Road to the 2015 OHL Cup

Wednesday March 11, 2015

By Josh Sweetland/OHL

With the 2015 OHL Cup Showcase slated to begin next week, five more teams have taken a big step towards securing their place in the tournament that features the top 20 Minor Midget teams from across Ontario and the United States.

The Quinte Red Devils, York Simcoe Express, North Central Predators, Halton Hurricanes, and Oakville Rangers represent the top-five teams in the Ontario Minor Hockey Association and all have a shot at OHL Cup glory after first competing in the OMHA Championship in Belleville this weekend.  The tournament’s top four teams will secure their places in the 2015 OHL Cup while the fifth place team will play a Wild Card ‘play-in’ game on Tuesday March 17 for a chance to compete in the tournament.

The OMHA Championship host Quinte Red Devils emerged as one of the ETA Finalists, joined by the York-Simcoe Express who defeated the Whitby Wildcats in the semi-finals. With host Quinte already securing their place in the tournament, an ETA Wild Card play-in game on Tuesday saw the North Central Predators defeat the Whitby Wildcats 4-2 to qualify themselves for the OMHA Championship.

Over in the SCTA, the Halton Hills Hurricanes eliminated the Grey-Bruce Highlanders in five games to emerge as a finalist, and the Oakville Rangers overcame the Niagara North Stars in four meetings to enter themselves into the OMHA tournament.

A look at the five teams sees the Quinte Red Devils as perhaps the top OHL Cup contender of them all after the club made the weekly OHL Cup Minor Midget Top-10 Rankings in all 17 weeks of the 2014-15 season, coming in at third in the province in the latest edition.

Quinte boasts some high-end OHL draft prospects and two Ontario gold medalists from the 2015 Canada Winter Games in Prince George, BC. Centreman Brady Gilmour led the 31-1-4 Red Devils in scoring this season with 28 goals, 33 assists and 61 points in 36 games this season. The Grafton, ON, native has drawn attention from scouts this season and is widely considered a top prospect for the 2015 OHL Priority Selection.

“Gilmour does everything well,” said Director of OHL Central Scouting Darrell Woodley. “He is a 200-foot player who, though he is a little undersized, plays an all-around game on both sides of the puck and has offensive instincts that make him an intriguing prospect.”

Joining Gilmour as a frontrunner on the Quinte team is defenceman Jakob Brahaney, also an Ontario gold medalist. The 6’1″, 165Ib defenceman had eight goals, 23 assists and 31 points in 36 games.

“Brahaney is a versatile defeneman who is good with the puck and logs big minutes. He plays in all situations for his team and is a steady, reliable guy out on the ice,” Woodley commented.

ETA finalist York-Simcoe finished the regular season first in the West Division with a 24-6-4 record and will surely bring their workmanlike approach to the rink this weekend and next. “York-Simcoe might be the hardest working team in Ontario,” said Woodley. “They’re a do-it-by-committee type of group that works well together.”

The Express feature high-end skill in forward Corey Andonovski whose 34 points (15-19–34) in 34 games including a team-high five game-winning goals. He’s joined by leading scorer Robert Thomas who finished the year with 18 goals, 27 assists and 45 points in 34 games. York-Simcoe also features one of the most physical players in the province in winger Aidan Brown who plays with an edge every night and tallied 10 goals, 15 assists and 25 points in 31 games with 99 penalty minutes.

North Central will hope to carry the momentum of their single-game playoff win over Whitby through the OMHA Championship.  The Predators feature one of the OMHA’s top goaltenders in 6’1″, 140Ib Luke Richardson. The Barrie, ON, native has played a large role in North Central’s playoff success.

“The Predators could make some noise this coming weekend if their goaltending can come up big and provide the big saves,” Woodley remarked. “Richardson is a very poised goaltender who plays with a real calmness to his game. If he’s on, they could surprise someone.”

Moving over to the SCTA, the first place 22-9-5 Halton Hills Hurricanes feature hulking 6’4″, 201Ib centreman Nick Deakin-Poot who posted a four goal outing during their series against Grey-Bruce and is very much on the radar of OHL scouts going into the weekend. He is joined by fellow centreman Matthew Struthers in leading the Halton Hills attack.

