1. Logan Schuss, New Westminster Salmonbellies
With a full season under his belt with the red, blue and white, Logan Schuss is beginning to find the back of the net with relative ease. As a result, New Westminster is more dangerous than at the start of the year when they held the league’s longest win streak at that time. Schuss started Tuesday in Maple Ridge, his back-to-back tallies tipping the game into New Westminster’s favour at a 7-3 scoreline.
On Thursday, his hat trick was a difference maker in the Salmonbellies’ huge win over the league-leading Victoria Shamrocks. Schuss scored both of New West’s goals in the final frame, including a shorthanded goal that gave New West a two goal differential that Victoria could never overcome. He currently leads all ‘Bellies in shots with 108 and is scoring on those shots at a career-high 19.3 per cent clip.
With New West guaranteeing a spot in the WLA playoffs, Schuss’ high usage within the New West offence will have their first-round opponent up at night, figuring out a way to stop one of the biggest threats in the league.
2. Ben McIntosh, Maple Ridge Burrards
McIntosh has quietly gone about his business with the Burrards this season—would you guess he leads the league with 35 goals on the campaign? Not to mention the fact he’s played two games fewer than every other player in the top 10 besides second-place Jesse King.
His scoring touch throughout the final week paced a Burrards offence that averaged eight goals a game in their final four. McIntosh figured in on a third of those, scoring 11 goals and adding another four assists. His best performance arguably came in Maple Ridge’s key 9-8 win over Coquitlam last weekend. That game put the Burrards back in the thick of things following two losses in a row and also eliminated another team from playoff contention.
Mike Mallory has been a beneficiary in the assists department—he has 10 assists in his last three games, a majority coming on McIntosh’s goals.
3. Rhys Duch, Victoria Shamrocks
Duch had his best statistical game of the WLA season when the Burnaby Lakers rolled through the Island on Friday night. The sniper had four goals and four assists as the Shamrocks trounced the Lakers 14-4.
His presence in the lineup was missed the night before when they travelled to New West as the offence wasn’t always in sync. In the third period in which they were down by one goal, the Rocks were able to muster just eight shots on goal with only one getting by New West goalie Eric Penney. Duch came back the next night to prove he’s still the noted marksman amongst a stacked offence, scoring those four goals on eight shots.
Duch will likely finish in the top three in goals with the aforementioned McIntosh and teammate King—he has 31 goals and 70 points on a ridiculous 26.5 percent shooting.
