Christmas break update

Here’s a few notes, news and tidbits about the Swan Valley Stampeders, who are currently enjoying their Christmas break.
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Quick, who leads the Swan Valley Stampeders in penalty minutes this year?
If you said Jesse Enns, bravo. The first-year Stampeder has 93 minutes heading into the break, slightly ahead of Brent Wilson, who has 85.
Wilson, who hails from Norway House, doesn’t have to carry the load from the back end as much as he has in the past. Last year he provided plenty of offence from the back end. This year Wilson is still producing (sitting sixth in points with 16), but with Clark Byczynski (31 points) and rookie Landon Peel (15 points) also contributing, Swan Valley has some serious blue line depth.
In fact, the Stampeders have three defeneman in their top seven scorers.
Regardless of who’s scoring, Wilson said this year the team is more focused on team-oriented goals.
“Right now we’re just trying to focus on playing a full 60,” said Wilson. “We want to grind out other team’s defence and come ready to play.”
Wilson, who has five goals and 11 assists this year, said he’s looking forward to a safe break this year, and wants to come back ready for a run at first place.
“I want to come back healthy and ready to go,” he said.
Observing Wilson during the past two seasons, the veteran appears to be tweaking his game. He still plays with an edge, and has the ability to get under the skin of his opponents. But he also knows officials seem to be looking at him most games, ready to blow the whistle and send him to the penalty box. But as he noted after Swan Valley’s win over Neepawa, he’s picking his spots better this year.
Despite perhaps fewer trips to the box of late, Wilson is still averaging 2.5 penalty minutes per game, right about his average from last year of 2.4.
But he and his team know he’s more valuable on the ice, and it seems as if the mobile defenceman is doing all he can to stay out of the sin bin this year.
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Swan Valley has proven to be a pretty impressive bounce-back team. They have only lost four games by four or more goals this year, and after those games, they are 3-1.
They know how to put a bad loss behind them, as they did on their final game before the Christmas break.
“You know I think we have real character in the room, and those kind of games happen – it’s just unfortunate it’s happened to Dauphin twice this year,” said Jeff Peel. “We bounced back and had a pretty good offensive game.
Jeff Peel’s in his final year of junior hockey, and it hasn’t exactly gone according to plan. He’s dealt with numerous injuries this year, and has only played 17 of 40 games. But he’s strung together a few games now, and is inching closer to a point a game pace.
“It feels pretty good to get back in – it’s been pretty frustrating,” said the Virden product. “I’m just striving to play good defence and shut guys down, and getting my game back in shape as I’ve basically been off for two months.”
Getting healthy also means Jeff has the chance to play on the same team as his brother Landon for the first time ever – shinny games at the rink not included.
“It’s pretty different (to play with him),” said Jeff of his 16-year-old brother.
“You get pretty protective of him at times, but I haven’t been out there when he’s been hit too hard, so I haven’t have the chance to ‘snap’,” he added with a smile. “I think I finally tied him in points, so I can go home and not have him say too much.”
Jeff also said he plans to check out his brother in Winnipeg during the World U17 Hockey Challenge, before returning to Swan River on Dec. 30.
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Swan Valley’s Shelby Gray entered the break in second place in MJHL goal scoring with 25 goals in 37 games. That’s five back of Colan Jackson from Selkirk, who had 30 in 37 games.
Gray’s 25 goals also makes up 22 per cent of Swan Valley’s (small) goal total this year. Factor in his assists, and he has figured in on 36 per cent of the team’s offence this year. No wonder head coach Dwayne Kirkup wants some more goal scoring added at the deadline.
Clark Byczynski leads all defenceman in scoring heading into the break. His 31 points put him second in Swan Valley scoring.
Netminder Jayson Argue is among the league leaders in GAA (fifth) and save percentage (third) heading in the break.
Other stats of note: Swan Valley has scored 42 goals in the middle frame – their most productive period. They have also allowed 47 goals against in that same period, the most in that category. Swan Valley has also scored 37 in the first period, 31 in the third period, and one in overtime. They have allowed 28 in the first period (meaning they like to build early leads), 36 against in the third period, and two goals in overtime.
Swan Valley is 17-6-2 when scoring first, and 6-9-0 when scored on first. They are 17-4-1 at home, 6-11-1 on the road, and a stellar 10-2 on Saturday nights.

