Three Islanders invited to NHL Combine

Filip Chlapik is ranked No. 18 (North American) by Central Scouting. Photo by Darrell Theriault.

A trio of Charlottetown Islanders players, and NHL draft prospects, have been invited to the 2015 NHL Combine.

Forwards Daniel Sprong, Filip Chlapik and Kameron Kielly will participate in the NHL Scouting Combine which takes place June 1-6 in Buffalo, N.Y.

The three forwards are all ranked by the NHL's Central Scouting for the upcoming 2015 Draft in Sunrise, Fla.

In an earlier article published on NHL.com, NHL Director of Central Scouting Dan Marr said Central Scouting selects the first 70-75 players and then the NHL clubs and scouting directors vote on the remaining players.

"Our goal is to have players at the Combine that the teams want to interview."

MacCallum involved in Junior A trade

Daryl MacCallum. Photo by Darrell Theriault.

 Charlottetown Islanders goaltender Daryl MacCallum had his Junior A rights traded to the Yarmouth Mariners of the Maritime Hockey League today.

The 19-year-old, Charlottetown, P.E.I., native was involved in a six-player trade between the Yarmouth Mariners and the South Shore Lumberjacks.

MacCallum was traded along with Devon Rose, Andrew Barron, Dillon Boucher, a first- and fourth-round pick in the 2015 MHL Draft for Gareth Nicholson, Cray Roberge and a 2016 sixth-round pick.

The Mariners tweeted the news today. Here is the trade in more detail.

Mariners Trade 1995 D Gareth Nicholson 1996 F Cray Roberge & 6 rd 2016 pick to SS Lumberjacks for ... See next. #MarinersArmy #BleedBlue

— Yarmouth Mariners (@MarinersHockey) May 26, 2015

Trade for 97 D Devon Rose 97 F Andrew Barron 96 G Darryl MacCallum 97 F Dillon Boucher and 1st rd pick (3rd overall) & a 4th rd pick

— Yarmouth Mariners (@MarinersHockey) May 26, 2015

The curious case of the third-round pick

In an early-look at the the 2015 QMJHL Draft Order, the Charlottetown Islanders seem to be without a third-round pick.

The 40th overall pick is currently owned by the Acadie-Bathurst Titan. The list shows the pick being originally owned by the Chicoutimi Sagueneens then to the Charlottetown Islanders, back to Chicoutimi then to Acadie-Bathurst.

Here is the full list of the third round for the 2015 QMJHL Draft.

This is where things get weird.

On Aug. 16, 2013, the Islanders traded overage forward Victor Provencher to the Chicoutimi Sagueneens for Blainville-Boisbriand’s second-round pick in 2014 and Chicoutimi’s third-round pick in 2015.

Fast forward 16 months to the 2014-15 season trading period and on Dec. 19, 2014, the Titan traded Anthony Gingras to Chicoutimi for a 10th-round pick in 2015 as well as a third-round pick in 2015.

How did Chicoutimi have two of their own third-round picks for 2015, considering the pick was never traded back to them from Charlottetown?

As I mentioned above, the pick changed hands from Chicoutimi to Charlottetown, back to Chicoutimi then to Acadie-Bathurst. Here is a look at both trades, screen captioned from the QMJHL trades section and quickly edited.

Oceanic wins President Cup

The Rimouski Oceanic are the 2015 President Cup Champions.

Michael Joly was the hero scoring at 2:13 of double overtime to lift the Oceanic to a 2-1 win in Game 7 Monday night in Rimouski. It is Rimouski’s first title since 2005 - the Sidney Crosby days.

Joly finished with a goal and an assist to lead the Oceanic to victory.

All the scoring was in the first period before three full scoreless periods.

Rimouski tallied first with Christopher Clapperton’s 12th goal of the playoffs at the 12-minute mark on the power play. Joly and Alexis Loiseau drew assists.

The Remparts tied the game with a power play goal of their own at 15:40 coming from Nikolas Brouillard for his third of the playoffs. Guillaume Gauthier drew the lone assist.

The score would remain the same for the second and third period before going into sudden death overtime.

Remparts’ Matt Murphy got called for a tripping penalty just 1:55 into the second overtime and Joly and the Oceanic took advantage scoring the championship-winning goal. Frédérik Gauthier and Simon Bourque drew assists.

Philippe Desrosiers made 47 saves in the win for Rimouski. Zachary Fucale made 32 saves for the Remparts.

Both teams qualified for the MasterCard Memorial Cup which begins Friday May 22 in Quebec City, Que., with the Remparts playing host to WHL Champion Kelowna Rockets at 7:30 p.m. EST.

