Fast Facts: Moose vs. Grand Rapids – Dec. 10
By: Manitoba Moose Staff | Published: December 10th 2021
The Moose are back on home ice for a quick, two-game stop. They host the Grand Rapids Griffins for a pair of games this weekend starting with tonight's 7 p.m. matchup. It's the Holiday Game so be sure to stop by and see Santa on the concourse for a photo and take home a free printout alongside a digital copy. Tickets for tonight's game are available at MooseHockey.com/TICKETS.
Leon the Professional
Defenceman Leon Gawanke has assists in back-to-back games after helping on David Gustafsson’s late tally on Wednesday. The Berlin, Ger. native is up to 14 points (3G, 11A) in 21 games this season. He sits tied with Ville Heinola for the lead among Moose defenders. As a rookie, Gawanke paced the Manitoba defence with 26 points (4G, 22A) in 48 games. He’s currently on pace to cruise right past that with a points per game average of 0.67 compared to 0.54 back in 2019-20. The 2017 fifth round pick of the Jets is tied for seventh among AHL defencemen in points.
Crowded at the Top
With 13 players on the Moose sitting between nine and 15 points on the season, it’s no surprise there’s a traffic jam atop the goals and points list. Four players are tied for the team lead with six goals. Cole Perfetti was the first to hit the mark, followed shortly by Cole Maier. Both Jeff Malott and David Gustafsson joined the Coles on Wednesday with their sixth goals. All four players ranked in the top six among Moose goal-scorers last season. Malott led the way with 14 tallies, followed by Perfetti (9) and Maier (8) in third and fourth respectively. David Gustafsson ranked sixth on the team with seven tallies.
On the Move
The average age of the Moose roster jumped up recently with two of the team’s youngest players departing. Ville Heinola received the call to join the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday. Heinola is tied for the lead among Moose defencemen with 14 points (2G, 14A) on the season. The Honkajoki, Fin. product was the Jets first round pick in 2019. Meanwhile, Cole Perfetti is off to join Team Canada’s national team selection camp for the World Junior Championship. Perfetti is the lone returning forward for Canada at this year’s camp. The Whitby, Ont. product is tied for the Moose lead with 15 points (6G, 9A) in 17 games this season.
Home’s Where the Offence Is
The Moose are 7-2-0-0 on home ice in nine games this season, which lends itself to some solid stat-lines for the Moose. The team will be without its leading scorer at Canada Life Centre this season as Cole Perfetti paces the club with 11 (5G, 6A) of his 15 points at home. Following Perfetti is Declan Chisholm who has nine points (4G, 5A) in Winnipeg this season. Notably, seven of Chisholm’s nine points at home came in his past five games. Right on Chisholm’s heels are forward Austin Poganski (2G, 6A) and defenceman Leon Gawanke (1G, 7A) with eight points on home ice.
Who’s Trending
Forward Greg Meireles has assists in back-to-back games and three helpers in his past four games. The rookie is up to nine points (2G, 7A) in 21 games. Meireles is something of a power play specialist for the Moose with five points (1G, 4A) on the man advantage. His four power play assists are tied for second on the Moose and tied for 10th among AHL rookies.
