Carson Cherepak started the first game of 2022 and his next start wasn’t till nearly a month later.
The 19-year-old star goaltender from Winnipeg returned to the crease this past Friday when the OCN Blizzard were in town and he was back to his old self. He turned away 27 shots as he earned his league-tying fifth shutout of the season.
Then on Sunday, the man they call ‘Cherry’ was back at it, making 35 saves in a key 3-1 win against OCN at the always hostile Gordon Lathlin Memorial Centre.
62 saves in two games has given Carson First Star honours in the Parkland Source for Sports Three Stars of the Week. He’s now 19-6 on the season with a superb .926 save percentage to go along with a 2.09 goals-against average, the best in the league in both categories.
Second Star:
When the Dauphin Kings acquired Logan Calder at the trade deadline, they knew they were getting an elite player that never stops grinding on the ice, whether it’s in the offensive zone or defensive zone.
Scoring 19 goals and adding 14 assists to start the season with Portage, the 21-year-old is now starting to heat up with his new team. In seven games with Dauphin, Logan now has one goal and seven assists and over the weekend, he was a force to be reckoned with.
He may not have recorded a point on Friday but looked very solid and on Sunday, Calder was all over the ice laying checks, playing solid defence and offensively, he earned two primary assists in Dauphin’s 3-1 win.
A veteran presence with top-end skill and championship experience, Logan will continue to be a big reason for the team’s success.
Third Star:
You can only score your first game-winning goal once and for Tyson Pauze, what a time it was for him to notch his first winner.
He found the back of the net early in the third period on Sunday and it stood up as the winner after Kayden Sutherland scored for OCN.
“Just really happy that I can help the team,” said Pauze. “We have such a great group of guys and I’ll do whatever it takes to succeed.”
Coming into the season as a defenceman, Pauze is now getting a chance to play upfront and he’s looking solid while doing so. Tyson now has two goals and two assists this season and there’s no doubt that his most recent point was his biggest.