Brandon Wheat Kings’ captain Stelio Mattheos earned the WHL Player of the Week accolade, while Portland Winterhawks’ netminder Joel Hofer was recognized as the WHL Goaltender of the Week. Both Manitobans had sensational weeks of hockey.
Mattheos, 19, is currently in the middle of a six-game point-scoring streak, in which he has seven goals and 16 points. The 6-foot-1, 200-pound centreman is also a +10 over that span, while collecting six penalty minutes and going 78 for 130 on in the faceoff department. Mattheos began his point streak on the heels of a 14-shot performance on February 8th.
The 2014 first overall selection in the WHL Bantam Draft now has 39 goals and 88 points in 54 regular season games played in 2018-19. Last season was Mattheos’ most productive, as he registered 43 goals and 90 points on the year – numbers he will likely smash with 11 games left to play.
Hofer, 18, is in the middle of his first full WHL season, and has dressed in 41 games between the Swift Current Broncos and the Portland Winterhawks. The 6-foot-4, 165-pound backstop only played two games this past week, but was dominant in both outings.
The 2018 fourth round selection of the St. Louis Blues stopped all 25 pucks he faced in a shutout victory over the Red Deer Rebels on Saturday, before turning aside 34 of 36 shots in a 5-2 win the following day over the Seattle Thunderbirds. The two-game stint improved Hofer’s save percentage (.907) and goals against average (3.68) significantly on the season.
