The IceCaps completed the first month of the season, and although they presented a losing record of 3-4-1, there were certainly many positives to take away.
The special teams led the way for the IceCaps in October and were directly responsible for a few of their wins. The IceCaps are third in the League with a 27.3% success rate on the power play, scoring nine out of 26 goals total on the man advantage. The penalty kill may have faltered towards the end of the month with the loss of Captain Max Friberg and Jacob de la Rose to injury, but the team still sits in tenth place in the league with a penalty-kill efficiency of 85.7%. Overall the IceCaps are third in the league for special teams with a combined 113.0% efficiency rate.
The IceCaps had their best offensive October in the past five seasons, averaging 3.25 goals per game. Unfortunately they also had their worst performnce defensively in that span, giving up 3.63 goals per game.
Three Stars
First star
Sven Andrighetto earns the first star of the month, despite only playing in six of the team’s eight games because he started the season in the NHL with the Montreal Canadiens. After clearing waivers, he was assigned to St. John’s, where he proceeded to use the demotion, and being snubbed by all the other teams in the league, as a source of motivation.
He went on a complete tear in his six games, scoring four goals, including one game-winner, plus added an additional three assists, all of which came on the power play. He was named the AHL Player of the Week in the second week of the season.
Second star
Charles Hudon returned to the AHL for a third season after admittedly having a weak training camp, but did not let that bother him. He simply went about his regular business of being a natural goal-scorer, his five goals so far good enough for second in the league. Two of those goals were game-winners, and three were power-play goals, as well. He leads the IceCaps with 25 shots on goal.
Third star
Charlie Lindgren started the season in Montreal, and without him the IceCaps faltered behind inconsistent goaltending. In his first game back with the team, he stopped an incredible 50 shots to help the IceCaps win their first game of the season. In fact, he has won all three of his starts in October; the only three wins for the IceCaps so far. showing a sparkling save percentage of 0.946 and a goal against average of 2.00.
Goal of the Month
The goal of the month for October is from Saturday, October 22nd against the Springfield Thunderbirds, and shows a well-executed power-play zone entry by Sven Andrighetto. He then drops the puck to an awaiting Chris Terry on the boards who then drops if right back to a trailing Mark Barberio.
Terry and Andrighetto attract the attention of the defenders, giving Barberio a clear lane to the goal. Charles Hudon streaks into the centre of the ice just as Barberio unloads a perfect slap-pass that Hudon redirects past the goalie for the power-play goal. Just like it was drawn up.
Notable Cheers
- Chris Terry comes as advertised as a top-line scoring threat, and he is nicely replacing Bud Holloway as the veteran with a scoring touch. If not for Lindgren’s game-stealing performances, Terry would have taken the third star. He leads the IceCaps with nine points in eight games, scoring four goals (three on the power play), and is a consistent threat on the IceCaps as part of the first line.
- Jacob de la Rose and Max Friberg were instrumental in helping the IceCaps to a league-leading penalty kill, allowing only one goal on 26 attempts in the first six games of the season. With both out this past weekend due to injuries, the penalty kill allowed four goals on ten opportunities.
- Mark Barberio is by far the IceCaps’ best defencemen — on both sides of the puck — and plays large minutes as a result. Offensively he has six points, all power-play assists, which accounts for almost half of all points generated by the defence corps. /
Notable Jeers
- Backup goaltending is failing the IceCaps thus far. With any of Zachary Fucale, Yann Danis, or Bryan Pitton in goal, the IceCaps have not won a single game. Fucale and Pitton are now both in the ECHL with the Brampton Beast, but Danis hasn’t been performing any better.
- The defence corps in general is faring poorly thus far. Ryan Johnston and Philip Samuelsson, both expected to be key contributors, have played below their capabilities, and have watched a few games from the pressbox as healthy scratches. There has been very little offensive support from the defence besides Barberio, as already mentioned.
- Michael McCarron has seen a slow start to the season, not scoring any goals, and presenting the worst plus-minus among forwards at -6. Perhaps the two-game suspension he served during the second week of the season halted his momentum, and that it will pick up in November. As first-line centre for the team, a lot more production should be expected from the hulking centre./
