Scoring In The Mountains

I had mentioned former Mount Royal Cougars forward Ryley Lindgren the other day when it came to him notching his first professional hockey goal with the ECHL's Tulsa Oilers. While that's big for the 26 year-old, consistent scoring and play is the way that one keeps a roster spot in the ECHL, so there was hope that we'd see Ryley score a few more goals with Tulsa to cement himself as part of the Oilers. It was well-known during his Canada West days that he was a streaky scorer where, once he got hot, pucks would bulge twine often, and that happened quite a bit at the Canadian university level whether he was the goal scorer or the setup man. Would that happen in Tulsa after he got his first?

I can tell you, though, that those hopes were fulfilled nicely as Lindgren's first week in Oklahoma went extremely well! Lindgren went on a bit of a streak after scoring against Wichita as he'll enter tomorrow's game on a three-game goal and point streak that has seen him score three goals and add an assist in helping Tulsa take five of six points from Wichita over those three games!

Perhaps more importantly to hockey fans in and around Tulsa, the Oilers are now tied for fourth-place in the ECHL's Mountain Division, and sit just two points back of second-place Wichita as they look to continue their winning ways against the Central Division-leading Indy Fire on Thursday. It'll be a tough three-game set against the Fire, but taking points of the 12-5-1 Fire would be indicative of a team coming together after a slow start. Earning points will also get them a little closer to Wichita, but the confidence earned in beating on the ECHL's top teams may prove handy for a mid-December matchup with the third-place Kansas City Mavericks who sit one point up on Tulsa.

The team that leads the ECHL's Mountain Division with a 13-2-1 record are the Idaho Steelheads, and you may recall that former Canada West player was traded there earlier this season. Former Saskatchewan Huskies forward Zane Franklin was dealt from Reading to Idaho, and it seems he's settling into his scoring ways once more as well after getting his bearings in Boise.

At the time of the trade, Franklin had a goal and four helpers in four games for Reading, but he's got his mojo going with the Steelheads as he's scored three goals and added three assists in 11 games with Idaho since the trade, and has helped Idaho to a 7-2-1 record over their last ten games including the game-winner over the Allen Americans, one of Franklin's former ECHL teams, in Friday's 5-1 victory. Idaho's acquisition for Franklin seems to be working out nicely for both player and team.

What makes this trade work well for both Idaho and Franklin is that Franklin is one of many scorers on the Steelheads' roster. He's tired for fifth in team scoring which is great, but it also illustrates how deep that Idaho is when it comes to the plethora of scoring they have. Make no mistakes that Franklin is a good offensive player with hustle on the defensive side of the puck, but his strength is his offensive ability. He didn't score for a week after arriving in Boise, but the last three weeks have seen him come alive again and that will benefit the Steelheads all season long.

Another player who is finding his stride in the ECHL's Mountain Division is Utah's Keaton Jameson. The former Manitoba Bisons forward started the season off slowly, but he's rounding into form that we saw at the Canada West level during his time there. He has a pair of goals and an assist in 15 games he's played, but he's found those points recently as he helped Utah break out of a five-game slide that saw them slide down the standings.

Jameson tied the game on Saturday night against the Trois-Rivieres Lions at 4-4 with his goal in the third period en route to a 5-4 comeback victory in the third period to snap the losing streak as he's skating in key situations for the Grizzlies. His other goal came a week earlier against Idaho to make it a 1-1 game in an evential 3-2 loss to the division's top team, but Jameson looked dangerous all night. His three shots tied for third-most on the team in that game.

Utah has seen some struggles finding the back of the net this season. Their leading goal-scorer has just five goals in 16 games and only one player has more than ten points. Utah has only scored four-or-more goals in a game five times this season, so they need to push the puck down the ice a little more and get shots. If Jameson's heating up, he certainly has that ability, and his scoring would be a big boost to a team that scores more by committee as opposed to great individual plays. Not surprisingly, Utah is one of the teams with whom Tulsa is tied with at fourth-place in the Mountain Division.

I'd like to add something into this article about Utah's James Shearer, but the former Calgary Dinos defender has been out most of the season with an injury. Getting him back would certainly help Utah's fortunes as well, but he's been limited to three games and has yet to record a point this season.

Another Dinos defenceman has been playing all season, though, but his team and his own personal success haven't been as exciting. Ryan Gagnon, who patroled the blue line for the University of Calgary, joined the Allen Americans this season on a deal, but the Americans have struggled to a 5-8-1 record which places them in seventh-place in the Mountain Division, five points back of the Oilers, Grizzlies, and Rapid City Rush. Like Utah, goal scoring seems to be the problem for Allen right now as they're dead-last in the division with just 39 goals in 14 games.

Gagnon has played in all 14 games thus far, but he has yet to record a point this season which seems hard to believe considering how proficient he was with the Dinos. It's also a bit eyebrow-raising to see Gagnon leading all Allen defenders with 25 PIMs, but you might start to see where Allen's weakness is as defensive scoring is rather low. Collectively, all of Allen's defenders have just four goals and 12 assists with Colton Saucerman and Dalton Skelly having 12 of the 16 points scored from the blue line. That's not good.

While there are other factors that have led to Allen's cellar dwelling in the Mountain Division, getting Ryan Gagnon involved in Allen's offence would be a good first step in possibly improving their outlook. He has decent vision, a good shot, and uses both to setup teammates for both good looks and rebounds depending on what he chooses to do with the puck. Having him with zero points through the first 14 games isn't what we had come to expect from the former captain of the Dinos.

No matter when you look in the ECHL's Mountain Division, it seems there's a former Canada West star playing for a team out there. Keep your eyes on these players as the ECHL playoffs near as they may play big roles in helping their teams make the playoffs, win rounds, and capture the elusive Kelly Cup that every ECHL teams wants.

Maybe one of them will be the hockey hero that makes that a reality!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!