OHL Weekly Ramblings - April 4th

[Dean Youngblood]

OHL Weekly Ramblings - April 4th


OHL Player of the Week - Erie Otters' Anthony Luciani

- The Ontario Hockey League today announced that forward Anthony Luciani of the Erie Otters is the OHL Player of the Week for the playoff week ending April 3 scoring six goals and three assists for nine points in four games.

- Luciani is a 4th year OHL veteran and is undrafted at the NHL level. Luciani had a four goal effort on Friday night as Erie defeated Windsor 6-5 (OT). TSN artcle


OHL Top Performers of the Month (March 2011)
- Check out who were the best performers from March

• OHL Player of the Month Michael Sgarbossa, Sudbury Wolves
  

  Michael Sgarbossa tied for the league-lead with 27 points in 13 games this Month for the Sudbury Wolves. He scored 10 goals and added 17 assists and recorded a league-high plus-minus rating of plus-15. He finished the month with eight multi-point games and is currently on an eight-game point streak which includes at least a point in each of the Wolves’ four playoff wins in their first round series victory over the Ottawa 67s.

• OHL Defenceman of the Month Josh McFadden, Sudbury Wolves
  

  Josh McFadden of the Sudbury Wolves led all OHL defencemen in scoring with 18 points in 13 March games scoring eight goals and 10 assists. He began the month with a career-high five assists on March 1 as first star of a 6-2 win over the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, and finished the regular season on a five-game point streak.

• Kal Tire OHL Rookie of the Month Sean Monahan, Ottawa 67s
  

  Sean Monahan of the Ottawa 67’s tied for the rookie-lead in scoring in March with 18 points in 12 games. He finished tied for second in the OHL with 11 goals this month and added seven assists along with a plus-minus rating of plus-9.

• Vaughn OHL Goaltender of the Month – JP Anderson, Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors
  

  JP Anderson of the Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors claims the monthly award for the second time this season after posting an impressive March record of 10-0-0-0 including a league-high five shutouts. He also posted league-best numbers with a 0.90 goals-against-average and a .961 save percentage. He finished the regular season with six straight victories and helped the Majors secure their first Hamilton Spectator Trophy in franchise history

Officiating in the OHL Playoffs

- In the twitter world, I have been hearing a lot of complaints about the officiating throughout the first round of the OHL Playoffs. Personally, I have not caught a lot of live game action in order to form my own opinion but the Owen Sound Attack coach Mark Reeds was not holding back his opinion.

- Reeds commented on the Hunter brothers being men of power in the OHL and as a result their London Knights get more than their share of powerplays. For the full story, read Neate Sager's article "Attack's Reeds suggest refs under 'influence' of powerful Hunters". Video included.



2011 NHL Draft Eligible Player Profiles

- Some recent profiles have been released. Fantastic reads!

You can check out other OHL Profiles here

- Brian Huddle's Profile on D Dougie Hamilton (Niagara IceDogs)
- Profile on D Ryan Murphy (Kitchener Rangers)
- NHLDraftVideo shares their video compilation of Vladimir Namestnikov




- NHLDraftVideo has released video compilations on other OHLers too. Here are some others:

• Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Alexander Khokhlachev , Ryan Strome , Joel Armia , Jonathon Huberdeau , Matt Puempel , Nathan Beaulieu and several others

Brian Huddle: Prospect News, Notes and Thoughts
- Huddle writes about prospects from the Bruins, Leafs, Sens, Oilers and more



OHL PRIORITY DRAFT WATCH 2011

OHL Prospect Combine

- On May 7th, players looking to follow their dreams will meet for the OHL's Annual Priority Draft where players are selected to respective OHL clubs. Last week, Aaron Ekblad received the news that he has received exceptional status into the OHL Priority Draft (allows a 15-year underage player to be drafted).

