CHL on CBC Gem | 3 Reasons to Watch – Saginaw vs. Flint
It’s hockey night in Flint.
Available via the free CBC Gem streaming service, fans can tune in as the Saginaw Spirit visit the Flint Firebirds, with puck drop set for 7 p.m. Eastern.
To get you ready, here are three reasons why this OHL showdown is must-see TV:
Rookie race
The second half of the OHL season is underway and with that comes the races for league accolades, including the Emms Family Award presented annually to the Rookie of the Year. On Wednesday, two top contenders for that year-end recognition will go head to head in Spirit centre Matyas Sapovaliv and Firebirds pivot Coulson Pitre, with the former a pair of points ahead and just four back of top spot league wide among all freshmen. Saginaw’s top pick in the 2021 CHL Import Draft, the Czech-born forward joined the Spirit this season after spending the prior campaign in his home country’s tier-two league and has made a seamless transition to his new environment. A projected second- or third-round selection in the upcoming NHL Draft per Central Scouting, Sapovaliv is one of two anticipated early selections from the Spirit alongside Russian-born blue-liner Pavel Mintyukov who this season has impressed in putting up 22 points through 25 appearances, production outpaced by just six OHL rearguards.
We see you, @sapovaliv! 👀🇨🇿
Some superb @SpiritHockey passing sets the 2022 #NHLDraft prospect up for his first #OHL goal in the dying seconds of the middle frame 🎥 pic.twitter.com/oDDHt31ao3
— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) October 21, 2021
Draft day experience
While the hype grows for draft eligibles ahead of the big day in June, in the interim they will have familiar faces to turn to who have been through the experience. For the Spirit, it begins up front with leading scorer Josh Bloom, a talented left-wing who heard his name called by the Buffalo Sabres in the third round of last summer’s NHL Draft. Having already doubled his production from his first season with the Spirit, this year sees Bloom with 15 goals and 14 assists coming in 25 contests, including three different nights where he put four points on the board. Meanwhile, another circled name on the Saginaw lineup card comes between the pipes with New York Islanders up-and-comer Tristan Lennox – chosen two picks prior to Bloom in the 2021 class – who plays with excellent positioning and puck tracking given his desirable size as a new-age goaltender. This season, Lennox has found the win column five times, highlighted by a season-high, 33-save showing coming against the Firebirds in mid-October.
He somehow manages to keep it out 🤷♂️
Tristan Lennox (@lennox30_) and @SpiritHockey under siege, but the @NYIslanders prospect comes through with Friday's @RealCdnSS #SaveoftheNight 🎥 pic.twitter.com/ZMyUPYE3g5
— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) November 13, 2021
Othmann’s unique skill set
One of the most unique talents in the circuit, Firebirds left-wing Brennan Othmann plays a relentless style that challenges the opposition while also allowing him to decorate the scoresheet. Chosen 16th overall by the New York Rangers in last summer’s NHL Draft, Othmann has lived up to his billing where this season he headlines Flint with 37 points counting 20 goals and 17 assists through 24 appearances, production that puts him four points north of his 55-game freshman campaign. Always a scoring threat when he steps on the ice, Othmann also enters Wednesday’s showdown having recorded at least one point in 10 of his past 11 outings, including two separate four-point showings. One of three NHL prospects on the Firebirds, that group also includes fellow forward Braedan Kressler, who in October signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs as an undrafted free agent, as well as budding rearguard Dmitry Kuzmin, a 2021 third-round selection of the Winnipeg Jets.
He was dishing out assists left and right, and finished it all off with a big one-timer. Brennan Othmann (@BOthmann78) showed off his skills as the #OHL Player of the Week 🎥@FlintFirebirds | @NYRangers pic.twitter.com/0NXf2C72ag
— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) November 29, 2021