The NCAA is often a tough place for prospects to play hockey. This is especially true for goaltenders.
One year you’re playing behind a powerhouse roster, the next you could see a much different team in front of you.
Dallas Stars prospect Jake Oettinger is experiencing this right now. Last year’s Boston University team was star-studded, featuring the likes of Clayton Keller, Charlie McAvoy and Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson. Now those three have all turned pro, and while the team still has a number of top young prospects to tout, that absence has been felt by the team.
Don’t be mistaken, though: Oettinger is still one of those top young talents.
On Friday night he stopped all 31 shots that he faced against the No. 6-ranked Providence College to record his first blanking of the season.
He didn’t fare quite as well in his second start of the weekend, however, allowing four goals on 32 shots in a 4-1 loss.
Oettinger is now at a .913 save percentage on the season, which is a pretty respectable number considering he’s started every Boston University game this season and the average age of BU defensemen is younger than 20.
The World Juniors are coming up in late December, and Oettinger has a very good chance at being the starting goalie for the United States. Just how well can he play against competition his own age and with a better defensive group in front of him?
North American Juniors
NCAA
Dallas’ other top goalie prospect, Colton Point, remains unbeaten in regulation for Colgate University. He was heroic on Friday, stopping all 43 shots that he faced in a 0-0 tie against Princeton, and then stopped 33 of 34 against Quinnipiac on Saturday.
Some video highlights from Friday’s game:
Joseph Cecconi scored his first goal of the season as the University of Michigan toppled Ferris State by a score of 7-2. Cecconi is playing on the top defensive pairing for his team and now has six points in eight games.
ICYMI: Highlights from last night’s 7-2 win over Ferris State. #GoBlue pic.twitter.com/1Z4nHU9o9i
— Michigan Hockey (@umichhockey) November 3, 2017
OHL
Jason Robertson had an enormous weekend on the score sheet, picking up four goals and three assists over three games. He is currently on a four-game goal-scoring streak. Highlights of his three-point Friday night can be found here.
Speaking of goal-scoring streaks, Nick Caamano scored a goal in all three games that he played in last week. They all came from hard work in front of the opposing net, which would surely get Craig Ludwig’s seal of approval.
The bad news? The Flint Firebirds lost all three games, and have now dropped seven in a row.
Europe
Finland
Miro Heiskanen, who I blushed about profusely last week, keeps on rolling, scoring two more goals over his last two games.
Also, according to at least one source, he has some of the best possession numbers out of anyone in Finland’s highest league:
#GoStars prospect Miro Heiskanen has been of one the top defencemen in #Liiga so far. Here some of the key stats of him so far. #DallasStars pic.twitter.com/qP76nTiuIQ
— FinnProspects (@FinnProspects) November 4, 2017
Sweden
Defenseman Jakob Stenqvist continues to have a very productive season in Sweden’s second-highest league. He scored his first goal of the season recently, and now has nine points in 15 games, by far the most among blueliners on his team. Video of his goal can be found here.
Is his play strong enough to garner consideration for Sweden’s entry at this year’s World Juniors?
AHL
It was another tough weekend for the Texas Stars, who lost all three games that they played over the past week.
To be brutally honest, there weren’t a lot of bright spots for Dallas prospects playing on the team.
Dillon Heatherington picked up another assist, giving him seven points in 12 games, the most among all defensemen on the club. Nobody expected Heatherington, a defensive specialist, to have more points than Gavin Bayreuther, Ludwig Bystrom and Niklas Hansson, so that’s an encouraging sign for his NHL potential.
Landow Bow got just his second start of the season, and even though it was a loss, he stopped 24 of 25 shots.
Texas falls to 5-6-0-1 on the year, which has them tied for 11th out of 15 teams in the AHL’s Western Conference.
2018 NHL Draft Watch
The prestigious United States National Team Development Program always churns out quality American talent, and this year will be no exception. Joel Farabee will be one of the names to watch as the year progresses. The left winger oozes skill and smarts, and is equally adept as a playmaker or a finisher. He has three goals and three assists in three games against USHL competition.
Joel Farabee ➡️ Oliver Wahlstrom
A pair of A-rated NHL Draft prospects doing work for @USAHockeyNTDP pic.twitter.com/qvHckPTtSM
— USHL (@USHL) October 27, 2017