Habs Future for the Week of March 7th

The Three Stars of the Week

1. RW Aaron Palushaj jumps out to prominence this week by continuing to surpass his rookie season totals as one of a few able scorers for the Hamilton Bulldogs, scoring three goals and two assists. Palushaj began his scoring on Wednesday, scoring a late goal to force overtime and an eventual shootout, which Hamilton loss but his goal provided his team their overtime point. Palushaj went pointless on Friday and assisted on the game-winning goal on Saturday. Palushaj’s true scoring outburst came on Sunday at the end of a heavy schedule, which became an eventual loss but his efforts were not to blame. Palushaj scored two goals and one assist in what became a 6-5 loss, it was his first three-point game since November 3^rd. Palushaj’s scoring output this week has more than doubled his goals output from last season with 17 goals in 57 games, compared to 8 goals in 64 games last season.

2. LW Andrew Conboy had his best offensive week of his Hamilton Bulldogs career, scoring two goals and two assists and raising himself to his first season to go over twenty points. Conboy scored a goal on Saturday to help his team to a 3-2 victory but went beyond his normal contributions on Sunday. While the team lost the game, Conboy was hardly to blame as he opened the scoring a mere 11 seconds in to the match, than later assisted on two goals to help close the scoring in a game that eventually got away from the Bulldogs. Conboy’s recent scoring outburst had him snap a 14 game goal scoring slump and he’s now doubled his assist total from last season.

3. RW Ian Schultz jumps out of the bubble group this week, finally adding some points after mostly being interested in building up his AHL fight card with the Hamilton Bulldogs, he’s now had fights in 37 games in his rookie season. Schultz assisted on a late goal on Friday in a 4-2 loss for Hamilton, having his first point in his 35^th game of the season after having two fights earlier in the game. Schultz than scored the opening goal on Saturday for his team, than scored the final goal for Hamilton in a 6-5 loss on Sunday afternoon. Schultz’s two goals and one assist have him on a remarkable 3-game point streak considering his season.

Worthy Mentions: D Mac Bennett has reached the 10-point mark in his rookie NCAA season. C Andreas Engqvist scored one assist to reach 20 points in his first AHL season. D Greg Pateryn has reached 15 points on his NCAA season.

Question Marks: RW Alexander Avtsin has not scored a goal since December 17^th. C Michaël Bournival is out with a lower-body injury. RW Brendan Gallagher is out with a concussion. RW Danny Kristo is recovering from frostbite on his right foot. G Karri Ramo lost two straight and was pulled in his 3^rd start of the week in the KHL Playoffs, his stats were 4.14 GAA and .844 save %. D Alexei Yemelin is staring down the barrel for the end of his team’s KHL Playoff run, they are currently down 0-3 in their series and he has no points in all 7 playoff games.

Complete Statistics for the week of March 7^th:
Legend
Skaters: Games Played, Goals, Assists, +/-, Penalty Minutes
Goalies: Wins, Losses, Overtime Losses, Shootout Losses, Goals Against Average, Save Percentage
Teams: Wins, Losses, Overtime Losses, Shootout Losses, Ties (for NCAA teams only)
Season Stats: Season scoring prior to the past week.

The AHL Report: The Hamilton Bulldogs have been the AHL affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens since 2002. It is the most common route for developing Montreal Canadiens prospects into full-time members of the organization. There are currently 12 members of the Hamilton Bulldogs that can be considered NHL-viable prospects, four of which, David Desharnais, Max Pacioretty, Yannick Weber and Ryan White have been called up to Montreal. The Hamilton Bulldogs have a record of 35-24-1-6, are 3^rd in the North Division, 8^th in the Western Conference, 14^th overall in the AHL.

RW Alexander Avtsin: 19 years old, 6'3", 199 pounds, RH shot.

Season Stats	44GP	4G	13A	+2	18 PIM
Weekly Stats	4GP	0G	0A	-1	4 PIM
Complete Stats	48GP	4G	13A	+1	22 PIM

D Mathieu Carle: 23 years old, 6', 203 pounds, RH shot.

