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Junior Scoring Leaders Bust in SHL - Printable Version

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- Nike - 07-02-2014

To Boom or To Bust:
Leading scorers in the SMJHL and how their careers in the SHL ended up.

For many seasons, SHL fanatics have been debating the success of their teams picks. They have looked incredibly hard at players performing in the SMJHL and tried to project which players will be stars for their clubs. Every year, a single player must lead juniors in scoring. In some cases, players in juniors have scored more than a goal per game or amassed nearly two points per game. These offensive numbers are simply off the charts in respect to what fans often see in SHL season totals. However, it is a generally perceived notion, that SMJHL success does not directly translate to success in the SHL. To look at this, we have decided to take the leading scorer of the SMJHL for the last 8 seasons and discuss their performance and their results as they transitioned to the SHL. We assume that most SHL enthusiasts and SMJHL readers alike will find the following very interesting and insightful. The opinions regarding these leading scorer’s performances at the SHL level are both objective and subjective accounts by me, the author. Please feel free to make your own assumptions as you go along and agree or refute the claims in the comments section below.


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S18- Janis Vitols (Detroit Falcons)
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The Performance

Vitols finished the 18th season of the SMJHL with less than a quarter of his points coming from goals. In his campaign with the Detroit Falcons, Vitols amassed 46 points in the 40 game SMJHL season and notched 36 assists. Vitols averaged 1.2 points per 20 minutes of ice time and was a huge piece of the S18 Falcons powerplay. He amassed a league high 141 minutes of power play time over the course of the season.

The SHL Results

It is certainly too soon to tell whether this season’s top scorer will pan out into an SHL success story. But for some reason, I don’t see the career in the SHL ever really panning out for Vitols Wink

S17- Esa Anrikkanen (Detroit Falcons)
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The Performance

Esa led the SMJHL with 38 points in season 17. With a league high 22 goals, the Falcons were the beneficiary of a pure scorer. Esa was also the leading shot taker in the SMJHL during this scoring campaign. Anrikkanen also snatched up 16 assists playing to a -7 rating. Anrikkanen ate up a ton of minutes for Detroit which contributed to a .93 points per 20 minutes statistic.

The SHL Results

Esa was selected 4th overall by the Calgary Dragons in the S18 SHL Entry Draft. Jhonas Skarsgaard, Vidrick Onoprienko and Thomas King were all taken in advance of Anrikkanen on draft day. In Esa’s first full season of SHL play, he suffered a small dip in production, but such growing pains can be expected from a rookie. The sample size is small, but putting up 7 goals and 8 assists in a rookie season is nothing to scoff at. The thing that held Esa’s production back the most was the strength of SHL goaltenders. Esa only managed to score on around 10% of his shots (a reduction from the figures he saw in juniors). It is likely that Esa’s SMJHL success however will not overshadow a lack luster career. I expect Anrikkanen to become a top 10 scorer in the SHL in the next few seasons with a consistent forward trajectory. Again, it might be a little too soon to tell, but Esa’s junior success does not seem to be a fluke.

S16- Janis Krumins (Montreal Impact)
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The Performance

In season 16, Janis Krumins put up over a point per game. Krumins amassed 42 points with 15 goals and an impressive 27 assists in 40 games with the Impact. Janis averaged more than 22 points per game and was the beneficiary of 5 power play points over the course of the season. Averaging just under 1 point per 20 minutes of ice time, Krumins proved that endurance is not really an issue in the SMJHL as a forward.

The SHL Results
Well, for Krumins draft day was far from expected. Krumins fell to the second round and was selected by the Los Angeles Panthers with the 21st overall pick. However, very few would argue that SHL GMs made a mistake passing up on Krumins. The S17 SHL draft was reasonably weak. A real draft winner has yet to come out, but Salmon, Stransky, and other top picks have proven that there might have been reason to believe Krumin’s SMJHL performance was simply a fluke performance. Doesn’t look like this SMJHL leading scorer will be challenging the likes of Kyle Keenan for the league’s leading scorer any time soon.

S15- Mikhail Krivokrasov (Vancouver Whalers)
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The Performance

Mikhail was the SMJHL’s leading scorer for season 15. The Whaler’s top performer tallied a whopping 58 total points with 26 goals and a staggering 32 assists in 40 contests. This is the biggest point total we’ve seen so far! Krivokrasov had nearly half as many power play points as the SMJHL’s 2nd point getter, Jesse Jacek-Kix, but managed to win the points battle by 3 with 7 more goals in the regular season. While not great in the faceoff dot, Mikhail was offensively thunderstruck putting up a 1.3 points in every 20 minutes spent on the ice.

The SHL Results

When Mikhail led the SMJHL in scoring, he was in his second season of juniors. After being drafted 2nd overall by the Edmonton Blizzard in the S15 SHL entry draft, Krivokrasov returned to Vancouver to put on a clinic in the SMJHL. This past season, on a seemingly stacked Blizzard team that won the President’s Trophy, Krivokrasov added to the team scoring amassing 24 points. 13 goals and 11 assists later, Mikhail might finally be cracking the potential he showed in his second season in juniors. This is another case where the performance in juniors may be a sign of things to come.

