Three Stars of the Week - 11/24-11/30

Paul Byron - C (Gatineau - QMJHL) With Team Canada ready to formulate its World Junior roster, the summer invite Byron has turned his game up a notch. The nifty center owned the month of November, pointing in all 11 outings, including two goals and three assists in the week's three games. His current 11-game streak is the third longest in the Q this season (17). Tyler Myers - D (Kelowna - WHL) After starting the week with two games as part of the ADT Challenge, the big rearguard scored a goal and an assist in Kelowna's Saturday win over Chilliwack. Myers is amidst a career-high six-game point streak, and with 19 points (4+15) in 23 games this season, has already equaled his entire 2007-08 output (6+13). Andrew Orpik - RW (Boston College - HE) On Friday, the senior wing notched the first two-goal night of his 132-game career as Boston College defeated crosstown Harvard, 5-1.

11/30 Recap: Mr. November rolls on

Gatineau's Paul Byron scored a pair of goals and an assist as les Olympiques defeated Chicoutimi, 5-3. Perhaps the hottest player in the entire CHL, the 5'10 Byron marked in every Gatineau contest in the month of November, compiling nine goals and 18 total points in 11 games. Jacob Lagacé did not play for the Sags in the loss. Also from the Q, Jordon Southorn (-1) posted four shots on goal for PEI in their 3-1 loss to Moncton. The Pincourt, QC native looked gassed at times, making a few mental mistakes early. The Rocket lost their fourth in a row, and seventh in their last eight. In the OHL, Drew Schiestel was -2 as Niagara lost to Brampton, 5-3. With the win, the Troops avenged a mid-week a loss to the Dogs on Thursday that saw their 16-game winning streak snapped. In the DEL, Philip Gogulla had a roughing minor in Cologne's 4-2 loss to Augsburger. The Sharks currently sit in 12th place in the 16-team league. Andrew Orpik was -1 as Boston College needed a Barry Almeida overtime winner to defeat Dartmouth, 2-1.

Gerbe grabs 13th, Enroth stops 'em all in win

Nathan Gerbe and Derek Whitmore netted goals, and Jhonas Enroth made 23 saves for his second North American shutout as Portland defeated Manchester, 4-0. Whitmore found twine on a redirect early in the first period to put the Pirates up 1-0. Later, Felix Schutz fed a pass to Gerbe on a 2-1 break, who one-timed the puck past Jonathan Bernier for his 13th of the season. The win ends a five-game losing streak for the Pirates. The Rundown: Gerbe: 1G, +1, 7SOG Whitmore: 1G, +1 Schutz: 1A, +2 Zagrapan: 1A, +1 Gragnani: +3 Kostka: +2 Butler: +2 Weber: 2 PIM Hunter: 1SOG Kennedy: 1 SOG Funk: 1A, +1 Enroth: 23 saves, SO

