IDAHO STEELHEADS WEEKLY – WEEK 21 – 3/13/24

IDAHO STEELHEADS WEEKLY – WEEK 21 – 3/13/24

The Idaho Steelheads picked up four out of a possible six points in St John’s, Newfoundland this past week as Patrick Kudla scored in overtime on Monday night handing the Steelheads a 5-4 win over the Growlers. 

Idaho (39-15-2-1, 81pts, .698) enter this week second place in the Mountain Division, Western Conference, and third in the entire ECHL trailing the Kansas City Mavericks by 10 points with 14 games remaining (8 home, 6 away). 

THIS WEEK’S GAMES
Wednesday, Mar. 13 at Trois-Rivières | 5pm (MT) 
Friday, Mar. 15 at Trois-Rivières | 5pm (MT) 
Saturday, Mar. 16 at Trois-Rivières | 1pm (MT)

LAST WEEK’S GAMES
Saturday, Mar. 9 at Newfoundland | 6-2 Loss | Highlights Game Recap 
Sunday, Mar. 10 at Newfoundland | 4-2 Win | Highlights Game Recap 
Monday, Mar. 11 at Newfoundland | 5-4 OTW | Highlights Game Recap

THE WEEK AHEAD
Idaho takes on Trois-Rivières for the first time in franchise history tonight at 5pm (MT) as you can listen to the game on the Steelheads flagship station 95.3 FM KTIK “The Ticket”  and watch on FloHockey.

The Steelheads (39-15-2-1, 81pts, .698) have a point in 14 of their last 17 games (13-3-1) since Jan. 31 and a record of (16-5-1) overt their 22 games dating back to Jan. 19. With a win tonight Idaho can become the second team in this season to clinch a berth into the Kelly Cup Playoffs joining Kansas City. Idaho leads the league averaging 4.31 goals for having scored 250 through their first 58 games having scored four or more goals 43 times. The Steelheads lead the league on the power-play (56-for-193, 29%) and on the road (31-for-92, 33.7%) as A.J. White’s 12 power-play goals are third in the league while his 22 points on the man advantage lead the club. Matt Register is fourth amongst ECHL defenders with 20 power-play points (3G, 17A). Idaho is tied for third in the league having scored first 33 times posting a record of (28-3-1-1) when doing so. 

White is the club’s active leader with 22 goals while Wade Murphy who also has 22 points and leads the team with 56 points will miss his 12^th straight game with an upper body injury as he was placed on the injured reserve list on Mar. 2. Ty Pelton-Byce made his ECHL debut here in Trois-Rivières recording two assists on Oct. 21, 2021 while playing with Newfoundland against the Lions that year tallying four points (1G, 3A). Lincoln Erne who began this season with Newfoundland played against Trois-Rivières played five games at the Colisée Vidéotron here in Quebec.  Jade Miller played three games vs. the Lions as a member of the South Carolina Stingrays during the 2021-22 season but all three games were in Charleston. Romain Rodzisnki is a native of Blainville, Quebec which is roughly 100 miles from Trois-Rivières. He played parts of five seasons in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) playing with the Quebec Remparts (80ish miles from TR), Cape Breton Eagles, and Chicoutimi Saguenéens (205ish miles from TR).

The Lions (23-26-3-3, 52pts, .473) are in their third season of playing joining the ECHL during the 2021-22 season serving as the NHL affiliate for the Montreal Canadiens and AHL affiliate of the Laval Rocket. They began the season (11-3-0-0) from Oct. 20-Nov. 24 but since then they’re just (10-23-3-3). The Lions have struggled to score goals this season ranking 25^th in the league averaging 2.89 goals for while sitting 22^nd in goals against at 3.60. Their penalty kill at (157-for206, 76.2%) is 26^th in the ECHL while they’re 17^th on the power-play (35-for-185, 18.9%). 

Jakov Novak played 14 games with the Allen Americans last season registering 12 points (7G, 5A) while he is the Lions leader with 21 goals and 42 points this year.  Cedric Montminy is in his third season with the Lions after playing the previous three seasons with the Rapid City Rush from 2018-21 appearing in 155 games collecting 98 points (46G, 48A) where he played against Idaho for 17 games totaling (4G, 4A). Matthew Boucher is in his first season with Trois-Rivières after playing last season Idaho. He previously played two seasons with the Utah Grizzlies from 2020-22 appearing in 80 games collecting 75 points (38G, 37A) where he played against Idaho for seven games in 2021-22 colleting five points (4G, 1A). Last year as a member of Iowa he scored two goals in two games against the Steelheads to begin the 2023-24 season. A.J. White was a teammate with Boucher during the 2020-21 campaign with the Grizzlies while Mark Rassell spent two years with Boucher at the University of New Brunswick from 2018-20. Anthony Beauregard is in his second season with the Lions after spending his third professional season with Wichita in 2020-21 where he finished second in the ECHL with 71 points (22G, 49A) in 62 games. Brycen Martin is in his first season with the Lions after playing 53 games for Utah last season recording 13 points (2G, 11A) in 53 games scoring one goal in seven games against Idaho. 

Goaltender Zachary Émond who will start tonight played four games with the Wichita Thunder last season posting a (3-1-0) record with a 2.22 goals against average and a .936 save percentage. 

Two current Lions players have played for the Idaho Steelheads before. Justin Ducharme who spent last season on an AHL contract with the Texas Stars suited up in 54 regular season games for Idaho tallying 35 points (14G, 21A) while totaling nine points (3G, 6A) in 19 Kelly Cup Playoff games. He spent his first professional season in 2021-22 under an AHL contract splitting time with Trois-Rivières and Laval. Cory Thomas began his pro career with the Steelheads during the end of the 2021-22 season appearing in eight games tallying an assist. He began last season in Training Camp but was released right after where he then went to Utah for the rest of the year playing 41 games totaling seven assists. 

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

#13 Francesco Arcuri has a goal in back-to-back games and tallied his seventh multi-point game of the season Monday with a goal and an assist. 

#18 A.J. White has a three-game point-streak (2-1-3) and five goals over his last eight games. He is one point shy of 300 as a Steelhead.

#28 Will Merchant has a three-game assist streak. 

#29 Willie Knierim scored two goals on Monday for his second career multi-goal game and has four goals over his last seven games. 

#43 Matt Register has a seven-game point-streak (2-7-9) and his 51 points and 43 assists are second amongst ECHL defensemen. He is two games shy of 600 career ECHL games which only 13 players in league history have accomplished including just one defenseman. He is one assist shy of setting a single-season record for most assists by an Idaho ECHL defenseman and four points shy of setting a single-season record for most points. 

#44 Ben Zloty tallied two assists Monday for his third multi-point game of the season increasing his point-streak to five games (1-5-6). 

#47 Patrick Kudla scored his first career overtime winner on Monday while adding an assist for his 13^th multi-point game of the season lifting his point-streak to six games (3-6-9). His 45 points and 36 assists are third amongst ECHL defensemen.