Bulldogs and Spitfires play for J. Ross Robertson Cup in Game 7
An OHL season like no other will reach its grand conclusion in Game 7 tonight at FirstOntario Centre in Hamilton.
The Hamilton Bulldogs and Windsor Spitfires, both placing atop the regular season standings in their respective conferences, will play for the J. Ross Robertson Cup tonight at 7:00pm, airing live on TSN 1/4 and CHL TV.
Trailing 3-2 in the series on Monday night at home, the Spitfires responded with a 5-2 victory as Daniel D’Amico scored twice and Will Cuylle had a goal and an assist in front of a crowd of 6,378.
See you tonight, Steeltown.#Game7 | #OHLChampionship | #HAMvsWSR pic.twitter.com/WGRejtSLdw
— OntarioHockeyLeague (@OHLHockey) June 15, 2022
The OHL Championship Series sees its first Game 7 finish since 2013 when the London Knights stunned the Barrie Colts with 0.1 of a second remaining in the third period as Bo Horvat secured London’s second consecutive OHL championship. The Bulldogs will compete in their first Game 7 scenario since 2017 while Windsor competes in a second consecutive Game 7 finish after eliminating the Flint Firebirds in the Western Conference Championship Series.
Jay McKee and Marc Savard, head coaches who are the same age that have faced each other in both OHL and NHL playing competition, look to guide their teams to the OHL’s ultimate prize tonight in front of what is expected to be a big crowd with the upper bowl opened up at FirstOntario Centre.
Here’s a few notes headed into tonight’s big game:
- Hamilton has outshot Windsor 209-166 in the series. Hamilton’s power play is 6-for-28 (21.4%) while Windsor’s is 5-for-26 (19.2%).
- Hamilton’s Logan Morrison enters play on an 18-game point streak, the longest since Belleville’s Matt Beleskey went 19 consecutive games during the 2008 OHL Playoffs. Morrison has a Bulldogs franchise record 37 points (17-20–37) in these playoffs.
- Bulldogs forward Ryan Winterton was cited as “day-to-day” by head coach Jay McKee following Game 6. He left Game 5 of the series after scoring a first period goal and didn’t return to the game.
- The Bulldogs are 13-1-2-0 this season/playoffs when OHL Defenceman of the Year Nathan Staios scores a goal.
- For Hamilton, overagers Nathan Staios and Arber Xhekaj will compete in their final OHL playoff game.
- The Windsor Spitfires could become the first OHL team since the 1978 Peterborough Petes to win their last two rounds of the OHL Playoffs in seven games. The ’78 Petes eliminated the Ottawa 67’s in eight games (point system) before defeating the Hamilton Fincups in seven games. They lost to the New Westminster Bruins in the Memorial Cup Final.
- With his game winner in Game 6, Michael Renwick became the first defenceman in the last 25 years to score two game winning goals in the same OHL Championship Series.
- Wyatt Johnston leads the OHL Playoffs with 41 points (14-27–41), a Spitfires club record.
- Daniel D’Amico produced five goals in Windsor’s Games 6 and 7 victories over the Flint Firebirds in the Western Conference Championship Series. He scored twice in Game 6 against Hamilton on Monday.
- For Windsor, overagers Daniel D’Amico, Louka Henault and Andrew Perrott will compete in their final OHL playoff contest.
“It’s what every kid dreams about…”
Will Cuylle picked up a goal and an assist on Monday to help Windsor force Game 7 against Hamilton in the OHL Final. He spoke to @markhmasters about his playoff success and chemistry with Wyatt Johnston: https://t.co/hZal2UxXtE#TSNHockey pic.twitter.com/UJynGqgJSR
— TSN Hockey (@TSNHockey) June 14, 2022
Coach Quotes:
“It’s a great opportunity for our guys to go home, play a Game 7, play one game with the opportunity of being OHL champions is a great thing for our players. We’ve went through the whole playoffs and haven’t had an opportunity to win a series at home and now we’re given that opportunity. It’s something for our players to be excited about.”
– Hamilton Bulldogs head coach Jay McKee
“We’ve been talking about the journey the whole way and when we lost at times, this is part of the journey, these are learning experiences. Even when we were down 3-2 to Flint, we could have done this better, could have done this better, but this is all part of the journey to where we want to go. We knew what we had to do, we did it again and we’ve been there before. We’ve got a big job ahead of us, we know that. Give it the best we got.”
– Windsor Spitfires head coach Marc Savard
The Series so far:
Game 1 – Windsor 4 at Hamilton 3 (OT) (WSR: Renwick GWG, Cuylle 2G)
Game 2 – Windsor 4 at Hamilton 5 (HAM: Hayes 2G, 2A, Xhekaj 1G, 1A)
Game 3 – Hamilton 3 at Windsor 6 (WSR: Johnston 2G, Christopoulos 2G)
Game 4 – Hamilton 3 at Windsor 2 (OT) (HAM: White GWG, Morrison 1G, 1A)
Game 5 – Windsor 2 at Hamilton 3 (HAM: McTavish 2G, Morrison 2A)
Game 6 – Hamilton 2 at Windsor 5 (WSR: D’Amico 2G, Cuylle 1G, 1A)
OHL Championship Game 7 History (since 1975):
2013 – London def. Barrie 3-2, 2011 – Owen Sound def. Mississauga 3-2 OT, 2008 – Kitchener def. Belleville 4-1, 2000 – Barrie def. Plymouth 4-2, 1999 – Belleville def. London 9-2, 1996 – Peterborough def. Guelph 8-7 OT, 1994 – North Bay def. Detroit 5-4 OT, 1992 – Sault Ste. Marie def. North Bay 4-2, 1990 – Oshawa def. Kitchener 4-2, 1987 – Oshawa def. North Bay 5-3, 1985 – Sault Ste. Marie def. Peterborough 5-2, 1979 – Peterborough def. Niagara Falls 5-2, 1978 – Peterborough def. Hamilton 5-0, 1975 – Toronto def. Hamilton 8-3
Hamilton Game 7 History (0-1):
2017 – lost to Kingston in first round
Windsor Game 7 History (8-4-1):
2022 – defeated Flint in Western Conference Final / 2017 – lost to London in first round / 2011 – defeated Erie in first round / 2010 – defeated Kitchener in Western Conference Final / 2006 – lost to Plymouth in first round / 2005 – defeated Sault Ste. Marie in first round / 2003 – lost to London in first round / 2000 – defeated Sarnia in first round / 1992 – lost to Kitchener in first round / 1991 – defeated London in first round / 1980 – defeated Brantford in semi-final / 1979 – tied London 3-3 — defeated London 3-2 in protest game — both teams advanced due to protest