The emergence of a top scoring line helped propel the Nelson Junior Leafs to a four-point weekend in the south Okanagan.
The Leafs hammered the Summerland Steam 9-2 on Friday night and followed it up with a 4-0 victory on Saturday in Penticton against the Lakers. In both games the line of Patrick Martens, Colton Schell and Matthew Naka accounted for the bulk of the Leafs’ scoring.
“They have been together since the beginning of the year and they are really starting to move the puck around,” Leafs head coach Frank Maida told the Star. “They all have great speed and now they have combined that with moving the puck and letting the puck do the work… they are starting to be rewarded for their efforts.”
Martens scored four goals against Summerland and followed it up with three more on Saturday.
“When he is using his speed, he is dangerous every time he is on the ice,” Maida said of Martens.
Now in his second season with the Leafs, the 18-year-old from Maple Ridge is tied for the KIJHL scoring lead with Beaver Valley’s Ryan Edwards. Both players have amassed 26 points in the young season.
Schell had a six-point night against the Steam. The team’s assistant captain led the Leafs in scoring last season with 50 points. Though he had a bit of slow start to this campaign, the New Westminster native is now hitting his stride.
“He is one of the vets that is learning a new system and that takes time,” Maida said of the 19-year-old Schell. “He hasn’t been frustrated and simply worked hard in practice. Now it’s paying off for the team and for the individual players.”
In Friday night’s game in Summerland the Steam drew first blood, scoring just over two minutes in when Jeff Penman beat Leafs rookie netminder Patrick Defoe. But then the Leafs shook off the bus legs scoring three times before the buzzer sounded on the first period. Brett Norman started it off five minutes in with an unassisted marker. Martens and Schell added to the total, the latter coming with only 19 second left in the period.
The Leafs came out strong in the second period, firing 19 shots on Steam starter Sam Bass, but only Martens managed to get one by the Summerland goaltender.
The third period was wide open with both sides getting plenty of shots, but it was the Leafs who managed to rack up the score.
Martens completed his hat trick less than a minute into the final period with a powerplay goal. Nik Newman and Schell followed it up to give the visitors a 7-1 lead. Sean Leslie did manage a Summerland powerplay goal six minutes into the third, but Martens and Max Mois made sure the game was not even close with goals to close out the game.
In Saturday night’s game both teams battled hard for the first 40 minutes and it was the Leafs who held the 1-0 edge. Martens started the third period off with a powerplay marker and the Leafs added two more to build the 4-0 lead. But in the second half of the final frame penalty trouble threatened to dismantle the locals. Great penalty killing and another impressive performance by Defoe secured the win and the KIJHL rookie’s first shutout.
“Patrick had a fabulous weekend, he played very well in both games,” Maida said of his young netminder. “Patrick has been playing great and we thought we would give him an opportunity to go back-to-back.”
The Leafs possess one of the most proven goalies in the league with 20-year-old Andrew Walton. During training camp the Leafs were not sure if they would find a suitable back-up, but Defoe has emerged and exceeded expectations.
“Andrew has been great for Patrick, he has been helping him a lot,” Maida said of his last line of defence. “Andrew understands that for us to go far into the playoffs we are going to need everybody to play and that includes both goaltenders. It’s been a great addition to have this young goalie and have a mentor in Andrew and (Leafs’ goalie coach) Bill McDonnell.”
As for the Leafs newfound offensive explosion? Maida said all the players in the dressing room know it’s team over self, but in doing so getting on the scoresheet is not a negative.
“We have had different lines producing at different times and that is what has been nice so far this season. That line had a great weekend point-wise that’s for sure,” Maida said of the Schell/Martens/Naka combination.
“It is important for kids to be successful because if they are successful the team is successful. But you can get caught up in not sticking to your team game plan if you are concerned about your individual stats. That type of mentality can hurt you as a team and as an individual. That line has not been worried about their points as individual players and now they are being rewarded because they are playing within our team system.”
Leafs forward Matti Jmaeff — who has also had a great start to the season point-wise — was rewarded for his efforts on Saturday night. An affiliate player for the BCHL’s Vernon Vipers, the Creston native played against the Penticton Vees. After the game, Jmaeff stayed in his gear and also played for the Leafs against the Lakers.
The Leafs next game is tonight against the Beaver Valley Nitehawks at the Nelson and District Community Complex starting at 7 p.m.