Ultimate Drivers Weekend Preview: Ready to Rebound
Brampton’s 50th anniversary
On Wednesday the Steelheads will be celebrating Brampton’s 50th anniversary. There will be lots of festivities with a dance group at intermission, and Juno award winning artist Omega Mighty will be performing. The Steelheads Holiday Pack is available for Wednesday’s game which includes 4 tickets and 4 specialty steelheads toques, all for just $125 + fees! The first 700 fans in attendance will receive a commemorative Brampton 50th Anniversary shirt so make sure you get there early!
Battle with the Bulldogs
The Steelheads (14-11-2-0) have an early start to the weekend, as they host the Brantford Bulldogs (13-12-3-0) on Wednesday. The Trout have seen a lot of the Bulldogs so far in the season, as it will be the fourth matchup between the clubs. Brampton took the season opener 7-0, before Brantford took the next two games 6-3 and 5-3.
In order for the Steelheads to win, they will need to outplay the Bulldogs on special teams. Since the return of Nick Lardis, Brantford’s powerplay has become a deadly threat. The Bulldogs scored five out of their eleven goals in this season series on the man advantage. When you factor in their two empty net goals, Brantford has only scored four times at 5-on-5 through three games. If the Steelheads can play disciplined, and limit the amount of Bulldogs power plays then they will have a good chance of winning.
On the other hand, the Trout’s power play has come up short against the Bulldogs, as they have only scored on one out of twelve power plays. Thankfully for Brampton, their man advantage has started to heat up. The Trout have scored a power play goal in each of their last three games. If the Steelheads can flip the special teams in their favour, then they should come out with a victory.
It will be a special celebration, and a great game, so grab your tickets here.
Looking for revenge
On Friday the Steelheads take the long trip north to face the Sudbury Wolves (15-8-4-0). It will be the first time this season where Brampton and Sudbury clash. The clubs split last year’s six game season series. The Wolves knocked the Steelheads out of last year’s playoffs in five games, so the Trout will enter this game looking for some revenge.
Sudbury enters this matchup as a completely different team than last season. The Wolves went all-in last year in hopes of an OHL Championship, but as a result they have lost a ton of key pieces from last year’s run. They will be without five of their top six leading scorers from last season. David Goyette, who led the league in points last season, Dalibor Dvorsky, who was top four in points per game, Landon McCallum, Zacharie Giroux, and Andre Anania have all moved out of the league, While last year’s leader in points per game, Quentin Musty, will be out with injury. Additionally, Evan Konyen, Nolan Collins, Matthew Mania, and Noah Van Vliet were all traded away in the offseason. Despite their massive list of losses, the Wolves have managed to remain top tier contenders in the OHL, and they sport a higher points percentage than they did last season.
The Steelheads will look for Luke Misa to lead the way against Sudbury. The Calgary Flames prospect tallied nine points (2G, 7A) in last year’s season series, where he found his way onto the score sheet in every game. Misa enters the weekend riding a twelve game point streak, where he has recorded (10G, 13A, 23PTS), so if he can keep up this hot-streak then the Trout’s offence should have no trouble outsourcing the Wolves.
You can catch all the road action by tuning in to watch.chl.ca or listening on Sauga960.
Off to Oshawa
On Sunday the Trout will travel to Oshawa for a matchup with the Generals (18-10-1-1). It too will be the first time that these two clubs face off this season. Last season’s series swung in favour of Oshawa, who won each of the four games last year.
Much like the Wolves, the Generals remain premier contenders despite losing many key pieces from last season’s run. Oshawa outscored the Trout 19-7 in the series last year, but thankfully for Brampton, the majority of those goalscorers are no longer with the team, with 13 out of the 19 goals having been scored by players who are not on the roster this season. Additionally, the Generals are on their second head coach since the clubs’ last meeting. The Steelheads will look to take advantage of all the moving pieces to start this year’s season series on the right foot.
The key to victory this Sunday will be depth. With the World Juniors inching closer, both sides will be losing stars to the development camps. The Steelheads will be without their two leading scorers in Porter Martone and Carson Rehkopf, the dynamic Czech duo of Adam Zidlicky and Jakub Fibigr, as well as their star netminder Jack Ivankovic. Oshawa will also be missing their top two forwards in Calum Ritchie and Beckett Sennecke. It will be a test for both sides to see who can step up and fill the voids during their absence. It will be a chance for some of the Trout’s younger forwards to slot higher up in the lineup, so they will look to find out what they can expect in the future from Kieran Witkowski and Troy Patton.
It will be a matchup you will not want to miss so make sure to tune in to watch.chl.ca or listen on Sauga960.
