Inside the CHL
Several playoff races are coming right down to the wire heading into the final weekend of regular season play in the Canadian Hockey League.
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In the OHL, the Peterborough Petes, Oshawa Generals and Sudbury Wolves are waging an all-out battle for the final two berths in the Eastern Conference. Oshawa and Sudbury each have 57 points and the Petes trail but just one point with three games left this weekend to determine the outcome.
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Meanwhile, the Belleville Bulls have a two point lead over the Brampton Battalion for first place in the Eastern Conference. Both teams have three games remaining.
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The London Knights scored a late goal to edge the Windsor Spitfires 4-3 in Windsor on Sunday to end the Spitfires’ bid to surpass the Knights’ record for most points in a season set in 2004-05. The Spitfires have already locked up the regular season championship and could finish with as many as 119 points – one short of the record held by the Knights.
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In the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, the Baie-Comeau Drakkar won their past two games to lock up a playoff position while the Val d’Or Foreurs, Lewiston MAINEiacs and Halifax Mooseheads are battling for the final spot. Val d’Or and Lewiston are tied with 46 points and two games remaining while the Mooseheads are three points back with a pair of games in hand.
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At the top of the standings, the Drummondville Voltigeurs are winners of five in a row and have built up a four point lead on the Shawinigan Cataractes for first place overall. The Rimouski Oceanic have moved up to sixth place overall but their incredible winning streak was finally halted at 17 games when they lost to Drummondville on Sunday.
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In the Western Hockey League, the Edmonton Oil Kings and Prince Albert Raiders are taking their battle for the final playoff berth into the final weekend of play. The Oil Kings have a two point lead over Prince Albert with both teams playing three games this weekend. Edmonton hosts Kootenay tonight before a weekend home-and-home set with the Red Deer Rebels while the Raiders host the Regina Pats tonight and the Saskatoon Blades on Friday before closing out the season on Saturday in Saskatoon.
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The Calgary Hitmen hold a one point lead over the Vancouver Giants for first place overall with the Giants holding a game in hand. If the Giants manage to win their final three games, they would claim the Scotty Munro Trophy as regular season champions for the first time in team history. The Hitmen won the trophy in back-to-back seasons in 1998-99 and 1999-00.
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Yannick Riendeau of the Voltigeurs has 57 goals and leads all CHL scorers with 121 points in 62 games this season. He has a 14 point cushion on teammate Dany Masse for the QMJHL scoring lead and is a lock to become the first Voltigeur to claim the Jean Beliveau Trophy as the QMJHL’s top scorer since Daniel Briere in 1995-96.
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John Tavares of the Knights continues to be the OHL’s scoring leader after scoring six goals and 10 points in three games last weekend. He has 58 goals and 104 points in 55 games and pushed his scoring lead to 15 points with four players tied for second.
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Casey Pierro-Zabotel of the Giants continues to pace the WHL scoring parade with 34 goals and 111 points in 69 games while Joel Broda leads the goal scoring race with 51 goals in 65 games.
Photo – Dmitry Kulikov taken by Ghyslain Bergeron