Bruins Host Oil Kings Tonight

February 19, 2008

The Bruins play their final home game of February tonight when they host the Edmonton Oil Kings. After earning points in five consecutive games, the Bruins have lost three straight. The Oil Kings have defeated Kamloops (4-0) and were defeated 3-2 in a shootout by the Kelowna Rockets on their current road trip.

Tickets for all Bruins home games can be purchased through the ticketmaster website, by phone ( 1-800-663-9311) or in person at any ticketmaster location.

2007/08 Bruins Regular Season Leaders:

Goals: Oscar Moller (29)

Assists: Mark Santorelli (63)

Points: Mark Santorelli (85)  

Powerplay Goals: 13 – Brandon Campos (1 with Everett, 12 with Chilliwack)

Powerplay assists: Mark Santorelli (35) 

Powerplay points: Mark Santorelli (44)  

Shorthanded Goals: Mike Proudley / Mark Santorelli / Brandon Campos / David Robinson / Jadon Potter (1)

Plus/Minus: Oscar Moller (+13)

Penalty Minutes: Matt Strong (100)

Wins: Matt Esposito (18) 

Goals Against Average: Matt Esposito (3.04)

Shutouts: Matt Esposito (1)

Save Percentage: Mark Friesen (90.3%)

Roster Notes: The Bruins currently have 22 players on their active roster including two goaltenders, six defencemen and fifteen forwards. By age, Chilliwack has two 16 year olds (Howse, Ramsay), seven 17 year olds (Robinson, Metz, Darragh, Einhorn, Friesen, Strong, McNaught), seven 18 year olds (Meropoulis, Potter, Proudley, Smuk, Moller, Van Duynhoven, Esposito), three 19 year olds (Santorelli, Bhungal, Pighin) and three 20 year olds (Campos, Holden, Chapman).

Sundher Called Up: In addition to the 22 players on the active roster, the Bruins have called up Kevin Sundher for tonight’s game. Sundher was the Bruins first pick, 7th overall in the 2007 WHL Bantam Draft. Sundher has appeared in 4 games with the Bruins this season. In 36 games this season with the Valley West Hawks of the BC Major Midget League, Sundher has 15 goals and 32 assists, good for 7th place in league scoring.

Return of Smuk: Bruins forward Cody Smuk returned to action Saturday night after missing 11 games with a separated shoulder.

Drafted Players: Mark Santorelli (Nashville 4th round 2007) Oscar Moller (Los Angeles 2nd round 2007)

Injuries: Matt Meropoulis (hand) 1-2 weeks 

Suspended: Partik Bhungal has been suspended indefinitely after receiving a kneeing major and game misconduct Friday night in Seattle.

Hot Bruins: Mark Santorelli has 16 points (1g 15a) in his last 13 games…Nick Holden has nine points (6g 3a) in his last eight games…Oscar Moller has ten points in his last eight games (3g 7a).

Scoring Race: Bruins forward Mark Santorelli is in second place in WHL scoring with 85 points. Santorelli trails Kelowna’s Colin Long by three points.  

Offensive Defence: Bruins defenceman Nick Holden ranks third among defenceman in league scoring with 47 points. Holden is tied with Regina’s Logan Pyett for most goals by a defenceman with 18.

Player of the Month: Brandon Campos was named the Bruins player of the month for January after scoring six goals and six assists in 11 games.

Iron Mark: Mark Santorelli is the only player to have appeared in every game the Bruins have played. Including five playoff games, Santorelli has played in 136 consecutive games.

Milestones: Dylan Chapman played in his 200th WHL game on January 26th. Chapman played his first 102 WHL games with the Moose Jaw Warriors before joining the Bruins. Mike Proudley played his 100th WHL game Friday night in Seattle.

Player Record Watch: Mark Santorelli has set a new Bruins record for assists in one season with 63, ten more than the team high he set last season. Santorelli has also set a new points record with 85, three more than the record he set last season. Nick Holden has set new Bruins season highs for goals by a defenceman (18), assists by a defenceman (29) and points by a defenceman (47).  Last season, in 67 games, Holden set the previous standards when he scored eight times and finished with 31 points. Oscar Moller has 29 goals, three short of the team record of 32 he set last season…Goaltender Matt Esposito has set a new personal best and Bruins team record with 18 wins.

Team Record Watch: With 25 wins and 57 points the Bruins have equaled their totals of last season. The Bruins have won ten games on the road this season, one better than all of last season. The Bruins have scored 169 goals in 59 games this season matching their 72 game total of last season. This season the Bruins have allowed 192 goals and are on pace to allow 230. Last season the Bruins allowed 260.

Let’s Get Ready To Rumble: The Bruins have received 56 fighting majors this season, putting them in 12th place in the WHL. Saskatoon leads the league with 83, Tri City has the fewest with 37. With three fights since returning from the injured list Partik Bhungal is now the Bruins career leader in fighting majors. Including playoffs, Bhungal has dropped the gloves 17 times while with the Bruins. Matt McCue is in second place with 14. Myles Stoesz ranks third with 13.

After forty tells the story: Chilliwack has a record of 18-1-0-1 when leading after forty minutes of play. When trailing after two periods, the Bruins are 1-23-1-0.

Extra Time: The Bruins are 1-3 in overtime and 4-4 in shootouts this season.

