Idaho Steelheads Weekly – Week 7

December 3, 2024 – ECHL (ECHL)
Idaho Steelheads press release

BOISE, ID – The Idaho Steelheads (@Steelheads), proud ECHL (@ECHL) affiliate of the Dallas Stars(@DallasStars), took four of a possible six points last week in Boise and have now won four of their last five games while traveling north of the border this week.

THIS WEEK’S GAMES

Wednesday December 4th in Trois-Rivières | 5:00 p.m. (MT)

Friday December 6th in Trois-Rivières | 5:00 p.m. (MT)

Saturday December 7th in Trois-Rivières | 1 p.m. (MT)

OH CANADA

The Trois-Rivières Lions joined the ECHL for the 2021-22 season and are currently in third place in the North Division with an overall record of (9-3-2). The two clubs met for the first time last season when Idaho won the first game of the best of three series on March 13 by a final score of 2-1 in overtime, with Francesco Arcuri scoring the overtime winner. Two nights later, Zachary Émond helped lead the Lions to a 5-0 victory with 23 saves, and the next night Trois-Rivières clinched the series with a 5-4 shootout victory.

Prior to last season, the Steelheads had not been to Canada since the 2010-11 season. Idaho played the Victoria Salmon Kings in Canada 33 times from 2004 to 2011, compiling a record of (25-7-1). Last year, the Steelheads (2-1-0) started their Canadian road trip in Newfoundland before heading to Trois-Rivières.

Patrick Kudla and Matt Register led the way with two goals and four assists each, while AJ White, Ty Pelton-Byce, Lynden McCallum and Nick Canade each scored two goals and had one assist.

Brendan Hoffmann, who played parts of the last two seasons with the Reading Royals, scored his third career goal in his first game against the Lions on December 16, 2022 and has played eleven games against Trois-Rivières in his career, scoring two and four goals achieved helps. Thomas Caron played 17 games with Trois-Rivières in the 2021/22 season, scoring three goals and four assists. He scored a goal in his ECHL debut on February 10, 2023 in Maine. Pelton-Byce recorded two assists in his ECHL debut on October 21, 2021 at Trois-Rivières while playing for Newfoundland and has one goal and three assists in five games against the Lions this season. Jade Miller played three games against the Lions during the 2021-22 season as a member of the South Carolina Stingrays.

The Steelheads currently have 14 players from Canada on their roster, including two players from Quebec; Romain Rodzinski (Blainville) and Thomas Caron (Candiac).

LAST WEEK’S GAMES

Wednesday, November 27th

Idaho (3) vs. Tahoe (7)

CJ Walker tied the game at 1-1 midway through the second period, but the Knight Monsters took the lead again 18 seconds later and made it 3-1 shortly after. AJ White erased a 3-2 deficit at midfield with 54 seconds left before Tahoe scored four goals in the first half of the third period to take a 6-2 lead. Connor MacEachern scored with 5:03 left in regulation before Tahoe’s Chris Dodero capped off a hat trick with a minute to play to give the Knight Monsters a 7-3 victory.

Friday, November 29th

Idaho (6) vs. Tahoe (2)

After falling behind 1-0 with 72 seconds left in the first period, Connor MacEachern equalized with 53 seconds left. Idaho thrived offensively in the second half, scoring four goals thanks to MacEachern’s second goal of the game, two from Brendan Hoffmann and one from Lynden McCallum, as they led 5-1 after 40 minutes. The Knight Monsters pulled within three minutes early in the final stanza, but MacEachern completed the hat trick with 7:44 left in the game, securing a 6-2 victory as Tomas Sholl made 26 saves.

Saturday November 30th

Idaho (5) vs. Tahoe (2)

Idaho fell behind 1-0 in the 20th minute of the game, but scored three goals in a span of 7:31 in the second half thanks to Jade Miller, Connor Punnett and Nick Canade, who led by two goals after 40 minutes of play. Tahoe made it a one-goal game with 6:24 left in the final period, but Lynden McCallum extended the lead back to a pair with 3:48 to play before Connor MacEachern sealed the deal with an empty-net goal for a 5-2 win . Tomas Sholl made 38 saves.

MOUNTAIN DIVISION STANDING PLACE

1. Tulsa Oilers (12-5-1-0, 25 points, .694)

2. Kansas City Mavericks (11-6-1-1, 24 points, .632)

3. Idaho Steelheads (10-7-1-0, 21 points, .583)

4. Wichita Thunder (10-10-1-0, 21 points, .500)

5. Tahoe Knight Monsters (8-6-1-1, 18 points, .563)

6. Allen Americans (7-6-3-0, 17 points, .531)

7. Rapid City Rush (5-9-2-2, 14 points, .389)

8. Utah Grizzlies (5-10-2-0, 12 points, .358)

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

– #3 Nick Canade scored a goal and an assist in his first multi-point game of the season on Saturday. He has scored two goals and one assist in his last four games.

