It may be too early to say the OHL season is “winding down,” but the next few weeks will prove crucial for some teams. That being said, I think we can all agree Ottawa’s sitting pretty comfortably.
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It was a tough week for the 67’s, who played four times thanks to a makeup game Tuesday—including matchups against two of the hottest teams in the league in Oshawa and Erie. Ottawa was able to pick up five of eight points—they took Oshawa to OT—and have gone 7-2-1 in their past 10 games to sit just three points back of North Bay for third in the Eastern Conference and five shy of Barrie in the race for second. No one will catch Oshawa at the top of the table.
This also comes after impressive performances by Travis Konecny and Liam Herbst at the CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game. The 67’s should be on everyone’s radar, if they aren’t already.
Speaking of North Bay, Stan Butler, who has been coach and GM of the Battalion since the team’s inauguration in 1998, became the fifth OHL coach to reach 600 career wins Sunday afternoon after a 3-2 win over the Niagara IceDogs.
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Bottom of the East is anyone’s game
The bottom half of the Eastern Conference standings is still a fairly tight race. Niagara and Belleville are tied on 46 points with Kingston right behind them at 45. Niagara has a few tough games up ahead with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds stopping by, followed by a home-and-home with the London Knights. That being said, Niagara has definitely been hotter than Belleville as of late. My prediction is that we’ll see the IceDogs in fifth place come the end of the regular season.
As far as that golden eighth place spot goes, it’s been Mississauga’s to lose for quite a while now. But with the Steelheads faltering, it’s only a matter of time before the Peterborough Petes pass them. Mississauga arguably has a bit of an easier schedule in the next couple weeks, but the Petes are known to pull out unexpected wins—last week they earned back-to-back victories over two of the CHL’s top ranked teams: Erie (5) and Oshawa (1). No Nick Ritchie has proven to be no problem.
To be fair, this year hasn’t been kind to the Steelheads whatsoever—losing starting goalie Spencer Martin to a knee injury for the second half of the season was a huge blow.
The Middle of the West
The Kitchener Rangers have gone 7-2-1 in their past 10. With Sarnia and Owen Sound hot on their tail, it should make for an interesting next couple games as the Rangers have a home-and-home with the Sting. It’s worth noting that Jake Paterson (who I’m still having trouble adjusting to in a Rangers jersey) made 49 saves in Kitchener’s 4-1 win over the Guelph Storm. If this was a taste of what could also wind up as a first-round playoff matchup, I’d be OK with it.
The Rangers and the 67’s might just be the two most interesting teams in the league because no one knew what they were going to get with either at the beginning of the season.
Three Stars
Kevin Labanc, LW, Barrie Colts The San Jose Sharks prospect tops this week’s OHL performances with four goals and four assists in just two games. He also picked up his first OHL hat trick Saturday night against the Oshawa Generals.
Alex Nedeljkovic, G, Plymouth Whalers The Whalers may not have had the most help up front this season, but they’ve had a pretty strong force in net for the past few seasons in Nedeljkovic, the third goaltender drafted to the NHL last June. The Carolina Hurricanes prospect made 102 saves in three games, which included a 3-0 shutout against the Belleville Bulls.
Nathan Todd, C, Ottawa 67’s Earns a special mention this week for emerging as one of Ottawa’s most reliable forwards, earning him a spot on their top line. He has six points in his past four games.
NHL Draft Tracker
Dante Salituro, C, Ottawa 67’s In keeping with Ottawa’s impressive play, Salituro picked up eight points in four games last week, including a four-point night against Oshawa on Tuesday—not exactly an easy thing to do. Teammate Travis Konency also had a four-point game against the Petes on Saturday. (Are you thinking what I’m thinking? Draft stocks rising.)
Lawson Crouse, LW, Kingston Frontenacs I’m assuming everyone has a pretty decent read on Crouse by now, what with him winning gold at the world juniors and all. But just checking in on how he’s fairing with the Fronts: The highly-ranked draft prospect picked up five points in two games.
Dylan Strome, C, Erie Otters While multi-point games aren’t a new thing for Strome, three points against the 67’s on Sportsnet Sunday afternoon gave him 92 on the season, leaving him just one point away from tying fellow top draft-eligible prospect Mitch Marner as the OHL’s current top scorer.