AS we head into the 2011 portion of the hockey season a number of area athletes are producing strong enough numbers to be among the top 10 scorers in the their respective leagues.
Topping all skaters in the women’s conference of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association is Haley Irwin as the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs standout and Canadian Olympian is averaging over two points per game with 31 in her first 14 WCHA contests.
The junior forward is also among the elite at the entire NCAA level as well sitting in the top 10 in every major offensive category.
In the Ontario Hockey League Thunder Bay’s Kale Kerbashian continues to pile up solid numbers in his final season of junior hockey.
The 20-year-old Sarnia Sting forward is tied for seventh in OHL scoring with 52 points including 22 goals. He is also one assist shy of reaching the century mark in career assists.
Down in the Southern Professional Hockey League another Lakehead resident in Trevor Karasiewicz is sitting third in Southern Professional Hockey League offensive production with 39 points in 29 games.
Out west in the Alberta Jr. Hockey League Longlac’s Ben Gamache has reeled off points in five straight matches as the captain of the Okotoks Oilers holds down the eighth position in AJHL scoring.
The Provincial Women’s Hockey League also sees Schreiber’s Jenna McParland putting up strong offensive numbers for a second straight campaign.
The UMD Bulldogs recruit is lying fifth in PWHL scoring with 27 points in 19 games for the Toronto Aeros. Her 18 goals currently lead all scorers in the 19-team loop.
500 CLUB: Eric Staal continues to close in on a significant total in his NHL career as the Carolina Hurricanes captain is 35 points away from the 500 plateau.
He’ll also have his sights set on reaching another total to match that of Lakehead native Steve Rucchin whose 489 points is the fourth highest NHL total all-time among players from Northwestern Ontario.
Alex Delvecchio (1281), Charlie Simmer (711) and Chris Pronger (676) are the top three.
Another Thunder Bay product closing in on a milestone is Derek Landmesser as the Mississippi River Kings defenceman is just 10 points shy of 500 in his lengthy Central Hockey League career.
He also reached 400 CHL assists on Dec. 29 in a game vs. Fort Wayne.
EURO UPDATE: Locals associated with the top two leagues in Germany are helping their clubs stay in contention.
In the DEL, the premier German league, Wolfsburg leads the way with Thunder Bay’s Paul Traynor helping bolsters the squads’ defensive corps.
Just five points out of first place are the Krefeld Penguins who are coached Rick Adduono.
Meanwhile in the second division Bundesliga Ken Latta has his ESV Kaufbeuren side playing well as of late going 6-3-1 in their past 10 games as they sit fifth among 13 teams overall in the standings.
Thunder Bay’s Mike Wehrstedt is third on that squad in scoring and also has points in eight of his past nine outings including an assist as well as a shootout tally in the club’s most recent victory, a 3-2 decision over Freiburg, on Sunday.