OHL Power Rankings: Week 4 – Oct. 23, 2023

The Mississauga Steelheads swim to the top of the OHL Power Rankings in Week 4! The Soo Greyhounds, Kitchener Rangers and Sarnia Sting also continue their upward trend, while the Flint Firebirds re-appear after a two week absence.

Who’s up:

Mississauga Steelheads – up three spots to #1 this week
They sit atop the OHL standings, and now they’re on top of the OHL Power Rankings, too. Now 9-2 on the season, the Mississauga Steelheads came up short in Sudbury on Wednesday, but put on a tremendous display of perseverance on Thursday in North Bay, overcoming a 6-4 deficit to beat the Battalion 7-6 behind a Porter Martone hat trick. The Trout stopped the red-hot Kitchener Rangers at home on Saturday as Ryerson Leenders improved to 8-1 on the season.

Saginaw Spirit – up one spot to #4 this week
The week didn’t start well with a loss in Windsor, but the Spirit came back strong on Sunday at home against London, defeating the Knights 6-4 thanks to a Nic Sima hat trick. Saginaw is .500 through eight games, which does leave something to be desired. The Spirit prepare for a three-in-three against Sault Ste. Marie, Sarnia and Flint next weekend, one that could dictate whether Saginaw can hang around in the upper tier, or if some hungry teams down the list can unseat them. Saginaw lost goaltender Andrew Oke to injury on Friday in Windsor. Nolan Lalonde picked up his first win in a Spirit uniform on Sunday.

Sudbury Wolves – up one spot to #7 this week
The Wolves won two of three last week, ending with a 5-3 win over Barrie on Saturday. St. Louis Blues prospect Dalibor Dvorsky introduced himself to Wolves fans with a highlight reel goal for his first in the OHL on Friday. Sudbury’s other CHL Import Draft selection, goaltender Jakub Vondras, continues to come up with the big save when needed, going 5-3 with a 2.24 goals-against average and .909 save percentage to start his OHL career. The Wolves have a very talented team on paper, though they continue to carry four overage players with Andre Anania, Djibril Toure, Landon McCallum and Ethan Larmand rotating through the lineup.

Soo Greyhounds – up two spots to #8 this week
Another solid week for the Hounds sees them climb inside the top-10. Sault Ste. Marie returned home with four of a possible six points following stops in Peterborough, Kingston and Ottawa. The Hounds posted back-to-back shutouts in wins over the Petes and Frontenacs, with rookie Landon Miller earned his first career OHL clean sheet in Kingston. The Hounds dropped a 4-1 decision to the 67’s on Sunday. Vegas Golden Knights prospect Arttu Karki continues to be an early-season success story, scoring a total of 10 goals in 11 games, including a league-leading seven on the power play.

Kitchener Rangers – up two spots to #9 this week
The Rangers are into the top-10 for the first time this season, continuing to prove the doubters wrong with their continued strong play under head coach Jussi Ahokas. The Rangers started the week with wins over both Niagara and Owen Sound before falling short against this week’s top-ranked squad, the Mississauga Steelheads. Blueliner Hunter Brzustewicz leads the entire league in scoring with 20 points (5-15–20) over 10 games while Carson Rehkopf has a league-leading 11 tallies. The Rangers are at home to the Sarnia Sting on Tuesday night.

Sarnia Sting – up two spots to #10 this week
There’s a lot of people eating crow on the Sarnia Sting right now, too. The Sting took care of both Niagara and Erie this week, with twin brothers Andrew and Jacob LeBlanc factoring heavily into the team’s success. Jacob scored the OT winner against his former club, the Niagara IceDogs, on the road Thursday night. Andrew netted his first OHL hat trick, with Jacob assisting on all three goals as the Sting defeated the Otters 6-4 in Erie on Friday. Sarnia’s 41 goals are the fourth-most in the OHL.

