLAM TRAILBLAZERS
OVERVIEW
General Manager: Ryan Ross
Head Coach: Greg Ross
Assistant Coach: Jeff Ross
Record: 7-40-0-0
Road Record: 3-20-0-0
Last Game: A 7-5 home loss against Grandview last night.
Goals For/Goals Against: 111 GF/282 GA (-171)
Power Play: 25/200 (12.5%)
Penalty Kill: 61/207 (70.53%)
Leading Scorers: Markus Jack (40GP – 20G – 25A – 45PTS), Robbie Toor (33GP – 14G – 14A – 28PTS), Matias Fisher (44GP – 12G – 16A – 28PTS)
TRAILBLAZERS NOTES
- The Trailblazers are 1-9-0-0 in their past ten games.
- Port Coquitlam has the most losses in the PJHL (40).
- Two of Port Coquitlam’s seven wins have come in overtime.
- The Trailblazers have let in the most goals in the PJHL (282).
SPECIAL TEAMS
- The Trailblazers power play is clicking at 15.38% (14/91) on the road compared to 10.09% (11/109) at home.
- Port Coquitlam has killed 72.28% (28/101) of their penalties on the road compared to 68.87% (33/106) at home.
- The Trailblazers have 14 power-play goals on the road compared to 11 at home.
- Port Coquitlam has the most penalty minutes in the PJHL, with 1121.
- The Trailblazers are second-last in the PJHL with 61 power-play goals against.
NORTH VANCOUVER WOLF PACK
OVERVIEW
General Manager: Matt Samson
Head Coach: Mike Borrelli
Assistant Coaches: Matt Samson, Elias Godoy, Nathan Haaksma
Leadership Group: JJ Pickell (C), Ryan Hunter (A), Corson Penman (A), Matthew Carniel (A)
Record: 28-16-2-1
Home Record: 17-5-0-1
Last Game: A 5-2 loss in White Rock on Wednesday.
Goals For/Goals Against: 192 GF/161 GA (+31)
Power Play: 45/228 (19.74%)
Penalty Kill: 50/232 (78.45%)
Leading Scorers: JJ Pickell (44GP – 40G – 36A – 76PTS), Rylan Oatman (46GP – 19G – 52A – 71PTS), Matthew Carniel (46GP – 39G – 29A – 68PTS)
WOLF PACK NOTES
- Rylan Oatman has been held to one assist in his past three games. He leads the league with 52 assists.
- North Vancouver needs two more points to finish third in their conference.
- Rylan Oatman (46-19-52-71) has a four-point lead amongst all PJHL rookies.
- Matthew Carniel leads the league with 14 power-play goals.
- Corson Penman is tied for first in the league with three short-handed goals.
- Ryan Hunter is tied for first in the league with three short-handed assists.
SPECIAL TEAMS
- The Wolf Pack have three goals on their past 15 power-play attempts.
- The Wolf Pack are second in the league with nine shorthanded goals against.
- The Wolf Pack are 7-3-0-0 in the past ten games.
- North Vancouver sits third in the league in Penalty minutes with 1021.
- The Wolf Pack has had the second most power-play opportunities in the league, with 228.
- North Vancouver has been shorthanded 233 times, the third most in the PJHL.
- The Wolf Pack power-play went 0/4 in their past game.
- The Wolf Pack Penalty Kill was 2/6 against White Rock on Wednesday.
RECORDS
- The Wolf Pack are currently 5-0-0-0 against the Trailblazers, winning 6-1 on October 13, 6-3 on October 28, 5-1 on November 17, 6-2 on January 5, and 5-3 on January 6.
- This is the final regular season meeting between these two teams.
GAME NOTES
- Both teams have lost their past two games.
- 6+ goals have been scored in each of the five games this season.
- 38 goals have been scored between these two teams during the first five meetings of the season (28 NV – 10 POCO).
RETURNING PLAYERS
- Tonight will be the first game that Milin Aujla (NV), Evan Paul (NV), and Branden Pollock (POCO) play against their former teams.
THE NUMBERS:
- Aujla (39-6-20-26) has put up 7 points (2-5) in 10 games with North Van.
- Paul has compiled a 1-2 record, a 3.79 goals-against average, and a 0.867 save percentage with the Pack.
- Pollock (42-2-19-21) has put up 11 points (2-9) in 11 games with the Trailblazers.
THE LAST GAME
The Wolf Pack took down the Trailblazers on home ice on January 6, the night they acquired Milin Aujla and Evan Paul in exchange for Branden Pollock. North Vancouver had goals from Rylan Oatman (17), David Yoon (2), Jason Scott (6), JJ Pickell (33), and Ryan Hunter (8). Markus Jack (16), Matias Fisher (7), and Leo Keith (3) all scored for Port Coquitlam. That night, Nick Mayne (48/52) and Owen Bonthuis (17/20) were the goaltenders.
