Jaskin, Zykov and Gagné named the TELUS three stars of the month of January 2013

Press Release

BOUCHERVILLE, Friday February 1st, 2013 - Dmitrij Jaskin, the Moncton Wildcats forward and second round St-Louis Blues pick of 2011 was selected as the first star of the month of january 2013 in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. In only 8 games during the last month, he collected 25 points including 12 goals (1 winning goal and 2 insurance goals). He had a stellar average of 3.1 points per game and a total of 6 games with 3 points or more during this period. He also played 11 consecutive games with at least one point. He missed three games earlier this month in his team’s lineup, but managed, nonetheless to participate in 25 of the 46 goals scored by the Wildcats, or 54% of the team’s offensive, helping his team win eight consecutive duels from January 12 to 27. This season, he totalled 75 points which places him in third place in the league’s top scorers, trailing by only 2 points from PEI Rocket’s Josh Currie and Ben Duffy who rank 1st.

Baie-Comeau Drakkar forward, Valentin Zykov is the second star of the month. During his 12 games with the Drakkar in January, he scored 10 goals and added 16 assists for a total of 26 points (21 points in the standings out of a possible 24). He played 9 games of 2 points or more, scoring one winning goal, all while maintaining a +/- of +9. Moreover, he equalled a team record for a rookie by registering his 32nd goal of the season on January 26 against the Victoriaville Tigres, beating the 2001-02 record set by Louis-Philippe Martin. He played his best game against the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies on January 12, contributing 6 of the 7 goals scored by his team (1 goal and 5 assists), in a home win for the Drakkar, 7-0 against the Huskies.

Kevin Gagné, Rimouski Océanic defenseman, has been wowing fans since he was acquired in a trade from the Saint John Sea Dogs. His offensive contribution was phenomenal in January with 6 games of 2 points or more, working towards a report card of 16 points in 10 games, which launched his team towards 8 wins out of a possible 10. Half of his points (8 out of 16) were during Rimouski’s powerplay, at a pace of 34.1% since the New Year. It’s worth noting that 2 of the 3 goals he scored were winning goals this month. His +/-  of +10 since the beginning of the year also denotes his effectiveness, having generated an average of 3.6 shots on goal per game. He is currently the top scorer of the League among defensemen with 52 points in 43 games, on top of being the one who made the most assists (38) among defensemen.

 (Nathan can be reached at nathanfournier@mainehockeyjournal.com)