A pair of San Jose Sharks prospects with local connections have been named OHL Player and Goaltender of the week, the OHL announced late Monday afternoon.
Battalion scoring star Brandon Coe and Corbeil's Ben Gaudreau received the recent accolades.
Coe netted three goals along with five assists for eight points in three wins last week for the Troops.
Coe strung together three multi-point efforts, continuing an eight game point streak as the Battalion sit atop the Eastern Conference standings. The big 6-foot-5, 203Ib. winger put together a second star performance on Thursday at home to the Ottawa 67's, registering a goal and two assists in a 3-0 win. Coe picked up an assist on Kyle Jackson's game winning goal in Oshawa on Friday night, finishing with a pair of helpers as the Battalion defeated the Generals 4-2. He rounded out the weekend with two goals and an assist in Sunday's 7-3 win over visiting Niagara, earning first star honours while collecting his 150th career OHL point.
A 20-year-old native of Ajax, Ont. and an alternate captain with the Battalion this season, Coe leads the OHL with 24 assists and sits one point back of the League scoring lead with 33 points (9-24--33) through 19 contests. His plus-14 plus/minus rating has him tied for fifth in the OHL. Coe made his professional debut last season, recording five points (1-4--5) in 17 games with the San Jose Barracuda, AHL affiliate of the San Jose Sharks who selected him in the fourth round (98th overall) of the 2020 NHL Draft. Coe was originally North Bay's first round (3rd overall) pick in the 2017 OHL Priority Selection from the OHL Cup finalist Toronto Nationals U16 program.
Coe is the first Battalion player to earn the weekly honour since Justin Brazeau last did so in October 2018.
Meantime, Ben Gaudreau of the Sarnia Sting is the OHL Goaltender of the Week with a record of 2-0-1-0, a 1.97 goals-against average, .942 save percentage and one shutout.
Gaudreau stopped 97 of the 103 shots he faced to help the Sting continue to reverse a slow start to the season. He earned first star honours with 36 saves on Tuesday as Sarnia defeated the CHL's third-ranked London Knights 4-2 on home ice. Gaudreau was back in the crease on Saturday in Guelph, helping the Sting earn a point despite being outshot with 35 saves in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Storm. He logged another first star performance on Sunday, earning his first career OHL shutout with 26 saves as the Sting blanked the visiting Owen Sound Attack 4-0.
An 18-year-old native of Corbeil, Ont., Gaudreau owns a 5-2-3-0 record with a 2.98 goals-against average, .912 save percentage and one shutout through 10 games this season. The 6-foot-2, 172Ib. third round (81st overall) pick of the San Jose Sharks this past summer starred for Canada's gold medal-winning National Under-18 Team this past May in Frisco, Texas. He was Sarnia's first round (7th overall) pick in the 2019 OHL Priority Selection, the highest-selected goaltender in Sting franchise history.
