Road to the 2016 OHL Cup

Wednesday February 10, 2016

By Josh Sweetland/OHL

The Toronto Marlboros and Don Mills Flyers took their season-long feud right down to the last shot at the 2015 OHL Cup, with Toronto’s Matthew Strome (Hamilton Bulldogs) scoring the overtime winner to give the Marlies their fifth OHL Cup title in the last 11 years.

Four teams emerged as prime OHL Cup contenders last spring, with the Marlies and Flyers both requiring game 7 semi-final victories to eliminate the Toronto Titans and the Toronto Jr. Canadiens. The Marlies proceeded to defeat the Flyers in a grueling eight game GTHL Championship series before their final encounter at the OHL Cup, marking a total of 12 meetings between the two clubs over the course of the year.

While the Marlies and Flyers remain contenders in 2016, the GTHL landscape is wide open once again as the Mississauga Rebels, Toronto Red Wings and Toronto Jr. Canadiens also boast the talent and depth to make serious bids for OHL Cup supremacy.

“We saw a wild card team come in and win the OHL Cup in 2010,” said Director of OHL Central Scouting Darrell Woodley. “The strength of the top five teams in the GTHL this year certainly leaves that outcome open to possibility once again.”

The team Woodley refers to is the only wild card entry to win a title in the history of the showcase as Sean Monahan (Calgary Flames/Ottawa 67’s) led the Mississauga Rebels to their first OHL Cup championship six years ago.

While the Marlies, Rebels and Red Wings have all advanced to the GTHL semi-finals and clinched OHL Cup berths, the Jr. Canadiens and Flyers will try and settle their evenly matched series in a Wednesday night game 7 with the winner punching their ticket to the OHL Cup. The losing team will have a shot at redemption in a GTHL Wild Card ‘Play-In’ series.

Having claimed the last two OHL Cup titles, the Toronto Marlboros return with another capable squad that played to a first place 27-4-2 record this season. The Marlies have never won three straight OHL Cup crowns, but they’ve certainly shown that they have the firepower to make that possible next month.

Talented centreman Allan McShane returns for his second OHL Cup showcase after playing for the Toronto Jr. Canadiens as an underage player a year ago. He leads a deep forward group alongside Thomas Tinmouth, Michael Little, Akil Thomas and Justin Pringle. The Marlies also boast some size in big forward Danil Antropov and blueliner Kevin Bahl who both served as call-ups for the 2015 OHL Cup.

“The Marlies have no shortage of depth,” noted Woodley. “A lot of their forwards are already showing an ability to play 200-feet, which is a great thing to see out of minor midget players. The Marlies are very much in the discussion again this season.”

The Mississauga Rebels posed a real challenge to the Marlies this season, rebounding from a 5-2 loss back in October to tie 1-1 in November before defeating Toronto 7-1 in their latest meeting on January 12th.

While the Rebels also feature a balanced forward group, one of their big strengths lies on the blueline where versatile rearguard Peter Stratis is joined by 6’3″, 206Ib shutdown blueliner D.J. King. Ryan Littlejohn, Samuel Bitten, Zackary Young and Riley Damiani will be relied upon for offence as the Rebels look to continue their streak of 13 straight undefeated into the second round against the Toronto Red Wings.

The Red Wings will no doubt give the Rebels a run for their money following a 9-1 first round series victory over the Markham Majors. Dynamic offensive talent Barrett Hayton leads the Wings while being complemented by other priority selection targets in Luke Moncada and Matthew Hayami up front. GTHL Top Prospects Game Team Corson MVP Travis Mailhot and his 6’5″, 195Ib. frame lead the Red Wings from the back end.

The Toronto Jr. Canadiens and Don Mills Flyers enter a Wednesday night game 7 tied at six points apiece as they battle for the GTHL’s final OHL Cup berth prior to determining wild card entries.

The Flyers feature arguably the top power centreman available in the priority selection in 6’2″, 173Ib pivot Jack McBain while other forwards in Tyler Weiss and Wyllum Deveaux are sure to draw interest as well. Defenceman Declan Chisholm is widely considered to be among the best available blueliners in the GTHL along with Jr. Canadiens opponent Ryan Merkley. Both are currently representing Canada at the 2016 Youth Olympic Winter Games in Lillehammer, Norway along with other GTHL talent in the aforementioned Allan McShane and QMJHL draft eligible goaltender Alexis Gravel of the Mississauga Senators.

The Jr. Canadiens are digging deep in the absence of Merkley and Russian winger Kirill Nizhnikov who is also representing his country at the event. Crafty forward Sergey Popov has stepped up in their absence to help the Jr. Canadiens stay alive in their series with Don Mills.

