OHL This Week: Jan. 1 to 4, 2015
Wednesday December 31, 2014
By Josh Sweetland/OHL
With fresh legs and a busy week ahead, OHL teams return to action after the holiday break roughly midway through the 2014-15 season. Several key contributors throughout the league continue in their pursuit for gold in the 2015 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship in Toronto and Montreal while their OHL teammates set sights on the important games that lie ahead in the stretch drive toward the 2015 OHL Playoffs. Here’s a look at what’s happening around the OHL this week.
AT THE RINKS
Colts air special 20th Anniversary documentary Wednesday – The Barrie Colts aired a special 20th Anniversary documentary prior to puck drop against the Belleville Bulls on Wednesday. The documentary documented the greatest moments across 20 years of Barrie Colts history. The Colts defeated Belleville 6-1 in their 15th consecutive home game on New Year’s Eve, and 19th overall. The annual New Year’s Eve Game is a club tradition that started back on December 31st, 1995 when Barrie played their first ever game at the Barrie Molson Centre.
Generals shutting out hunger – The Oshawa Generals are ringing in the new year in charitable fashion. The Gens are wrapping up their Coach4Food and Project Shutout Hunger initiative in support of Feed the Need in Durham and are asking for your help! Fans are encouraged to bring a non-perishable food item to the General Motors Centre for Thursday’s New Year’s Day Game against the North Bay Battalion.
Otters hold Devin Williams poster giveaway on Saturday – The first 1000 fans into the Erie Insurance Arena on Saturday night will receive a free Devin Williams poster. Williams will sign the posters on the ice after the Otters battle the Windsor Spitfires!
Hometown Hockey in Owen Sound– It’s going to be a busy weekend in Owen Sound as Rogers Hometown Hockey comes to town!
Many big name hockey celebrities will be on hand for the events including Owen Sound Platers alumni Wayne Primeau, and three time women’s Olympic hockey champion Jennifer Botterill.
Botterill will be dropping the ceremonial face off puck prior to the Attack vs. Guelph Storm game on Saturday evening while former Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Curtis Joseph, as well as current Leafs’ defencemen Jake Gardiner and Morgan Rielly will make appearances with Primeau for a number of autograph sessions throughout the weekend.
For more details, visit attackhockey.com.
BIGRAS REIGNING PIONEER ENERGY OHL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Owen Sound Attack defenceman Chris Bigras went into the holiday break with a head of steam, collecting seven points (2-5–7) in two games to be named the Pioneer Energy OHL Player of the Week for the week ending December 21.
Bigras is the first defenceman to win the award this season in a week highlighted by a five point effort against the Plymouth Whalers on December 17. In that contest, Bigras set a career-high and Attack franchise record for points by a defenceman with two goals and three assists claiming first star honours in the 6-3 victory.
Then on Thursday night, Bigras picked up two assists despite an 8-7 overtime loss to the Niagara IceDogs extending his personal point-streak to a season-high five straight games. The Attack finished the first half of the OHL season with 38 points and currently stand in fifth place in the Western Conference standings.
ALUMNI NOTES
Gaudet, Graovac make NHL debuts – Former Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds forward Tyler Gaudet made his NHL debut on Monday as a member of the Arizona Coyotes while ex Ottawa 67’s and Belleville Bulls forward Tyler Graovac did so as well as a member of the Minnesota Wild.
Gaudet’s Coyotes defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 4-2 on home ice as Gaudet saw 9:20 of icetime wearing #32. Signed by Arizona last December, Gaudet was voted the OHL Western Conference’s Best Defensive Forward in the OHL Coaches Poll last season. The Hamilton, ON, native has played in 29 games with the AHL’s Portland Pirates this season, registering four goals and four assists.
Graovac and the Wild defeated Winnipeg 3-2 as the Brampton, ON, native saw 9:02 in icetime and registered a shot on goal while wearing #53. Graovac has 24 points (12-12–24) in 31 games with the AHL’s Iowa Wild this season.
Ex-Ranger Derek Roy dealt to Edmonton – Former Kitchener Rangers captain, OHL Rookie of the Year and 2003 Memorial Cup Champion Derek Roy has been traded to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for centreman Mark Arcobello. Roy played 26 games with the Nashville Predators this season, collecting 10 points (1-9–10). The Ottawa, ON, native has played in 692 career NHL contests, scoring 178 goals and adding 324 assists for 502 points.
Gagner named NHL’s Third Star of the Week – Ex-London Knight Sam Gagner led the NHL with six points (2-4–6) in three games last week to help the Arizona Coyotes pick up a pair of victories. Gagner’s week was highlighted by a four point (2-2–4) output in a 5-1 win over his former club, the Edmonton Oilers on December 23.
Zepp wins first NHL game at age 33 – From Plymouth, to the ECHL, to Finland and Germany and back, Rob Zepp is still chasing the dream. The former Plymouth Whalers goaltender from 1998-2001, CHL Scholastic Player of the Year and OHL All-Star collected a win in his first career NHL game on December 21 at 33 years-old. The Newmarket, ON, native made 25 saves in a 4-3 overtime victory in Winnipeg.