S14- Daniel Merica (Prince George Firebirds)
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The Performance

Merica took Krivo’s numbers and made them look SILLY. Merica put up an otherworldly 60 points in just 40 SMJHL games after being sent down for a second season in juniors. That’s a point and a half per game folks. With 28 goals and 32 assists, Merica was a junior talent for the ages. He impressed with nearly 1.5 points per 20 minutes he spent on the ice and really drew attention with his outspoken attitude. Generally, such antics would not be received well in junior hockey, but when you produce the way Merica did for Prince George, you can certainly talk a little louder. Merica put up 15 power play points and was a huge force driving the Firebirds’ special teams game.

The SHL Results

Well…we really got an opportunity to see this young scorer’s potential come to fruition this season didn’t we. Merica was a household name as he helped carry the Seattle Riot to the Challenge Cup. However, the success didn’t always come so easy.

Daniel Merica was selected in the second round of the S14 SHL Entry Draft. An astounding 13 players heard their names called before the SMJHL’s S14 leading scorer was called upon, which wasn’t surprising considering Merica’s average performance in the season preluding that draft. However, at the time of his drafting, Seattle was still located in Las Vegas and they were still the Kings. A lot has changed since then and Merica has proved that some of those picks before him (a draft that included the likes of Chuck Winnfield, Marian Potoczny, Carter O’Callahan and Steven Jalopski) weren’t necessarily the better choice.

To prove to Seattle fans that his franchise had made the right decision, Merica went to work. This season Merica was second in team scoring, losing out only to the ever famous Chris McZehrl. In S18, Merica notched 17 goals and 24 assists for a solid 41 points. Finally, we have some concrete proof that SMJHL scorers can succeed in the SHL. Not only that, but Merica proved that he learned a little something from his scoring in juniors. He learned how to score in clutch situations. With TWO game 7 clinching goals in this year’s Challenge Cup playoffs, we saw an SMJHL super scorer, become an SHL superstar.

S13- Josh Hockridge (Detriot Falcons)
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The Performance
Hockridge put up 44 points in 40 outings for the Falcons in Season 13. 20 goals and 24 assists helped make up the league’s top scorer’s statistical profile. Hockridge took only 2 minor penalties all season long and was consistently on the ice in a position to get his shot off. Hockridge got 180 shots on junior goaltending and scored at a very low 11% rate. He sucked up an ENORMOUS amount of icetime averaging 24.4 minutes per game contributing to a lower .90 minutes per 20 rating than we have seen from most top scoreres.

The SHL Results

If you are saying, “Who?” you certainly aren’t the only one. Hockridge never managed to reach the SHL and is further proof that the leading scorer in the SMJHL does not always pan out to be an SHL contributor. Hockridge faded into the gray area that many SMJHL stars find themselves in. We wonder where he is today…

S12- Erik Lehner (Chicago Hitmen)
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The Performance

Lehner was the SMJHL’s top point getter and the top goal scorer in Season 12. Lehner put up 19 goals, just one above Jordan Bartow and Christian Bauer. Lehner added onto his 19 goals with 25 assists to bring his point total 4 points above the point per game mark. In 40 contests, Lehner ripped off 183 shots and played a crazy 24.04 minutes per game as a forward. Even more astounding, Lehner wasn’t even the most used forward in juniors this season; that distinction belonged to the Montreal Impact’s Nike Kickz, who lead ALL skaters in time on ice…something we rarely see from a forward. Lehner had 14 power play points garnishing a league leading 6 power play goals. Lehner was the star of the game more times than not, as he scooped up 8 first star awards in 40 contests. That’s something the statistics don’t say. Lehner was the standout performer in a fifth of his games!

The SHL Results
Lehner’s career has been quite up and down in the SHL but it looks like he has found his groove and is steadily on the climb. Lehner was selected with the second to last pick of the first round by the Calgary Dragons at 11th overall, in a draft that featured players like Kovalenko, Faulkner, Velevra, Kickz and Kylrad. After some years of obscurity, Lehner was moved to New England where his career seemed to pick back up. Lehner was part of Minnesota’s run to the Challenge cup this season and was a solid contributor for the Chiefs. He grabbed 12 goals and 11 assists for just under a half a point per game. What Lehner brings to SHL teams today is reliability more than anything. He is a solid 2nd or 3rd line player who still has some potential to grow, although the window seems to be closing. Only time will tell if Lehner will be considered an SMJHL burnout or a top performer that took his time to take the step to exceeding at the SHL level.

S11- Jrue Harden (Montreal Impact) & Ace Faulkner (Detroit Falcons)

FOR THE FIRST TIME…WE HAVE A TIE



Harden:
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The Performance

Jrue Harden has to be one of the most feared scorers in SMJHL history. The forward ended up notching 41 goals and 32 assists in his very first season in juniors. The man scored more than a goal per game, that’s god-like. One would normally think that a 73 point performance in a 40 game season would give him sole possession of top scoring honors, but Harden had to compete for the title down to the very last day of the season, at which point, Faulkner caught him and the two shared the title.