On Saturday May 23, the Oceanic play OHL Champion Oshawa Generals at 4:30 p.m. EST.

2014-15 Charlottetown Islanders Season Review

Photo by Nathan A'Hearn.

The Charlottetown Islanders may have just enjoyed one of the best seasons in recent memory for the franchise.

A slow start did not derail on their journey to only their second quarter-final playoff appearance in franchise history. The team was almost two different groups from the first half of the season to the second and it was this progression that lead them further than anybody expected with the help of backup Daryl MacCallum who filled in for Mason McDonald when McDonald fell victim to injury in the first round against the Sherbrooke Phoenix. The emergence of Czech Filip Chlapik and progression from Daniel Sprong, Alex Goulet, McDonald along with the solid play of captain Ryan MacKinnon, Ross Johnston, Spenser Cobbold and MacCallum made this a year with good memories and hope for the future.


The Islanders were a scoring threat for a large part of the season, especially with a power play that hovered around the league's best for a long period of time. However, opponents were still able to generate high amounts of offensive chances of their own. In comparison the the previous year, scoring is up significantly on better power play numbers and this team was able to shave shots against from he previous year. Impressive for a team whose defense only composed of MacKinnon and Guillame Rioux-Legault as defenders 19-years of age or older.

 Season Stats

(Split into halves)

Splitting this season directly down the middle we can see strides where the Charlottetown Islanders improved into the second round playoff team they came to be. Winning percentage improved from 44 per cent to 58 per cent. Goals for and goals against improved which was helped by superb goaltending and increased offense down the stretch. Note that the Islanders shot on average 1.5 more shots than their opponents during the second half compared to being out-shot 3.2 shots per game in the beginning of the season.

A Tale Of Two Sprongers?

Islanders staffer Elliot wins Gold

Charlottetown Islanders athletic therapist Kevin Elliot will be bringing home Gold.

Elliot was Team Canada's athletic therapist at the 2015 IIHF World Championship in Prague, Czech Republic. 

Canada beat Russia 6-1 in the Gold medal game on Sunday and finished the tournament undefeated in 10 games. 

Elliot had previously been apart of Team Canada at the World Junior Championship and Spengler Cup. 

Team Canada consisted of former QMJHL players Sidney Crosby, Claude Giroux, David Savard, Sean Couturier and Nathan MacKinnon. 

Former prospect Burshett commits to Providence College

Ex-Charlottetown Islanders prospect Ryan Brushett has committed to the Providence College Friars of the NCAA, Hockey East.

Brushett announced the news himself via Twitter today.

Extremely happy to announce my commitment to play college hockey at Providence College. Thanks to all who helped me along the way #Friars

— Ryan Brushett (@RyanBrushett) May 14, 2015

The 16-year-old, Verdun, Que., native was originally drafted by the Charlottetown Islanders in the sixth round, 9th overall in 2014. He did not attend Charlottetown's training camp last August. He was later traded to the Shawinigan Cataractes on Nov. 11, 2014 for a seventh-round pick. His rights also owned by the Sioux City Musketeers of the USHL who drafted Brushett in the ninth round, 125th overall in 2014.

Brushett skated with the Lac St-Louis Lions of the QMAAA, leading the league in scoring with 28 goals and 58 points in 41 games. His 58 points was six more than touted prospect Joseph Veleno.

OPINION: Islanders benefited from Pepin/Karabacek fiasco

Alexis Pepin during Islanders season opener on Sept. 13, 2013. Photo by Darrell Kennedy.

At the time when 17-year-old Alexis Pepin was traded to Gatineau for two first-round picks and Curtis Scales, it seemed to have been a questionable deal for the Islanders, who were in the midst of true re-build during the 2013-2014 Christmas trade period.

Scales was 16 at the time and was an eighth-round pick of the Olympiques in 2013. He suited up for two games with the Islanders collecting zero points.

Pepin, a former second overall pick by the P.E.I. Rocket, had a slow start to his sophomore season with the Islanders after only scoring eight goals and 17 points in 37 games. With a change of scenery in Gatineau, Pepin managed nine goals and 17 points in 23 games. Pepin added four goals and five points in eight playoff games.

As time moved on it was rumored--and then later confirmed by Islanders GM Grant Sonier--that a player would be coming to the Islanders from Gatineau to complete the deal. Sonier never said any names, but various sources named Czech forward Vaclav Karabacek as the last piece of the puzzle. The 2015 first-round pick that was sent to Charlottetown in the original trade would have gone back to Gatineau at the 2014 QMJHL Draft in May.