11/29 Recap: Quartet makes connections

In the WHL, Tyler Myers scored his fourth goal of the season on the power play in addition to an earlier assist as Kelowna defeated Chilliwack, 3-0. With 19 points (4+15) in 23 games this season, Myers has already equaled his entire 2007-08 output (6+13), and is currently riding a career-best six-game point streak. At the College Hockey Showcase, Corey Tropp had two assists as Michigan State surrendered a two-goal lead in their 4-4 tie with Minnesota. The tie snaps a seven-game losing streak for the Spartans while upping thier winless streak to nine. The sophomore made an all-out effort play to give the Spartans a 2-0 first period lead when he completed a pass to Dan Sturges after falling down just inside the Gopher blueline. Tropp later spotted an open Andrew Rowe from behind the net to put MSU ahead 4-2 at the 8:43 mark of the second period. The Gophers, who entered the weekend as the nation's #1 team, finish the Showcase with a loss and a tie. Their leading scorer, Ryan Stoa (COL), was bounced six minutes in after receiving a game misconduct for checking from behind. In the OHL, Drew Schiestel bagged a pair of assists as Niagara lost to Barrie, 4-3. The assists, both of which came as part of the Dogs' third period surge, raise his season total to 24 - good for 4th in the OHL. Nick Crawford (+3) posted a two-assist night of his own as Saginaw cruised to a 7-1 win over Sarnia. The points put Crawford on the first three-game point streak of his major junior career. Sarnia's Joe Rogalski (Lancaster, NY) was -2 with a roughing minor as part of a chippy third period. In the Q, T.J. Brennan (3 SOG) had a power play assist as Montreal lost in overtime to Rouyn-Noranda, 4-3. The New Jersey native now has five points in his last three games. Luke Adam, who moved to center a game ago, was -1 with a pair of minor penalties for the Juniors. J.S. Allard (-1) did not factor as Quebec defeated Saint John, 5-3. Medicine Hat LW Tyler Ennis was kept in check as the Tigers gave up a goal with just :12 remaining to get edged by Brandon, 3-2. In Hockey East, Drew MacKenzie skated even for Vermont in their 3-2 win over Maine. Summer camp invite Brayden Irwin (Jr.) opened scoring with his fifth of the season, and has been playing well at both ends of the ice of late on a line with Viktor Stahlberg (TOR) and Brian Roloff (West Seneca, NY). In NCAA non-conference play, Matt Generous (-1, 2 PIM) had his hands full throughout as St. Lawrence fell to Boston University, 4-1. Brad Eidsness made 28 saves as North Dakota dropped a 2-1 decision to visiting Cornell. Sioux freshman Corey Fienhage was scratched in favor of Ben Blood (OTT). 2008 fourth-rounder Justin Jokinen was inserted into the Maverick lineup, finishing even with a shot on goal as Mankato downed Bowling Green, 5-2.

Mancari effect hits five on farm

On Saturday, Portland came up empty for the fifth straight game without leading scorer Mark Mancari with a 5-1 loss to Lowell. Derek Whitmore assisted on the lone Pirates goal, while Jhonas Enroth made 13 saves after Adam Dennis was pulled after allowing three goals on nine shots in the first period. Devils goalie Jeff Frazee made 40 saves for the win, while Niklas Bergfors scored two goals and an assist. The Rundown: Whitmore: 1A, -1 Gerbe: -1, 4SOG Kennedy: -1, 4SOG Gragnani: -1, 3SOG Zagrapan: -1, 3SOG Weber: 2PIM Funk: 2PIM Kostka: 2SOG Hunter: 2SOG Schutz: -2 Butler: -3 Dennis: 3GA, 20:00, L Enroth: 13 saves The Pirates held an eight-game winning streak at the time of Mancari's call-up on November 21st.

Persson gets on sheet

In Saturday SEL action, Dennis Persson assisted on the only Timra goal as the Eagles fell to Brynas, 2-1. After being the low-man for a dozen games, the 2006 pick earned top-six minutes for a second consecutive contest, finishing with two shots on goal in 16:45 of time. The helper was Persson's third point (1+2) of the season for Timra, who remains in 10th place in the the twelve-team league with the loss.

11/28 Recap: Adam stars; Byron hangs ten

Luke Adam (+2) earned the game's #1 star with a goal and two assists, and T.J. Brennan (+1) added an empty-netter as Montreal downed Val-d'Or, 5-2. Adam, who was a machine with five blocked shots, notched his first goal in six Q games despite scoring in both of Team QMJHL's tilts with Russia in the ADT Challenge. In Shawinigan, Jacob Lagacé (-1) had a goal and a game-high six shots on goal in Chicoutimi's 5-2 loss to the Cataractes. The goal, his 11th of the season, was his first in five games as the quality road effort was rewarded with the game's #2 star. Paul Byron had an assist to extend his point streak to ten games, yet Gatineau fell to Victoriaville, 5-3. The loss ends the Piques run of four consecutive wins. Jean-Simon Allard assisted on the game-winning goal as Quebec defeated Baie-Comeau, 4-1. The Alma, QC native has three goals and four assists in his past four games for a total of 22 on the year. Also from the Q, Jordon Southorn (2 PIM) finished -1 in PEI's 4-1 loss to Rimouski. In OHL play, Nick Crawford scored for Saginaw in their 4-2 loss at Windsor. The goal, Crawford's second of the year, came :09 into a first period power play after he was checked from behind by the Spits Adam Wallace. St. Lawrence defenseman Matt Generous (+1) posted an assist in the Saints' 4-3 win over #17 Massachusetts. The senior now has five points (2+3) in his last seven games. Freshman Brad Eidsness made 21 saves in the North Dakota crease as the Sioux scored four third period goals to close out Cornell, 7-3. Eidsness has been in the net for all five NoDak victories this season. Corey Fienhage was in the lineup for North Dakota, earning a high sticking penalty while playing bottom pair minutes. At the College Hockey Showcase in Madison, Corey Tropp had two shots on goal as Michigan State lost to Wisconsin, 3-1. Spartan goalie Jeff Lerg made 50 saves in defeat. Justin Jokinen was scratched as Minnesota State played to a 2-2 tie with Bowling Green. Sophomore goaltender Nick Eno remains out of the Falcons lineup with an ankle injury.