Injuries a factor

The Swan Valley Stampeders are one of the big surprises in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League this season.
Picked by many to be at best a fourth-place team, the Stampeders were still battling the Portage Terriers for top spot in the Sher-Wood Division in early December.
What makes their start even more impressive is the amount of injuries, suspensions, and lost time they have had to deal with.
Swan Valley’s top-10 scorers as of Dec. 7 missed a total of 67 man games.
That includes 16 for Ryan Marshall, 11 for Tony Partridge and 21 for Jeff Peel. If you count Marshall in the top 10 of team scoring (he was tied with Cramer Coulthart), Swan Valley’s top four scorers have missed 23.
(And, as luck would have it, leading scorer and ironman Shelby Gray only missed games this week. He missed three of four and left Saturday’s loss to the Saints after taking a hit to the head).
Compare that to Portage, who’s top 10 scorers have only missed 36 games. Also, their top four scorers have only missed two games total so far this year.
Similarily, the Addison Division-leading Selkirk Steelers’ top four scorers (who have racked up an impressive 152 points as of this writing) have only missed one game.
The same goes for the Winkler Flyers, who’s top four scorers have only missed one game total.
• The Selkirk Steelers are the only MJHL team to crack the top 20 in the latest Canadian Junior Hockey League top-25 rankings.
The Steelers, who are on top of the Addison Division, moved up to No. 16 in the most recent rankings. They were not ranked in the previous set of rankings.
The Swan Valley Stampeders also received an honourable mention.
• Anthony Nobili of Neepawa Natives recorded 10 points last week, earning him MJHL Player of the Week honours.
The Montreal native had four goals and six assists for the Natives.
Nobili’s outburst left him with 25 points (10 goals, 15 assists) in 28 games.
Also considered for this award was forward Jon Gaudet, 18, of the Winnipeg Saints and Ryan Marshall, 19, of the Swan Valley Stampeders.
Gaudet, 18, had two goals and six assists in three games.
Marshall had two goals and four assists for the Stampeders, and had a point in all but one of their goals last week.
• An update on MJHL trades made in and around the Dec. 1 roster cutdown deadline.
In a deal announced two days after the deadline, the Waywayseecappo Wolverines acquired 18-year-old forward Brett Lafond from the Melfort Mustangs for future considerations.
The Muskeg Lake, Sask., product appeared in five games for the Mustangs this year.
In Dec. 1 deadline deals, the Swan Valley Stampeders traded 19-year-old forward Eric Rochefort to the Temiscaming Royals of the NOJHL for 20-year-old defenceman Randall Blackned and future considerations. It’s not clear if either player will report.
The Winnipeg South Blues acquired 18-year-old forward Ryan Elliot from the OCN Blizzard for future considerations. The Blues previously acquired Elliot from the Powell River Kings of the BCHL for future considerations.
The Winnipeg Blues also traded 18-year-old forward Dustin Bruyere and the MJHL list rights of 16-year-old defenceman Nicholas Bruyere to the OCN Blizzard for the MJHL list rights of 16-year-old forward Brett Stovin and future considerations.
Not done there, the Winnipeg Blues traded 19-year-old forward Ben Morgan and future considerations to the Notre Dame Hounds of the SJHL for 20-year-old forward Austin Lauder.
The Winnipeg Saints traded 19-year-old forward Richard Little to the Winkler Flyers for future considerations.
Also, the Waywayseecappo Wolverines have acquired 20-year-old goaltender Ryan Benitez from the Yarmouth Mariners of the Maritime Junior Hockey League for future considerations.