Prince Albert forward Tomas Mrsic is the latest W-H-L Player-of-the-Week.
Acquired from Medicine Hat in the off-season, the 18-year-old St. Louis drafct pick is on a seven-game points streak, including five goals and two assists this past weekend as the Raiders won both games they played. Overall, P-A is on a four-game winning streak. Spokane’s Dawson Cowan is the Goaltender-of-the-Week and Calgary netminder Kason Kobelka is the top rookie of the last seven days. Following is the news release from the W-H-L…..
ST. LOUIS BLUES PROSPECT MRSIC NAMED TEMPO WHL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE / MONDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2024
Calgary, Alta. – Prince Albert Raiders forward Tomas Mrsic has been named Tempo WHL Player of the Week for the week ending November 17, 2024, the Western Hockey League announced Monday.
The St. Louis Blues prospect capped off a monster week with five goals, two assists and a +4 rating in two games.
Mrsic set the tone for a special week by weaving through five players to open the scoring against the streaking Tri-City Americans on November 15. Tri-City tied the game at three in the third period, but Mrsic came back for more with a powerplay strike from the point. That goal would stand as the game-winner and the 18-year-old put a bow on the night with an empty-netter to complete his first career hat trick and earn first star of the night. The 5-3 win also snapped Tri-City’s 12-game winning streak.
The 6-foot, 170-pound centreman continued his torrid run the following night as the Edmonton Oil Kings rolled into Hockeytown North. With Edmonton leading 1-0, Mrsic streaked up the ice and dropped a pass onto the stick of a trailing Aiden Oiring to level the match midway through the first. The pair linked up again at the end of the frame as Oiring stripped a defenceman of the puck and teed up Mrsic for the one-timer and eventual game-winning goal. Mrsic added some insurance with a powerplay feed to Krzysztof Macias late in the third period and made it a 4-1 decision with a late one-timer through traffic. Mrsic snagged first star once again with his third career four-point night as Prince Albert stretched its win streak to four games.
Mrsic is on pace for a career-best season with 13 goals and 12 assists for 25 points in 16 games. He’s currently on a seven-game point streak, leads the Raiders in goals and points and leads the league with nine powerplay tallies.
The Surrey, B.C. product was selected by the St. Louis Blues with the 113th overall pick in the fourth round of the 2024 NHL Entry Draft.
Originally selected eighth overall by the Medicine Hat Tigers in the 2021 WHL Prospect Draft, Mrsic was traded to Prince Albert in a blockbuster offseason move. He’s put up 46 goals and 65 assists for 111 points in 147 regular season WHL games and another four assists in nine playoff matches.
Mrsic will prepare to face his former club for the first time when the Raiders (8-8-2-0) host the Tigers (12-9-0-0) on Wednesday, November 20 at 7:00 p.m. ST.
2024-25 Tempo WHL Player of the Week
September 23, 2024: Roger McQueen, Brandon Wheat Kings
September 30, 2024: Nathan Behm, Kamloops Blazers
October 7, 2024: Shea Van Olm, Spokane Chiefs
October 15, 2024: Mazden Leslie, Vancouver Giants
October 21, 2024: Ben Kindel, Calgary Hitmen
October 28, 2024: Nathan Behm, Kamloops Blazers
November 4, 2024: Brady Birnie, Swift Current Broncos
November 11, 2024: Koehn Ziemmer, Prince George Cougars (Los Angeles Kings)
CHIEFS NETMINDER COWAN NAMED WHL GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK
Calgary, Alta. – Spokane Chiefs netminder Dawson Cowan has been named WHL Goaltender of the Week for the week ending November 17, 2024, the Western Hockey League announced Monday.
The 19-year-old posted his second shutout of the season and 40th win of his WHL career as the Chiefs downed the visiting Red Deer Rebels in front of a sellout crowd of more than 10,300 fans.
Cowan denied all 35 shots he faced in the victory, marking the most saves he’s made in a single game this season. The 6-foot-2, 188-pound goalie denied a Trae Wilkie shot on a Rebels two-on-one in the first period and robbed Carson Birnie with a glove save, despite losing his stick. Cowan was named first star of the game as Spokane got back in the win column with a 3-0 victory.
