As he continues to put together one of the best point streaks in recent memory, Prince Albert Raiders forward Brett Leason’s play has been recognized for the second time this season.
The 19-year-old from Calgary was named as the Western Hockey League’s player of the week Monday for the period of Nov. 19-25, which saw him score six goals and dish out four helpers.
He previously won the award for the week of Oct. 8-14 and is the first player to receive the honour more than once this season.
Leason earned his first career hat trick at home last Tuesday against the Lethbridge Hurricanes, had two goals and two assists in a road game against the Medicine Hat Tigers Friday and followed that up with a three-point night Saturday in a matchup with the Kootenay Ice.
In addition to leading the league in scoring with 54 points, Leason has recorded a point in all 24 games this year.
That’s the longest streak to start a season since 1996-97, which is as far back as stats go on the WHL website, and has him tied with Tim McGauley of the 2014-15 Brandon Wheat Kings and Brett McLean of the 1996-97 Kelowna Rockets for the longest point streak in that span.
Leason and the rest of the Raiders will look to win a 17th straight game Tuesday night as they visit the Red Deer Rebels.
Dustin Wolf of the Everett Silvertips received the goaltender of the week award for the second time this season on Monday.
Pre-Game Notes
The Rebels are the only team that have beaten the Raiders this season, as they picked up a 4-3 win on Oct. 6 in Red Deer.
The two sides squared off again on Oct. 13 in Prince Albert, where the Raiders won a 2-1 affair.
After a 7-3 home loss to the Medicine Hat Tigers Saturday, the Rebels have a 16-6-1-0 record and are currently one point ahead of the Edmonton Oil Kings for the top spot in the Central Division standings.
Washington Capitals prospect Alexander Alexeyev is second in defensive scoring with 28 points in 23 games and is tied with four other players (Moose Jaw’s Josh Brook, Kelowna’s Lassi Thomson, Vancouver’s Bowen Byram and Prince George’s Cole Moberg) for the most goals by a blueliner with seven.
Tuesday’s matchup will also see two of the top rookie scorers in the WHL go head-to-head.
Prince Albert’s Aliaksei Protas has 21 points to sit one point back of Moose Jaw’s Brayden Tracey, while Red Deer’s Oleg Zaytsev is tied with Thomson for third place in freshman scoring with 19 points.
Rebels Defenceman Chase Leslie was listed as day-to-day with a lower body injury on last week’s WHL Weekly Report, as he hasn’t played since a Nov. 11 contest in Swift Current.
Around the WHL
It was a busy day on the transaction market Monday with three trades taking place.
The Kamloops Blazers got things started with a pair of deals, as they traded overage forward Luc Smith to the Spokane Chiefs for fellow 20-year-old Jeff Faith and a pair of draft picks (a third and a sixth in 2020), in addition to sending defenceman Nolan Kneen to the Saskatoon Blades for blueliner Jackson Caller and two draft picks (Regina’s 2nd in 2020 and Kelowna’s 3rd in 2020).
Smith, who is from Stony Plain, Alta., has 19 points in 22 games this season and is coming off a career best 44-point campaign last year.
Faith, a Wilcox product that has moved to being a forward after starting off his WHL career as a defenceman, has one goal in 24 games this year.
Kneen, a 19-year-old from Duncan, B.C. that was the third overall pick in the 2015 WHL Bantam Draft, put up 37 points last season and is putting together a career season so far in 2018-19 with 20 points in 22 games.
Caller, who is also 19 years of age, is heading to his hometown team after putting together 30 points over the last three campaigns in Saskatoon.
He had 26 points last year but just has two goals in 20 games this season.
The Blades originally acquired the second round pick from the Pats at the 2018 trade deadline in a move that saw Ryan Kubic and Cameron Hebig head to the Memorial Cup hosts in exchange for Bryan Lockner (who was later traded to Medicine Hat for Max Gerlach), Tyler Brown and four picks.
Saskatoon got the third round pick from Kelowna last month in exchange for Michael Farren.
Monday’s other trade saw the Regina Pats send overage blueliner Aaron Hyman to the Tri-City Americans for 20-year-old forward Brett Clayton and a third round pick in 2019.
Hyman, who calls Calgary home, is enjoying his best season to date in the WHL as he led the Pats defence in scoring with 24 points in 25 games.
As a result of Monday’s move, Regina’s top defensive scorer is 18-year-old Marco Creta, who has seven points in 20 games.
Clayton, who is from Abbotsford, B.C. and is the younger brother of former WHL forward Chase, has three points in 16 games this season after a 10-point season with the Americans last year.
Sunday’s Scores
- Everett 5 Portland 3 (Martin Fasko-Rudas – Two Goals and One Assist)
Tuesday’s Schedule
- Prince Albert vs. Red Deer – 8 p.m.
- Saskatoon vs. Vancouver – 9 p.m.
- Prince George vs. Tri-City – 9 p.m.
