Last night saw two New Jersey Devils prospects, Ryan Kujawinski and John Quenneville, come up big for each of their prospective CHL teams.
John Queneville, second line center for the Brandon Wheat Kings of the WHL, and 1st round pick (30th overall) for the Devils, scored the only goal for Brandon as they lost 2-1 in overtime to the Calgary Hitmen.
Goal can be found here, and it starts right around the 0:43 mark. Quenneville is #17 in black. Don't get confused with Peter Quenneville (John's brother), a Columbus Blue Jackets draft pick who wears #15.
Brandon now leads the Calgary Hitmen 2 games to 1 in the Eastern Conference championship of the WHL. The winner of this series goes on to face the winner of the Kelowna-Portland Western Conference Championship series to determine the overall WHL champion. That champion will get to play in the Memorial Cup, which is hosted in Quebec this year. Last year's WHL Champions, and subsequent Memorial Cup champions, the Edmonton Oil Kings, were knocked out of the WHL tournament in the first round by the Brandon Wheat Kings.
John Quenneville now has 9 points (4G 5A) in 10 playoff games this year, including a 5 point game for Brandon in the first game of the series against Calgary, where Quenneville scored 2 goals and 3 assists.
Video of the highlights can be found here. Quenneville is #17 in white.
Ryan Kujawinksi, Devils 2013 3rd round pick (73rd overall), has all the tools to be a successful middle-6 NHL center. He has just struggled with consistency and injuries. Earlier this OHL season, he was traded from the Kingston Frontenacs to the North Bay Battalion to beef up their offensive production as the second line center. He has been nothing but fantastic since joining the Battalion, putting up 36 points (21G 15A) in the 34 games he played for them.
Last night, Kujawinski sealed the deal in Game 4 of the OHL semi-final championship series against the Oshawa General. In OT, Kujawinski scored the game-winning goal.
Kujawinksi is #17 in green.
With this win, the North Bay Battalion now lead the series against the Oshawa Generals 2-1, and the winner of this series plays against the winner of the Erie Otters - Sault Saint Marie "Soo" Greyhounds, where the winner of that will be this year's OHL champion.
This is not Kujawinski's first game-winning OT goal in the playoffs. In the last playoff series the North Bay Battalion had, against the Barrie Colts (team of another Devils prospect, forward Joseph Blandisi), Kujawinski won Game 4 in double-OT to give the Battalion a 3-1 series lead.
Like the video above, Kujawinski is #17 in green
As of last night, Ryan Kujawinski has 9 points (6G 3A) in 12 playoff games for North Bay.
John Quenneville and Ryan Kujawinski were the only Devils prospects in action last night, and are the only two remaining who are still playing their seasons.
Their next games are both tonight (Wednesday 4/29). Kujawinski's North Bay Battalion (OHL) play at 7:00 EST while Quenneville's Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL) start at 9:00 EST.
Keep updated on Devils prospects by following me on Twitter @DTJ_AHockeyBlog.
Thanks for reading!
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