Freshman Jaden Schwartz had the best game of his burgeoning college career Saturday night, producing a goal and four assists in Colorado College’s 9-2 victory over the University of Denver.
The 18-year-old from Wilcox, Saskatchewan, leads the Tigers with eight goals and 14 points, and his 10 points in league games are the most in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.
The WCHA’s preseason rookie of the year and first-round draft pick of the St. Louis Blues has been as good as advertised.
“He’s just smart, strong on his stick, unselfish and is a team guy who just goes about his business,” CC coach Scott Owens said. “We’re very, very pleased to have him.”
Schwartz was picked 14th by the Blues in the June draft after a tremendous rookie season with the Tri-City Storm of the United States Hockey League. He led college hockey’s top feeder league with 83 points (33 goals) in 60 regular-season games.
“Obviously, I’m out there on the power play (and) the points are coming, but I don’t think I’ve played my best. There is more to give,” said Schwartz, the younger brother of linemate Rylan Schwartz, a sophomore. “It was kind of frustrating the first few weeks, just because of the losses, but (Saturday) felt good and hopefully we can carry that on.”
Jaden Schwartz was picked six spots ahead of DU freshman wing Beau Bennett, who went 20th to Pittsburgh. Bennett still is looking for his first goal and has just two assists.
Bennett, also 18, led the British Columbia Hockey League in scoring last season with 120 points (41 goals) in 56 games.
“With Beau Bennett, he’s an unbelievable player,” Schwartz said. “His hands, his smarts. He’s the 20th overall pick for a reason.
“Some guys, it’s a bit of an adjustment, and coming from the BCHL, it’s a huge jump to college hockey. But you know he’s going to produce a bunch of points pretty soon.”
Predictable scoring.
DU’s 26 goals have been scored by only seven players. In addition to Bennett, senior center Anthony Maiani, junior wing Nate Dewhurst and sophomore wings Shawn Ostrow and Chris Knowlton still are looking for their first goals.
Defensemen David Makowski, John Ryder and Chris Nutini also are without goals.
The Pioneers would be in trouble if it weren’t for sophomore center Drew Shore and freshman wing Jason Zucker. Both have seven goals. Shore produced only five last season. Each of Zucker’s tallies have come in WCHA games, and he leads the league in that department.
Footnotes.
If DU’s season-opening 10-game stretch hadn’t ended so badly, the Pioneers probably would be happy going .500 (4-4-2). After all, DU played two-game sets at Vermont, against Boston College and Wisconsin, at North Dakota and home-and- home with CC. . . . DU’s next six games are against teams with a combined record of 8-18-7.
Mike Chambers: 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com
College hockey: Front Range rankings
1. Colorado College (4-5-1, 2-4 Western Collegiate Hockey Association).
Last week: Split with Denver, 4-1 loss and 9-2 victory. This week: At Air Force (2-5, 2-3 Atlantic Hockey Association) on Friday and hosts Yale (4-0, 2-0 Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference) on Saturday. Comment: Tigers get the No. 1 nod this week by bouncing back to embarrass their archrival in the Springs.
2. Denver (4-4-2, 3-2-1 WCHA).
Last week: Split with Colorado College, 4-1 victory and 9-2 loss. This week: Hosts Minnesota State (2-4-4, 2-4-2 WCHA) on Friday-Saturday. Comment: Ravaged by injuries, Pioneers desperately need to get forwards Nick Shore and Dustin Jackson back in the lineup.
3. Air Force (2-5, 2-3 AHA).
Last week: Lost to Mercyhurst 6-2 and beat Rochester Institute of Technology 4-3. This week: Hosts Colorado College (4-5-1, 2-4 WCHA) on Friday and Yale (4-0, 2-0 ECAC) on Sunday. Comment: Falcons impressively rallied with two goals in the final 5:01 to beat RIT on Sunday.
Mike Chambers, The Denver Post