– #9 Brendan Hoffmann has a five-game point streak (3-4-7). It is the second time in his career that he has scored a point in five straight games. His two goals on Friday by a margin of :16 are the two fastest goals Idaho has scored this year, while one of them came while short-handed was Idaho’s second short-handed goal of the season. Multi-assist game He is eight games shy of 150 ECHL games in his career (29-40-69). He has six goals and five assists in his last 12 games.

– No. 11 Thomas Caron missed Idaho’s game on Saturday. He has recorded an assist in two consecutive games. His 18 points are tied for seventh in the ECHL, while his 12 assists are tied for fifth. He has a point in five of his last seven games (1-5-6) and nine of his last 12 (3-10-13). He has a point in 11 of 17 games.

– #15 CJ Walker has scored a point in four of his last five games (2-2-4) and seven of his last 12 (4-3-7).

– #17 Ty Pelton-Byce is third in the ECHL with 22 points. His 10 total goals rank fourth, while his five on the power play are tied for the league lead. He has a point in four of his last five games (4-3-7) and six goals in his last 10 games. He scored a point in 14 of 18 games.

– #18 AJ White ranks second in the ECHL with 15 assists. He has a point in four of his last five games (1-6-7) and a point in 12 of 18 games. He is three games away from becoming Idaho’s franchise leader in games played.

– No. 19 Lynden McCallum scored one goal in two straight games and six in his last nine games. He scored eight goals and three assists in his last 13 games.

– #26 Jade Miller has scored two goals in his last four games.

– #29 Connor MacEachern scored his first professional hat trick on Friday and has scored in three straight games (5G). Before his hat trick, he had not played a multi-goal game in his professional career. He has had eight one-goal games in 31 career ECHL games, his 10 goals are tied for second among ECHL rookie skaters, while his 19 points are tied for first. He has one point in six of his last nine games (6-4-10) and one point in 12 of 18 games.

– #35 Tomas Sholl was named ECHL Goaltender of the Week on Monday for the ninth time in his career.

– #36 Blake Swetlikoff scored an assist for his first professional point on Friday.

– #43 Matt Register ranks second among ECHL skaters with 15 assists and second among league defensemen with 16 points. He has recorded a point in eight of his last 11 games (1-10-11). He is five assists shy of 400 career ECHL assists.

– #47 Patrick Kudla ranks fifth among ECHL defensemen with 13 points. He has recorded four assists in his last five games.

– #67 Hank Crone ranks fourth in the ECHL with 21 points, his eight goals rank sixth and his 13 assists rank fourth. He scored a point in 13 of 18 games.

TEAM NOTES

– Idaho has won four of its last five games, outscoring its opponents 24-17. They have scored four or more goals in four games.

– Idaho has sold out all nine home games this season, and Idaho Central Arena has sold out 43 straight times.

– Idaho is second in the ECHL with an average of 3.83 goals per game. Their 69 goals are the second most, as they have scored four or more goals in 10 of 18 games.

o They outscored their opponents 26-15 in the first half, the most goals scored by a team and the best goal difference (+11). They have scored one first-half goal in 12 games and scored eight multiple goals in the first half. During their three-game series against Tahoe, they fell 3-1 in the first 20 minutes.

o They outscored their opponents 26-20 in the second half and 9-2 against Tahoe in the three-game series. They had multiple second-half goals in all three games. Friday’s four-goal stretch was the third time this season they have scored four goals in one stanza. They have scored a second goal in five straight games and have only failed to score in midfield three times.

o They were down 16-20 in the third period but have scored in five straight games.

– Idaho is 18th in the ECHL with a 3.11 goals against average. They have held their opponents to just two goals in each of their last two competitions and five times this season.

– Idaho is 7-1-1 when its opponent scores first this season, but trails 1-0 in all three games against Tahoe. They are 3-6 when their opponent scores the first goal this season.

– Idaho ranks 16th in power plays (12-for-69, 17.4%). They were 0-for-8 against Tahoe and just barely (2-for-34) in their last nine games as of Nov. 10.

– Idaho ranks 7th in penalties (59-69, 85.5%) and (37-40, 92.5%) in their last 11 games since Nov. 8.

– Idaho ranks 7th with an average of 32.17 shots per game. They have taken 40 or more shots in consecutive games, now five times this season, and have outscored their opponents in four of the last eight games, averaging 37.25 shots per game.

– Idaho is 24th allowing 33.33 goals against per game. They took 30 or more shots in 10 of 18 games.

ACTIVE STATISTICAL LEADERS

Goals: Ty Pelton-Byce, Connor MacEachern (10)

Assists: Matt Register, AJ White (15)

Points: Ty Pelton-Byce (22)

Plus/Minus: Hank Crone (+11)

PIMs: Connor Punnett (39)

PPGs: Ty Pelton-Byce (5)

GWGs: Connor MacEachern, Lynden McCallum (2)

Shots: Connor MacEachern (56)

Wins: Ben Kraws (5)

GAA: Tomas Sholl (1.67)

SV%: Tomas Sholl (.947)

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