The Warren, Man. Product is 10-6-0-0 in his second season as the Chiefs’ starter with a 3.00 goals-against average, a .898 save percentage and two shutouts. Cowan leads the league in clean sheets, sits second in minutes played (999) and is one of just four WHL netminders to hit 10 wins already in 2024-25.
Originally listed by the then-Winnipeg ICE before being traded to Spokane, Cowan holds a career record of 40-43-3-3 with a 3.52 goals-against average, a .895 save percentage, four shutouts and scored the 10th goalie goal in WHL history last season.
He recently attended San Jose Sharks training camp as a free-agent invitee.
Spokane (13-9-0-0) hits the road to face the league-leading Everett Silvertips (16-3-1-0) on Friday, November 22 at 7:05 p.m. PST.
2024-25 WHL Goaltender of the Week
September 23, 2024: Koen Cleaver, Lethbridge Hurricanes
September 30, 2024: Ethan Eskit, Brandon Wheat Kings
October 7, 2024: Spencer Michnik, Victoria Royals
October 15, 2024: Harrison Meneghin, Medicine Hat Tigers (Tampa Bay Lightning)
October 21, 2024: Evan Gardner, Saskatoon Blades (Columbus Blue Jackets)
October 28, 2024: Jesse Sanche, Everett Silvertips
November 4, 2024: Carson Bjarnason, Brandon Wheat Kings (Philadelphia Flyers)
November 11, 2024: Nathan Preston, Tri-City Americans
HITMEN NETMINDER KOBELKA NAMED WHL ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Calgary, Alta. – Calgary Hitmen netminder Kason Kobelka has been named WHL Rookie of the Week for the week ending November 17, 2024, the Western Hockey League announced Monday.
The Hitmen affiliated player went 2-0-0-0 in his first two WHL games with a 1.94 goals-against average, a .925 save percentage and two assists.
Kobelka, 17, made his WHL debut for his hometown team on the road against the Portland Winterhawks on November 17. He faced his first major test as Jordan Duguay dangled through the Calgary defence to put a shot on net, but managed to steer the puck aside. He also showed off his puck-tracking ability by gloving down a midair tip by Winterhawks captain Kyle Chyzowski as Calgary held a slim 1-0 lead in the second period. Portland would break through when Diego Buttazzoni buried a rebound in the final frame, but Calgary carried on to a 3-1 win. Kobelka stopped 28 of 29 shots- including six Portland powerplay attempts- to earn first star honours.
The 6-foot-1, 180-pound netminder was back between the pipes to close out the U.S. Division road trip against the Wenatchee Wild on October 16. Kobelka picked up his first WHL assist by dropping the puck to 2025 NHL Draft-eligible Ben Kindel, who wired a stretch pass to spring Ottawa Senators prospect Carter Yakemchuk for a breakaway goal. A five-on-three goal by Wenatchee would give the Wild a late lead, but Maxim Muranov scored late to force the extra frame. Kobelka made a pair of critical stops to keep Calgary alive, and a point-blank pad stop on a Wild attacker helped Kobelka spring Axel Hurtig and Muranov for a two-on-one and the game-winning goal. Kobelka was named second star with 21 saves and two helpers as Calgary closed out the road trip with a 4-1-1 record.
Kobelka, from Calgary, Alta., was called up from the Calgary Northstars U18AAA club prior to the road trip. He sports a 5-1-2 record with a 2.21 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage to help the Northstars sit second in the Alberta Elite Hockey League standings.
Calgary (10-7-3-1) returns home to host the Victoria Royals (12-6-2-1) on Friday, November 22 at 7:00 p.m. MST.
2024-25 WHL Rookie of the Week
September 23, 2024: Keaton Verhoeff, Victoria Royals
September 30, 2024: Landon DuPont, Everett Silvertips
October 7, 2024: Cooper Williams, Saskatoon Blades
October 15, 2024: Josh Banini, Moose Jaw Warriors
October 21, 2024: Gavin Garland, Tri-City Americans
October 28, 2024: Jaxon Jacobson, Brandon Wheat Kings
November 4, 2024: Gavin Garland, Tri-City Americans
November 11, 2024: Ondrej Stebetak, Portland Winterhawks
