Jeff Skinner Carolina Hurricanes

Transcription

1 Jeff Skinner Carolina Hurricanes Youngest winner of the Calder Trophy (Rookie of the Year) in NHL history Became the youngest All-Star in the history of any of the four major sports Was the seventh-youngest player in NHL history to score 30 goals Will not turn 21 until his fourth NHL season Was a fi gure skater growing up, winning bronze at the 2004 Canadian junior nationals

2

3 Posted in: Guys, Fashion Dress a Hot Guy for the Red Carpet! Any fans of hot guys out there? How about hot guys who also happen to be awesome athletes? We found the perfect one for you! Hockey star Jeff Skinner is just 19, and was the youngest player in the NHL last year (he plays for the Carolina Hurricanes). Oh, and did we mention that people call him the Justin Bieber of hockey too? Cute. We know. Jeff has a major red carpet moment coming up at the NHL Awards in Las Vegas, and he wanted to make sure to look as hot as possible, so he wants your help! All you need to do: check out these super-cute pics of Jeff (in three different John Varvatos suits from the JV Star USA line) and vote for your favorite below. He promises to wear whatever you pick!

4 Jeff Skinner s dream season hits all-star peak By Nicholas J. Cotsonika, Yahoo! Sports RALEIGH, N.C. It was only four-and-a-half months ago when Jeff Skinner showed up for training camp with the Carolina Hurricanes. The 18-year-old rookie walked into the dressing room one day, turned the corner and almost ran into 31-year-old veteran Erik Cole. You and I might play on a line for the next couple days, Cole whispered. OK, Skinner replied, smiling. That s good. So wake up, Cole barked. Recalled Skinner: I think I laughed. I wasn t sure if it was a joke or he was serious. I just sort of walked over to my sticks and started taping them. I remember on the ice later that day, I was pretty nervous passing him the puck. Wake up? Skinner might need to pinch himself now. He s living a dream. And if he s nervous, he sure isn t showing it. Skinner leads NHL rookies in scoring with 40 points, seven more than anyone else. He s the youngest player ever to be an NHL allstar, after being added as an injury replacement, and he will do it in his home rink in Raleigh on a team led by his Carolina captain, Eric Staal. Some say the All-Star Game has lost its luster. Well, look at it through the eyes of a teenager and the eyes of all his squealing admirers. The kid is so peach-cheeked that he shaved only once every two weeks until he got an electric razor recently. ( I have some hair, he said. It s just not noticeable. ) He had never traveled to a game by air until he made the NHL in the fall. ( The plane s pretty nice, he said.) But his boyish good looks and precocious play have made him so popular, they have prompted comparisons to both Justin Bieber and Sidney Crosby(notes). My 8-year-old granddaughter is absolutely star-struck by him, Hurricanes owner Peter Karmanos said. She s not the only one. Skinner attracted such a long line of autograph seekers at the NHL s Fan Fair on Friday that officials had to cut it off. One girl held up a sign that said simply: PROM? His answer? No comment, Skinner said with a bashful laugh. I didn t answer it, because I m just trying to distance myself from high school right now. I just graduated. I don t want to go back. * * * * * It was only 14 years ago while the captain of the opposing all-star team, Detroit Red Wings defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom(notes), was in his sixth NHL season when Skinner was a 4-year-old playing house hockey in the Toronto area. Skinner s popularity in Raleigh during all-star weekend was evident everywhere the teenager went. The boys had to take turns in goal back then. When Skinner was in net one game, he became bored when the play was at the other end of the ice. So he started skating around, and ended up inside the net and got his mask stuck in the mesh. Sure enough, the puck came his way. I stopped it, Skinner said. But I was in the net, so it was a goal. No more goaltending after that. It was only 12 years ago when one of Skinner s older sisters won a figure skating trophy, and he told his mother he wanted to win one of those, too, and so she signed him up. It was only seven years ago that Skinner won a bronze medal at the Canadian junior national figure skating championships, before giving up the sport. How did figure skating help with hockey? Skinner talked about balance, about finding the absolute edge of that eighth of an inch of steel on that rock-hard ice. But first, he mentioned something else. Work ethic, he said. It was only a year ago that Skinner was a member of the Ontario Hockey League s Kitchener Rangers and NHL Central Scouting had him pegged 47th among North American skaters in the midterm rankings. Even though he finished the season with 50 goals and 90 points in 64 games, he rose only to 34th in the final rankings. I don t know why he would be there, Hurricanes general manager Jim Rutherford said. But in fairness to Central, they do their list prior to the playoffs. Skinner scored 20 goals and 33 points in 20 playoff games. That really put him over the top, Rutherford said. It was only seven months ago that the NHL held the entry draft in Los Angeles. The Hurricanes held the seventh overall pick. They had started to target Skinner as early as January, but didn t have him in their top 10 then. Now they had him in their top three, and despite Central s ranking, they were worried especially about one team ahead of them. The picks came off the board Taylor Hall first overall to the Edmonton Oilers, Tyler Seguin second overall to the Boston Bruins The Hurricanes held their breath. The seventh pick arrived. Skinner was still there. Jeff Skinner s arrival into the NHL has been a result of hard work and a sublime skill set. Plus, he s got a pretty good sense of humor.

