Monday, March 4, 2013

Drouin, Brisebois and Whitney named the TELUS three stars of the month of February

Press Release

Jonathan Drouin, Mathieu Brisebois and Brandon Whitney were named today the TELUS three stars of the month of February.

The first spot is awarded to Halifax Mooseheads’ star forward Jonathan Drouin, who went from seventh to first place in the QMJHL scoring standings - quite a feat when you consider that he was trailing  Josh Currie and Ben Duffy of the PEI Rocket by 11 points on February 1st. After collecting 28 points in 11 games, he rose to the top of the league standings with 94 points. In all, he scored 11 goals and added 17 assists, allowing him to extend his streak to 24 active consecutive games with at least one point, the longest of its kind this season. During the last month, he played 9 games in which he registered 2 or more points scoring a winning goal and four insurance goals. Drouin is highly touted to be one of the top picks during this year’s NHL Entry Draft.

Mathieu Brisebois, the 20 year-old defenseman of the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, is the second star of the month. He has collected no fewer than 5 goals and 12 assists for a total of 17 points in 11 games, with a good +/- of +11. Brisebois registered a point in 10 straight games and had 2 points in seven of them. In addition, he recorded his 50th assist on February 26 against the Val-d'Or Foreurs, setting a new team record for a defenseman, previously set by Jonathan Gauthier with 49 assists during the 1999-2000 season. He is second among league defensemen in scoring with 65 points, just behind Kevin Gagné of the Rimouski Océanic with 66.

With a goals-against-average of 2.01 and a save percentage of .930 it is no surprise that the Victoriaville Tigres’ goaltender, Brandon Whitney, is named the third star of the month. The June 2012 seventh round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks was strong throughout the month of February, getting two shutouts. He has a record of seven wins in eight decisions, including 4 road wins. He also managed to play a total of 124 minutes 6 seconds without allowing a single goal, from February 2nd to 10th.

(Nathan can be reached at nathanfournier@mainehockeyjournal.com)

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