Storm survives Midwest Division gauntlet
By Jordan Ercit, The Nugget – In his post-championship comments, when the West had been won, Guelph Storm head coach Scott Walker said that his team had made it through the gauntlet.
And for good reason.
Since the 1999-00 season, only two OHL campaigns have included three teams topping the 100-point mark in the regular season. In 2009-10, the Barrie Colts, London Knights and Windsor Spitfires, all separate division winners, did it.
But this season, three teams in the Midwest accomplished the feat as each of the Storm, Knights and Erie Otters cracked the 100-point plateau.
All won at least 49 games in the regular season as well.
Only one was going to win the Wayne Gretzky Trophy as Western Conference champions.
“It was exciting, it was fun to play in such a tough division,” Guelph captain Matt Finn said. “It made it fun every night, trying to beat the best teams in the league, and I think it gets us ready for playoffs because we were familiar with those teams — the Londons and Eries — that we’d be playing six times each year. We knew what each other would bring to the table.
“But like Scott (Walker) said, it’s not just our division, it’s the entire league that’s at a whole new level of competitiveness and skill. It’s fun to be a part of that, not only in our division, but throughout the OHL.”
In the end, though, it was the Storm who prevailed and it’s is the Storm who have home ice advantage in the OHL championship after beating the Plymouth Whalers, the Memorial Cup-host Knights and Otters in successive five-game series.
Game 1 is tonight at 7 p.m., followed by Game 2 Friday at 7 p.m., which will be featured on Sportnet’s Friday Night Hockey.