Alternate Captain

Season Stats	54GP	10G	13A	+11	32 PIM
Weekly Stats	4GP	0G	1A	+4	2 PIM
Complete Stats	58GP	10G	14A	+15	34 PIM

LW Andrew Conboy: 22 years old, 6’4”, 192 pounds, LH shot.

Season Stats	48GP	9G	8A	+3	57 PIM
Weekly Stats	4GP	2G	2A	0	7 PIM
Complete Stats	52GP	11G	10A	+3	64 PIM

C Gabriel Dumont: 19 years old, 5'10", 180 pounds, RH shot.

Season Stats	56GP	5G	11A	-6	72 PIM
Weekly Stats	4GP	0G	2A	+1	7 PIM
Complete Stats	60GP	5G	13A	-5	79 PIM

C Andreas Engqvist: 22 years old, 6'4", 191 pounds, RH shot.

Season Stats	55GP	8G	11A	+7	14 PIM
Weekly Stats	4GP	0G	1A	+1	2 PIM
Season Stats	59GP	8G	12A	+8	16 PIM

G Robert Mayer: 22 years old, 6'1", 209 pounds, catches left.

Season Stats:	20GP	9-9-1-1	3.06GAA	.891%
Weekly Stats:	1GP	0-1-0-0	3.17GAA	.857%
Complete Stats:	21GP	9-10-1-1	3.06GAA	.890%

D Brendon Nash: 23 years old, 6'3", 218 pounds, LH shot.

Season Stats	57GP	5G	22A	+15	43 PIM
Weekly Stats	4GP	0G	0A	0	4 PIM
Complete Stats	61GP	5G	22A	+15	47 PIM

RW Aaron Palushaj: 21 years old, 6', 183 pounds, RH shot.

Season Stats	53GP	14G	25A	+13	24 PIM
Weekly Stats	4GP	3G	2A	+2	4 PIM
Complete Stats	57GP	17G	27A	+15	28 PIM

Called up to play for Montreal

C David Desharnais: 24 years old, 5'6", 177 pounds, LH shot.

Alternate Captain

Season Stats

35GP

10G

35A

+14

24 PIM

LW Max Pacioretty: 21 years old, 6'2", 210 pounds, LH shot.

Season Stats

27GP

17G

15A

+4

20 PIM

D Yannick Weber: 22 years old, 5'11", 196 pounds, RH shot.

Season Stats

15GP

8G

4A

-5

10 PIM

C Ryan White: 22 years old, 6', 198 pounds, RH shot.

Alternate Captain

Season Stats

33GP

3G

9A

-5

77 PIM

The Juniors Report: The Canadiens currentlyfeature prospects playing in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and the Western Hockey League (WHL). These leagues can be considered the primary conduit towards professional hockey in North America.

QMJHL:

C Michaël Bournival: 18 years old, 6’, 190 pounds, LH shot.

Junior Club: Shawinigan Cataractes – Team Captain (40W, 23L, 2OTL, 1 SOL)

Season Stats	56GP	28G	36A	+4	28 PIM
Weekly Stats	0GP	0G	0A	0	0 PIM
Complete Stats	56GP	28G	36A	+4	28 PIM

D Morgan Ellis: 18 years old, 6'2", 196 pounds, RH shot.
Junior Club: Cape Breton Screaming Eagles - Team Captain (17W, 44L, 1 OTL, 4 SOL)

Season Stats	61GP	8G	25A	-26	63 PIM
Weekly Stats	2GP	0G	0A	-1	2 PIM
Complete Stats	63GP	8G	25A	-27	65 PIM

C Louis Leblanc: 20 years old, 6'1", 184 pounds, RH shot.
Junior Club: Montreal Juniors - Alternate Captain. (44W, 11L, 5 OTL, 5 SOL)

Season Stats	47GP	25G	30A	+17	88 PIM
Weekly Stats	2GP	1G	1A	+1	4 PIM
Complete Stats	49GP	26G	31A	+18	92 PIM

LW Phillippe Lefebvre: 20 years old, 6', 200 pounds, LH shot.

