Now for Pinelli, it will be about continuing to add to his game as he tries to make it to the NHL level. He’s shown the ability to score in bunches in juniors, including posting back-to-back hat tricks Nov. 5 vs. Barrie and Nov. 10 against Oshawa, and his competitive nature will help him considering he’s a bit undersized at 5-foot-9.
The Stoney Creek, Ontario, native comes from a hockey family, as well, as his brother Francesco was a second-round draft pick in the 2021 draft by Los Angeles who is now with the team’s AHL affiliate.
“I think I’ve always been a hard worker, especially coming into junior,” Luca said. “I had to work my way up in minutes and stuff like that and gain my coaches’ trust and stuff. I think that’s something I've always had in me, my compete, and then I think I have really good skill, high hockey IQ, and I can shoot the puck. I think I've established that in my game throughout junior hockey.”
The 67s clearly have a respect for Pinelli on and off the ice, which is why he’s been named the captain this season for one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference.
“It felt really good,” he said of being given the captaincy. “This organization is a really high-end organization, so to be named captain for them, it’s obviously an honor. We have a really good group of guys, too. I am excited to go along in the year and lead this team.”
For more on Pinelli, including how he got into the sport and how he likes to spend his spare time, listen to the full Pipeline Podcast interview with Dylan.
Monsters Continue Strong Start
The thinking going into the season was that a byproduct of the depth possessed by the Blue Jackets would be that the American Hockey League team in Cleveland could excel, and so far, that’s what’s happening.
After a win and an overtime loss this past weekend at Belleville, the Monsters are off to a 7-3-1-0 start, good for a points percentage of .682 that leads the North Division of the AHL. Currently, Cleveland is fourth in the division behind Syracuse, Toronto and Rochester, all of whom have played one more game than the Monsters and are a point ahead.
So far, Cleveland has been led by forward Trey Fix-Wolansky, whose 16 points are good for a tie for fourth in the AHL, while his 12 assists are tied for second in the league. The Monsters also boast two of the most productive defensemen in the league, as Nick Blankenburg’s 3-7-10 line ties him for fifth in the league, while Jake Christiansen has three goals and six assists for nine points, tied for 10th overall. Goalie Jet Greaves is also tied for the league lead with six wins.
The Monsters were firing on all cylinders Friday as they took a 4-2 win at Belleville. Kent Johnson scored his first two goals in the AHL, while Stanislav Svozil notched his first pro goal in North American hockey. Brendan Gaunce also scored a goal, Svozil added an assist, Fix-Wolansky and Blankenburg each had two helpers and Greaves made 27 saves in the win.
Cleveland had 38 shots on goal Sunday, but the B-Sens got excellent goaltending and won a 2-1 game in overtime. Christiansen had the lone goal for Columbus, while Pavel Cajan made 34 saves.
The Monsters are home this weekend with Thursday and Saturday night games vs. Rochester before hitting the road to take on Charlotte.
Dumais Sets Scoring Record
If you’ve been reading these reports over the past year, you know they’ve largely become a way for us to document the incredible production of Jordan Dumais.
One of the top scorers of the past two decades in the QMJHL, Dumais now has a new honor – he's the all-time leading scorer for his junior team, the Halifax Mooseheads of the QMJHL.
The third-round pick in the 2022 draft set the record Sunday, breaking a tie with Brandon Benedict (1998-2003) with a three-assist day to reach 306 points in a Mooseheads uniform. It’s even more impressive when you consider the list of Mooseheads alumni also includes such names as Jakub Voracek, Jody Shelley, Jonathan Drouin, Alex Tanguay, Nathan MacKinnon, Timo Meier and Nikolaj Ehlers.
“Obviously it’s fun to do it at home and get it off my back a little bit,” he said. “It’s great. I was really honored that (Benedict) came down here and supported me to beat the record. My teammates have been really cool about it, and I’m extremely grateful for all the support from the fans.”
Coming off a 140-point campaign that was the third most productive in the Q in the last 20 years behind Sidney Crosby and Alexander Radulov, Dumais now has a 12-16-28 line in his first 11 games this season, good for a mark of 2.54 points per game. In contrast, in his final season in the QMJHL, Crosby posted 2.71 points per game.
Halifax is 16-4-1 on the season and ranked No. 1 in the most recent CHL rankings.
Prospect Notes
- Denton Mateychuk’s point streak to begin the season with Moose Jaw of the WHL has reached 14 games after his game last night against Saskatoon. After posting 169 points in 168 games the past two seasons, the 2022 first-round pick has been a scoring machine from the blue line this season, posting 4-17-21 to start the season.
- Speaking of players posting gaudy numbers, the move to the BCHL continues to suit 2022 seventh-round pick James Fisher. After spending last season with Clark Cup champ Youngstown of the USHL, Fisher has scored 11 goals and has 14 points in his first 17 games with Penticton of the BCHL. The Vees have won 48 straight home games and lead the Interior Division of the league.
- In the college ranks, 2023 third-round pick William Whitelaw and the Wisconsin Badgers are off to a 9-1-0 start, which has vaulted the squad to the No. 1 ranking in the most recent USCHO.com poll. The Badgers have opened the Big Ten slate with sweeps of draft pick-laden Minnesota and Michigan squads, with Whitelaw posting a 2-4-6 line in 10 games to begin his freshman season.
- Heading over to Russia, a move from KHL power SKA St. Petersburg to Vladivostok hasn’t done anything to slow Sergei Ivanov, as the 2022 fifth-round pick continues to excel. The 19-year-old netminder on loan with Admiral has played in 10 games thus far with the Far East squad, posting a 2.62 GAA and .919 save percentage. Scoring woes for the squad are one reason he’s just 2-5-0, but he’s stopping pucks.
- Staying in Russia, massive 2022 fourth-round pick Kirill Dolzhenkov has played at three levels this year in the CSKA Moscow system – the KHL, the junior ranks and the minor leagues – but appears to have settled in the minors. In 13 games with Zvezda Moskva, the 6-6, 234-pound winger has five goals and four assists at age 19 in the VHL, the Russian version of the AHL.
- Columbus does not have an ECHL affiliate, but one player under contract with the Blue Jackets is performing well at the Double-A level. 2020 fifth-round pick Ole Julian Bjorgvik-Holm has a 1-8-9 line in eight games with the Cincinnati Cyclones, notching the overtime winner vs. Indy on Friday and adding three assists in another win vs. the Fuel on Saturday. Bjorgvik-Holm is one of three Cleveland/Columbus players who has been sent to Cincinnati, joining forwards Jake Gaudet and Roman Ahcan.