The SHL Results

Well, it looked quite promising for Harden at the beginning of his SHL career. Harden was selected 3rd overall by the Las Vegas Kings in the Season 12 SHL entry draft. From there, the forward never seemed to pan out. Harden has bounced around a bit since and landed as a minimally effective piece for the Manhattan Rage this past season. In 50 games, the 3rd liner had only 4 goals and a grand total of 11 points. It’s fair to say that Harden has reached his full potential as an SHL bust. He was destined to be a great star in the SHL after a standout season in juniors, but as the trend seems to dictate, Harden faded away.

Faulkner
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The Performance

Faulkner, like Harden amassed 73 points in only 40 regular season games. Both of these gents smashed the previous point per game figure held by Daniel Merica. Approaching the seemingly impossible 2 points per game, Faulkner relied more heavily on his teammates scoring ability with 43 assists, but still managed to put up a large 30 goals. While Harden carried a heavy +53 rating on the season, Faulkner finished at only +19. Take from that what you will, but that seems to suggest that the core of players around these two players was very different. I would venture to guess that Faulkner tended to “carry the load” for Detroit and really made the team all it was that season.

The SHL Results

Faulkner was selected 2nd overall in the Season 12 SHL draft by the Hartford Hydras. In the time since, the team has rebranded and relocated to New England and not without some bumps in the road. The one constant through the entire transformation was Faulkner. He was the face of the franchise as they moved north. While always a first line difference maker, Faulkner was never the biggest stat maker in the SHL. He had fine seasons scoring wise, but never touched his junior numbers. However, it is fair to say that some of the success Ace found in juniors really translated to the professional level and he made a career that’s nothing to scoff at. Faulkner finished up his final season in the SHL this past season. And for the first time in his career, he dawned a jersey that didn’t have a Wolfpack or Hydra logo on the front. Faulkner spent the season with the underperforming Los Angeles Panthers and had an underperforming season himself putting up only 25 points. 14 goals is a small number compared to some of the performances Faulkner has put on in the past, but is evidence that age might finally have caught up with the center. It was a perfect time to hang them up the skates for good for the S11 SMJHL leading scorer.

S10- Simo Hayha (Vancouver Whalers)
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The Performance

Hayha had a fantastic first season of juniors with the Whalers. The young forward picked up an astonishing 62 points notching 18 goals and 44 assists. Hayha beat out Finnegan Larsson in the season point race by only 4 points. The 4 points that put him over the edge were his goals scored. Hayha played a very conservative amount of minutes for the Whalers and surprisingly only managed 8 power play points during his 60+ point campaign. Hayha was a monster in the faceoff circle taking home nearly 54% of over 1000 faceoffs. He managed to put up points at a 1.47 rate per 20 minutes and really proved his worth on the ice.

The SHL Results

Hayha, like many others, never saw the transition from juniors into the big leagues as an easy one. Hayha was the first overall draft pick of the Manhattan Rage at the start of the S11 SHL draft in Minnesota. Hayha came in a draft littered with talent like Donini, Dave Smith, Verminski, Cant and even this season’s league leading scorer, Kyle Keenan. While Keenan was dominating the SHL in Edmonton with 60 points in the 50 game SHL season, Hayha was continuing to fade into obscurity on Texas’ roster. Hayha did not manage to put up a single goal in this season’s campaign and notched only 13 assists and a final -4 rating as Texas fell short of the playoffs. Hayha has found some success in the SHL throwing his body around and blocking shots as he did both very successfully this season. (148 hits, 75 SBs) And although he has found the success working in his own end, it doesn’t quite match up to the offensive prowess and instincts seen in his junior days. I think it would be fair to say that Hayha, like many others on this list, never quite reached the ceiling one would expect looking at his junior scoring.

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Of the 10 SMJHL leading scorers looked at in this article, only 3 of them had careers that were near the expectations that followed their top performing seasons. It is fair to think that SMJHL scoring does not necessarily translate to SHL success. And although the topic has been debated for a long time, this is simply a small piece of evidence suggesting that these assertions might be true. One must be very objective in assessing the total career of these young stars to define their careers, ultimately, as successes or failures. However, this small look in to the careers of these leading scores gives some insight into what GMs can truly expect from junior performances. Let us know what you think in the comments section and we will look forward to analyzing other top point getters as they make their transitions into the SHL ranks in the future.

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- Ace - 07-02-2014

Nice read buddy, thanks for the nice words about Ace.

- FourFour - 07-02-2014

Enjoyed reading that, good work Nike

- Merica - 07-02-2014

Great work. Thanks for the kind words!

- artermis - 07-02-2014

[Image: lloyd-300x300.jpg]

- Steelhead77 - 07-03-2014

Really enjoyed this, great work Nike!

Thanks Smile

- Schultzy - 07-03-2014

Pivonka >

- Harry - 07-03-2014

Jrue Harden Smile)Smile)Smile)Smile)