Junior Club: Montreal Juniors (44W, 11L, 5OTL, 5 SOL)

Season Stats	57GP	18G	27A	+24	36 PIM
Weekly Stats	2GP	1G	0A	+2	2 PIM
Complete Stats	59GP	19G	27A	+26	38 PIM

OHL:

D Jarred Tinordi: 19 years old, 6'7", 212 pounds, LH shot.
Junior Club: London Knights (32W, 28L, 4 OTL, 1 SOL)

Season Stats	58GP	1G	10A	-10	130 PIM
Weekly Stats	2GP	0G	1A	-1	4 PIM
Complete Stats	60GP	1G	11A	-11	134 PIM

WHL:

RW Brendan Gallagher: 18 years old, 5'8", 170 pounds, RH shot.
Junior Club: Vancouver Giants (33W, 30L, 1 OTL, 4 SOL)

Season Stats	63GP	43G	45A	+29	100 PIM
Weekly Stats	0GP	0G	0A	0	0 PIM
Complete Stats	63GP	43G	45A	+29	100 PIM

US College Hockey (NCAA) Report: The Canadiens have drafted a number of college players in recent years, these are generally ‘project players’ who benefit from additional years in lower level hockey to develop their skills.

D Mac Bennett: 19 years old, 6', 180 pounds, LH shot.
NCAA Team: University of Michigan Wolverines (25W, 9L, 4T)

Season Stats	24GP	2G	7A	+12	17 PIM
Weekly Stats	2GP	0G	1A	+1	0 PIM
Complete Stats	26GP	2G	8A	+13	17 PIM

RW Danny Kristo: 20 years old, 5'11”, 188 pounds, RH shot.
NCAA Team: University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux (28W, 8L, 3T)

Season Stats	29GP	5G	17A	+1	16 PIM
Weekly Stats	0GP	0G	0A	0	0 PIM
Complete Stats	29GP	5G	17A	+1	16 PIM

D Greg Pateryn: 21 years old, 6’3”, 222 pounds, RH shot.

NCAA Team: University of Michigan Wolverines (25W, 9L, 4T)

Season Stats	32GP	3G	11A	+12	22 PIM
Weekly Stats	2GP	0G	1A	+1	0 PIM
Complete Stats	34GP	3G	12A	+13	22 PIM

C Dustin Walsh: 19 years old, 6’3”, 190 pounds, LH shot.

NCAA Team: Dartmouth College Big Green (18W, 11L, 3T)

Season Stats	29GP	9G	7A	0	6 PIM
Weekly Stats	3GP	0G	2A	+1	2 PIM
Complete Stats	32GP	9G	9A	+1	8 PIM

Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) Report: The Kontinental Hockey League is the professional hockey league of Russia, many Russian players first play professionally there before joining the NHL. Due to a lack of a transfer agreement between the NHL and the KHL it can be very difficult for NHL clubs to attract their drafted Russian prospects.

G Karri Ramo: 24 years old, 6'3", 207 pounds, catches left.

KHL Club: Avangard Omsk (42W, 9L, 1 OTL, 2 SOL) (5-6 Playoff record)

Season Stats:

44GP

33-6-2-1

1.97GAA

.925%

Playoff Stats	7GP	4-2-1	1.98 GAA	.916%
Weekly Stats	3GP	0-1-1	4.14GAA	.844%
Complete Stats	10GP	4-3-2	2.49 GAA	.896%

RW Maxim Trunev: 20 years old, 5'11", 189 pounds, RH shot.
KHL Club: Severstal Cherepovets (30W, 20L, 4 OTL, O SOL) (2-4 Playoff record)

Season Stats

39GP

1G

6A

+3

20 PIM

Playoff Stats

6GP

0G

0A

-3

2 PIM

D Alexei Yemelin: 24 years old, 6'1", 221 pounds, LH shot.
KHL Club: Ak Bars Kazan (34W, 12L, 3 OTL, 4 SOL) (4-3 Playoff record)

Season Stats

52GP

11G

15A

+16

117 PIM

Playoff Stats	4GP	0G	0A	+2	0 PIM
Weekly Stats	3GP	0G	0A	-2	4 PIM
Complete Stats	7GP	0G	0A	0	4 PIM