5 We knew when we drafted Jeff that we were lucky to get him at that position, Karmanos said. And we knew that he was going to be a special player as he got older. Is he older already? * * * * * It was only six months ago that Skinner was still training with former NHL star Gary Roberts at his home in the Toronto area. Skinner already had been training with Lorne Goldberg, who had been Roberts strength coach since he was 16. Now he was training with Roberts, who had been working with players like the Tampa Bay Lightning s Steven Stamkos, helping turn boys into men at least, helping boys prepare to play with men. When they tested the guys June 1 25 players, all in the NHL or soon to be Skinner had the lowest body fat of the group, just 10 percent. I knew I had an athlete that already got it, Roberts said. Skinner was just a kid, and he was already a skilled scorer. But he didn t need to suffer an injury or suffer through a slump to realize that he had to eat right and bust his butt to make the most of his body and his game. Honestly, I compare him a lot to Crosby, just his lower body and his strength and his commitment, just the way he carries himself, Roberts said. Most guys don t figure out how to be a solid pro until you go through some life lessons, and he s been able to do that. And that s a big reason why Skinner has been able to make such an immediate impact on the ice. Work ethic, Rutherford said. When players get drafted and they come out of college and junior, especially the guys that are high, they don t totally understand how big a jump it is. They dominate at the levels they re at, and so they come to camp not understanding that the task ahead is tougher than they think it is. When he was tested at the combine, his testing was really good. He was well above average as far as strength. But after he got drafted, the biggest thing he did to put himself in position to do what he s doing in the NHL now is, he went with Gary Roberts, worked for the summer, built himself up even stronger. position to the left wing, relieving the rookie of some defensive responsibilities, freeing him to impress with his hands and hockey sense on the top line. It s just your ability to know where the puck s going to be before it gets there, Staal said. He seems to find those areas, and then when it gets there, he s strong on it. He s a strong kid, and he can finish. He s respectful and quiet, but he has a sense of humor and quick smile. He has adjusted well to living on his own, rooming with 24-year-old backup goaltender Justin Peters(notes). ( We split the dishes, Skinner said. We do our own laundry, just so things don t get mixed up. ) He waits patiently when the veterans Montreal Canadiens rookie P.K. Subban board the plane first. ( In the jumped on the Skinner bandwagon by airport, the chairs are more borrowing the Carolina kid s jersey. comfortable than the plane, he said.) He laughs at the vets jokes. I bug him every day, said Staal, who sits next to Skinner in the dressing room. He s pretty easy to make laugh. He makes you feel like you re the funniest guy in the world when you sit with Jeff, because you can say anything to him and he ll giggle. He ll giggle? * * * * * It was only 48 hours before the All-Star Game, and in the convention center in downtown Raleigh, Skinner sat on stage in a temporary theater at the Fan Fair. Music pumped all around. A huge NHL shield loomed behind him. The few rows of seats were filled with fans plus his father, Andrew, snapping shots with his camera from the back row and many more fans stood outside to hear him give an interview. Skinner pointed his toes inward. He rubbed his hands on the pants of his suit. But those were the only clues that this was just an 18-year-old all-star. Amid all the hoopla and attention, he seemed calm and relaxed. He smiled. He told stories. He cracked jokes. He answered questions. Somehow, he could see the blur of his young life and career. It s pretty crazy, he said, how fast it s happening. Skinner s popularity in Raleigh during all-star weekend was evident everywhere the teenager went. older than him. And the fact of the matter is, at this point in time, he s just as strong certainly as the average NHL player is who s much But Skinner is more than physically mature for his age. He s talented. The Hurricanes moved him from his natural center