- Over the past weekend, Ekblad and other top prospects participated in a combine in Mississauga that allows OHL clubs to analyze these prospects. The full invite list can be found here

- There were a few missing players from the combine and those include: Nicholas Ritchie (projected Top 3 pick), Darnell Nurse (proj. Top 5 pick), Baptiste (Top 5 pick) and Max Domi (top prospect who has opted to go the NCAA route)


Check out some brief articles about the combine:
- Prospects Compete at Combine
- TSN: Ekblad impresses on and off the ice as he prepares for OHL

**I am expecting to receive some first hand notes on some of the top prospects from the OHL Combine. Check back later**



TOP 60 OHL PROSPECTS (for Priority Draft)

- Lists of prospects that are eligible for the 2011 OHL Priority Draft are difficult to find at this point. Earlier last week, I posted the Top 60 OHL Prospects (40 have been revealed) brought to us by sportchirps.com. If you missed it, click here




Zack Kassian: The Last Laugh

Sportsnets' Patrick King article featuring Windsor Spitfire forwards' style of play.



Comedian Gerry Dee Video at the OHL Cup

One of my favourite Canadian comedians is former physical education teacher Gerry Dee. As a PE Teacher myself, I have seem him live and love his stuff. Check out his video from the OHL Cup featuring interviews with OHL Prospect Jordan Subban, Darren Orr (Bobby's son) and others.

[Dean Youngblood]

continued.......


We're talkin' about PLAYOFFS
- The OHL Network releases daily recaps on each game of that day. Sunday's Playoff Recap
- The first round of the OHL playoffs is almost complete. The following is my quick recap of the series



EASTERN CONFERENCE

• The Mississauga Majors swept the eighth seeded Belleville in a series that everyone expected to be a sweep. However, Belleville played hard against the Majors and left everything on the ice. Majors' Goaltender JP Anderson 3 consecutive shutouts in the series.
• Mississauga won 4-0
• The Sudbury Wolves completed a huge upset over the second-seeded Ottawa 67s in the Eastern Conference. Sudbury swept the 67's in just four games. The Wolves are a team that play with a tonne of grit and energy. These are the types of teams that are always capable of upsetting the favourites through pure hardwork and determination. Ottawa twice held decent leads in Games 3 and 4 but Sudbury mounted comebacks to win each of those games which proved to be the difference in the series.
• Sudbury won 4-0
• The Niagara IceDogs was the third sweep in the Eastern Conference (weak conference in general) as they knocked off the Brampton Battalion, who struggled to score more than 3 goals in the entire series.
• Niagara won 4-0
• In the final Eastern Conference series, Kingston avoided the sweep after trailing three games to none but were only able to win one against the offensive Oshawa Generals. The Generals tallied a total of 32 goals in 5 games.
• Oshawa won 4-1

WESTERN CONFERENCE

• Owen Sound found themselves in a battle to knock off the eighth seeded London Knights. The Knights deserve credit as they were the underdogs in this series and gave them a run for their money.
• Owen Sound won 4-2
• Saginaw eliminated the Guelph Storm in a thrilling game last night (6-5). I had Guelph as my only upset in my playoff predictions amd the team put up a valiant effort in the 6-game series. In each of Guelph's four losses, they were able to keep the score to a one-goal game.
• Saginaw won 4-2
• I expected the Plymouth-Kitchener series to be good and it has indeed been nothing short of amazing. The series is knotted up at 3-games a piece and the teams face off tonight in Kitchener. In my opinion, the team that emerges as the winner tonight will become the heavy favourite going forward. Plymouth is a team that works hard and has competed hard against the Rangers and that is without one of their best players - 2011 draft eligible Rickard Rakell. I love the style of hockey that Plymouth plays (tough and aggressive) but I am hoping that Kitchener wins so that I can watch Landeskog, D'Amigo and Murphy play for a few more games.
• Series Tied 3-3
• The final series in the Western Conference is also tied at 3-3. Ryan Ellis' Windsor Spitfires will attempt to eliminate Gregg McKegg's Erie Otters on Tuesday night. The series has been highlighted by stellar goaltending from Windsor's Jack Campbell and Erie's Sadikov. I was surprised to read the boxscore last night of Erie's 6-5 OT win and see Gregg McKegg with zero points - paging Gregg McKegg. The Toronto prospect who impressed me so much during the past two OHL regular seasons only has two goals and is minus-2 in six games played. Time to show up buddy. The other surprising stat from Sunday;s boxscore was the combined 59 shots (Windsor 29 shots; Erie 30 shots) fired on goal in the first period - unreal! Tuesday night's game should be a doozy.
• Series Tied 3-3

- There are a few Eastern Conference matchups already determined for the semi-finals of the OHL:
Mississauga St.Michael's Majors (1) vs. Sudbury Wolves (7)
Niagara IceDogs (3) vs. Oshawa Generals (4)
- Check out a Preview of the IceDogs-Generals series


OHL Playoff Leading Scorers

- Oshawa's Christian Thomas (NYR) remains atop the leader board in a tie with Erie Otters' forward Phil Varone. Thomas has 5 goals and 13 points in 5 GP. Varone has notched 3 goals and 13 points in 6 playoff games. Check out the full leaderboard.