Pirates lose fourth in a row

Kings prospect Jonathan Quick was sharp, stopping 41 of 42 shots as Manchester handed Portland its fourth straight loss, 3-1. The only Portland goal took place on the power play when Mike Funk found Chris Butler, whose point shot was tipped by Tyler Bouck past Quick. Felix Schutz saw his three game point streak snapped, while Adam Dennis made 27 saves in the loss. The Rundown: Butler: 1A, -2 Funk: 1A Weber: 4 PIM Schutz: even Hunter: even Kostka: even Whitmore: even Zagrapan: -1, 7 SOG Gerbe: -1, 6 SOG Kennedy: -1, 4 SOG Dennis: 27 saves, L

Eidsness adding color to Sioux crease

We knew when interviewing Brad Eidsness last spring that he was a well-spoken young man. It appears that the North Dakota freshman came across the same when speaking with Brad Eliott Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald. Not your 'typical' goalie

“He knows a lot of useless facts,” Hextall said. “Everywhere we go, he’s asking ‘What’s the population of this town?’ and ‘What is the industry here?’ It’s all of those weird things. He finds weird facts in magazines and he never forgets them. Then, he’ll run around telling everyone about them.” That’s the other thing about Eidsness — he loves talking. “He’ll talk to the wall if there’s no one else to talk to,” Hextall says. “One time, we had a flight really early in the morning, and I sat down and was looking forward to getting some sleep. Then I hear this guy talking two rows behind me and I didn’t recognize his voice. Then, I hear Eids talking to him and I’m like, ‘Great, here we go, these two idiots are going to be talking the whole flight.’ ” When the team got back to the arena, Eidsness told Hextall about the older man who ended up doing most of the talking on the flight. “Maybe it was God getting back at me,” Eidsness said.

If his post draft performance, which includes a World Jr.A Challenge gold medal, AJHL MVP, and a string of WCHA starts as a freshman, is any indication, it seems that more people will be wanting to talk with Eidsness - about a career in hockey beyond college.

Eidsness appears to be taking over the role as UND’s top goaltender. He’s played in nine straight games, the most by a freshman since Karl Goehring appeared in 10 straight in 1997-98. On the season, Eidsness has a 2.85 goals-against average and .901 save percentage. But it’s clear he’s becoming more comfortable with his role. In his last four appearances, Eidsness is 1-1-1 with a 1.72 goals-against average and a .936 save percentage.

Orpik, Gogulla go for two

Senior Andrew Orpik scored two goals as Boston College defeated Harvard in a Beantown matinee, 5-1. The Thayer product opened scoring at 13:50 of the first when he broke down the left side and stuffed the puck past freshman netminder Matt Hoyle. The two-goal output was Orpik's first as an Eagle, and made for the fourth multi-point game in 132 career NCAA appearances. Crimson rearguard Alex Biega (-1) did a good job of getting the puck to the net in the loss, but failed to register a point for the fifth straight game, a span equal to his previous long drought from last season. In the DEL, Philip Gogulla scored a pair of goals to lead Cologne to a 5-1 win over Ingolstadt. The 6'2 wing, who posted his third two-goal game of the season, now has a total of eight to go along with nine assists in 21 games. Last season through 21 games, Gogulla had six goals and twelve assists with a stronger overall club.