Oulahen holds key to Locke

BRAMPTON, Ont. – Shutting down Ottawa 67’s centre Corey Locke in a playoff series is a tough assignment for any Ontario Hockey League opponent, but Battalion centre Ryan Oulahen is looking forward to playing against his longtime friend.

Oulahen and Locke, the OHL’s two-time scoring champion, both hail from Newmarket, Ont., and have played with and against each other for a number of years.

The stakes have never been higher than they will be starting Friday night when the Battalion visits Ottawa to open a best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarterfinal series.

Knowing him as well as I do makes it a little easier to play against him,” Oulahen said Wednesday. But it’s no secret that he’s among the best players in this league. I’ve had some success against him and I’m looking forward to this challenge. I have fun playing against him and, if I can shut him down, that’ll give me a lot of confidence.

I’m really looking forward to this. I feel comfortable playing against the 67’s. I’m sure there’ll be some people coming from Newmarket to watch us play.”

Said Locke from Ottawa: He plays his game against me, and it just seems that every time we meet he puts up some points. And that’s what he’s supposed to do as his team’s top centre and one of their go-to guys.”

Oulahen and Locke, who first came together playing rep hockey in Newmarket, have seen their careers follow similar paths.

I was in my third year of hockey and playing my first year of rep,” recalled Oulahen, who at 18 is almost a year younger than Locke. It was his first year too, and we played together for three years. We hooked up really early, and I’ve been following him ever since. He played for the (junior A) Newmarket Hurricanes one year before me and then he went to the OHL, and I came the next year.”

Said Locke: I remember him playing up with me in the Newmarket Redmen. Anytime you see a kid move up to play with older kids you know he must be a good player. It’s great to see how far he’s come. He’s always improved, and I can see that every time we play each other.”

Oulahen said Locke, who led the OHL in scoring with 51 goals and 67 assists for 118 points this season, has always been the same player.”

“He’s always been a guy who can score from anywhere. He’s probably the smartest player I’ve ever been with. Even at a young age, he ran the power play. He’s been a dangerous player as long as I’ve known him.”

Both said the key to success will be whether they can force the other team’s top line to play in its own end.

We need to work hard and force them to work in their own end, and I’m sure that’ll be their strategy against us,” said Locke, who gets plenty of ice time from coach Brian Kilrea on a line with Julian Talbot and Mark Mancari.

Ryan’s line has three guys who are big players who skate well. Ryan skates well and he can dish the puck. (Chris) Clayton is a big presence out there who will bang and crash and he gets in on the forecheck. Everyone knows how good (Adam) Henrich’s hands are, and he has a great shot.”

Said Oulahen: The key is to keep Corey in his own end. We have to pressure them and find ways to chase pucks in our own end and get it out. We know he’ll score in this series, but we need to limit his chances.”

Each player said he’s looking forward to playing some honest hockey against the other, but Locke acknowledged there’ll be some verbal jabs.

We might take the odd friendly jab at each other, but it gets intense out there. After the game we can joke with each other.”

Oulahen noted that offseason bragging rights in the Newmarket area will be another strong incentive in their friendly rivalry.

He had a lot of bragging rights last year as the league scoring champion and Canadian Hockey League Player of the Year. But even though he’s the scoring champion again, if we put him out of the playoffs that’ll be something I can tell the boys back home.”