Colorado Avalanche prospect report: First goals of the season for Nick Leivermann and Tyler Weiss

So much happened this week, to the point where I couldn’t just stick to the skaters and had to include a goalie update as well. That’ll be at the end. But we had it all in our final week of October: the good, the bad, and the scary (fitting for the end of spooky season, right?).

Let’s begin.

Canadian Hockey League

WHL

#44 - Bowen Byram (D)
Vancouver Giants (9-8-1)

First, the WHL announced last week that Byram would be wearing a letter for the Canada-Russia series in just under two weeks:

He dressed up as Spiderman for a Halloween team bonding event:

And he added two assists in two games this week, too. Byram now has 14 points in 16 games this season.

#34 - Sasha Mutala (RW)
Tri-City Americans (8-6-1)

Two assists in two games for Mutala, whose Americans sit third in the division. Mutala has seven goals and 17 points in 14 games for Tri-City.

#27 - Luka Burzan (C)
Brandon Wheat Kings (7-10-0)

Also recording two assists in two games, Burzan is up to 15 points in 17 games this season. Barring injury, he’ll be joining Team WHL for the Canada-Russia series along with Byram for two games on November 14th and 15th.

QMJHL

#16 - Alex Beaucage (RW)
Rouyn-Noranda Huskies (9-8-2)

So, does Beaucage know how to, not score? Definitely not complaining. He added three more goals this week in three games.

If there were any doubts about Beaucage’s ability to drive offense, I think they’ve been put to rest. He’s got 15 goals and 24 points in 19 games this season and leads the Huskies in scoring.

NCAA

HOCKEY EAST

#18 - Alex Newhook (C)
Boston College Eagles (3-4-0)

Newhook potted another goal this weekend:

I couldn’t find video footage (come on, BC!), but I’m sure it was a great one. Newhook’s got two goals in seven games this season.

#4 - Drew Helleson (D)
Boston College Eagles (3-4-0)

No points for Helleson this week. Boston College will take on UConn next weekend for a home-and-home series.

BIG TEN

#26 - Cam Morrison (LW)
Notre Dame Fighting Irish (5-0-1)

Another big producing weekend for the senior, whose three assists helped catapult the Irish to a win in their second game (he also had an assist in the first game):

Morrison is up to eight points in six games this season.

#4 - Nick Leivermann (D)
Notre Dame Fighting Irish (5-0-1)

Leivermann’s got the monkey off his back! He exploded for his first two goals of the season, in his home state, to boot:

Leivermann now has four points in six games this season. And I thought this was too amusing not to include:

#2 - Nate Clurman (D)
Notre Dame Fighting Irish (5-0-1)

Zero points for Clurman this week. Notre Dame hosts Ohio State next weekend for another Big Ten series.

#58 - Sampo Ranta (RW)
Minnesota Golden Gophers (3-4-1)

Just a one assist week for Ranta, whose Gophers lost once and tied (and won in OT) Notre Dame in their Big Ten opening weekend. Minnesota’s lines haven’t stayed consistent since the start of the season, and Ranta has bounced around on three lines, which might be a reason for his offensive slog. Ranta now has two goals and one assist in eight games this season.

#25 - Denis Smirnov (RW)
Penn State Nittany Lions (6-1-0)

Do you want the good, the bad, or the scary news first?

The good: Smirnov scored!

The bad: he then took a hit later in the same game (Roman Ahcan was suspended one game by the NCAA).

The scary: Smirnov didn’t play the next day and the team wouldn’t have an update on him until at least Monday.

Really hope Smirnov is all right. It was a horrifying feeling watching him struggle to get off the ice after the hit. We should find out sometime today.

NCHC

#40 - Tyler Weiss (LW)
Nebraska Omaha Mavericks (4-1-1)

What a week for Weiss! He scored his first two goals of the season and propelled Omaha to a 3-3 tie:

It ended up being a three point night for Weiss, who is now up to four points in five games this season. Hopefully it kickstarts his offensive production this season.

ECAC

#20 - Matthew Stienburg (RW)
Cornell Big Red (2-0-0)

Stienburg and Cornell finally started their season and swept Michigan State in back-to-back games. Stienburg went pointless, but he’s playing on Cornell’s top line along with New York Rangers prospect Morgan Barron and Max Andreev. Give him some time to adjust to the NCAA play (which is a lot more challenging than prep school hockey in Canada). Playing him with Barron (who also played at Saint Andrew’s College before transitioning to NCAA) not only gives Stienburg a mentor, but will hopefully make his adjustment easier.

Europe

KHL

#51 - Nikolai Kovalenko (RW)
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (12-12-0)

Kovalenko scored!

It was his only point in the three games he played last week, but he’s getting more regular minutes in Lokomotiv’s lineup. Kovalenko now has three goals and five points in 21 games on the season.

#2 - Danila Zhuravlyov (D)
Ak Bars Kazan (18-5-1)

Zhuravlyov added another assist in two games this week with Bars (though the team did play a third game he did not dress for). He now has 6 assists in 19 games and is playing very well as a teenager in the KHL.

Goalies!

Okay, this isn’t going to be a regular thing, but there are two Avalanche goaltenders I thought they deserved the recognition of being included this week.

#31 - Trent Miner (G)
Vancouver Giants - WHL (9-8-1)

Miner has had an up-and-down season with the similarly performing Giants, but he finished up the week with a sterling performance Sunday night. Miner made 33 saves to preserve Vancouver’s win over Prince George:

# - Justus Annunen (G)
Karpat - Liiga (15-1-2)

Now, here’s the real shining star of the Avalanche prospect pool. Annunen (who is basically a lock to start for Finland at the World Juniors) is a 19-year-old goaltender putting up absolutely ridiculous numbers (a .952 save percentage in 11 games) in the Finnish men’s league:

Statistics from the WHL, QMJHL, NCAA varsity websites, and Flashscore.