“The Hurricanes have a nice one-two punch down the middle with Deakin-Poot’s big frame giving him a high development ceiling and Struthers’ skill and consistency making him a valuable player down the stretch for his club,” Woodley commented.

Oakville is the last OMHA club to capture an OHL Cup title winning in 2013 led by captain and current Peterborough Pete Matt Spencer.  After finishing the season with a record of 14-12-10, the Rangers emerged as a top team during the SCTA Qualifying Tournament in Brampton on February 21 and 22 and followed up their strong showing with a four game semi-final series victory over Niagara.

The Rangers are led offensively from the blueline. Rearguard Evan Bouchard led the club in scoring this season with 18 goals, 13 assists and 31 points in 35 games.

“Bouchard is one of the top offensive blueliners available in this draft,” said Woodley. “His great puck skills and cannon of a shot make him a threat to hit the scoresheet in a wide variety of scenarios. He picks his spots well and jumps up into the rush when appropriate. His ability to find shooting lanes is something that has led to his offensive success this season.”

Quinte, York-Simcoe, North Central, Halton Hills and Oakville kick off the 2015 OMHA Championship on Friday at the Yardmen Arena.

The OHL also announced the four Wild Card ‘play-in’ teams chosen by the OHL Cup Tournament Selection Committee on Wednesday. The Mississauga Rebels, Mississauga Reps, Toronto Red Wings and Whitby Wildcats will make up four of the six Wild Card teams. The remaining two will be the fifth place team at the OMHA Championship and the loser of the ALLIANCE Wild Card Series currently being played between the Elgin-Middlesex Chiefs and the Kitchener Jr. Rangers.

The 2015 OHL Cup runs March 17-23 with action at Buckingham Arena before the Championship game is played at the Mattamy Athletic Centre on Monday March 23.

Here’s a look at what else is happening across Ontario:

GTHL:

*** Toronto Marlboros, Don Mills Flyers, Toronto Titans and Toronto Jr. Canadiens have officially qualified for the 2015 OHL Cup

FINALS
(2) Don Mills Flyers vs. (4) Toronto Marlboros

PLAYERS TO WATCH
Flyers – (F) Brett Neumann
Marlboros – (F) Nicholas Pryce

ALLIANCE:

*** The Waterloo Wolves and London Jr. Knights have officially qualified for the 2015 OHL Cup

FINALS

(1) London Jr. Knights vs. (2) Waterloo Wolves

PLAYERS TO WATCH
London – (D) Jordan Di Cicco – 12 GP, 2-9–11
Waterloo – (F) Sullivan Sparkes – 10 GP, 8-5–13

OEMHL:

*** Ottawa Jr. 67’s and Ottawa Valley Titans have officially qualified for the 2015 OHL Cup

FINALS
(1) Ottawa Jr. 67’s vs. (2) Ottawa Valley Titans

PLAYERS TO WATCH
67’s – (F) Greg Meireles – 8 GP, 4-7–11
Titans – (F) Kristopher Lalonde – 8 GP, 4-6–10

OMHA:

***The ETA host/finalist Quinte Red Devils, ETA finalist York-Simcoe Express, ETA Wild Card ‘play-in’ game winner North Central Predators, SCTA finalist Halton Hills Hurricanes and SCTA finalist Oakville Rangers will compete in the 2015 OMHA Championships in Belleville, ON, this weekend from March 13-15. The top four teams will qualify for the 2015 OHL Cup and the fifth place team will play in an OHL Cup Wild Card ‘play-in’ game on Tuesday, March 17 at Buckingham Arena.

PLAYERS TO WATCH:
Quinte – (F) Brady Gilmour – 36 GP, 28-33–61
York-Simcoe – (F) Corey Andonovski – 34 GP, 15-19–34
Halton Hills – (F) Nick Deakin-Poot – 36 GP, 10-17–27
Oakville – (D) Evan Bouchard – 35 GP, 18-13–31
North Central – (G) Luke Richardson – 8-8-3, 2.92 GAA

For more information on the 2015 OHL Cup Showcase Tournament, visit ohlcup.ca.