The OHL Weekend Notebook recaps the weekend that was with news, information and interesting facts from both on and off the ice.
Spirit lock-up home ice advantage with solid week
The Saginaw Spirit picked up five of a possible six points last week, securing the fourth seed in the Western Conference as they’ll hold home ice advantage in the first round of the 2023 OHL Playoffs. The Spirit managed to grab a point on Wednesday night in Windsor, with overage blueliner Mitchell Smith scoring his first OHL hat trick in a 6-5 overtime loss to the Spitfires. Smith came up big on Friday in Kitchener, scoring the OT winner as the Spirit defeated the Rangers 4-3. Saginaw topped the Hamilton Bulldogs 5-3 at home on Saturday as Minnesota Wild prospect Hunter Haight scored goals 20 and 21 on the campaign. The Spirit saw rookie stars Michael Misa and Zayne Parekh both return to the lineup last week while goaltender Andrew Oke turned in a solid performance, going 2-0 with a 2.92 goals-against average and .920 save percentage. Saginaw will face either Flint, Guelph, Owen Sound or Kitchener in the opening round of the playoffs.
With his 117th OHL point last night, Mitchell Smith surpasses Pavel Mintyukov to become the third-highest scoring defenseman in franchise history. Only Patrick McNeill (182) and Marcus Crawford (149) have more. pic.twitter.com/VUWYf9SATv
— Saginaw Spirit (@SpiritHockey) March 19, 2023
Bloom’s big Sunday stretches Battalion win streak to eight
Josh Bloom finished-off a hat trick in overtime on Sunday as the North Bay Battalion edged the Sudbury Wolves 6-5, extending their winning streak to eight games. A Vancouver Canucks prospect, Bloom has 52 points (24-28–52) in 47 games with the Battalion this season. The Troops are within two points of clinching their second straight Central Division after also defeating the Peterborough Petes last week. Former first overall OHL Priority Selection choice Ty Nelson had two assists on Sunday to draw even with Michael Vernace’s 2005-06 mark of 72 points, the most by a Battalion blueliner in franchise history. Newly-signed Dallas Stars prospect Kyle McDonald left Sunday’s game with an injury and didn’t return. The Troops can clinch a Central Division crown with a win over Hamilton on Thursday.
Bloomer had himself a day@Jbloom97 | #Canucks pic.twitter.com/xr6BdHFLVO
— North Bay Battalion (@OHLBattalion) March 20, 2023
Clarke continues surge as Colts reach 40-win mark
Brandt Clarke has been dominant as anticipated, and that continued last week as the LA Kings first round pick racked up 11 points (5-6–11) in three games, helping the Barrie Colts collect five of a possible six points. The Colts are 40-game winners for the first time since 2017-18, rebounding from a 6-5 shootout loss in Mississauga on Wednesday as Ethan Cardwell scored his 40th in OT Friday night, pushing Barrie over Owen Sound 5-4. The Colts hit 40 wins on Saturday with an 11-goal outburst that included a hat trick and career-high five points from Clarke as he pushed his current point streak to 15 games. His defence partner Artur Cholach finished the night with a plus-7 rating as Barrie beat Niagara 11-4. Barrie leads all OHL clubs in points since the OHL trade deadline on Jan. 10th, collecting 45 with a record of 21-6-2-1.
Just two best friends getting career-highs tonight 🤠🍀
Cholach: +7
Clarke: +6#VegasBorn #GoKingsGo pic.twitter.com/YgSBOPABej— X – Barrie Colts (@OHLBarrieColts) March 19, 2023
67’s secure Hamilton Spectator Trophy, eclipse 100-point mark
The Ottawa 67’s will be the only OHL club to reach 100 points in 2022-23, doing so on Friday night in a 4-3 win over the Oshawa Generals to secure their third Hamilton Spectator Trophy as regular season champions in the past four seasons. Luca Pinelli, Logan Morrison, Cooper Foster and Cameron Tolnai took care of the scoring on Friday as the Barber Poles improved to 48-12-3-2, their sixth 100-point season in franchise history.With three games remaining on their schedule, the 67’s sit five points back of an all-time franchise record 106 points achieved in 2018-19. They’re also two wins shy of their third 50-win campaign in the past four seasons.
The Hamilton Spectator Trophy is coming back to Ottawa 🏆
Your #67s are @OHLHockey regular season champions for the third time in the last four seasons, and sixth time in franchise history! pic.twitter.com/4GaMo3HUSY
— xyz – Ottawa 67’s (@Ottawa67sHockey) March 18, 2023
Storm rattle off three straight wins
The Guelph Storm are still in the thick of things, reversing a recent three-game slide by responding with three wins last week. Wednesday’s 7-4 win over the London Knights saw the Storm squander a 4-0 lead, only to surge to victory in the third period on goals from Max Namestnikov and Michael Buchinger. Guelph rallied late to defeat the Sarnia Sting 7-6 in a shootout on Friday as Braeden Bowman netted his 29th and 30th of the season along with the shootout winner while Max Namestnikov tied the score at six against his former club, scoring with 1:29 left in the third period. Guelph defeated the Erie Otters 5-2 in Pennsylvania on Saturday as Bowman and Matthew Poitras both finished with a goal and an assist. Poitras is up to 73 assists on the season, the third-highest total in Storm franchise history. Guelph could finish as high as fifth place or as low as eighth as the 2022-23 season comes to an exciting conclusion this week.
What a Friday night finish in Guelph!
