Colts’ Kevin Labanc named Pioneer Energy OHL Player of the Week
Monday February 15, 2016
Toronto, ON – The Ontario Hockey League today announced that San Jose Sharks prospect Kevin Labanc of the Barrie Colts is the Pioneer Energy OHL Player of the Week for the week ending February 14 after leading the league with 11 points in three games scoring four goals and seven assists with a plus-minus rating of plus-6.
Labanc became the first player to eclipse the century mark in points this season producing three multi-point performances that helped the Colts extend their winning-streak to eight games. The OHL’s top scorer had back-to-back four point efforts including Wednesday night where he collected his third hat-trick of the season plus an assist as first star of a 5-0 victory over the Owen Sound Attack, then scored once with three assists on Thursday as second star of a 7-6 triumph over the Hamilton Bulldogs. Labanc reached then surpassed the 100-point milestone on Saturday with three assists as second star of a 5-1 victory over the Guelph Storm. His performance marks the 11th time the Colts have had a 100-point scorer in franchise history and third time a player has reached the milestone in consecutive seasons joining Bryan Little (2005-07) and Sheldon Keefe (1998-2000) in the record books.
A 20-year-old from Staten Island, New York, Labanc has now captured Player of the Week honours four times this season. With 101 points (33 goals and 68 assists) through 50 games, the three-year Colt has totaled 243 points in 183 career regular season games and currently sits fifth in all-time franchise scoring behind Little (342), Daniel Tkaczuk (334), Hunter Tremblay (274), and Michael Henrich (244). The overage forward was a sixth round pick of the Sharks in the 2014 NHL Draft.
Also considered for the award this week was Labanc’s fellow Colt Andrew Mangiapane. The Calgary Flames prospect picked up five goals including his league-best fifth hat-trick of the season along with four assists for nine points in three games. Los Angeles Kings prospect Mike Amadio of the North Bay Battalion recorded seven points in three games including a franchise record five goals on Saturday against the Kingston Frontenacs. In goal, Leo Lazarev of the Ottawa 67’s went 2-0-0-0 including a shutout victory while posting a goals-against-average of 0.50 and save percentage of .983.