Baertschi Gets His First of Many

Sven Baertschi scored his first career NHL goal against the Minnesota Wild at 1:43 of the third period on Sunday night. His goal put the Calgary Flames up 2-0.

The 19 year old left winger from Switzerland was selected 13th overall by the Calgary Flames at last years NHL draft. 

He received a call on March. 7th telling him that he was getting the call up to the NHL due to his great play in the WHL. Sven Baertschi was playing with Portland Winter Hawks of the WHL when he got called up. Baertschi was in his second year in the WHL as a member of the Winter Hawks. 

He recorded 34 goals and 51 assists for 85 points in 66 games last season in the WHL. This season he has improved his numbers with 33 goals and 61 assists for 94 points in only 47 games. He currently is second in Portland scoring, but he has played 19 games less than Ty Rattie who leads Portland with 116 points. Baertschi was averaging 2.00 points per game.

The Swiss national has played in the World Junior Championships for the past two years but he suffered a tournament ending concussion after only playing 2 games in this past World Juniors. The concussion caused him to miss some time with Portland, as well. 

Sven Baertschi is destined to have a great NHL career as he has been putting up great numbers throughout his playing career. Bartschi now gets a chance to learn from future hall-of-famer Jarome Iginla. 

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