Avalanche Farm Report: April 18

San Antonio Rampage

Rocco Grimaldi struck first for the Rampage on Wednesday, scoring a goal in the opening frame with help from Gabriel Bourque and Colin Smith. Texas responded with back-to-back tallies to take a 2-1 lead midway through the middle stanza.
Chris Bigras tied the game 2-2 on a power play at 15:27 in the second period. Smith collected his second helper and Grimaldi picked up an assist. However, the Stars slipped two pucks past netminder Joe Cannata to grab a two-goal lead in the third.
The Rampage tried to rally as Reid Petryk lit the lamp at 6:13 in the final frame. Anton Lindholm and Gary Nunn recorded assists on the goal, but San Antonio could not find the equalizer as time expired.
Cannata made 25 saves in the game. He concluded the season with a 13-8-4 record, 3.30 goals-against average and .875 save percentage in 25 games. Cannata, who was acquired in a trade on March 1, played six contests in a Rampage sweater, going 2-3-0.
Petryk's marker extended his goal streak to four games while Nunn competed in his 450th professional game.
A crowd of 10,643 showed up for the Rampage's last home game of the season on Friday night, but San Antonio couldn't deliver a win in a 1-0 loss.
After a scoreless first two periods of play, Texas found netting with 7:13 remaining, which turned out to be the game-winner for the Stars.
San Antonio goaltender Spencer Martin made 19 saves in the competition.

On Saturday, the Rampage finished off its campaign with a 6-3 road victory at H-E-B Center in Cedar Park.
Smith stole the show in the season finale, scoring three goals for his first career AHL hat trick while also adding one assist. Ranford recorded four points in the match as well, collecting four helpers.
San Antonio got off to a fast start with goals in the first 10:31 from Petryk and Grimaldi, who potted his 31st goal of the year. Gelinas, Bourke, Ranford and Smith all collected assists in the first period.
Texas responded with a marker at the start of the middle frame to cut the lead in half. Smith tallied his first goal of the night for the Rampage to regain a two-goal edge 1:09 later, but the Stars would find netting twice a 26-second span to tie the game 3-3 in the second period.
In the final period, Smith lit the lamp twice and Felix Girard also recorded a marker to give San Antonio the lead and the win. Grimaldi, Siemens and Clark also picked up a helper in the contest.
Martin started between the pipes and made 28 stops in his 50th game of the year. This season, Martin posted a 19-26-3 record, two shutouts, 2.90 goals-against average and a .904 save percentage.
Grimaldi led the team in points (55) goals (31) and assists (24) in 72 competitions. His 31st goal in the final game marked the second most goals in a single season by a player in franchise history.
A.J. Greer achieved a personal accomplishment to wrap up the season as he was named Yanick Dupre Memorial Award as AHL's Man of the Year on last Tuesday. The honor is awarded to an AHL player for outstanding contributions to his community and charitable organizations. Some of Greer's contributions included working with the children's hospitals and raising awareness of childhood cancer.

Colorado Eagles (ECHL)

The Colorado Eagles are tied 1-1 in their first-round series in the Kelly Cup Playoffs against the Idaho Steelheads.
Last week, the Avalanche reassigned forwards Alex Belzile, Julien Nantel, Shawn St-Amant and defensemen Sergei Boikov and Mason Geertsen from the Rampage to the Eagles for the postseason.
Colorado started their playoff run with home-ice advantage but dropped a 4-2 decision in Game 1 on Friday.
Trailing 1-0 in the first period, the Eagles responded quickly with a tally at 9:38 to tie the game, with Boikov recording an assist on the play.
Idaho went on to score back-to-back goals in the second period to regain the lead, but Colorado cut into the defict at 15:18 of the middle frame to make it a 3-2 contest. As time began to run out, Colorado pulled netminder Kent Simpson for an extra attacker but could not find the equalizer. Idaho went on to score an empty-netter to claim the 1-0 series advantage.
On Saturday, Colorado battled through 60 minutes of regulation and won 2-1 in overtime.
The Steelheads opened the scoring with 18 seconds remaining in the second period, but Colorado took advantage of a power play as Belzile tied the match 1-1 with 5:43 left in regulation.
Carrying on the momentum, defenseman Matt Register scored the game-winning goal 1:05 into the extra period to help the Eagles skate away with the victory.
Colorado continues its postseason quest and will venture to Idaho for the next three games, starting on Wednesday.
Upcoming Games:
Game 3, April 19 at Idaho
Game 4, April 21 at Idaho
Game 5, April 22 at Idaho