6 Carolina Hurricanes Jeff Skinner has tough act to follow -- himself ASSOCIATED PRESS TORONTO -- What can Jeff Skinner do for an encore? In one form or another that question will be asked again and again as the NHL s reigning rookie of the year settles into his second season with the Carolina Hurricanes. Skinner exceeded all expectations a year ago by topping 30 goals and established a new standard to live up to in the process. However, those who know the 19-year-old believe he s more than capable of handling the added attention and pressure. This is a young man that has a special mental toughness and approach to the game and I don t see that being an issue, Carolina general manager Jim Rutherford said Wednesday. He s a guy that I least worry about in the way he prepares himself -- I ve learned that real quickly in the short year I ve known him and we ve had him, added Rutherford. I look forward to him getting here for camp and look forward to him carrying on his good season from last year. It s often easier said than done. Buffalo Sabres defenceman Tyler Myers and Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Steve Mason, the two Calder Trophy winners before Skinner, each struggled as sophomores. The Hurricanes are toying with the idea of giving Skinner more responsibility this season. His transition to the NHL was made a little easier with a move from centre to the wing and there s been much internal debate about what position -- and what line -- best suits him. There s so many different conversations and so many different options, said Rutherford. I would suspect at some point that Jeff Skinner and Eric Staal are going to play together -- so they both can t play centre and they can both play the wing. Is this the time to jump in with Eric Staal? It may be, may not be; it may be another year. Even after Carolina fell just short of the playoffs in April, Skinner kept busy. He represented Canada at the IIHF World Hockey Championship in Slovakia and quickly jumped into workouts under Gary Roberts after returning to North America. This week he is among 20 NHLers participating in the Bio- Steel hockey camp as a final tuneup before training camp begins. With the way our season ended last year, it s not hard to get motivated, Skinner said after a yoga session on Wednesday morning. Motivation has rarely been an issue for the soft-spoken teenager, whom Roberts says was the leanest player to work under him last summer. Skinner picked right up where he left off after scoring 31 goals and putting up 63 points in his rookie season. This kid is a wonderful, wonderful young man who does his work every day, said Roberts. He just quietly goes about his business. He hides in the corner of the gym, kind of sneaks in and does his sets and sneaks back out. Added Lightning forward Steven Stamkos, who also trains with Roberts: Sometimes we forget he s in there. His presence was hard to ignore on the ice during a season where he joined Sidney Crosby as the only NHL players to score 30 goals as an 18 year old in the last decade. Roberts believes Skinner is destined to be a star for Carolina for a long time. Those within the Hurricanes organization are mindful of creating more expectations, which is why Rutherford won t speculate on what the young forward is capable of achieving. When you score 30 goals at 18 years old, there s obviously higher levels that he s going to be able to get to, said Rutherford. But what is that and when is it? I don t know. I think that s when we get into putting extreme pressure on a player if someone from our organization were to throw something out like that. With the start of his second training camp fast approaching, Skinner acknowledges that there will be some added pressure this year. However, he expects it to be offset by the experience he s gained over the last 12 months. Thinking back to last summer and all the things that you have going on, you re getting to camp not sure where you re going to be, said Skinner. You re living in a hotel and you re just trying to make the team. This time it s going to be fun going into camp knowing the expectations sort of put on me. Hopefully I rise to the challenge.

