OHL This Week: Oct. 13 to 16, 2016

Both the National Hockey League and the American Hockey League get underway this week as the OHL schedule rolls through October.

Here’s a look at what’s happening around the league this week.

 

173 OHL GRADS BEGIN 2016-17 SEASON ON NHL ROSTERS:
173 OHL alumni are listed on National Hockey League opening day rosters representing over 25% of all players in the league to start the 2016-17 season. Of the 173 players, 11 finished the 2015-16 season in the OHL including nine who are returning-eligible as 18 and 19-year-old players led by Dylan Strome of the Erie Otters selected third overall by the Arizona Coyotes and reigning CHL Player of the Year Mitch Marner who was selected fourth overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2015 NHL Draft. FULL LIST

 

24 OHL PLAYERS TO REPRESENT CANADA AT 2016 WORLD UNDER-17 HOCKEY CHALLENGE:
24 of the OHL’s top young players have been selected to represent their country at the 2016 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., Oct. 27-Nov. 5. The process, which began with 111 players who took part in a seven-day development camp in late July, will be finalized next week when the 66-player roster is divided to make up the three Canadian teams – Team Canada Black, Team Canada Red, and Team Canada White. FULL LIST

 

SPITFIRES’ LOGAN BROWN NAMED OHL PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Ottawa Senators prospect Logan Brown of the Windsor Spitfires is the Pioneer Energy OHL Player of the Week for the week ending October 9 after recording two goals and six assists for eight points in three games with a plus-minus rating of plus-2. FULL STORY

 

STING’S KOROSTELEV HEADLINES 3RD EDITION OF OHL PLAYS OF THE WEEK:
Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Nikita Korostelev of the Sarnia Sting leads the third edition of the OHL Plays of the Week, a week that also includes highlight reel tallies from Graham Knott (Niagara), Akil Thomas (Niagara), Dylan Seitz (Kitchener) and Ryan Merkley (Guelph). WATCH

 

SPITFIRES’ DiPIETRO LEADS JANES SAVES OF THE WEEK:
The first week of October featured another assortment of spectacular stops by the league’s best goaltenders in the regular season’s third edition of OHL #JanesSaves.  This week features Leo Lazarev of the Ottawa 67’s, Riley Daniels of the Owen Sound Attack, Justin Fazio of the Sarnia Sting, Zack Bowman of the Sudbury Wolves, David Ovsjannikov of the Barrie Colts, Tyler Parsons of the London Knights, Garrett Forrest of the Flint Firebirds, Chris McGonigle of the Kitchener Rangers, and Michael DiPietro of the Windsor Spitfires. WATCH

 

OHL MILESTONE MOMENTS:
The third week of the 2016-17 Ontario Hockey League season ending with games on Thanksgiving Monday October 10 featured 15 first career goals scored.  Celebrating their milestones include Maksim Sushko and Aidan Dudas of the Owen Sound Attack, Filip Hronek of the Saginaw Spirit, Akil Thomas, Ondrej Machala, and Pavel Demin of the Niagara IceDogs, Eemeli Rasanen of the Kingston Frontenacs, Allan McShane and Gera Poddubnyi of the Erie Otters, Tyler Rollo of the Peterborough Petes, Sean Josling of the Sarnia Sting, Jason Willms of the Barrie Colts, Serron Noel of the Oshawa Generals, Ryan Merkley of the Guelph Storm, and Dylan Seitz of the Kitchener Rangers. WATCH.

 

McLEOD, SCHEMITSCH, VANDE SOMPEL SIGN ENTRY LEVEL NHL CONTRACTS:
Mississauga Steelheads captain Michael McLeod signed a three-year, entry level NHL contract with the New Jersey Devils on October 7th. McLeod, who was New Jersey’s first round (12th overall) pick this past summer, has three assists through his first three games this season. FULL STORY

Owen Sound Attack defenceman Thomas Schemitsch signed a three-year, entry level NHL contract with the Florida Panthers on October 8th. Schemitsch, who was a third round (88th overall) pick by the Panthers in 2015, has been assigned to Florida’s AHL affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds for the 2016-17 season. FULL STORY

Oshawa Generals defenceman Mitchell Vande Sompel signed a three-year, entry level NHL contract with the New York Islanders on Wednesday. Vande Sompel, who was a third round (82nd overall) pick by the Isles in the 2015 NHL Draft, has three points (2-1–3) through his first five games with the Generals this season. FULL STORY

 

4 OHL OFFICIALS SELECTED FOR IIHF INTERNATIONAL DUTY IN 2016-17:
Referees Darcy Burchell and Scott Ferguson will linesmen join Mike Harrington and Dustin McCrank in representing the OHL on the world stage this coming season as the four officials have been nominated by the IIHF to work world championships and Olympic qualification tournaments in 2016-17. FULL STORY

 

ROGERS HOMETOWN HOCKEY TOUR MAKES FIRST STOP IN NEWMARKET:
The first stop on the Rogers Hometown Hockey Tour for the 2016-17 season is Newmarket! The home of Erie Otters graduate Connor McDavid hosts a two-day celebration that features a live performance by Juno Award-winning Platinum selling recording artist ‘Walk off the Earth.’ The weekend culminates with the first Rogers Hometown Hockey broadcast of the season as McDavid and the Oilers take on the Buffalo Sabres at 6:30pm ET on Sportsnet. FULL DETAILS

 

COMMUNITY CORNER:

Niagara Hosts OHL’s First Pride Night: Thursday night at home against the Sarnia Sting the IceDogs will take to the ice wearing special Pride jerseys in support of Pride Niagara and the You Can Play Project which believes that locker rooms should be safe and sports venues should be free from homophobia.  After the game is complete, IceDogs staff will be conducting a live auction of select game worn jerseys to those in attendance, as well there will be game worn jerseys available for auction online, a gameday jersey raffle and silent auction. Read more.

