Game Preview: 90’s Night

The Kingston Frontenacs (15-12-1-1) look for a fourth straight win and a third consecutive victory against the Hamilton Bulldogs (12-13-2-0) tonight at Leon’s Centre starting at 7:00pm. The Black and Gold enter action one point behind the Peterborough Petes for second place in the East Division standings, with two fewer games played and begin a stretch of three-games in three-days over the weekend. After tonight’s game, the Fronts will travel to Peterborough on Saturday night and be back in Kingston on Sunday afternoon versus the Ottawa 67’s (Holiday Game).

General Manager Kory Cooper announced a trade that sent 2019 second round selection Francesco Arcuri to the Kitchener Rangers on Thursday. “Obviously, it was a difficult decision to trade Francesco,” said the GM. “His development over his time in Kingston has been tremendous and has seen him sign his first NHL contract with Dallas. The trade provides us flexibility with assets but, more importantly, shows our belief in the progression of our young players as we move forward. We wish Francesco continued success with Kitchener and into his pro hockey career”.

The Fronts took the 5-1 victory in Hamilton last Sunday to add to a 7-4-0-1 record at home, ending a mini two-game slide at Leon’s Centre after losses to North Bay (Dec 2) and Flint (Dec 4). In the previous matchup, Chris Thibodeau had a first career hattrick in the Fronts win over the Dogs to give the Black and Gold two consecutive wins over their divisional counterparts. In the season’s first matchup in Hamilton on Oct 14, the Fronts took a 4-2 win, with rookie Adam Cavallin scoring his first OHL goal.

With one win in their last five games, Hamilton laces up on back-to-back nights, suffering an 8-2 loss to the Petes in Peterborough on Thursday night (Kingston faces the Petes on Saturday night in Peterborough) for consecutive losses, including the loss to Kingston last Sunday. Sitting in the fourth spot in the East Division, six points back of the Frontenacs, the loss to Peterborough dropped the Dogs to a respectable 6-5-1-0 record away from home.

Logan Morrison leads the Bulldogs with 43 points to sit third overall in league point totals and has points in a league-long 17 consecutive games (14G,16A). Paired with Hayes, the pair are tied for second in points on the man advantage (18). Morrison assisted in the Thursday loss to the Petes and enters Friday night’s game with a 14-game point streak (14G,8A)  snapped in the Kingston loss last Sunday.

 

Powerplay:

KGN: (22/107) 20.6% – (6^th Eastern Conf / 10^th OHL) – 4 SHGA

HAM: (27/109) 24.8% – (2^nd Eastern Conf / 3^rd OHL) – 6 SHGA

 

Penalty Kill:

KGN: (86/108) 79.6% – (5^th Eastern Conf / 10^th OHL) – 3 SHGF (11.45 pen mins/game – 15^th most OHL)

HAM: (79/106) 74.5% –  (7^th Eastern Conf / 16^th OHL) – 3 SHGF (14.07 pen mins/game – Most OHL)

 

Fronts Notes:

• On Nov 23, Frontenacs Hockey Club officially announced its bid for rights to host the 2024 Memorial Cup presented by Kia

• F Paul Ludwinski (CHI) – 4 gm pt streak (2G,2A), pts in 7 of last 8 (2G,6A)
• F Chris Thibodeau – Goals in consecutive gms (4G), first career hattrick v HAM on Dec 11
• F Mitchell Brooks – 1^st career multi-point gm v HAM on Dec 11(2A)
• G Ivan Zhigalov – 4^th OHL Save-percentage (.907) – min 19 gms played
• D Maleek McGowan – inj (1^st OHL point v HAM Oct 14)

 

Team Stat Pack – GP (29) (15-12-1-1) 32 pts ( 3^rd East Div / 4^th Eastern Conf /10^th OHL)

Leaders:

Goals –Soto (9), Thibodeau, Outwater, Hemström (7)

PPG – Soto, (3), Battaglia (2)

Assists – Soto (17), Hemström, Burns (15), Ludwinski, Outwater (14)

PPA – Hemstrom (8), Burns (6), Soto, Outwater (5)

Points –Soto (26), Hemstrom (22), Outwater (21)

PPP –Soto, Hemstrom (8)

SOG –Thibodeau, Soto (53), Outwater (52)

Plus/Minus – Outwater (+5), McGowan, Burns, Petreccia (+4)

PIMs – Burns (59), Stewart (41), Haché (38)

 

On The Front

The Black and Gold head to Peterborough for a matchup with the Pets on Saturday night at 7:00 pm before wrapping up the busy weekend with the Annual Holiday Game on Sun, Dec 18 at 2:00 pm versus the Ottawa 67’s.

96.3 Big FM and 104.3 Fresh Radio are your exclusive home for play-by-play with Jim Gilchrist and Kingston Frontenacs Hockey! Fans can listen live to all the games at https://frontenacs.leanplayer.com/. Fans can also tune into the game at https://watch.chl.ca/ (subscription needed).

Fans are encouraged to follow the team’s social media channels on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for live updates!

All home game tickets are available online at www.ticketmaster.ca or by visiting the Leon’s Centre box office at 1 The Tragically Hip Way. The box office is open Tuesday to Friday from 10:00 am until 5:00 pm and 2 hours before puck drop on home game days. Group tickets, Flex Packs and season ticket memberships are available at www.kingstonfrontenacs.com.