Hounds still OHL’s top dogs
Soo still favourites after trade deadline
Nothing has changed.
Even after 27 trades made across the Ontario Hockey League since New Year’s Day, the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds are still the favourites to win the league title and chase their first Memorial Cup in 25 years.
They’re the class of the field and Hounds GM Kyle Raftis made sure it would stay that way by acquiring world junior forward Taylor Raddysh and veteran defenceman Jordan Sambrook, both OHL champions last season with Erie, this week ahead of Wednesday’s trade deadline.
The Soo didn’t have to hurriedly construct a super team.
They already boast world junior gold medalists Boris Katchouk and Conor Timmins. Morgan Frost, the Flyers first rounder, is leading the league in scoring.
They are going to be difficult to topple in a seven-game series.
But, there are a number of contenders willing to line up to give it a try.
Kingston has fine goaltender Jeremy Helvig and a long history of falling short in the playoffs.
They hope their new star power — hometown hero Gabe Vilardi, former exceptional player Sean Day, rugged Max Jones and silky Cliff Pu — lead them to longawaited glory.
All four have Memorial Cup rings from their time in Windsor and London.
The front-running Hamilton Bulldogs are trying to establish their franchise in the Steel City. They saw what a couple of OHL final trips did in building awareness and a strong fan base for the Niagara IceDogs in St. Catharines.
They added Knights’ captain and world junior centre Robert Thomas and first-liners Ryan Moore and Nick Caamano from Flint to make their case as top Dogs in the Eastern Conference.
The pressure to win now is on for a couple of reasons.
First, Kingston and Hamilton moved a lot of top-rung young talent and a pile of second-round picks to take their shot. Whether or not it works, they’re in for a significant rebuild over the next few seasons.
And second, there is an added desperation around the loop because of the return serial contenders London, Erie and even Windsor reaped from trading veteran talent over the last week.
The Knights, Otters and Spitfires, who recruit better than most, won’t be down for long.
The price for most top players was a blue-chip prospect and multiple high draft picks. Several clubs handed those over to the three Western Conference powers, helping them plant the seeds of another run of success.
That’s part of the reason Kitchener, without a division title since 2008, is in win-now mode. New Rangers GM Mike McKenzie brought in Logan Brown from Windsor, veteran goalie Mario Culina from Sudbury and pulled off one of the better deals of the week — securing Guelph power forward Givani Smith’s services without giving up a younger player.
The Sarnia Sting, starving for a third-round appearance, tried to shore up their blue-line with North Bay’s Cam Dineen and increased their speed with ex-Peterborough Petes forward Jonathan Ang.
The Barrie Colts, Central Division leaders, already have top NHL prospect Andrei Svechnikov and now they have former Spitfires’ captain Aaron Luchuk and Sudbury’s Dmitry Sokolov to help fill the net.
The Colts should be suitably potent in the offensive end.
They know it will be a chore to stave off Niagara, who has overachieved all season.
There are some interesting dark horses, too.
Pre-season favourite Owen Sound didn’t pull off a last-second deal for another veteran goaltender, but they have plenty of talent up front and are much better than their current standing.
The same goes for Mississauga. It feels like they are on the verge of unleashing a 10-game win streak.
There are plenty of teams convinced they can do some damage over the next few months.
But, it remains to be seen if anyone can truly slow down the Hounds.