Armada drops Islanders with 4-3 shootout win

Philippe Sanche scored the lone shootout goal as the visiting Blainville-Boisbriand Armada edged the Charlottetown Islanders 4-3 Friday night at Eastlink Centre.

Charlottetown losses its first home game in six games and drops to 20-19-1-2 on the season. The Armada improves to 24-11-1-4.

Islanders assistant captain Ross Johnston took the positives out of the game.

“We played a hard 60 minutes. We bent a few times but didn’t break, but obviously when it gets to a shootout it can go either way.”

The Islanders entered the third period with a 3-2 lead and held a 12-0-0-0 record when leading after two periods, prior to the game.

Blainville’s Samuel Tremblay tied the game at 9:39 with plenty of hockey left to play.

“They were pushing and pushing,” said Johnston. “And sooner or later when you make a mistake they will capitalize, but those happen during a game. That went in and there’s not much we can do about that.

The team showed a great effort and it doesn’t matter that a five-game winning streak at home was snapped, said Johnston.

“I’m not really going to get into the winning streak, losing streak type thing. We just have to start a new one tomorrow night.”

Game day: Armada @ Islanders - Islanders looking for sixth-straight home win

Date: Friday Jan. 9, 2015

Match: Blainville-Boisbriand Armada @ Charlottetown Islanders

Where: Eastlink Centre, Charlottetown, P.E.I.

Time: 7 p.m. AST

TV: Webcast

Live Tweets: IslesLive

Pre-game stats:

Last meeting this season:	Nov. 8, CHA 2 @ BLB 4
Next game between two teams:	No more meetings
Head-to-head record this season:	Blainville 1-0-0-0, Charlottetown 0-1-0-0
Head-to-head record for 2013-14:	Blainville 1-0-0-0, Charlottetown 0-1-0-0
Last 5 years between teams:	Blainville 9-1-0-0, Charlottetown 1-8-0-1
Last 5 years at Charlottetown:	Blainville 4-1-0-0, Charlottetown 1-3-0-1

Islanders send Chaddock to Jr. A, sign Ontario-born forward Carter on try-out basis

Chris Chaddock scores a shootout goal on the Moncton Wildcats on Dec. 6, 2014. Photo by Darrell Theriault

The Charlottetown Islanders have released forward Chris Chaddock and will play with the St. Stephen County Aces of the Maritime Junior A Hockey League.

Chaddock, 17, was signed by the Islanders in October and skated in 10 games scoring two goals and picking up two penalty minutes with a minus-one rating.

In a team release, Aces Head Coach and General Manager Eric Bissonnette said the team is excited to add Chaddock to its lineup.

"He will fit right in with our plan to help develop and promote our players to the next level."

Prior to joining the Islanders, the Saint John, N.B., native was playing Midget Triple A with the OHA Gold Mavericks of the OEMHL scoring three goals and five points in four games. Last season he played with Wyoming Seminary of USHS scoring 42 goals and 96 points in 35 games.

Chaddock will suit up for the Aces on the weekend.

In an unrelated roster move, the Islanders have signed 17-year-old centreman Kyler Carter on a try-out basis.

The Belle River, Ont., native is currently playing Jr. A with the LaSalle Vipers of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League where he was two goals and seven points in 24 games.

Carter was drafted in the eighth round, 148th overall by the OHL's Saginaw Spirit in 2013.

Islanders acquire goaltender Dawe from Sagueneens

The Charlottetown Islanders have acquired 17-year-old goaltender Nicholas Dawe from the Chicoutimi Sagueneens.

In return, the Islanders send a ninth-round pick in 2015 to the Sagueneens.

In a team release, Islanders General Manager Grant Sonier said the team's scouting staff spoke very highly of Dawe.

"We are happy to be adding him to our depth chart. He is a Maritime-born goaltender currently playing with the South Shore Mustangs.”

Dawe was originally drafted by the Sagueneens in the 11th round of the 2014 QMJHL Entry Draft. The Halifax, N.S., native is currently playing with the South Shore Mustangs of the Nova Scotia Major Midget Hockey League where he has posted an 11-5 record with a 2.46 goals against average and a 0.924 save percentage in 16 games.

