Generals Host 67’s On CHL on Rogers Sportsnet

The Oshawa Generals will host he Ottawa 67’s on the CHL on Rogers Sportsnet on Sunday, April 13 The 67’s-Generals’ game is one of thirty-six Canadian Hockey League games, including all games of the 2003 MasterCard Memorial Cup, that will be telecast this season on Rogers Sportsnet’s full national or regional networks. Sunday’s game will be shown on Rogers Sportsnet Ontario on a tape delay at 8:00 pm and the game at the Oshawa Civic Auditorium will start at 6:35 pm.

The game is the sixth game of the Ontario Hockey League Eastern Conference semifinal series between Ottawa and the Generals. Heading into game five in Ottawa on Friday night the teams are tied 2-2 in their best of seven series. Oshawa has won both of the games in the series that have been played in Oshawa as they posted a 3-2 win in game one and they defeated Ottawa 7-5 in the fourth game of the series. In the games played in Ottawa, not including tonight’s game five, the 67’s won both games recording a 4-3 win in game two and taking game three by a 8-1 score. Should a seventh game be required it will be played in Ottawa on Monday.

The two teams met six times during the regular season with the 67’s winning four of the six games as the 67’s won twice at the Ottawa Civic Centre and Ottawa won two of the three games that were played at the Oshawa Civic Auditorium. The last time the two teams met was on March 6 in Ottawa with the 67’s posting a 6-1 win giving Ottawa Head Coach/General Manager Brian Kilrea the 999th win of his coaching career in the OHL.

Corey Locke leads both the 67’s and the OHL in playoff scoring with 19 points on 8 goals and 11 assists and he is one of four players from Ottawa in the top twenty in playoff scoring. Matt Foy has seven goals and 15 points while defenceman Brendan Bell has 14 points from four goals and ten assists. Scott Sheppard has a team leading four power play goals and overall in the 2003 playoffs he has recorded six goals and six assists.

The Generals have three players in the top twenty OHL scorers in Brandon Nolan, Nathan Horton and Jamie Johnson. Nolan is in a tie for fourth place with 16 points on nine goals and seven assists while Horton is tied for sixth place with nine goals and six assists. Johnson has scored once and added 12 assists in eleven playoff games.

Ottawa has scored 19 power play goals in nine playoff games and has an overall success rate of 30 percent in the 2003 OHL playoffs. The Generals will counter the 67’s power play with a solid penalty killing unit that has an efficiency rating of 85 percent on home ice.

During the regular season goaltender Lukas Mensator, who is in his rookie year in the OHL, appeared in 42 games as he won the number one position with the 67’s. A native of the Czech Republic, Mensator recorded 26 wins and had a 3.06 goals against average.

The Generals’ Chris Beckford-Tseu was one of the busiest goaltenders in the OHL during the regular season as he played in 54 games this season. The Toronto native posted four shutouts this season and had a goals against average of 3.16.

The 67’s have in their line up the top two scorers from the regular season in Corey Locke and Matt Foy who finished 1-2 in regular season scoring. Locke won the Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy as he finished the season with 151 points on 63 goals and 88 assists and he led the OHL in goals and assists this season. Locke became the first OHL player since Marc Savard in 1994-95 to win the CHL CGC Sheetrock scoring title and in the process he ended the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s seven year old on the CHL scoring title. Locke’s linemate Foy finished the season with 132 points on 61 goals and 71 assists and he was one of three players in the OHL this season to score more than 60 goals.

Jamie Johnson led Oshawa in scoring during the regular season as he was one of six players in the OHL to record 100 or more points. Johnson, an overage player from Port Franks, Ontario, finished the season with 24 goals and 76 assists for 100 points. Nolan finished in second in team scoring with 88 points on a team leading 36 goals and 52 assists.

For team line ups and bios visit each team’s official websites. The 67’s website is www.ottawa67s.com and information on Oshawa is available at www.oshawagenerals.com.

Up to the minute scoring of Sunday’s game and all OHL playoff games can be found at www.ontariohockeyleague.com. Up to date stats and game summaries are also available at the OHL’s official website.

The next game on the CHL on Rogers Sportsnet schedule will be on Sunday, April 20 with an OHL third round playoff game that will be telecast on Rogers Sportsnet Ontario. Time and teams to be determined.

Dave Lord – Canadian Hockey League