Week Preview – Dec 28 & 31, Jan 2 & 3

Here’s what you need to know coming into this week’s games…

Coming off the Christmas break, the Colts have four Central Divison matchups on their plate this week. Monday night the Colts welcome the Niagara IceDogs back to the BMC for the second time this season. Then, Thursday night the Sudbury Wolves are back in town for another tilt. The weekend will see the Colts and Battalion split a home and home, with the Battalion in Barrie Saturday night, then the Colts out in North Bay on Sunday afternoon. Heading into the week, the Colts are second in the Central Divison, only trailing the Mississauga Steelheads by one point with four games in hand. The Colts hold on to a record of 19-12-0-1 before their four games this week.
 

Barrie Colts vs. Niagara IceDogs (16-12-3-1)

• Monday night’s game will be the fourth time this season that the IceDogs and Colts will face off. So far in the season series, the IceDogs have the edge; winning the last two while the Colts grabbed the first win. The two teams will see each other two more times through the second half of the season.
• The Icedogs are led by New York Islanders prospect, Josh Ho-Sang, who has 43 points so far this season. He has tallied 11 goals and 32 assists, good enough for a plus minus of +9.
• In goal for the IceDogs, Carolina Hurricanes prospect Alex Nedeljkovic, has played in three games for the IceDogs since being traded from the Flint Firebirds. He has a record of 2-1 with the IceDogs, after going 9-7-1-1 earlier in the season with the Firebirds.
• The IceDogs are eighth in the league with a 21.4% power play when taking to the ice on the road. Overall, the IceDogs sit 7^th in the league with a 20.7% power play so far this season. On the road, the IceDogs also have a 79.7% penalty kill, only giving up 15 power play goals against through 74 chances. They also have three short-handed goals in the first half of the season. Comparably, the Colts lead the league with their penalty kill, boasting an 86.8% efficiency when playing a man down, but they struggle with their power play at home, making good on their chances only 15.8% of the time, putting them 17^th in the league.
• The IceDogs are 7-6-1-0 on the road, while the Colts are 8-7-0-1 at home. 

Barrie Colts vs. Sudbury Wolves (8-24-3-0)

• Thursday’s New Years Eve game between the Colts and the Wolves will be the fifth of eight meetings between the two teams. The Colts took the win in every first half meeting this season.
• The Wolves, who find themselves last in the Central Division, are led by rookie centre, Dmitiry Sokolov, who has recorded 26 points in 35 games played. Sokolov 13 goals and 13 assists, but also has a -22 rating. After being traded from the IceDogs, Mikkel Aagaard finds himself only a point behind Sokolov in points. Through 11 games with the Wolves, Aagaard has found the back of the net 6 times and has picked up 5 assists, adding to his previous 14 points in Niagara.
• In terms of special teams, the Wolves find themselves 18^th in the league with their power play on the road. They have scored 10 power play goals on 74 chances, ultimately finding success 13.5% of the time. For their power play, the Wolves are 19^th in the league, shutting the doors on their opponents 74.0% of the time. They have given up 20 power play goals against from 77 chances. When penalty killing at home, the Colts lead the league with an 89.7% penalty kill, while their power play at home isn’t quite comparable as it is 15.8% efficient through 76 power plays.
• The Wolves are 5-11-0-0 on the road this season, and the Colts are 8-7-0-1 at home.

Barrie Colts vs. North Bay Battalion (17-12-1-2) *Saturday & Sunday*

• The Battalion and Colts will be facing each other for only the third time this season on Saturday evening. They will then follow that up with a back-to-back outing when the Colts travel to North Bay on Sunday for an afternoon matchup. With another game set for January 16^th, and their previous meeting on December 19^th, the Colts and Battalion will ultimately be playing each other four times in less than a month.
• Los Angeles prospect Mike Amadio currently leads the Battalion with 47 points. He has 20 goals and 27 assists through 32 games, and also leads the team with a plus-13 rating. Battalion rookie, Cam Dineen leads rookies and is second in points on the team with 27 points through 32 games. His has registered 4 goals and 23 assists through that time.
• North Bay’s overall power play is good for 8^th in the league among all teams. They are 19.7% successful on their power play chances, scoring 25 goals over 127 opportunities. The Colts are only 0.1% less successful than the Battalion, going 28 for 143 of their chances on the power play this season. On the penalty kill, both teams again are close, with the Colts edging out the entire league and shutting the door 86.8% of the time, while the Battalion are in 4^th at 84.1% efficiency. However, the Battalion do have a league high 15 short-handed goals for, while the Colts have 7.
• With a pair of home and away games with both teams, the Battalion have gone 5-7-1-2 on the road this season, and 12-5-0-0 at home. Meanwhile, the Colts are 8-7-0-1 at home, and 11-5-0-0 on the road.

Colts Notes

• Kevin Labanc leads the Colts with 49 points (14G, 35A), while five other Colts have double-digit goals (Mangiapane 16G, Nattinen 10G, Radke 13G, James 11G, Scott 10G).
• Justin Scott has a four game point streak, tallying four goals and three assists through that time.
• Rasmus Andersson carries a six game points streak into the weekend, recording 4 goals and 2 assists.
• Zachary Magwood leads Colts rookies with 3 goals and 3 assists for six points through 32 games.
• Milestone alerts
  • Brandon Prophet has hit 50 career OHL points
  • Anthony Stefano has reached 150 OHL career games played, and now sits at 152 games played coming into the weekend.
  • Rasmus Andersson sits at 97 OHL career games played coming into this weekend.
  • Roy Radke enters the weekend with 96 OHL career games played.