Newfoundland Growlers glad to have young pup back on D

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — The Newfoundland Growlers’ blueline depth got a little deeper Thursday, just in time for the team’s second-round ECHL playoff series starting tonight at Mile One Centre against the Manchester Monarchs.

The Growlers received rookie rearguard Kristians Rubins from the American Hockey League’s Toronto Marlies. Rubins, a 21-year-old Latvian, was called up to the AHL early last month, appearing in 15 games and collecting a trio of assists.

Rubins played the first game of the Marlies-Rochester Americans first-round Calder Cup playoff series, which Toronto swept in three straight games.

He watched from the press box for Games 2 and 3, and was made expendable when the parent Toronto Maple Leafs reassigned Calle Rosen to the Marlies following their NHL playoff ouster.

Rosen was the Marlies’ top-scoring defenceman this season.

As for Rubins, he had a solid first season of pro hockey after graduating from the Western Hockey League’s Medicine Hat Tigers, collecting a pair of goals and 18 assists in 56 games.

He finished the regular season with a plus-17 rating.

“Getting him back is great … he’s a great, young player,” Growlers coach John Snowden said.

“We’re excited because I think our depth on the blueline is good, and everybody plays the same way and understands what we expects as a team.”

Rubins, said Snowden, has come a long way since the first of the year when he scored the Growlers’ first-ever goal.

“He’s a real big kid (Rubins stands 6-5), but he has real good feet and has a great offensive skillset.

“But the big thing about him is he defends really well. He’s long, he competes in the defensive zone, he kills penalties, and if you need him on the power play you can play him there. He’s got a big shot.

“The D-zone at the pro game is fast, guys are a little quicker, heavier than they were in junior. He’s a big, big strong kid who skates well for a 6-5 guy.

“His game has steadily gotten better and you can see his rewarded and stuck up in the American league.”

One of Snowden’s other defencemen, Sam Jardine, picked the right time to score his first goal as a Growler, potting the game-winner in overtime Tuesday night in a 3-2 series-clinching win over the Brampton Beast.

The Growlers finished off the Beast in six games, but Brampton proved to be a pesky opponent, taking two of three games at home after the Growlers won the opening two games of the series at Mile One.

Jardine, a 25-year-old Albertan, by way of Ohio State University, split the 2018-19 regular season between the Growlers and Marlies, suiting up for 10 regular season ECHL games and 37 AHL games in Toronto.

“He’s got that unique ability to skate with the puck and make plays, he defends really hard and he’s got edge to his game,” Snowden said of Jardine. “He’s physical and he’ll fight.

“He’s a great guy in the room to help with (Adam) Pardy, (James) Melindy and (Zach) O’Brien, our leadership group.

“With those guys, things are said when they need to be said.”

FACTBOX

The top-seeded Newfoundland Growlers have home ice advantage again in Round 2 of the ECHL’s Kelly Cup playoffs, the North Division final, against the third-seeded Manchester Monarchs.
The Growlers were first in the North this season (43-21-4-4), while the Monarchs were third (39-29-2-2).
The Growlers dominated the Monarchs this season, winning seven of eight meetings. Newfoundland’s only loss came earlier this month in the Growlers’ third-last game of the regular season, a 3-2 shootout loss in Manchester.
Scott Pooley scored a team-leading three goals in the Growlers’ first-round series against the Brampton Beast, while Michael Garteig went 4-2 with a 2.66 goals-against average and .905 save percentage.
Manchester defeated the Adirondack Thunder in five games in the other North Division semifinals, averaging a league-high 4.60 goals per game. Kevin Dufour led the Monarchs with five goals, and Pierre-Luc Mercier had a team-high eight points. Charles Williams went 4-1 with a 1.98 goals-against average and a .945 save percentage.

Schedule