2017 OHL Cup Powered by Under Armour Semi-Final Preview
The 2017 OHL Cup Powered by Under Armour Semi-Finals are set after an intense morning of Quarter-Final action at the Scotiabank Pond in Toronto.
The London Jr. Knights, Mississauga Reps, Vaughan Kings and Toronto Nationals emerged with Saturday morning victories to advance to the OHL Cup’s Final Four.
Here’s a look at tonight’s Semi-Final matchups:
SEMI-FINAL #1 – 6:00pm
Mississauga Reps (4-0-1) vs. London Jr. Knights (5-0-0)
The Wild Card entry Mississauga Reps are tasked with getting by the ALLIANCE Champion London Jr. Knights in Saturday’s first Semi-Final clash.
The Reps have defeated the Halton Hurricanes, Toronto Marlboros, Thunder Bay Kings, Eastern Ontario Wild and Toronto Jr. Canadiens while tying the Ajax-Pickering Raiders to reach tonight’s contest as the top line of Jamieson Rees, Aaron Jamieson and Mike Petizian have been among the best lines in the entire showcase. The trio accounted for four of the club’s five goals in Saturday morning’s 5-1 win over the Toronto Jr. Canadiens and has shown no signs of slowing down.
The London Jr. Knights have won all five of their games at the 2017 OHL Cup Powered by Under Armour, outscoring opponents 20-6 in the process. London has featured a balanced scoring attack with eight players having recorded four points or more. Goaltender Owen Say has also been a rock in the crease, recording a 1.34 goals-against average and a .961 save percentage in his four games.
The Reps are back to playing the kind of hockey that led them to a second place finish in the GTHL this season while the Jr. Knights, who led the OHL Cup Minor Midget Top-10 Rankings through much of this season, are living up to that billing.
SEMI-FINAL #2 – 8:00pm
Toronto Nationals (4-1-0) vs. Vaughan Kings (3-0-2)
The Wild Card entry Toronto Nationals have powered their way into the OHL Cup Semi-Finals where they’ll square off with the GTHL opponent Vaughan Kings who have shut down some of the OHL Cup’s best along the way.
The Nats have received great goaltending from Zach Roy and timely offensive production from the likes of Ethan Keppen, Brandon Coe, Brendan Bowie and Bradley Somers. Winners of four straight, the Nationals suffered their only loss of the tournament at the hands of the recently eliminated Mississauga Rebels back on Wednesday.
Boasting plenty of sandpaper in their gritty approach, the Vaughan Kings have made life difficult for opponents, relying on the strong goaltending of Christian Sbaraglia to remain undefeated with a 3-0-2 record. Centremen Brendan Sellan and Ty Gillberds have played effective two-way games and logged big minutes down the middle while Drew Ferris and Kosta Manikis lead the team with three goals apiece.
The Nationals won all three meetings between the two teams this season, outscoring the Kings 9-2 in the process. Vaughan has been a two tough points all week though and will be sure to leave it all out on the ice for a shot to advance to the OHL Cup Finals for the first time in the event’s history.
