Hounds #1 in Week 11 OHL Power Rankings – Dec. 11, 2023
Another week, and another team on top of the OHL Power Rankings as the Soo Greyhounds sprint into number one! Keep an eye on another canine crew as the Brantford Bulldogs climb four spots this week.
Who’s up:
Soo Greyhounds – up one spot to #1 this week
The climb continues for the Greyhounds, who reach the top of the mountain in Week 11 on the heels of four consecutive wins. Andrew Gibson’s game-winner put the Hounds past the Sudbury Wolves 3-2 in overtime last Wednesday. Things didn’t start well for the Soo against the Kingston Frontenacs on Friday, but they’d rally from a 3-0 deficit with a five-goal third period to win 7-5. Sault Ste. Marie edged the London Knights 5-4 at home on Sunday as Jack Beck had two goals and an assist. The Hounds are 20-8-2-0. They hit the road heading into the holiday break, with another crack at the Kitchener Rangers coming up on Friday at the Aud.
Ottawa 67’s – up two spots to #4 this week
Tied for the Eastern Conference lead, the 67’s defeated the Oshawa Generals in overtime before a split against their nemesis, the Peterborough Petes. The Barber Poles fell to Peterborough at home on Friday, falling to 0-3 against the Petes this season before rebounding at the PMC on Sunday afternoon as Max Donoso was brilliant, making 39 saves in a 2-1 win. Ottawa continues to find success playing their brand of low-scoring hockey, surrendering a league-low 83 goals on the season.
North Bay Battalion – up two spots to #5 this week
The Troops were edged at home by Kingston on Thursday, but came back strong on Friday night in Mississauga to beat their divisional counterpart the Steelheads by a score of 5-3. Dalyn Wakely scored his first career OHL hat-trick in the win as the Battalion come out of the week tied with Sudbury for second place in the Central Division. The win over Mississauga pushes North Bay ahead in this week’s Power Rankings.
Sudbury Wolves – up two spots to #8 this week
The Wolves can score, and they showed that again this past week with back-to-back eight-goal explosions in wins over Niagara and Kingston. Sudbury was edged 3-2 in overtime by the Soo Greyhounds to start the week, but have points in their last five outings, owning a 15-10-2-1 record. With Jakub Vondras heading off for World Junior duty, goaltender Marcus Vandenberg joined the Wolves on Sunday and made 21 saves to get the win in his debut.
London Knights – up two spots to #9 this week
After a couple weeks sliding down the list, the Knights bounced back nicely with a 4-1 win over Sarnia, a commanding 7-3 win over last week’s top-ranked team, the Saginaw Spirit, and a competitive 5-4 loss in Sault Ste. Marie on Sunday. The Knights were without their big horses in the weekend finale as Easton Cowan, Denver Barkey, Oliver Bonk and Kasper Halttunen all have potential World Junior duty on the horizon.
Brantford Bulldogs – up four spots to #10 this week
The Bulldogs have lingered in the bottom half for much of the first two months of the season, but they get a healthy bump in Week 11, having shown they can skate with the big boys. Brantford doubled-up Peterborough to start the week before a pair of highly entertaining games against the Kitchener Rangers. The Bulldogs blew a 5-1 lead at the Aud on Friday, falling 6-5 in overtime. They returned the favour a night later at the Civic Centre, rallying from a 4-1 deficit to defeat the Rangers 5-4 on Nick Lardis’ overtime winner to complete a hat-trick. Brantford sits two points back of Ottawa, holding down second place in the East Division with a record of 14-9-5-1.
Oshawa Generals – up one spot to #15 this week
The Gennies fell 3-2 in overtime against Ottawa to begin the week, before taking back-to-back road wins over West Division opponents in Windsor and Sarnia. Connor Lockhart put home his fourth career OHL hat-trick on Saturday in Windsor. First-year netminder Noah Bender picked-up his first career OHL victory on Sunday in Sarnia.
Who’s down:
Saginaw Spirit – down one spot to #2 this week
The London Knights hung up a seven against Saginaw at Budweiser Gardens on Friday night, avenging a recent Spirit win over the green and gold at the Dow Event Center. The Spirit came back strong on Saturday night in Flint as Zayne Parekh put up four points (1-3–4) and Braden Haché scored twice in a 7-1 triumph over their I-75 rivals. The Spirit enter the break with a three-in-three this coming week, battling the Firebirds on Thursday at home, visiting Sarnia on Friday before hosting the Sudbury Wolves on Saturday.
Mississauga Steelheads – down one spot to #6 this week
The Steelheads dropped consecutive decisions against divisional opponents, losing 5-3 at home to North Bay on Friday before a 4-3 overtime loss in Barrie on Saturday. The Trout ended the week on a high note, with Porter Martone scoring the teddy bear toss goal in Sunday’s 5-3 win over Niagara. The Steelheads lead the Central Division, but clearly they have some competition.
Guelph Storm – down three spots to #7 this week
A tough week for the Storm, who are down a few names with injuries on the blueline. Guelph lost a pair of decisions against Kitchener, one to Owen Sound in overtime and another by a score of 4-1 in Erie on Saturday. Big-minute defender Michael Buchinger is off to Canada’s National Junior Team Selection Camp and it will be interesting to see how Guelph adapts moving into their final stretch before the break, taking on Owen Sound, Peterborough and Sault Ste. Marie.
Peterborough Petes – down two spots to #11 this week
The Petes dropped two of three last week, losing to Brantford before taking a split against Ottawa. The maroon and white have lost seven of their last 10, and with Owen Beck presumably representing Canada at this year’s World Juniors, it’ll be interesting to see how Peterborough adjusts without their top centreman in the lineup.
Flint Firebirds – down six spots to #14 this week
It’s a big drop, but the reality is, there isn’t a huge disparity between teams in the middle of the Power Rankings right now. The Firebirds had a good weekend on an eastern road trip two weeks ago, and a forgettable pair of games this past weekend, suffering a 7-1 loss to Saginaw and a 6-3 defeat at the hands of the Windsor Spitfires. Flint is .500 right now, having shown glimpses of being worthy of top-half placement at various points, but there have been some valleys in the first half as well.
Kingston Frontenacs – down one spot to #16 this week
Things started well with a 4-3 road win over the North Bay Battalion on Thursday, but went downhill from there as the Fronts squandered a 3-0 lead in Sault Ste. Marie before falling 7-5 on Friday. They surrendered six first period goals in Sunday’s 8-4 loss to the Sudbury Wolves