Oshawa Generals – up one spot to #13 this week
The Gennies picked up four points in a three-in-three this past weekend, rebounding from a 5-1 loss to Brantford to beat both Peterborough and Guelph. Matthew Buckley capped his first OHL hat trick in overtime on Saturday as the Generals beat the rival Petes 4-3. Jacob Oster came to play against his former club on Sunday as Oshawa blanked Guelph 2-0, with defenceman Thomas Stewart scoring the difference-maker. The Generals still haven’t seen star centreman Calum Ritchie in their lineup this season, getting off to a 5-5-0-0 start in his absence.

Brantford Bulldogs – up one spot to #15 this week
The Bulldogs did their part to reverse a slow start, coming back strong from a 5-1 loss to London with road wins over both Oshawa and Owen Sound. Ottawa Senators prospect Jorian Donovan collected four points (1-3–4) over three games on the blueline last week. Young forwards Jake O’Brien, Marek Vanacker and Luca Testa all showed well on Saturday in Owen Sound, each producing multi-point totals in a 5-2 win.

Flint Firebirds – up one spot to #16 this week
Give credit where it’s due, the Firebirds have handled themselves well on their venture through northern Ontario. Flint defeated both Barrie and Sudbury on the road as goaltender Nathan Day turned-in back-to-back first star performances. Captain Zacharie Giroux had a successful homecoming to Sudbury, with a pair of goals in Friday’s 4-3 win. The ‘Birds made a game of things in North Bay on Sunday, dropping a 6-4 decision.The 3-6-0-0 Firebirds have one more northern Ontario matchup on Wednesday in Sault Ste. Marie before returning home for a weekend set against the Hounds and the Saginaw Spirit.

Who’s down:

Ottawa 67’s – down one spot to #2 this week
When you’re at the top of the mountain, you’ve gotta be at your best every night to stay there and the 67’s weren’t on Friday, losing 4-1 to the Peterborough Petes. Ottawa came back strong on Sunday, defeating the Soo Greyhounds 4-1 behind a pair of goals from Kaleb Lawrence.

North Bay Battalion – down one spot to #3 this week
The Troops gave up an uncharacteristic seven goals in a loss to the Mississauga Steelheads on Thursday but rallied to beat Flint thanks to an Anthony Romani hat trick on Sunday afternoon. Captain Liam Arnsby returned to the lineup this past week.

London Knights – down two spots to #5 this week
The Knights have had a hard time putting things together consistently in the early going, beating the Brantford Bulldogs on the road Wednesday night only to lose against visiting Erie on Friday. The Knights fell short on Sunday in Saginaw despite a pair of goals from Finnish winger Kasper Halttunen. The Knights have a quiet week coming up, with just one game on their schedule as the Ottawa 67’s visit Budweiser Gardens on Friday.

Owen Sound Attack – down four spots to #11 this week
Last week wasn’t kind to the Bears, who went 0-3 with losses to Kitchener, Brantford and Kingston under newly-appointed interim head coach Darren Rumble.

Barrie Colts – down three spots to #12 this week
The Colts came up empty, with losses to Flint, Guelph and Sudbury.

Peterborough Petes – down one spot to #14 this week
Let’s make sure we point out that the Petes defeated last week’s top-seeded Ottawa 67’s on Friday, with goaltender Zach Bowen making 43 saves. That success was book-ended by a 4-0 shutout loss against the Soo Greyhounds, and a 4-3 overtime loss to the rival Oshawa Generals. The Petes hit the road for games in Niagara and Erie on Friday and Saturday.

Kingston Frontenacs – down one spot and out of the rankings this week
The Fronts managed to salvage their weekend with a 4-3 win in Owen Sound on Sunday, but not before they were outscored 12-2 in losses to Sault Ste. Marie and Guelph on Friday and Saturday. The Fronts had St. Louis Blues prospect Quinton Burns back in the lineup this past weekend, but were without the services of forward Linus Hemstrom.