Giancarlo Nadeau
It’s Thursday night hockey between the White Rock Whalers (22-11-4-0) and the North Vancouver Wolf Pack (21-13-2-1). The Wolf Pack look to build on a three-game win streak while the Whalers look to get back into the win column against the Wolf Pack, who they lost 6-5 against on December 7.
WHITE ROCK WHALERS
OVERVIEW
General Manager/Head Coach: Brien Gemmell
Assistant Coach: Adam Rossignol
Assistant Coach: Royce Rossignol
Assistant Coach: Josh Spencer
Record: 22-11-4-0
Road Record: 11-5-2-0
Last Game: A tight 1-0 victory against the Port Moody Panthers on January 7.
Goals For/Goals Against: 138 GF/115 GA (+23)
Power Play: 23/158 (14.56%)
Penalty Kill: 24/168 (85.71%)
Leading Scorers: Nathan Bran (38GP – 24G – 21A – 45PTS), Max Lyons (37GP – 14G – 22A – 36PTS), Derek Leroux (36GP – 11G – 24A – 35PTS)
TOP 3 SINCE THE LAST MEETING
BRAN 11-9-7-16
LYONS 10-2–5-7
LEROUX 10-4-5-9
WHALERS NOTES
- The Whalers power-play has gone 6/43 and their penalty Kill has gone 3/50 since last playing the Wolf Pack.
- At 14.8%, the Whalers power play is 12th in the league.
- The Whalers are 6-3-1-0 in their past ten games.
- The Whalers are 4-0-1-0 in their past five road games.
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: 21-13-2-1
Home Record: 13-5-0-1
Last Game: A 5-3 home win against Port Coquitlam on Saturday.
Goals For/Goals Against: 149 GF/131 GA (+18)
Power Play: 31/171 (18.13%)
Penalty Kill: 40/179 (77.65%)
Leading Scorers: JJ Pickell (37GP – 33G – 31A – 64PTS), Rylan Oatman (36GP – 17G – 43A – 60PTS), Matthew Carniel (36GP – 32G – 24A – 56PTS)
TOP 3 SINCE THE LAST MEETING
PICKELL – 11-8-10-18
OATMAN – 11-4-14-18
CARNIEL – 11-12-8-20
WOLF PACK NOTES
- The Wolf Pack power play has gone 6/46 and their penalty kill has gone 12/45 since last playing the Whalers.
- JJ Pickell (37GP – 33G – 31A – 64PTS) is 10 points away from tying the 74 points he had last season.
- The Wolf Pack are second in the PJHL with 8 short-handed goals against.
- The Wolf Pack are 4-4-1-1 in the past ten games.
- Captain JJ Pickell leads the league in goals (33) in 37 games.
- Rylan Oatman (36-17-43-60) has a four-point lead amongst all PJHL rookies.
- Matthew Carniel leads the league with 12 power-play goals.
- Corson Penman leads the league with three short-handed goals.
- JJ Pickell has six game-winning goals.
GAME NOTES
- North Vancouver was 4-0 against White Rock last season
- The Wolf Pack are currently 1-2 against the Whalers, losing 10-5 on October 8, 7-1 on November 11, and winning 6-5 on December 7.
- North Van has gone 11-4-2-0-0 against the Whalers for the past five seasons.
- The Wolf Pack are on a three-game winning streak, while White Rock has won their past game.
- The Whalers and Wolf Pack have both scored six short-handed goals.
- 34 goals have been scored between these two teams for the first three meetings this season (22 WR – 12 NV).
- The least number of goals scored in a single game between these two teams is eight. It was a 7-1 win for the Whalers on November 11.
THE LAST GAME
North Vancouver earned their first victory of the season against the Whalers with a 6-5 overtime win on December 7. The Wolf Pack overcame a 5-3 Whalers lead with Caleb Cruz taking the game to overtime with 18 seconds left in regulation. Matthew Carniel scored the game-winning goal.
WHAT’S NEXT?
NV: visits Grandview on Sunday.
WR: hosts Richmond on Saturday.