OHL Weekend Notebook: Nov. 21, 2023
The OHL Weekend Notebook covers stories across the league each week. Here’s a few items from last week’s action.
Spirit winning streak reaches seven
The Saginaw Spirit hit some turbulence a few weeks back, but that seems to be in the rearview mirror as the Memorial Cup hosts have rattled off seven consecutive wins to climb to second place in the West Division. The Spirit skated to 3-2 road wins in Erie and Niagara last week, getting excellent goaltending from Andrew Oke who stopped 61-of-65 shots over the two wins. Michael Misa has caught fire with 18 points over his last 11 outings, while new additions Rodwin Dionicio and Alex Christopoulos joined the team last week, helping the Spirit rise to fourth on the latest OHL Power Rankings.
Roddy can score from anywhere 😏
Dionicio banks one off the defender to give @SpiritHockey the edge in the third 🎥@AnaheimDucks | #FlyTogether pic.twitter.com/rsbYAxDZ6k
— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) November 19, 2023
Rangers continue surprising start
It’s been a surprising start, but folks across the league are acknowledging by this point that the Kitchener Rangers are for real. Despite losing a number of big names to graduation (a pair they’ve since had returned to them in Filip Mesar and Roman Schmidt), Kitchener owns a record of 16-5-0-0 through their first 21 games. The big names, Carson Rehkopf (24-15–39) and Hunter Brzustewicz (6-30–36), have produced as expected, but some others have emerged and carried the Blueshirts to new heights including overage forward Matthew Sop (13-22–35) and 19-year-old wingers Adrian Misaljevic (15-12–27) and Trent Swick (8-13–21). Not to be overlooked, goaltender Jackson Parsons has returned and played very well on the heels of an injury-shortened 2022-23 campaign. The Rangers kept on winning this past week with a pair of victories over Windsor. All eyes will be on Kitchener Tuesday night as the Erie Otters visit The Aud.
Third period hat-trick from Matthew Sop helps the @OHLRangers come all the way back to secure a seventh-straight win in Windsor on Saturday 🎩🎩🎩 pic.twitter.com/uNgKQaiSok
— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) November 19, 2023
Petes finding ways to win games
The defending OHL champion Peterborough Petes are the kings of one-goal games in the OHL this season, climbing to 8-0-3-1 in those scenarios with more positive results last week. Captain and Cogeco OHL Player of the Week Donovan McCoy rose to the occasion with overtime winners on Thursday night in North Bay and Sunday afternoon in Oshawa, a pair of wins that sandwiched a 7-4 win over the Sudbury Wolves on Saturday. Jonathan Melee was a force for the Petes, putting up eight points (4-4–8) in three games last week as the maroon and white ascended to first place in the Eastern Conference with a record of 12-3-3-1. Peterborough is once again very good in the faceoff circle, with top centremen Owen Beck and Jax Dubois both operating above 60% so far this season.
Scoring a pair of OT goals as part of a seven-point week for @PetesOHLhockey, blueliner Donovan McCoy is the @cogeco #OHL Player of the Week.#OHLPOTW 📰: https://t.co/aj1oNn1btQ pic.twitter.com/vu0pKgOpkJ
— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) November 20, 2023
Bulldogs shut down 67’s, Frontenacs
The Brantford Bulldogs played some tight defensive hockey on the road this past weekend, defeating the Ottawa 67’s 2-1 in the nation’s capital on Friday before getting the better of the Kingston Frontenacs 4-1 on Saturday. Overage goaltender Matteo Drobac stopped 54 of the 56 shots he faced to pick-up four points against a pair of divisional foes. Montreal Canadiens prospect Florian Xhekaj had himself a big week with five points (3-2–5) in three games as the Bulldogs also defeated the Sarnia Sting 6-3 at home last Wednesday. New addition Tomas Hamara has four assists and is a plus-5 through his first five games in black and gold. The Bulldogs pursue a 20th consecutive win over the Niagara IceDogs on the road Thursday night, a streak that dates back to Nov. 10, 2019.
Go with the Flo 🌊@CanadiensMTL prospect Florian Xhekaj goes coast-to-coast for his 10th goal of the season, helping the @BulldogsOHL continue their winning ways with a #BestofOHL contribution 🎥#OHLxMilkUP | @MilkUPOntario | #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/O7UB7lVVus
— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) November 19, 2023
Attack pick-up six points on the road
The Owen Sound Attack won three road games in three days, a positive step in their quest for some stability after what’s been an up-and-down start to the season. The Bears got into an offensive rhythm on Thursday night in Windsor as Deni Goure posted a career-high six points (2-4–6) while Jackson Stewart followed suit (3-2–5), burying his first career hat-trick. From there, the Attack locked things down defensively on Friday night in Sarnia as OHL Goaltender of the Week Carter George notched his second shutout of the season in a 4-0 outcome. Owen Sound finished things off with a 4-2 road win over the Flint Firebirds on Saturday, getting a pair of goals from sophomore forward Ben Cormier. The Attack won all three outings without injured captain Colby Barlow, who has been out of the lineup since Nov. 8th. Owen Sound enters the week 10-9-2-0, good for sixth in the Western Conference.
