GRAVES NAMED PIONEER ENERGY OHL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
The Ontario Hockey League today announced that defenceman Jacob Graves of the London Knights is the Pioneer Energy OHL Player of the Week for the playoff week ending May 15 after recording five assists in two games with a plus-minus rating of plus-6.
Graves was a shutdown force defensively but also led the Knights in both points and plus-minus last week in the final two games of the Rogers OHL Championship Series helping London hoist their fourth Robertson Cup in franchise history following a 4-0 series win over the Niagara IceDogs. In Game 3 on Monday he earned third star honours with a career-high four helpers as the Knights erased a 5-2 deficit to score a 6-5 overtime triumph, then tallied an assist on the series-winning goal scored by Christian Dvorak as the Knights claimed a 1-0 victory in Wednesday’s Game 4. The Knights will head west to Red Deer and the 2016 MasterCard Memorial Cup on Wednesday riding an OHL Playoff record 13-game winning-streak and will open competition against the host Rebels on Friday May 20.
A 21-year-old from Barrie, ON, Graves is playing in his fifth and final OHL season having accumulated 281 career regular season games between Mississauga, Kingston, Oshawa, and London. He played his final 31 games as a member of the Knights tallying one goal and five assists before contributing 10 assists in 18 post-season contests while posting an impressive plus-26 rating.
Watch video highlights of Graves and the Knights against the IceDogs in Game 3 and Game 4 of the Rogers OHL Championship Series.
Also considered for the award this week was Arizona Coyotes prospect Christian Dvorak with two goals and one assist for three points in two games, and Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Mitch Marner who collected three assists in the Knights’ final two games and earned the Wayne Gretzky ‘99’ Award as MVP of the OHL Playoffs with a league-high 44 points in 18 games. In goal, 2016 NHL Draft prospect Tyler Parsons backstopped the Knights to both wins making 43 saves including an 18-save shutout performance in Game 4 posting a final week goals-against-average of 2.44 and save percentage of .896.