Edmonton Oil Kings Media Notes

KING SIZE NEWS:  The Edmonton Oil Kings are off to a great start to their 5 game road trip where they’ll stop in all 5 cities in the WHL’s B.C. Division.  Their latest effort was a gutsy 3 – 2 shootout loss to the Kelowna Rockets where the visitors went toe to toe with the 4th ranked team in the Western Conference.  20 year old Brennan Sonne scored his first goal as an Oil Kings with about 6 minutes to go in regulation to earn the point and followed up with a shootout goal himself.  In the end, defenceman Tyson Barrie was able to beat Alex Archibald in the 4th round of the showdown to give the Rockets the victory.  Edmonton started out the road trip with a convincing 4 – 0 shutout in Kamloops where former Blazers goalie Dalyn Flette made 23 saves for his second career shutout.  The Oil Kings record against the Western Conference is a very respectable 3 – 2 – 0 – 1.

ROSTER UPDATE:  The Edmonton Oil Kings have 24  players on their active roster including 2 goalies, 8 defencemen and 14 forwards.  Edmonton has 12  players on their roster that played in the WHL last season.  8 players that played major midget hockey last season.   Geographical breakdown: 7  Alberta , 6 Saskatchewan,  5 British Columbia, 2 Manitoba, 1 Ontario, 1 US  A, 1 Sweden, 1 Czech Republic.

VS CHILLIWACK :  This will be the one and only meeting between the Oil Kings and Bruins this season.

DID YOU KNOW:  26 of the Oil Kings 59 games have been decided by a single goal.  Edmonton’s record in those games is 9 – 6 -  4 – 7.   Alex Archibald is on his second expansion team after spending last season tending nets for the Chilliwack Bruins.  His record for the 2006 – 07 season was 8 – 15 – 3 – 1 with 3 shootouts in 34 games played.  The 20 year old Ottawa resident is currently 4th in the league with 1325 saves and is tied for the league leads with 4 shootout victories.  The Oil Kings have 3 shutouts this season, 2 from Archibald and Friday night’s by Dalyn Flette.  Edmonton has been shut out  8 times this season.  The Oil Kings have 9 players that played in the WHL Western Conference last season.   Import forward Robin  Figren’s rookie season with the Calgary Hitmen last year saw him score 27 points in 62 games . The World Junior Silver Medalist already passed that total with 31 points in 35 games. Rookie Brent Henke switched to defence with the injuries to Brandon Lockerby and Cameron Cepek.  The Edmonton Oil Kings named veteran defenceman Matt Swaby as their second captain in franchise history on Jan. 10th.    Oil Kings forward Brent Raedeke is ranked 68th among North American skaters eligible for the upcoming NHL entry draft.  Import forward Tomas Vincour is currently 12th in the WHL rookie scoring race with 34 points.  Craig McCallum is tied for 15th.  The Oil Kings are still waiting for their first hat trick in modern franchise history.  Oil Kings rookie Brent Henke leads the WHL going 6 for 9 in shootouts.  Rookie Shayne Neigum has hit the post twice in shootouts.   The Oil Kings have scored the game winner with 1.2 seconds to go in regulation twice  this season.  (Opening night vs Kootenay and Sunday October 28th in Calgary)     New Oil Kings forward Brennan Sonne fought current teammate Drew Nichol less than a week before he was traded to Edmonton.  Sonne is tied for 5th in the league with 16 major penalties.  Nichol is currently third in the league for rookie penalty minutes with 103.

STREAKING:  Brenden Dowd has a 2 game goal scoring streak.  Defencemen Cameron Cepek and J-P Szaszkiewicz both have  2 game assist streaks going.  Craig McCallum has a goal and 2 assists in his last 2 games.

INJURIES/TRANSACTIONS:  The Oil Kings have called up rookie defenceman Henrik Tervonen.  The AMHL all-star just finished his season with Edmonton’s Southside Athletic Club.  He has played 5 games already this year with no points and is -2.  Edmonton Oil Kings leading goal scorer Robin Figren had surgery on his hand Jan. 31.  He’s expected to miss 4 weeks.  Forward Clayton Cumiskey injured his shoulder Feb. 9 in Prince Albert.  He’s expected to return to the lineup sometime on this road trip.  Defenceman Drew Nichol is listed day to day with a hip injury.  Brandon Lockerby re-injured his jaw in a collision Monday December 31st versus Brandon.  He’s out indefinitely. Logan Proulx broke his ankle in training camp this summer but made his Oil Kings debut Feb. 15 in Kamloops.  The Oil Kings traded their captain Bretton Stamler to the Swift Current Broncos Wednesday Jan. 9th in exchange for a 3rd round draft pick in the 2008 draft.  The Oil Kings acquired 20 year old forward Brennan Sonne from the Red Deer Rebels for a 7th round draft pick in the 2009 draft right at the trade deadline.  On November 9th, the Oil Kings signed 19 year old forward Jeff Lee.  The Calgary, AB native played last year and part of this season with the University of Alaska-Fairbanks in NCAA’s Division 1.  On Tuesday October 2nd, Edmonton acquired 17 year old defenceman Adrian Van de Mosselaer from the Medicine Hat Tigers in exchange for a 6th round pick in the 2008 Bantam Draft.    

SCHEDULE:   The Oil Kings are in the middle of a 7 game road trip.  Tonight’s game in Chilliwack is the third of 5 straight games against  B.C. Division opponents.  Edmonton’s in Vancouver Wednesday.