2024 #NHLDraft prospect Carter George of the @AttackOHL is the #OHL Goaltender of the Week, backstopping the Bears to a pair of road wins.#OHLGOTW 📰: https://t.co/EupPNO8n3N pic.twitter.com/hJ5Ua3H6eN
— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) November 20, 2023
Battalion climb to first in Central
The North Bay Battalion picked up five of a possible six points last week, waking up Monday morning one point up on the Mississauga Steelheads (who hold two games in hand) for first place in the Central Division standings. The Battalion were outdone by their rival, the Peterborough Petes, in overtime on Thursday, but rebounded nicely on Friday night in Sault Ste. Marie as 2024 NHL Draft prospect Ethan Procyszyn scored the OT winner in a 5-4 outcome. Sunday’s home affair against rival Sudbury was well-worth the price of admission as the two teams went back-and-forth, with North Bay ultimately prevailing 7-6 on a deciding third period goal off the stick of Anthony Romani. A couple sidenotes from the weekend in North Bay included an abbreviated return to the crease for Dom DiVincentiis on Thursday as he made 32 saves but didn’t dress for the Battalion on either Friday or Sunday. Also, Ty Nelson surpassed Dylan Blujus to become the Battalion’s all-time leader in assists by a defenceman. This makes Nelson the record-holder for career goals, assists and points by a Battalion rearguard.
OVERTIME WINNER FROM PROCYSZYN!! pic.twitter.com/jZfcniJTaD
— North Bay Battalion (@OHLBattalion) November 18, 2023
Spence, Terrance connection clicking for Otters
Linemates Malcolm Spence and Carey Terrance looked great on Saturday in Erie, with the former feeding the latter for a pair of goals in the Otters’ 4-2 win over the London Knights. Spence has scored just twice, but he’s racking up assists with 17 through 20 games, helping Terrance score a number of his 15 goals on the season. The Otters have been coming on of late, defeating London for the second time this season as they sit at the bottom of a competitive Midwest Division with a 9-8-3-0 record.
The Spence to Terrance connection was clicking on Saturday!
Dynamic duo teamed-up on a pair of goals as the @ErieOtters doubled-up London at home 🎥 pic.twitter.com/eyA7zX8CS3
— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) November 19, 2023
Frontenacs honour Nicholls, see mixed results on the ice
The Kingston Frontenacs honoured one of their all-time greats on Saturday, raising Bernie Nicholls’ #16 banner to the heights of the Leon’s Centre. Nicholls remains the club’s single-season record holder for both goals (63) and points (152), both marks set in 1980-81 prior to his lengthy NHL career. On the ice, the Fronts started off on the right foot Wednesday in Ottawa, teaching the 14,000+ students in attendance at the Canadian Tire Centre in a 5-1 victory. The results at home weren’t so great as Kingston lost to both Mississauga and Brantford to close out the weekend. Captain Paul Ludwinski carries a 12-game point streak into this week.
Number 16 will forever grace our rafters, marking an unforgettable night dedicated to honoring the legendary Bernie Nicholls, a true icon of our franchise.#BearTheK | @OHLHockey | @CHLHockey | @bernienicholls9 pic.twitter.com/3dtBzZyIA0
— Kingston Frontenacs (@KingstonFronts) November 19, 2023
IceDogs in pair of tight games despite injuries
The Niagara IceDogs managed to keep things close against a pair of capable opponents over the weekend, doing so without injured forwards Brody Crane, Alex Assadourian and Mathieu Paris along with blueliner Andrew Wycisk. The Dogs defeated the Barrie Colts 5-2 on Thursday before falling by just one goal against the Guelph Storm and Saginaw Spirit in 3-2 decisions. Playing under new head coach Ben Boudreau, the IceDogs are leaining on sophomore forward Kevin He, who scored his 10th of the season over the weekend while 6-foot-2 rookie Ryan Roobroeck has 10 points (6-4–10) through his first 15 games in the OHL. Gavin Bryant scored Saturday night’s teddy bear toss goal against Saginaw.
BEARS WENT FLYING🧸🧸🧸 pic.twitter.com/U3NFwYqDH5
— Niagara IceDogs (@OHLIceDogs) November 19, 2023
Rough weekend sparks coaching change for Spitfires
The Windsor Spitfires had a week to forget, and a coaching change has been the outcome. The Spits surrendered eight goals in the first period of Thursday’s 12-3 loss to the Owen Sound Attack, following-up that effort with a 9-2 loss to the first place Kitchener Rangers on Friday. The Spits played host to the Rangers on Saturday at the WFCU Centre and things were looking up as Windsor led 3-1 early in the third period. Kitchener would score five unanswered goals, handing Windsor an eight-straight defeat in a 6-3 final. The Spits announced Monday evening that they’ve relieved head coach Jerrod Smith of his duties. More to come on this story as the Spitfires try and find their footing, out of the gate at 4-16-1-0.
The @SpitsHockey announced Monday evening that the club has relieved Head Coach Jerrod Smith following a 4-16-1-0 start to the season.
DETAILS 📰: https://t.co/NeOC2SJEyR pic.twitter.com/BcL5uWA3Fp
— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) November 21, 2023
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