It was @Storm_City getting it done in the shootout as Braeden Bowman put an exclamation mark on a five-point performance before Brayden Gillespie shut down the Sting 🎥 pic.twitter.com/aqJr8xHGlE
— OntarioHockeyLeague (@OHLHockey) March 18, 2023
Burke scores 50th as Sting keep cruising
The Sarnia Sting earned five of six points last week, remaining undefeated in regulation over a span of 15 games. The Sting blanked the Hamilton Bulldogs 6-0 on Wednesday as Ben Gaudreau turned in his first shutout of the season. Sarnia faltered late in Guelph on Friday, coughing up a late lead as the Storm came back to win 7-6 in a shootout. Nashville Predators prospect Nolan Burke registered the sixth 50-goal season in Sting franchise history on Saturday, opening the scoring in Sarnia’s 4-3 win over the Kingston Frontenacs. Marcus Limpar-Lantz scored the third period game winner as the Sting improved to 38-17-5-4 on the season. Ty Voit enters the final week of the campaign two points shy of 100 as he sits second in OHL scoring.
Nolan Burke’s 50th of the season is his League-leading 23rd power play goal.@StingHockey | #smashville pic.twitter.com/YthLt2me1n
— OntarioHockeyLeague (@OHLHockey) March 18, 2023
Lombardi sets franchise mark as Firebirds stay hot
Detroit Red Wings prospect Amadeus Lombardi wrote some Flint Firebirds history on Saturday, recording two assists to give him 54 on the season, surpassing Kole Sherwood’s pre-existing 2016-17 record of 52 in a single season. The Firebirds were victorious over the Hamilton Bulldogs 3-1 on Friday before a thrilling 4-3 comeback win over London Saturday as Lombardi chipped in an assist on Riley Piercey’s third period game winner. Chicago Blackhawks prospect Gavin Hayes scored his 39th and 40th goals of the season as Flint has now won nine of the last 10, looking to solidify the fifth seed in the Western Conference that would set up a first round matchup with the rival Saginaw Spirit. Flint visits Kitchener on Friday night before returning home to close out the regular season schedule against the Owen Sound Attack on Saturday.
Congratulations to Amadeus Lombardi for earning a franchise record-breaking 53 Assists in a single season!!!#fuelthefire pic.twitter.com/1tkT6XJTkW
— Flint Firebirds (@FlintFirebirds) March 18, 2023
Petes’ Sztuska slots in for Simpson
Michael Simpson left Friday’s 3-2 road loss to the Sudbury Wolves midway through the third period and Liam Sztuska took it from there, stopping 26 shots in Sunday’s 5-2 road win over the Niagara IceDogs. Simpson didn’t dress for Sunday’s game. Sztuska earned a pair of wins last week, first making 43 saves in Tuesday’s 5-2 win over the Mississauga Steelheads. The 18-year-old is 10-7 in backup duty for the Petes this season as they look to lock-up the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference entering the final week of the season.
Bringing in the week with a W pic.twitter.com/f3f5DPHYvi
— Peterborough Petes (@PetesOHLhockey) March 19, 2023
Generals create some separation with Sunday win
The Oshawa Generals snapped an eight-game losing skid in a big spot Sunday night, defeating the Mississauga Steelheads 6-3 to take a step toward clinching the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Matthew Buckley had two goals and an assist in the Sunday win while newly-signed Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Cameron Butler joined Luke Torrance with a goal and two helpers. Oshawa holds a three-point lead over Kingston for the last spot, and could clinch it on Wednesday with a regulation win over the Frontenacs when the two clubs meet in Kingston. Beckett Sennecke’s 15th goal of the season on Sunday gave him 50 points, the most by a Generals 16-year-old rookie since Michael Del Zotto in 2006-07.
Matthew Buckley helps the @Oshawa_Generals secure a HUGE two points on home ice!
A career-high three points, including a pair of goals from the 2021 #OHLDraft second-rounder sets the Gens up with a chance to clinch a playoff spot Wednesday night with a win in Kingston! pic.twitter.com/Ux9NT7ce7g
— OntarioHockeyLeague (@OHLHockey) March 20, 2023
Leenders sets Steelheads’ rookie mark
Mississauga Steelheads rookie goaltender Ryerson Leenders suited up in his 35th game of the season on Wednesday, the most by a 16-year-old OHL rookie netminder in the past 25 years. Leenders made 39 saves on Wednesday as the Trout defeated the Colts 6-5 in a shootout. His 35 games are the third-most by a 16-year-old rookie in OHL history behind David Belitski of the Kitchener Rangers, who played 51 during the 1993-94 season, as well as Brian Finley of the 1997-98 Barrie Colts, who played in 41 games. Other notables include Jamie Storr of the 1991-92 Owen Sound Platers who appeared in 34 contests, Scott Roche of the 1993-94 North Bay Centennials who played in 32, Brad Topping of the 2000-01 Brampton Battalion who saw 31 games of action as well as a pair of recent goaltenders in former Steelhead Jacob Ingham (31, 2016-17) and Luke Cavallin of the Flint Firebirds (31, 2017-18).
Congrats to Ryerson Leenders, who set a franchise record for games played by a 16 year old goaltender with 35 GP this season 👏 This is also the most games played by a rookie goalie in the @OHLHockey in the last 25 years, sitting in 3rd all-time in this category 😮 #MadeofSteel pic.twitter.com/0SZzkRCuAD
— X – Mississauga Steelheads (@OHLSteelheads) March 16, 2023
