Giancarlo Nadeau

It’s time for the Winter Classic! The North Vancouver Wolf Pack and Port Moody Panthers are the first two teams set to open up the 2023 Winter Classic from Minoru Arena. Thursday’s meeting will be the third meeting of the season between these two teams, with North Vancouver currently holding a 2-0 lead in the season series. The Wolf Pack took down the Panthers 5-2 at the Harry Jerome Arena on October 22 and earned another two points in a 4-3 road win on November 26.

PORT MOODY PANTHERS

OVERVIEW

General Manager: Brian Wiebe

Head Coach: Terry Morrison

Assistant Coach: Declan Lau

Assistant Coach: Naveen Kainth

Record: 11-18-2-2

Road Record: 5-9-2-1

Last Game: A 4-3 loss at home against Grandview on December 23.

Goals For/Goals Against: 85 GF/124 GA (-39)

Power Play: 21/145  (14.48%)

Penalty Kill: 23/126 (81.75%)

Leading Scorers: Connor Hughes (29GP – 15G – 28A – 43PTS), Ty Balchen (33GP – 20G – 17A – 37PTS), Austin Todd (33GP – 18G – 16A – 34PTS)

NOTES

• The Panthers are 3-7-0-0 in their past ten games.
• Port Moody is on a five-game losing streak.

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: 18-11-2-1

Home Record: 11-4-0-1

Last Game: A 4-1 loss at home against the Delta Ice Hawks on December 23.

Goals For/Goals Against: 124 GF/115 GA (+9)

Power Play: 28/155 (18.06%) 

Penalty Kill: 36/164 (78.05%)

Leading Scorers: JJ Pickell (32GP – 30G – 26A – 56PTS), Rylan Oatman (31GP – 14G – 37A – 51PTS), Matthew Carniel (31GP – 27G – 20A – 47PTS)

JJ PICKELL HAS 100 GOALS

The Captain is the first player in franchise history to score all 100 goals with the Wolf Pack. Pickell has managed to score 100 goals and collect 84 assists in 120 regular season games. Pickell leads the league with 30 goals in 32 games.

Alex Suprynowicz finished his PJHL career with 101 goals between the Wolf Pack and Ice Hawks. Other notable players include Lucas Barker – 74 (18-20), Dom Davis – 68 (18-20), and Marcus Houck – 65 (09-14).

NOTES

• Matthew Carniel is on a 17-game point streak. In that span, he has 19 goals and 11 assists.
• JJ Pickell (32-30-26-56) has a two-point lead for first in the PJHL with points. He sits first in goals (30), three goals ahead of Matthew Carniel (27) in second place.
• Rylan Oatman (30-14-37-51) leads the PJHL in assists with 37, which is two assists ahead of Jakob Loewen, who has 35. He also leads all rookies in points.
• North Vancouver has gone 4-3-2-1 in their past ten games.

GAME NOTES

• North Van was 3-1-0-0 against Port Moody last season.
• The Wolf Pack have a record of 15-1-0-0 against the Panthers in the past five seasons.
• Tonight marks the third meeting of the season between these two teams.
• Fourteen goals have been scored in the first two meetings this season. North Vancouver is outsourcing the Panthers 9-5.

WHAT’S NEXT?

NV: will play Mission on Saturday at 4:00.

PM: concludes the Winter Classic by hosting the Whalers on Friday at 4:00 pm.