7 Skinner figures to be NHL star for a long time Toronto Star As a youngster, NHL all-star and 2011 rookie of the year Jeff Skinner won a bronze medal at the Canadian junior figure skating championships. Strangely, going into the NHL draft, his skating ability was considered an issue. The 19-year-old Toronto-born centre played most of his minor hockey in the Greater Toronto Hockey League, followed by two years with the OHL s Kitchener Rangers before being drafted seventh overall last year by the Carolina Hurricanes. He is the third GTHL graduate to win the Calder Trophy as top rookie. Ken Dryden and Steve Vickers won it in 1972 and 1973, respectively. Skinner doesn t forget his roots. He was one of the pros in the GTHL golf tournament on Monday, kicking off a series of events celebrating its 100th anniversary. Next to his parents, the 5-foot-11, 197-pound sniper says that Rick Vaive and Billy Bowler, who both coached him as a 15-year-old with the Toronto Young Nats, as well as Kevin Donoghue and Kitchener Rangers coach Steven Spott have had an impact on his career. Genes play a definite role in Skinner s success. Both his parents, Elisabeth and Andy Skinner, are lawyers and athletes of the year in law school. He has five siblings all blessed athletically and academically which created a competitive edge needed to thrive in a household that was involved in swimming, figure skating, power skating, gymnastics, piano lessons, dance, phonics, mini-chef sessions, as well as acting. Jeff recalls his role in the movie Death to Smoochy, starring Danny DeVito, Robin Williams and Edward Norton as pretty cool. When I saw where he was ranked (47th in mid-season), I was shocked, said Vaive, the former Maple Leaf captain. He lit it up in Kitchener. He s a great skater with phenomenal balance. His skating didn t look pretty, but you could see he was a natural goal scorer. One report said, His skating ability and first step acceleration will need to come a long way if he is to succeed in the NHL. While another suggested, He s Marian Gaborik without the elite skating ability and a third pointed out, Defence and skating could be a problem in the pros. Skinner explains. I am not the fastest skater and don t look like I have the quicker shorter stride of a smaller player. Figure skating has given me a unique side advantage, he believes, recalling changing skates in the car going from figure skating to hockey. Being on my skates that much has made me very comfortable on the ice. Bowler calls him an extremely bright kid. His drive and determination set him apart, Bowler said. He has insight and ability to process and utilize immediately what you have taught him. I m around a lot of hockey players and guys like him don t come around very often. Spott calls him the purest goal scorer he s had in 15 years. When people see his breakaway speed, that eliminated any (fears) of his skating ability, Spott said. It is his tenacity and strength on the puck. He was first in the weight room and last off the ice. No one worked harder than Jeff. Carolina coach Paul Maurice talks of his balance, his ability to move around, to change directions, to get out of (difficult) places and his edge control. He does unusual things with his skates. It s his ability to get out of the way. Dan Cameron spotted Skinner s potential as an 8-years-old and recruited him for the Toronto Junior Canadiens. Jeff could spin on the ice in his hockey skates and people liked to stop and watch him, Cameron remembered. His dad calls him humble, reserved, introspective and very competitive. Jeff never said he wanted to be a hockey player, Andy Skinner said. He was always a good student. We put emphasis on education and arranged summer courses for him. He graduated high school with his peers and is taking on-line university courses. Jeff remembers as a kid, it was all about fun. My parents were huge in my life... my biggest fans, he said. They ve done so much for me... sacrificed everything. The biggest adjustment for me in the NHL was living away from home. My roommate, Justin Peters, was a big help and showed me the ropes. Skinner isn t resting on his laurels. He spent this summer working out two hours a day, six times a week, plus onice skills development two or three times a week and yoga while preparing for next season. And Maurice is looking forward to his return. It is special to come into the NHL and score 30-plus goals, Maurice said. It usually takes three, four or even five years to develop. Everyone down here has fallen in love with him. He is grounded and he looks like he s having fun.