Game 7 of the Windsor Spitfires and Erie Otters goes tonight @ 7pm from Windsor, Ontario.

Don't miss it!

I will post more ramblings throughout the week. I was pleasantly surprised
with the OHL chat we had in last weeks ramblings about all things OHL - keep it up!

[Dean Youngblood]

Now is a good time to re-visit my OHL Eastern Conference Predictions for the first round


Mississauga St. Michael's Majors (1) vs. Belleville Bulls (8)
Prediction: Majors in 4
DY's Outcome: 100% Correct. Success

Ottawa 67's (2) vs. Sudbury Wolves (7)
Prediction: 67's in 5
DY's Outcome: Big Miss. Wrong and Wrong. Failure

Niagara IceDogs (3) vs. Brampton Battalion (6)
Prediction: IceDogs in 5
DY's Outcome: Right Team. I was off by one game. Success

Oshawa Generals (4) vs. Kingston Frontenacs (5)
Prediction: Generals in 7
DY's Outcome: Right Team again. I thought the Frontenacs would have put up more of a fight though. Success



Here are my OHL Western Conference Predictions for the first round

Owen Sound Attack (1) vs. London Knights (8)
Prediction: Attack in 5
DY's Outcome: Correct Team. Success

Saginaw Spirit (2) vs. Guelph Storm (7)
Prediction: Storm in 6
DY's Outcome: This was the one upset I predicted in the West. Wrong team. Right number of games Failure

Kitchener Rangers (3) vs Plymouth Whalers (6)
Prediction: Rangers in 7.
DY's Outcome: Rangers need to win tonight. I did predict the right number of games Pending OUTCOME

Windsor Spitfires (4) vs. Erie Otters (5)
Prediction: Otters in 7
DY's Outcome: Otters need to win Tuesday night. Again, I correctly predicted the right number of game Pending OUTCOME


OVERALL RECORD (so Far): 4 Right, 2 Wrong of 6 Series.

I could potentially be 6-2 (or 4-4).

[tryhard87]

Excellent as always DY.

[Dean Youngblood]

Plymouth just stunned Kitchener fans as they won 4-2 on the road ro defeat the Kitchener Rangers in Game 7. Landeskog and Ryan Murphy are now eliminated from OHL Playoff action

Wow

Plymouth will face off against the Owen Sound Attack in Round 2 of the Western Conference

The final series will be determined tomorrow night when Windsor plays host to the Erie Otters in Game 7

[StormSurge24]

Sad to see Guelph lose, I was hoping for a run.

MAJOR overhaul next season, gonna be a lot of new faces.

[Dean Youngblood]

Scott vankoughnett of OpenIceHockey had the following to say regaring some of the "favourites" for the upcoming OHL draft and their results at the combine:

"Most impressive showing at Combine goes to Adam Bateman. He was the overall leader in on-ice events and 6th overall off."

"Ekblad ranked 15th overall off-ice and 5th among D. Finished 1st in the wingate and 7th overall on-ice and 4th among D"

"Bo Horvat was 18th overall on ice and 21st off-ice, Subban 5th on-ice and 32nd off-ice"

"Ritchie, Nurse, Domi, Baptiste, Cianfrone, Dempsey all weren't there. All of the top Americans weren't there due to their nationals"

[Dean Youngblood]

Plymouth 4, Windsor 2 Game Recap (courtesy of OHL Network),

The Plymouth Whalers entered a hostile road environment and defeated the Kitchener Rangers 4-2 before 6,668 fans at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium on Monday night to earn the first round series win in seven games.