Zepp is a seven year veteran of the German Elite League from 2007-2013 and returned to North America this season, signing with the Flyers organization in July. He is 8-5-4-1 with a 2.70 goals-against-average and .918 save percentage this season with the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Ritchie named AHL Player of the Week – Five goals, including two game winners and a plus-7 rating in three games last week were enough to crown Brett Ritchie with AHL Player of the Week honours. The Texas Stars forward had an impactful night last Saturday against Charlotte, recording his second career AHL hat-trick while logging 10 of Texas’ 24 shots on goal. The Orangeville, ON, native has 18 points (11-7–18) in 22 games for Texas this season. Ritchie spent four seasons in the OHL from 2009-2013 between Sarnia and Niagara, scoring 99 career goals in 220 games.
KEY WEEKEND MATCHUPS
Sarnia Sting (18-13-1-2) vs. London Knights (22-10-0-3)
Friday January 2 at London
It’s always an intense affair when Sarnia and London square off. The two clubs meet in the back end of their annual New Year’s clash on Friday night in London following the first of the home-and-home set on Thursday in Sarnia. The two clubs combined for 15 goals in an 11-4 London victory that saw both Christian Dvorak and Michael McCarron record hat-tricks.
The Knights and Sting meet in the third of their six meetings this season, with London taking the other encounter in a 5-2 win on December 11 on Christian Dvorak’s four point (2-2–4) night. Both teams will be missing key cogs in the wheel as London is without Max Domi (Canada) and Julius Bergman (Sweden) who are performing in the 2015 WJC. Sarnia forward Pavel Zacha is currently with the Czech Republic in the WJC tournament while injured regulars Patrick White and Josh Chapman have missed time.
Despite their battle with injuries, the Sting have continued playing strong hockey with a 6-3-0-1 record over their last 10 games. 2014 first overall pick Jakob Chychrun retured to the lineup just prior to the holiday break and picked up where he left off, appearing in the Tip Top Tailors OHL Plays of the Week.
Despite the absence of Domi up front, the Knights have no shortange of firepower with the presence of OHL leading scorer Mitchell Marner and Arizona Coyotes prospect Christian Dvorak in the lineup. The Knights are undefeated in regulation in nine straight, going 8-0-0-1 in that span that dates back to December 6 and made their season debut in the BMO CHL Top-10 Rankings this week at number 10.
Ottawa 67’s (17-14-1-1) vs. Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (25-8-0-2)
Saturday January 3 at Sault Ste. Marie
The Ottawa 67’s go north this weekend for a trio of games in North Bay, Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie to enter 2015. Jeff Brown’s club enters the second half of the season with a 17-15-1-1 record for fifth in the Eastern Conference. In the thick a tight Eastern Conference and just one point behind Belleville for a shot at first round playoff home ice advantage, the weekend to come presents some valuable points on the table for Ottawa.
The 67’s continue to rely on the offensive trio of draft eligible forwards Dante Salituro and Travis Konecny along with overage speedster Erik Bradford. Defensively the 67’s enter the weekend without standout blueliner Alex Lintuniemi who is currently representing Finland in the 2015 WJC. 19 year-old Jacob Middleton leads on the blueline with 14 points (2-12–14) in 34 games this season.
Though Sergey Tolchinsky (Russia), Darnell Nurse (Canada) and Brandon Halverson (United States) are suiting up at the 2015 WJC, the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds have proven that their depth is among the best in the OHL this season. With six other players recording over 10 goals this season in Jared McCann, Blake Speers, Gabe Guertler, Bryan Moore, David Miller and Michael Bunting, the Hounds have a number of weapons they can turn to offensively.
Sault Ste. Marie currently sits second in the Western Conference at a mark of 25-8-0-2, boasting a 15-1-0-1 record on home ice. The Hounds have dropped their past two contests and are looking to get back on the right track this weekend. They defeated Ottawa in their lone meeting earlier this season 4-3 in overtime on November 21.
Though the Hounds have been nearly perfect at the Essar Centre this season, the 67’s have managed to get a point in each of their last two trips to the Soo.
WEEKEND SCHEDULE: JAN. 1-4
Thursday, January 1
Kitchener at Owen Sound – 2:00pm
North Bay at Oshawa – 2:05pm
Kingston at Belleville – 4:05pm
Mississauga at Peterborough – 4:05pm
Friday, January 2
Barrie at Kingston – 7:00pm
Saginaw at Plymouth – 7:05pm
Owen Sound at Guelph – 7:30pm
Niagara at Kitchener – 7:30pm
Sarnia at London – 7:30pm
Erie at Mississauga – 7:30pm
Ottawa at Sudbury – 7:30pm
Saturday, January 3
Windsor at Erie – 7:00pm
Kitchener at Niagara – 7:00pm
Oshawa at Sudbury – 7:00pm
Peterborough at Belleville – 7:05pm
Ottawa at Sault Ste. Marie – 7:07pm
Sarnia at Saginaw – 7:11pm
London at Barrie – 7:30pm
Guelph at Owen Sound – 7:30pm
Sunday, January 4
Windsor at Mississauga – 2:00pm
Sudbury at North Bay – 2:00pm
Oshawa at Sault Ste. Marie – 2:07pm
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