8 JEFF SKINNER 53 Center/Right Wing Shoots Left 5'11" 193 lbs. Acquired: 2010 NHL Entry Draft Team: Carolina 5/16/92 Markham, Ont. Drafted: Carolina 2010 (1-7-1) HIGHLIGHTS NHL FIRSTS: NHL HIGHS: Game: 10/7/10; 4-3 W at MIN in Helsinki, Finland Goals: 2-5x (Last: 3/30/11; 6-2 W vs. MTL) Point: 10/8/10; 2-1 SO W vs. MIN in Helsinki, Finland (assist) Assists: 2-3x (Last: 4/8/11; 6-1 W at ATL) Goal: 10/20/10; 4-3 L at LA (Bernier) Points: 3-5x (Last: 4/8/11; 6-1 W at ATL) Penalty Min: 4 (12/19/10; 4-0 W at OTT) Goal Streak: 2 games-5x (Last: 4/6/11-4/8/11: 2g) Assist Streak: 3 games (11/20/10-11/26/10: 3a) Point Streak: 5 games (1/7/11-1/15/11: 5g, 3a) CAREER STATS REGULAR SEASON PLAYOFFS YEAR TEAM LEAGUE GP G A TP PIM GP G A TP PIM Toronto Nats GTHL Kitchener OHL (a) Kitchener OHL (b) Carolina NHL Hurricanes/NHL Totals (1 Season) (a) June 25, 2010 Selected by the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. First Hurricanes pick, seventh overall, first round. (b) Sept. 21, 2010 Signed by the Carolina Hurricanes to a three-year, entry-level contract. VS. NHL CLUB GP G A PTS PIM ANA BOS BUF CGY CAR CHI COL CBJ DAL DET EDM FLA LA MIN MTL NSH NJ NYI NYR OTT PHI PHX PIT STL SJ TB TOR VAN WSH WPG PERSONAL Jeff is single and spends his summers in his hometown of Markham, Ontario He is the second-youngest of six hockey-playing siblings, including four siblings who played college hockey: Andrea (Cornell), Jennifer (Harvard), Erica (Carleton) and Ben (Wilfrid Laurier) His youngest sister, Jillian, plays junior for the Mississauga Chiefs Jeff was also a competitive figure skater growing up, winning a bronze medal at the 2004 Skate Canada Junior Nationals He began playing hockey when he was 3 years old, and his first team was in the Markham house league He cites his family as the biggest influence on his career, and his favorite player growing up was Mats Sundin Jeff s charity involvement includes Head Strong, a brain injury awareness organization His favorite television show is Friends, favorite movie is 300 and favorite book is The Scarlet Pimpernel He enjoys country music, and his first job was as a newspaper carrier Jeff s favorite meal is chicken parm, favorite website is YouTube.com and favorite video game is NHL 11 He enjoys watching football and is also a fan of Roger Federer and the Toronto Blue Jays The person, past or present, that he would most like to meet is Terry Fox His favorite former teammate is Gabriel Landeskog Jeff wore 23 as a kid, but switched to 53 at the suggestion of his mom and brother when another player already had 23 in Kitchener His favorite road city is Toronto and favorite road arena is Air Canada Centre His most memorable hockey moments were being drafted by the Hurricanes and scoring his first NHL goal, each of which happened at Staples Center in Los Angeles His favorite thing about playing in the NHL is playing with guys he grew up watching. 40 / MEDIA GUIDE

9 SEASON Completed his first NHL season with the Hurricanes Won the Calder Trophy as the NHL s top rookie, becoming the first player in franchise history and the youngest player in NHL history to win the award Was also voted by his peers as the Sporting News Rookie of the Year Ranked first among NHL rookies in points (63), second in assists (32) and third in goals (31) Was tied for second among rookies in power-play assists (12) and power-play points (18) Led all NHL skaters in penalties drawn (45) Was the youngest player to spend the entire season in the NHL Led Carolina in third-period goals (13) Carolina was when he scored a goal Had a three-point game with a goal and two assists at ATL (4/8) Scored his 30th goal of the season vs. DET (4/6), becoming the youngest player in franchise history and the seventh-youngest player in NHL history to reach 30 goals (18 years, 325 days) Netted a pair of goals, assisted on Pitkanen s goal and was (+4) vs. MTL (3/30) Scored his 27th goal of the season and netted the shootout game-winner at WSH (3/29) Scored his 25th goal of the season and earned the primary assist on Pitkanen s overtime game-winner vs. NYI (3/18) Was named NHL Rookie of the Month for January, after tallying 14 points (9g, 5a) and a plus-6 rating in 14 games Earned an assist for Team Staal in the 2011 NHL All-Star Game at the RBC Center (1/30), as he became the youngest All-Star in NHL history (18 years, 259 days), breaking the record set by Steve Yzerman (18 years, 267 days) in 1984 On 1/26, was selected to play in the 2011 NHL All-Star Game as an injury replacement Had his ninth multi-point game of the season with a goal and an assist vs. NYR (1/20) Netted the game-deciding goal in the shootout and assisted on Ruutu s goal vs. CGY (1/11) On 1/11, was named one of 12 NHL rookies to participate in the Honda NHL SuperSkills competition during the 2011 All-Star Weekend in Raleigh Netted a pair of goals, assisted on Cole s CAREER Is in his second NHL