The trade was made official today by the QMJHL. The trade period closed at 1 p.m. AST.

Islanders deal Avon to Voltigeurs

Photo credit: Darrell Theriault.

The Charlottetown Islanders have dealt forward Julien Avon to the Drummondville Voltigeurs in exchange for a draft pick.

Charlottetown receives a 12th-round pick in the 2016 QMJHL Entry Draft from the Voltigeurs.

In a team release, Islanders General Manager Grant Sonier said the team was very happy to find a place for Avon to play.

"A few teams showed interest in him, but Drummondville stepped up and acquired him. The last thing we wanted to do was to hold him back from an opportunity to continue his playing career.” 

Avon, 19, was sent home by the Islanders last week scored. He scored two goals and four points in 36 games this season with the Islanders. He was acquired via trade during last season's trade deadline from Rouyn-Noranda. In 62 games with the Islanders, the Candiac, Que., native scored three goals and eight points.

The trade was made official by the QMJHL today. The trade period comes to a close today at noon EST.

Charlottetown Islanders Decemeber Analysis

By: Nathan A'Hearn
Follow him @TheTermiNathan

Last Month Keys To Success Check
1) Lower Shots Against - CHECK
2) Step Up In Chlapik`s absence - CHECK
3) Stronger Goaltending Performance - Not Check

Statistical Overview

Thoughts: Charlottetown boasted a number of bests in the month of December.  Including power play, penalty pill and goals per game.  However, it was the high goals against that factored into the wins/loss column being relatively even.  Charlottetown losses were all games where there were five-plus goals scored against.  The Islanders are current owners of the best penalty kill on the road clicking at 84.1 per cent.  Their overall goals per game and goals against numbers still rank near the bottom of the league.  Once this team is able cut back on it's goals against is when you will truly see the rise and what Islanders hockey is capable of.

Shot Analysis
(Shots For - On Top)

(Shots Against - Bottom)

December

For the first time this season, Charlottetown on average out-shot its opponent every game in December.  Look at how this compares to the November numbers: 

At a quick glance it appears that the Islanders were able to improve across the board.  Better average performance.  Wider margins on wins and closer on losses.  Very impressive for a young team such as this.  Although nine games is a relatively small sample size, it will be important to watch if the trend continues and what this will look like in January.

Trend: Shooting Percentage

Charlottetown currently shoots at the third lowest percentage in the QMJHL at 10.32 per cent.  If they can continue to get the upper hand on shots consistently, look. for this number to improve.  There are a number of players who have been unlucky so far and will look to get some more bounces in 2015.

Trend: Save Percentage

The Islander's sit middle of the pack for save percentage in the Q.  This is coming off a month where Charlottetown has been doing a noteworthy job at keeping shots against down but having the second highest total of goals against in a month as well.  Statistically December has been Mason McDonald's toughest but his season save percentage is much better.  Daryl MacCallum is also capable of of improving on his numbers thus far.

Islanders pick up first win of 2015 with 5-4 victory over Sea Dogs

Daniel Sprong and Alex Goulet each had a goal and two assists to lead the Charlottetown Islanders to a 5-4 win over the visiting Saint John Sea Dogs Sunday afternoon at Eastlink Centre.

Sprong scored the game winning goal with 6:52 remaining to help the Islanders snap a brief two-game losing and streak and improve to 20-19-1-1 on the season.

“We came into the zone and I thought Goulet was going to drop it but he gave it to (Filip) Chlapik and the defence stayed with Goulet and I just went to the net. Filip has a great pass and I just put my stick down and it went in.”

Saint John drops to 23-11-1-4.

The Islanders came back from 2-0 and 3-2 deficits before breaking a 3-3 tie in the third period.

It was a good bounce back, said Sprong.

“We got into a bit of penalty trouble but we made sure we kept the momentum going after each big kill and we are happy with the win. Now we are getting ready for Friday night against Blainville.”

The win also mark’s the clubs fifth-straight win at home.

“We’re playing good in front of our home crowd,” said Sprong. “We wanted to be successful here. At the beginning of the year we weren’t successful here and we want the fans to come out and support us and to do that we have to put wins on the board and that’s what we’ve been doing.”