Battalion, Frontenacs, Firebirds go Pink: On Thursday night in North Bay the Battalion will be dressed in pink as they take on the visiting Hamilton Bulldogs.  A silent auction will be held for the autographed one-of-a-kind jerseys with proceeds to support the Canadian Cancer Society.  Read more.

For the sixth consecutive season the Frontenacs are hosting Pink in the Rink in support of the Canadian Cancer Society’s breast cancer programs.  The club will be sporting limited edition pink jerseys and socks for Friday’s game against the Soo Greyhounds which will be put up for online auction.  The game will also feature a Survivor Walk where cancer survivors and their supporters in attendance are invited to join together in a victory lap around the ice during the first intermission.  Read more.

Friday against the Mississauga Steelheads, the Firebirds are teaming up with the McLaren Flint Foundation for “Pink Out Night” to raise money to help in the fight against breast cancer. The Firebirds are asking all fans to wear pink to the game. Fans can bid on the game worn Flint Firebirds’ jerseys in a live auction that will take place immediately following the game with all proceeds donated to the McLaren Flint Foundation. Read more.

West Division Banner Raising: The Sarnia Sting will be raising their 2015-16 West Division banner to the rafters of Progressive Auto Sales Arena on Friday night when they take on the Barrie Colts.  Last season the Sting set club records for wins (42) and points (91) in a season..  Read more.

Food Drive in Guelph: Storm fans will be looking to match the generosity of their Midwest Division rival Rangers as Sunday’s contest is in support of the Guelph Food Bank.  The two teams played on Thanksgiving Monday in Kitchener with non-perishable food items collected in support of the Waterloo-Region Food Bank.

Fleece and Thank You in Saginaw: Earlier this month Spirit players partnered with non-profit organization, Fleece and Thank You, to provide comfort and hope to children who are beginning their treatment journey at a local hospital by making fleece knot blankets. A Thank You table will be setup at Saturday’s game against the Mississauga Steelheads where fans can join the movement of providing comfort and hope for a child in need.

Petes kickoff Partners in Education Program: The Peterborough Petes are once again offering the popular Partners in Education program to schools during the 2016-17 season. The program kicked off on Wednesday, October 12 at Beatrice Strong Public School in Port Hope. The Partners in Education program is a partnership between the Petes, Crime Stoppers Peterborough-Northumberland, and the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) Kawartha, Haliburton, Pine Ridge. Through the program, students learn about bullying awareness and prevention, and mental health awareness. Read more.

 

ALUMNI NOTES:

Blue Jackets’ Foligno makes $1 million donation to hospitals: Sudbury Wolves graduate Nick Foligno and his wife Janelle have made a significant contribution to the two hospitals that took care of their daughter’s congenital heart defect nearly three years ago. The Foligno’s announced a $1 million gift to honour their daughter Milana, who will turn three years-old on Friday. The donation will be split between the hospital where Milana was first diagnosed and Boston Children’s Hospital where a surgical heart procedure was performed when she was three weeks old. Visit NHL.com for the full story.

Ryan Hartman scores first NHL goal: Plymouth Whalers graduate Ryan Hartman scored his first NHL goal on Wednesday, opening his season with the Chicago Blackhawks with a bang. Hartman got on the board 13:57 into the second period as the Hawks went on to fall to the St. Louis Blues 5-2. A former first round (30th overall) pick by Chicago in 2013, Hartman has spent the past two seasons primarily with the Blackhawks’ AHL affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs. The native of West Dundee, Illinois recorded 114 career points (49-65–114) over 108 career games with the Plymouth Whalers from 2012-14.

Toffoli looking to take big step forward: Ottawa 67’s graduate Tyler Toffoli has been on a steady incline early in his NHL career with the Los Angeles Kings. Toffoli comes off a 31-goal season last year, and is eager to build off his success. Visit NHL.com for the full story.

Hall brings speed, skill to Devils: Windsor Spitfires graduate Taylor Hall is getting adjusted to his new surroundings after an offseason trade to the New Jersey Devils. The former first overall pick in the 2010 NHL Draft comes off a 65-point (26-39–65) season last year and wants to take the Devils to another level in 2016-17. NHL.com has the full story.

 

SCHEDULE: 

Thursday October 13:
Sarnia at Niagara – 7:00pm
Hamilton at North Bay – 7:00pm
Sault Ste. Marie at Peterborough – 7:05pm
Flint at Windsor – 7:05pm
Owen Sound at Barrie – 7:30pm

Friday October 14:
Mississauga at Flint – 7:00pm
Sault Ste. Marie at Kingston – 7:00pm
Hamilton at Sudbury – 7:00pm
Barrie at Sarnia – 7:05pm
Erie at Guelph – 7:30pm
Saginaw at Kitchener – 7:30pm
Windsor at London – 7:30pm
Peterborough at Oshawa – 7:35pm

Saturday October 15:
North Bay at Ottawa – 2:00pm
London at Erie – 7:00pm
Barrie at Flint – 7:00pm
Sudbury at Hamilton – 7:00pm
Oshawa at Niagara – 7:00pm
Mississauga at Saginaw – 7:05pm
Kitchener at Owen Sound – 7:30pm

Sunday October 16:
Kitchener at Guelph – 2:00pm
North Bay at Kingston – 2:00pm
Sault Ste. Marie at Ottawa – 2:00pm
Peterborough at Owen Sound – 2:00pm
Sudbury at Oshawa – 6:05pm

Be sure to catch all of this weekend’s action at ohllive.com!