Game Notes: Knights face Drummondville in clash of champions

The host Saginaw Spirit got the festivities started with a win on Friday and now the London Knights look to do the same as they take on the QMJHL champion Drummondville Voltigeurs at 4:00pm ET.

Sizing up the opponent
The Drummondville Voltigeurs emerged as QMJHL champions for the second time in their history, defeating the Baie-Comeau Drakkar in four straight games. Drummondville placed first in the Western Conference during the regular season with a record of 48-14-5-1. They boast a quartet of 30+ goal scorers in Tampa Bay Lightning prospect Ethan Gauthier, the son of former NHL blueliner Denis Gauthier. Veteran winger Sam Oliver netted 35 during the regular season while 5-foot-6 speedster Justin Cote scored 32. Slovak centreman Peter Repcik lit the lamp 30 times during the season. Drummondville persevered through the postseason without the services of Utah first round pick Maveric Lamoureux. Buffalo Sabres draftee and 2023 Memorial Cup champion Vsevolod Komarov earned QMJHL Playoff MVP honours with 15 points (5-10–15) over 19 games from the back end. The QMJHL entry has won the Memorial Cup four times in a row as Drummondville looks to follow the Quebec Remparts (2023), Saint John Sea Dogs (2022), Rouyn-Noranda Huskies (2019) and Acadie-Bathurst Titan (2018).

Knights in the hunt for third Memorial Cup title
The London Knights are fresh off their fifth Robertson Cup title as OHL champions (2024, 2016, 2013, 2012, 2005) and have set their sights on the Memorial Cup after tournament wins in Red Deer (2016) and home in London (2005). The Knights enter play on a four-game winning streak at the Memorial Cup, having gone 4-0 in 2016.

Simpson looks to join exclusive club
Knights goaltender Michael Simpson is the only OHL netminder to win a J. Ross Robertson Cup, Wayne Gretzky Trophy as Western Conference champion and Bobby Orr Trophy as Eastern Conference champion. He looks to add the Memorial Cup to his trophy case this week in Saginaw as the Knights try and become the first winner from the OHL since the host Windsor Spitfires in 2017.

Halttunen with eight goals in last three games
San Jose Sharks prospect Kasper Halttunen led the OHL Playoffs with 17 goals, eight of which have come in his last three games. The Finnish winger set a new OHL mark for goals by an import player in the postseason, helping the Knights complete a four-game sweep of the Oshawa Generals in the Championship Series.

Cowan with multi-point totals in seven straight
Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Easton Cowan is piling up the points, entering today’s contest with multi-point efforts in seven straight games. Cowan became the sixth player in OHL history to win both the Red Tilson Tropjhy as the league’s Most Outstanding Player and the Wayne Gretzky 99 Award as Playoff MVP. He put together a London Knights franchise record 36-game point streak during the regular season.

Lawrence, Sim return to Knights’ lineup
Veteran forwards Kaleb Lawrence and Landon Sim make their long-awaited return to the lineup. Lawrence, who signed an entry-level NHL contract with the LA Kings this week, joins St. Louis Blues prospect Sim in having served a five-game suspension. Both players bring a physical element to the London forward corps.

Watch today’s game
Tune in this afternoon at 4:00pm ET on TSN 1/3/4/5 and on NHL Network in the United States.