Scott Wedgewood was brilliant all series in goal for the Whalers and performed well in the deciding game making 37 saves including a few big stops in the dying minutes.
After a scoreless first period, the Whalers jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second period beginning with a Michael Whaley deflection at 9:21 of the middle frame. Robbie Czarnik fired a wrist shot home at 14:51 for his fourth goal of the series.

It was the Rangers' captain Gabriel Landeskog that rallied the home team in the third period when he slammed home a loose puck in the crease at 5:17 on the power play for his sixth goal of the playoffs. Jerry D'Amigo also tallied his sixth of the playoffs when his wrist shot from the top of the circle deflected off a Whalers defenceman at 14:01 to tie the score 2-2.

James Livingston ended the Rangers' comeback with the game-winner at 16:56. In what appeared to be a harmless rush, Livingston cut across the middle of the ice inside the blueline and put a low wrister just out of the reach of Rangers netminder Mike Morrison who made 30 saves in the loss.

Tyler Brown found the empty cage with just two seconds to play recording his 10th point of the series for Plymouth.

The Whalers advance to the second round where they will face the Owen Sound Attack beginning Thursday night at 7:00 pm in a game that can be seen live on Rogers Sportsnet.

The second seed in the Western Conference the Saginaw Spirit await the winner between the Windsor Spitfires and Erie Otters who will play their Game seven finale Tuesday night at the WFCU Centre in Windsor.

It's nice to see that Game 1 will be televised on Rogers Sportsnet

[Dean Youngblood]

Ryan Pyette (London Free Press) is a good overview of the London Knights' roster and the future plans for each player.

Roster Roundup

[Dean Youngblood]

Anaheim Ducks' prospects Peter Holland (F- Guelph Storm) and Igor Bobkov (G- London Knights) will report to the AHL's Syracuse Crunch

[Dean Youngblood]

Windsor Spitfires have eliminated the Erie Otters in game 7 winning 5-4. It was a hard fought battle between the two clubs. Leafs prospect Gregg McKegg finished the game with 2 goals and an assist. Prior to this game, McKegg only had 2 goals in the series' first 6 games.

Windsor will now face the Saginaw Spirit in the second round of the OHL playoffs that begin Thursday

[StormSurge24]

For the Storm:

Peter Holland will join Syracuse (as mentioned)

Michael Latta and Taylor Beck with both be joining Milwaukee

Overage defenseman Sam Lofquist will be joining the Houston Aeros on an amateur tryout contract. Interesting because Houston is Minny's farm team. Lofquist played at the U of Minnesota before joining the Storm.

[Dean Youngblood]

Thanks Brian.

Here is a recap of the Windsor-Erie game 7 last night from the OHL Network

[Dean Youngblood]

It's been a while since I have been able to right anything on my Sarnia Sting but I came across this good article (shows lots of promise for Sarnia next year).

"U-18 rosters stacked with Sting"(click for full story)

Here is a small sample size...

The Sarnia Sting will be well-represented when the 2011 IIHF World Under-18 Championship kicks off next week in Germany.
It has been confirmed that a total of four players who are Sting property will lace them up for their home nations: Russia's Nail Yakupov, Germany's Nick Latta and Sting draft picks Connor Murphy and Reid Boucher for the U.S.
It is expected that a fifth member of the Sting, Brett Ritchie, will be named to Canada's national U-18 team when the roster is announced today.
Sting Vice President of Operations Bill Abercrombie says it's a sign that the team has a very bright future.

As I mentioned before, Sarnia's best all-around player Alex Galchenyuk failed to receive an invite from the US Team and said he would decline an invite from Russia causing him to miss the U-18 Tournament. Galchenyuk has publicly stated that it is his intentions to compete for Team U.S.A. internationally.

[Dean Youngblood]

Did anyone catch the Owen Sound-Plymouth game 1 on Rogers Sportsnet last night? It was a doozy. Owen Sound ended up winning in OT on defenseman Jesse Blacker's goal (Leaf prospect). It was Blacker's second of the game This series should be a really good one. Plymouth forward Jamie Devane was serving a suspension in game one Nd will return next game for Plymouth which will certainly help. Devane is also another good Leaf prospect

If you watched it, let me know what you thought (iwas channel surfing all night and only caught parts of the game)

Game 1 of the Windsor-Saginaw and Mississauga-Sudbury series gets underwaytonight.