OHL

Travis Barron (Ottawa 67's): The Ottawa 67's were knocked out of the OHL Playoffs after losing their first-round series in six games to the Mississauga Steelheads. Barron left Game 4 with an upper-body injury after an incident with Mississauga's Nicolas Hague, who was then suspended indefinitely by the league. Barron did not compete in the final two playoff games. The forward scored one goal in four postseason contests. Barron recorded 13 goals and 21 assists in 59 competitions during the regular season as Ottawa finished seventh in the Eastern Conference (26-34-8).

QMJHL

J.C. Beaudin (Rouyn-Noranda Huskies): The Huskies are tied 3-3 in their best-of-seven series against the Chicoutimi Sagueneens in the second round of the QMJHL Playoffs. Beaudin recorded three points, scoring two goals and recording one assist, in the Huskies' 3-1 victory last Tuesday. His multi-point performance earned First Star of the Game honors. Rouyn-Noranda then fell 6-1 in Game 4 on Wednesday and 3-1 in Game 5 on Friday. In a must-win Game 6 on Monday, Beaudin registered one tally and three assists for another multi-point night as the Huskies had a dominating 9-2 victory over Chicoutimi to force a Game 7 on Tuesday. The forward has recorded 19 points (seven goals and 12 assists) in 12 playoff games so far. He finished the regular season with 30 goals and 50 assists in 65 outings.

Nicolas Meloche (Charlottetown Islanders): The Charlottetown Islanders swept the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles in four games in the second round of the QMJHL Playoffs. Nicolas Meloche recorded an assist on the game-winner in the Islanders' 4-3 overtime victory on Wednesday. Then in Game 4 on Saturday, the defenseman recorded a plus-2 rating in the team's 5-2 win to clinch the series. The team will head to the third round of the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. Meloche has recorded two markers and three assists in eight playoff games so far. He totaled 47 points (16 goals and 31 assists) in 61 regular-season matches.

WHL

Josh Anderson (Prince George Cougars): The Prince George Cougars were eliminated from the WHL Playoffs after losing in six games in the first round to the Portland Winterhawks. Prince George finished third in the Western Conference with a 45-21-6 record. Anderson competed in all six playoff matches, recording a plus-1 rating and 12 penalty minutes. He scored three tallies and contributed eight assists in 69 contests during the 2016-17 regular campaign.

NCAA

Will Butcher (University of Denver): Will Butcher and the University of Denver Pioneers won the 2017 NCAA National Championship. The Pioneers defeated Minnesota Duluth 3-2 in the final to bring home Denver's eighth national title. Butcher also won the 2017 Hobey Baker Memorial Award, given to college hockey's top player, and received first team All-American honors during his senior campaign. The defenseman recorded seven goals and led the team with 30 assists in 43 outings this year.
Tyson Jost (University of North Dakota): The University of North Dakota (21-16-3) concluded its season with a 4-3 double-overtime loss to Boston University in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Tyson Jost finished second on the team in points (35), goals (16-tied) and assists (19) in 33 contests. Jost, who was selected 10th overall in the 2016 NHL Draft, signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Colorado Avalanche on March 29. The forward made his NHL debut on March 31 and competed in the Avalanche's final six competitions. Jost scored his first NHL goal on April 6 against the Minnesota Wild at Pepsi Center.
Cam Morrison (University of Notre Dame): The University of Notre Dame finished the 2016-17 campaign with a 23-12-5 overall record. Cam Morrison and the team competed in the Frozen Four at the United Center in Chicago but lost 6-1 against the University of Denver in the national semifinals. Morrison scored the Fighting Irish's only goal in the semifinal match and finished the year with 11 goals and 12 assists in 39 contests.
Ben Storm (St. Cloud State University): St. Cloud State University finished the 2016-17 season 16-19-1 and lost in two games to North Dakota in the NCHC Quarterfinals. Ben Storm had one playoff assist and finished the season with a total of four helpers in 29 competitions. Storm signed an amateur tryout with the San Antonio Rampage on March 18 and made his professional debut on April 1.

