Prospect Weekly: Winning

Welcome back Nick Henry! After a long 46 day layoff with the Regina Pats following their first round exit in the playoffs by none other than eventual WHL champion Swift Current, Henry showed he’s back with a vengeance in more ways than one. First by scoring the game winning goal as seen below on a great rebound effort in front of the net. This was in the first game of the Memorial Cup giving Regina a 3-2 victory over the OHL champion Hamilton Bulldogs and an important mark in the win column toward their final seeding. Henry accumulated an assist in that contest as well and was named second star.

Henry added another goal and assist in Regina’s second contest against the QMJHL champion Acadie-Bathurst Titan in a 8-6 loss but was a valiant comeback effort. Henry is finally looking strong and healthy after the long layoff and full recovery from offseason shoulder surgery. He’s currently tied for fourth in Memorial Cup scoring with four points in two games. Below is a shift by shift compilation (thanks Rudo3) of that first game of Henry’s return.

Josh Anderson is also enjoying the Memorial Cup festivities with the Swift Current Broncos. They dropped their first game to the Titan 4-3 in overtime. Anderson hasn’t scored but has offered his signature physical play as seen below. The Broncos have dropped two very close games to the Titan and Bulldogs and are facing elimination before the final rounds if they can’t pick up a win.

Regina and Swift Current meet in the final preliminary round game on Wednesday, May 23rd.

Conor Timmins didn’t get a trip to the Memorial Cup but he did get named to the OHL All-Star second team this week.

The Colorado Eagles looked like they may have finally run out of gas when they dropped game three in Fort Wayne and fell to 2-1 in the series against the Komets. However the Eagles were not done yet as they roared back and took game four and five to not only push the series back to Colorado but to put themselves within one win of going back to the Kelly Cup finals.

JC Beaudin was back for both victories after sitting out the two losses. He’s clearly not healthy and not able to take the responsibilities he’s had up to this point but Beaudin is contributing where he can with his hand still clearly ailing him. Michael Joly has been the story of this series as he scored the two goals in game four for a 2-1 win in addition to the hat trick from game one. Joly’s six goals this series double his output from the first two rounds combined. As seen below, Travis Barron starts the breakout and a nice feed inside the offensive zone for the first tally in that game. In game five the Eagles needed Joly to tie the game at three to bring it into prolongation for a 4-3 victory in double overtime.

Game six is set for Tuesday, May 22nd and game seven the following night if needed.