This season Bolt Prospects introduced our Prospect of the Week award, an honor (virtually) given to one Tampa Bay Lightning prospect for their on-ice contributions.
We wanted to highlight prospects throughout the year to help fans get better acquainted with the next round of Lightning stars while recognizing the prospect’s achievement on the ice.
This week’s BP Prospect of the Week award goes to … Dustin Tokarski [6], Norfolk Admirals (AHL).
Tokarski is the Star of the Week for the second time in the last three weeks after the goaltender backstopped the Norfolk Admirals to a 2-0 lead over Toronto in the Calder Cup finals last weekend.
The 2008 fifth round pick of the Lightning stopped 53 of 56 shots in total, good for a .946 save percentage. He is 10-2 in the playoffs with a league-leading 1.63 goals against average and a .940 save percentage, which is tied for first with Toronto goalie Ben Scrivens.
On Wednesday Tokarski beat Scrivens and Toronto by stopping all but one of the 24 shots he faced from the Western Conference champion Marlies. Norfolk won, 3-1, with an empty net goal. The next night he was 30 of 32 as the Admirals won, 4-2. The second goal to beat him in Game 2 was scored in the dying moments of a game that was already well within Norfolk’s control.
Tokarski entered the Toronto series coming off two consecutive shutouts against St. John’s. He ran his shutout streak to 203:26 in Game 1 before former Bolt prospect Carter Ashton [7] beat Tokarski under the left pad for a goal. He fell just 4:01 short of Marcel Paille's 50-year-old Calder Cup playoff record for consecutive minutes without allowing a goal.
It wasn’t just the amount of saves for Tokarski, it was when he was making them. Tokarski was at his best when the games were very much in doubt in the first and second periods. And considering a team’s goaltender is their best penalty killer, Tokarski gets a lot of the credit for Norfolk killing off nearly a dozen power plays in a closely-contested Game 1.
Game 3 of the finals is Thursday in Toronto. If Norfolk is fortunate enough to finish off the Marlies and hoist the Cup, Tokarski will add a Calder Cup to his resume that already includes a Telus Cup (Canadian midget-level, Memorial Cup (CHL), Chynoweth Cup (WHL), and World Junior Championship gold medal.
But as Tokarski will likely tell you from his experiences, the final victories on the road to a championship are the hardest.
(Virginian Pilot photo)
Previous BP Prospects of the Week:
Sebastien Piche [8], Charles Landry [9], Pat Nagle [10], Florida Everblades (ECHL) - June 1, 2012 [11]
Dustin Tokarski, Norfolk Admirals (AHL) - May 23, 2012 [12]
Jaroslav Janus [13], Norfolk Admirals (AHL) - May 16, 2012 [14]
Danick Gauthier, Saint John Sea Dogs (QMJHL) - May 10, 2012 [15]
Alex Killorn [16], Norfolk Admirals (AHL) - May 2, 2012 [17]
Riku Helenius [18], JYP (Finland) - April 25, 2012 [19]
Cory Conacher [20], Norfolk Admirals (AHL) - April 16, 2012 [21]
Mark Barberio [22], Norfolk Admirals (AHL) - April 11, 2012 [23]
Tyler Johnson [24], Norfolk Admirals (AHL) - April 4, 2012 [25]
Norfolk Admirals Hockey Club (AHL) - March 27, 2012 [26]
Richard Panik [27], Norfolk Admirals (AHL) - March 21, 2012 [28]
Tyler Johnson, Norfolk Admirals (AHL) - March 13, 2012 [29]
Danick Gauthier, Saint John (QMJHL) - March 6, 2012 [30]
Matt Peca, Quinnipiac (NCAA) - February 29, 2012 [31]
Pat Nagle, Florida (ECHL) - February 21, 2012 [32]
Alex Hutchings [33], Florida (ECHL) - February 14, 2012 [34]
Alex Killorn, Harvard (NCAA) - February 6, 2012 [35]
Adam Wilcox [36], Tri-City (USHL) and Alex Killorn, Harvard (NCAA) - January 30, 2012 [37]
Nikita Kucherov [38], CSKA Jr. (Russia) - January 24, 2012 [39]
Riku Helenius, JYP (Finland) - January 16, 2012 [40]
Brett Connolly [41], Canada (U20 WJC) - January 10, 2012 [42]
*Due to the Christmas break when few games below the NHL level were played, no POTW award was given.
Mark Barberio, Norfolk Admirals (AHL) - December 19, 2011 [43]
Vladislav Namestnikov [44], London Knights (OHL) - December 12, 2011 [45]
Tyler Johnson, Norfolk Admirals (AHL) - December 5, 2011 [46]
Alex Killorn, Harvard (NCAA) - November 28, 2011 [47]
Nikita Kucherov, Team Russia/CSKA Jr. (MHL) - November 21, 2011 [48]
Vladislav Namestnikov, London Knights (OHL) - November 14, 2011 [49]
Dustin Tokarski, Norfolk Admirals (AHL) - November 6, 2011 [50]
Riku Helenius, JYP (Finland) - October 30, 2011 [51]
Matthew Peca [52], Quinnipiac Bobcats - October 23, 2011 [53]
Radko Gudas [54], Norfolk Admirals - October 16, 2011 [53]
Carter Ashton, Norfolk Admirals - October 9, 2011 [55]
Brett Connolly, Tampa Bay Lightning - October 2, 2011 [56]
Mattias Ritola [57], Tampa Bay Lightning - September 25, 2011 [58]