BSH prospect report: Off to camp

The news of the week

We\'ll start with a bit of old news, but news to recap all the same: you may have seen by now -- he\'s played a game with them already after all -- but Olle Lycksell was called up to join the Flyers for their road trip out West, which wraps up tomorrow in Nashville. He\'s been on a great run of play with the Phantoms of late, so he was a natural first choice for this recall (even if he hasn\'t been rewarded with much playing time in the NHL, in turn).

Speaking of players leaving their regular team to go play for someone else: Oliver Bonk and Denver Barkey were invited to Hockey Canada\'s World Junior selection camp , which has just kicked off. It\'s a pretty loaded group, but they\'ll be looking to make strong impressions and work their way onto that final roster.

What\'s up with the Phantoms?

It was another strange, somewhat whiplashy weekend for the Phantoms, we\'ll make that note right off the hop. In the first of their two games of the weekend, we saw Felix Sandstrom put up a really solid effort to keep the team in it, but it was an effort that the skaters ultimately wasted -- they were shut out, losing 2-0, and only managed to register 19 shots on goal across the whole of the game. But then in their next showing on Saturday, they bounced back well and played quite a solid game. In this one, we saw them jump out to an early lead and never really look back. Each of their lines seemed to be rolling, the offense was well distributed, and they were able to really well lock things down in the third period -- bend but don\'t break, right? -- in order to seal a 4-1 win over the Checkers.

Of course, it\'s not the first time we\'ve talked about the maddening inconsistency of this team, and it almost surely won\'t be the last. And while a degree of it is to be expected -- no one can be perfect, not even the very best teams in the league -- the lows are beginning to really sink them. Here, despite their clear ability to put together very good games, the team still sits in seventh place in the division, out of a playoff spot.

But that\'s enough doom and gloom for the moment, we\'ll pivot to highlight Saturday\'s big contributors before we move along again. The first and most important goal of the game (not the game winner, but the teddy bear toss goal, of course) came from Zayde Wisdom, and was also his first goal of the season.

https://twitter.com/LVPhantoms/status/1733650411297345698?s=20

Also chipping in a goal on the evening was Wade Allison, who really seemed to be buzzing in this one. He led the team with five individual shots on goal, and his goal on the power play ensured that their productivity wasn\'t going to disappear entirely, with Lycksell (the league\'s top power play scorer heading into the weekend) absent.

https://twitter.com/LVPhantoms/status/1733652606663221273?s=20

The goal scoring didn\'t stop here, as Elliot Desnoyers was able to seal the game with the empty net goal (marking his fourth of the season).

And we said earlier that the offense was well distributed, and we meant it. Each of Ethan Samson, Mason Millman, Ronnie Attard, J.R. Avon, and Samu Tuomaala contributed an assist in this one.

The prospect world tour

Our NCAA leg of the prospect report is a little bit shorter this time around, as things are winding down and teams are easing (or in some cases beginning) their winter breaks. But worry not, we do still have some good things to report before the breaks all commence.

First up, Bryce Brodzinski added one more assist to his total this weekend, and Cole Knuble was able to find a nice bit of production for Notre Dame this weekend, as he put up two assists of his own.

The big exciting happening, though, was yet another pair of prospects facing off in a series. This time, it was Massimo Rizzo and Denver meeting Alex Bump and Western Michigan for what ended up being an exciting, high-scoring series. Bump picked up a goal in the Broncos\' 7-3 win in the first game, and then Denver stormed back to take the second game by a 6-5 score with an overtime win (and a game winning goal by, who else, Rizzo, who had already assisted on two other goals before that).

https://twitter.com/DU_Hockey/status/1733667436958797871?s=20

And finally, away from that showdown, Cutter Gauthier played his last game for BC before their break begins and he heads off to start World Junior camp with USA Hockey. In their win over conference opponent Providence, Gauthier put up a goal and two assists.

Speaking of heading into World Junior camps with some momentum, Barkey and Bonk played their last game with London before heading off to camp this week, and predictably, it was a good one. It was a commanding win for the Knights, and Bonk came out of it with two assists, while Barkey put up a stellar two goals and two assists.

Of course, it isn\'t just the World Junior hopefuls who have been producing nicely this week, and this season, of course. Ryan MacPhereson is still chipping in nicely, as he seems to do every week, for Penticton. Despite a somewhat quiet week for the Vees, MacPhereson still put up a tidy goal and assist in his last three games played.

And sticking in Western Canada, Carter Sotheran had himself a nice little week as well. In his last three games played with Portland, he put up two goals and an assist (and even earned himself WHL Highlight of the Night honors, to boot).

https://twitter.com/pdxwinterhawks/status/1733351757328285849?s=20

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