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.