The matchup
The Barrie Colts (19-10-6) will host the Flint Firebirds (19-15-3) tonight in the OHL’s first CHLTV Game of the Week of 2023.
The Colts will have some serious additions to their lineup tonight as Brandt Clarke, fresh off of World Juniors gold, will make his season debut after he was reassigned by the L.A. Kings Sunday.
Furthermore, newly acquired Braden Haché (FLA) will also join the Colts blue line after his deadline day trade from Kingston.
Barrie have just one regulation loss over their last 10 as they continue to make moves in the Central Division. Evan Vierling, Ethan Cardwell (SJ) and Jacob Frasca have all played at a better than a point-per-game pace this season while the team’s power play ranks third best in the OHL at 24.4 per cent although their 123 man advantage opportunities are the fourth fewest in the league.
The @OHLBarrieColts veterans were on fire tonight 🔥
OA forwards @EthanCardwell2 and @evan_vierling each had 2️⃣ goals and 2️⃣ assists tonight as the Colts shutout the Storm 🎥 pic.twitter.com/V9yjVcqnyh
— OntarioHockeyLeague (@OHLHockey) January 1, 2023
The Colts are the second least penalized team in the OHL with just 345 penalty minutes this season.
Flint sits fourth in a tightly contested West Division but are 4-6-0 over their last 10 games.
Led by Amadeus Lombardi (DET) and Gavin Hayes (CHI), the Firebirds 159 goals this year are tied for the second most in the OHL. However, their 149 goals against are the sixth most in the league.
The Firebirds went to the OHL’s Western Conference Finals a year ago and while 50-goalscorer Brennan Othmann (NYR) was traded to Peterborough earlier in the season, the team is in a position to contend for a postseason spot for the third time in franchise history.
Who to watch
It seems unfair to pick a player who hasn’t played a minute in the OHL this season but that’s the kind of effect Clarke has.
The Colts captain, who was the eighth overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, skated in nine games with the Kings earlier this year and tallied two assists. He has also spent time in the AHL with Ontario where he had two points (one goal) in five games before he joined Canada’s World Juniors squad.
In Halifax, Clarke led all Canadian d-men with eight points (two goals) as Canada made it back-to-back World Juniors wins.
Over 112 OHL games, all with Barrie, Clarke has 17 goals and 97 points.
Brandt Clarke! 🇨🇦 #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/63hnGHKbYk
— Canadian Hockey League (@CHLHockey) January 5, 2023
Stats leaders
Vierling’s 45 points leads the way for the Colts while Cardwell’s 19 goals are one more than aforementioned.
Beau Akey, who was upgraded to an ‘A’ prospect Nov. 21 ahead of the 2023 NHL Draft, has 28 points from the Barrie blue line and sits tied for ninth in OHL scoring among blueliners.
Second-year netminder Anson Thornton has had the bulk of the starts for the Colts and has a 12-6-3 record with a 3.28 GAA and a .907 save percentage.
Lombardi sits tied for seventh in OHL scoring with 50 points while his 23 goals place him ninth.
#LGRW prospect Amadeus Lombardi nets his first @OHLHockey hat-trick! 🎩🎩🎩 pic.twitter.com/f1zhhkQunz
— Canadian Hockey League (@CHLHockey) December 10, 2022
Coupled with Hayes’ 22 goals, the pair have combined for the second most goals among teammates in the OHL this season alongside Sarnia’s Nolan Burke and Ty Voit and only behind Windsor’s Alex Christopoulos and Matthew Maggio.
Dmitry Kuzmin’s (WPG) 26 points leads the Firebirds blue line while offseason acquisition Will Cranley (STL) has in an OHL best 29 games this year to a 14-10-3 record.
Where to watch
Thursday’s contest can be seen live for free on CHL TV at 7:30pm ET / 4:30pm PT.
Available to fans from coast to coast, CHL TV is accessible on the CHL mobile app, in addition to Apple TV, Roku, and Amazon Fire, and online at watch.chl.ca. Each year, CHL TV offers access to more than 2,000 regular-season games covering the CHL’s three Member Leagues and 60 markets across Canada and the United States. Fans can download the free CHL app via the App Store and Google Play.
