Jiricek has big scoring week; McIsaac announces future plans; Ralph, Michigan State head to NCAA Tournament with Mayich, Clarkson University eliminated; Peterson scored pair, including a SH beauty for Springfield
Adam Jiricek continues to play at better than a point per game clip this season for Brantford of the Ontario Hockey League.
But for the first time since early January, the first round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft (No. 16) by the St. Louis Blues prospect, the defenseman has scored in back-to-back games, and put up five points in total.
Jiricek started things off with a goal and two assists in a 5-2 win at home against Niagara on Wednesday, before helping the Bulldogs claim the OHL's regular-season championship on Friday with a goal and an assist in a 6-5 win over North Bay:
The Bulldogs, who finished the regular season with 106 points (48-10-8-2), sat Jiricek on Sunday in a meaningless season finale, so as they heads to the playoffs, Jiricek finished the regular season with with 59 points (19 goals, 40 assists) in 55 games and a plus-31 rating.
In his final 12 games played, Jiricek collected 16 points (six goals, 10 assists) and gives Brantford of making a long run in the OHL playoffs and perhaps move on to the Memorial Cup May 22-31 in Kelowna, British Columbia.
* Adam Jecho -- The 2024 third-round pick helped the Edmonton Oil Kings of the Western Hockey League end their season with a bang, a three-game winning streak, and the forward had a hand in all the wins.
He had a goal and an assist in a 5-1 win over Calgary last Wednesday:
Jecho assisted on what turned out to be the game-winning goal Firday in a 2-1 win over Lethbridge, then scored his 10th goal of the season in a 7-1 thumping of the Hitmen again in Sunday's regular-season finale:
The Oil Kings finished third in the Eastern Conference (45-18-3-2) and will open Round 1 of the best-of-7 against Saskatoon.
Jecho finished the season with 36 points (10 goals, 26 assists) in 47 games, a season dealing with injuries, including a hand injury that forced him to miss the 2026 World Junior Championship.
* Will McIsaac -- The 2024 fifth-round pick and defenseman first made news this past week when he announced his intentions to attend the University of Connecticut next year, then helped his current squad, Spokane of the WHL, reach the WHL playoffs on Saturday when the Chiefs ripped Tri-City, 6-1, and McIsaac scored in that game that gave him a four-game point streak (one goal, four assists).
McIsaac, who finished the regular season with 34 points (eight goals, 26 assists) in 66 games, helped the Chiefs gain the sixth and final seed from the Western Conference (36-30-2-0).
* Dmitry Buchelnikov -- The 2022 second-round pick of the Detroit Red Wings, acquired in the trade that sent defenseman Justin Faulk to Detroit on March 6, (4:20 mark) scored last Monday for CSKA Moskow in a 3-2 loss to Sibir Novosibirsk, facing fellow Blues farmhand Mikhail Abramov:
The 22-year-old finished the regular season with 25 points (14 goals, 11 assists) in 44 games and positioned CSKA as the fourth seed in the West against Matvei Korotky (2023 seventh round) and SKA St. Petersburg, starting on Monday.
Other KHL playoff matchups have Eastern Conference matchups and sixth-seeded Traktor (Arseny Koromyslov, fourth round, 2022) against No. 3 Ak Bars starting also on Monday, and top-seeded Metalurg (Mikhail Fyodorov, fifth round, 2025) taking on eighth-seeded Sibir starting Tuesday.
* Dylan Peterson -- The 2020 third-round pick highlighted Springfield of the American Hockey League on Saturday when the forward scored twice in a 5-3 win at Belleville.
He would score Springfield's second shorthanded goal of the first period for a 2-0 lead and it was a beauty:
And then there was a net front finish for a 4-2 lead, putting Peterson up to 21 points (11 goals, 10 assists) in 48 games:
* Aleksanteri Kaskimaki -- The 2022 third-round pick scored the opening goal on Saturday, this shorthanded, backhand effort to give him 33 points (15 goals, 18 assists) in 53 games:
* Juraj Pekarcik -- The 2023 third-round pick also got in on the fun Saturday with a goal and an assist, including this backside goal for 31 points (nine goals, 22 assists) in 59 games this season:
* Ralph's season continues, Mayich's ends in NCAA -- Colin Ralph moves on, while fellow defenseman Matthew Mayich saw his season end.
Colin Ralph and Michigan State will have their season continue when the Spartans (25-8-2), seeded third, play in the Worcester, MA Regional and will take on No. 14 Connecticut (20-12-5) on Thursday at 1:30 p.m. (ET) on ESPN2.
As for Mayich and Clarkson University, who upset No. 7 Quinnipiac last weekend winning that series 2-0, had their season end at 18-17-3 with a 4-0 loss to Dartmouth College (23-7-4) on Friday in the ECAC semifinals in Lake Placid, N.Y.
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.