Sweden

Gustav Olhaver (Rogle BK J20, Super Elit): Gustav Olhaver and Rogle BK concluded their season after losing their best-of-three playoff series 2-1 to HV71. Olhaver, who had one goal in the postseason, collected 15 goals and 23 assists in 38 contests during the regular season. He also played in 10 games with Rogle in the Swedish Hockey League, tallying an assist.
Adam Werner (Bjorkloven, Allsvenskan): Adam Werner and Bjorkloven did not make the playoffs after finishing the regular season in 11th place with a 20-26-6 record. Werner posted a 12-13 record and registered a 2.98 goals-against average, .892 save percentage and two shutouts in 25 matches this year.
Wilhelm Westlund (Timra IK, Allsvenskan): Wilhelm Westlund and Timra IK wrapped up the 2016-17 season after being eliminated from the Meca Hockey Race by IK Pantern. The defenseman finished with one tally and eight helpers during the regular season and had three points (one goal and two assists) in five postseason outings.

Slovakia

Maximilian Pajpach (HK Poprad, Slovak Extraliga): Maximilian Pajpach split time this season between HK Poprad of Slovak Extraliga and MHC Martin B in Slovakia's second-tier pro league. Pajpach had a 4.22 goals-against average and a .872 save percentage in nine games for Poprad. He also recorded a 7.05 goals-against average and a .828 save percentage in five contests with MHC Martin B and played in four games with Poprad's under-20 team, where he's registered a 3.41 goals-against average and .929 save percentage.

KHL

Denis Parshin (Salavat Yulaev Ufa): Denis Parshin and Salavat Yulaev Ufa finished the 2016-17 season with 88 points (27-20-13) and lost in five games against AK Bars in the East Conference Quarterfinals. Parshin had two assists in five postseason contests after recording 20 points (eight goals and 12 assists) in 53 regular-season outings.
Andrei Mironov (Dynamo Moscow): Andrei Mironov and Dynamo Moscow concluded the regular season with 112 points (39-16-5) and finished third in the West Conference. The club was eliminated from the KHL playoffs in four games by SKA Saint Petersburg in the West Conference Semifinals. Mironov had three assists in nine playoff games and scored one goal and three helpers in 18 regular-season matches.

High School

Nate Clurman (Culver Academy): Culver Academy went 3-1 in USA Hockeys U-18 Tier I National Championship. Nate Clurman registered a helper in the team's heartbreaking 3-2 loss to the Mid-Fairfield Chiefs in the semifinals. Clurman recorded six goals and 22 assists in 36 competitions this season.

Central Interior Hockey League

Luke Walker (Terrace River Kings): Luke Walker helped the Terrace River Kings win the Coy Cup in the Central Interior Hockey League in British Columbia. Walker led all players in postseason scoring with seven points (three goals and four assists) in five games after he recorded 24 points (12 goals and 12 assists) in 14 regular-season contests. In the best-of-three championship series against the Williams Lake Stampeders, Walker scored a goal in Game 1 but Terrace lost 4-2 on March 4. The River Kings rallied in the next two road contests, as Walker had a four-point night (goal and three assists) in a 5-4 overtime win on March 11 before the club took the series with a 2-1 victory the next night.