The Markham Majors were the only other GTHL team to finish the regular season above .500. After being eliminated at the hands of the Toronto Red Wings, they’ll look to earn themselves a wild card opportunity at the OHL Cup and will be relying on continued contributions from standout forward Liam Foudy in the weeks to come.

“It’s going to make for an interesting finish,” Woodley concluded. “Every team is different in the sense that they have their own unique strengths and keys to success. It’s going to be hard to match the excitement and intensity we saw in last year’s GTHL playoffs, but with how evenly matched these teams are once again, we could be in for a similar experience.”

Here’s a look at what’s happening across Ontario as clubs inch closer to qualifying for the 2016 OHL Cup Showcase Tournament.

GTHL:

*** Toronto Marlboros, Mississauga Rebels, Toronto Red Wings and Toronto Jr. Canadiens have qualified for the 2016 OHL Cup.

QUARTER-FINALS – SERIES A
(1) Toronto Marlboros vs. (8) Vaughan Kings
Toronto wins series 8-2 in points

QUARTER-FINALS – SERIES B
(2) Mississauga Rebels vs. (7) Mississauga Senators
Mississauga Rebels win series 9-1 in points

QUARTER-FINALS – SERIES C
(3) Toronto Red Wings vs. (6) Markham Majors
Toronto wins series 9-1 in points

QUARTER-FINALS – SERIES D
(4) Toronto Jr. Canadiens vs. (5) Don Mills Flyers
Jr. Canadiens win series 8-6 in points

ALLIANCE:

*** The champion, finalist and third place team qualify for the 2016 OHL Cup

SEMI-FINAL – SERIES A
(1) London Jr. Knights vs. (4) Windsor Jr. Spitfires
series begins Saturday

PLAYERS TO WATCH
London – (F) Eric Guest – 33 GP, 18-25–43
Windsor – (D) Owen Lalonde – 33 GP, 13-24–37

SEMI-FINAL – SERIES B
(2) Waterloo Wolves vs. (3) Kitchener Jr. Rangers
series begins Saturday

PLAYERS TO WATCH
Waterloo – (G) Nathan Torchia – 17 GP, 9-4-4, 1.91 GAA, 2 SO
Kitchener – (F) Luke Bignell – 32 GP, 19-16–35

OMHA – ETA:

***The champion and finalist in the ETA Championship, along with the host Clarington Toros and champion and finalist from the SCTA will compete in the 2016 OMHA Championship in Bowmanville from March 4-6.

EAST
QUARTER-FINALS – SERIES A
(1) Kingston Frontenacs vs. (4) Whitby Wildcats
Kingston wins series 6-0 in points

QUARTER-FINALS – SERIES B
(2) Clarington Toros vs. (3) Quinte Red Devils
Series tied 2-2 in points

PLAYERS TO WATCH
Clarington – (D) Mason Snell – 27 GP, 5-17–22
Quinte – (F) Nathan Dunkley – 34 GP, 24-23–47

WEST
QUARTER-FINALS – SERIES C
(2) North Central Predators vs. (3) Barrie Jr. Colts
Series tied 2-2 in points

PLAYERS TO WATCH
North Central – (F) Isaac Emon – 34 GP, 24-27–51
Barrie – (G) Jacob Ingham – 9-3-3, 3 SO

QUARTER-FINALS – SERIES D
(1) York-Simcoe Express vs. (4) Markham Waxers
York-Simcoe leads series 4-0 in points

PLAYERS TO WATCH:
York-Simcoe – (D) Carter Robertson – 31 GP, 10-26–36
Markham – (F) Tyler Davis – 32 GP, 14-22–36

OMHA – SCTA

***The SCTA qualifier weekend is slated for February 13-14 in Hamilton, ON. The champion and finalist from that tournament will compete against the champion and finalist from the ETA along with the host Clarington Toros in the 2015 OMHA Championships in Bowmanville, ON, from March 4-6.

The Hamilton Jr. Bulldogs finished the season in first place in the SCTA with a record of 28-3-4 on the season. 

SCTA PLAYERS TO WATCH:
Hamilton – (F) Jack Wismer – 34 GP, 19-31–50
Niagara North – (F) Hunter Holmes – 33 GP, 20-11–31
Grey-Bruce – (F) Brendan Cederberg – 30 GP, 8-19–27
Hamilton – (G) Tanner Sheppard – 14-1-3, 2 SO

For more information on the 2016 OHL Cup Showcase Tournament, visit ohlcup.ca.