season with the Hurricanes Signed a three-year, entry-level contract with Carolina on 9/21/10 Drafted seventh overall by the Hurricanes in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft Represented Canada at the 2011 IIHF World Championship in Slovakia, where he ranked third on the team in scoring with six points (3g, 3a) despite being the youngest player in the tournament Also played for Canada at the 2009 U-18 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament, leading the tournament with six goals, including two in the gold medal game against Russia Played for the goldmedal-winning Team Ontario at the 2009 World Under-17 Challenge, scoring the game-winning goal against Russia in the championship final : Totaled 109 points (65g, 44a) in 56 games for the Toronto Young Nats, prior to beginning his major junior career : Notched 27 goals and 24 assists (51 points) in 63 games as a 16-year-old for Kitchener Ranked fourth among OHL rookies in goals and 10th among rookies in points Led Kitchener in goals and was third among Rangers skaters in points : Ranked second in the OHL in goals (50) and tied for seventh in the league in scoring (90 points) in his second OHL season Was tied for second in the league in power-play goals (21) and fourth in the OHL in game-winning goals (9) Was the only Canadian Hockey League (QMJHL, OHL, WHL) player in his draft class to score 50 regular-season goals, game-winner and was (+3) at FLA (1/7) Scored the game-winner and earned an assist on Jokinen s power-play goal at BOS (11/26) Earned his first career multi-assist game and netted his sixth goal of the season vs. EDM (11/9) Earned his second multi-point game with a goal and an assist vs. NYI (11/3) Had his first NHL multi-goal and multi-point game with two goals and the primary assist on Erik Cole s game-winner at NYR (10/29) Beat Jonathan Bernier for his first NHL goal at 14:39 of the second period at LA (10/20) At 18 years, 157 days old, he became the youngest player in franchise history to score a goal, breaking the mark held by Paul Lawless (18 years, 181 days) Was just the second 18-year-old to score a goal in a Hurricanes sweater (Eric Staal, 10/23/03) Took his first NHL penalty (interference) at OTT (10/14) Earned his first NHL point with an assist on Ruutu s goal, and scored the game-winning goal in the shootout vs. MIN (10/8) With his assist, became the youngest player in franchise history to earn a point (18 years, 145 days), breaking the mark set by Paul Lawless (18 years, 172 days) Became the third-youngest player in NHL history to score in the shootout when he tallied the game-winner against Niklas Backstrom (10/8) Only younger shootout scorers were Sam Gagner (18 years, 76 days) and Sidney Crosby (18 years, 95 days) Was the 13th player in NHL history to score in the shootout before netting a regulation NHL goal Made his NHL debut against MIN (10/7) in the first game of the 2010 NHL Premiere in Helsinki Longest goal streak: 2 games (11/6-11/9: 2g, 3a; 1/7-1/9: 3g, 1a; 1/13-1/15: 2g, 1a; 3/29-3/30: 3g, 1a; 4/6-4/8: 2g, 2a) Longest assist streak: 3 games (11/20-11/26: 1g, 3a) Longest point streak: 5 games (1/7-1/15: 5g, 3a) Multi-goal games: 5 (last: 3/30 vs. MTL: 2g, 1a) Multi-assist games: 3 (last: 4/8 at ATL: 1g, 2a) Multi-point games: 14 (last: 4/8 at ATL: 1g, 2a). and was the first Kitchener Ranger to score 50 goals in 23 years Played for Team OHL at the Subway Super Series, netting a pair of goals against Russia and earning Player of the Game honors Was named MVP of Team Orr at the 2010 Top Prospects Game after tallying a goal and an assist, and was crowned the winner of the creative breakaway skills competition Also skated in the 2010 OHL All-Star Game, netting a goal Earned a season-high, nine-game point streak from 2/5-2/25 (8g, 8a) Had 15 multi-goal efforts, including two hat tricks (10/30 vs. Erie, 2/20 at Owen Sound) Notched two four-point games: 12/18 vs. Guelph (2g, 2a) and 1/23 vs. Erie (1g, 3a) Netted the game-winner with 11 seconds remaining in the season finale vs. Owen Sound (3/12) for his 50th goal of the season Ranked second among league skaters in points (33) and tied for first in goals (20) during the 2010 OHL playoffs, helping Kitchener advance to the Western Conference Final before falling to eventual Memorial Cup champion Windsor in seven games Was also first among league skaters in playoff power-play goals Earned his first career playoff hat trick with three goals in Game 4 vs. London (4/7) Was held off the score sheet in just three of Kitchener s 20 postseason contests Completed his junior hockey career with 141 points (77g, 64a) and 106 penalty minutes in 127 regular-season games and 33 points (20g, 13a) in 20 career OHL playoff games MEDIA GUIDE / 41