Strome, McLeod battling for neigbourhood bragging rights again
Captains in Otters-Steelheads series have been battling head-to-head for years now
Dylan Strome has faced off against Mike McLeod for the championship many times before. They both captained their teams. They both got their name on the cup.
Of course, they were kids at the time. The game was road hockey in their families’ Mississauga neighbourhood. The chalice was a Stanley Cup replica made by a friend. This time, however, it’s for real. Strome is captain of the Erie Otters, McLeod is captain of the Mississauga Steelheads. The two will face each other in the Ontario Hockey League final, squaring off for the Robertson Cup, starting Thursday in Erie, Pa. (7. p.m.)
“He’s a great player, had a great playoffs,” Strome said of McLeod. “We’ve played each other the past three years now. Four times a year. But it is weird going against one of your best childhood friends.
The two never played on the same street hockey team as kids
“My little brother played, his brothers, some neighbourhood friends,” said Strome, whose team was sometimes bolstered by the presence of Mitch Marner. “(McLeod) and I were always the captains . . . we’d pick the teams. We were always competing. We bring out the best in each other. I think this series will show that.”
That replica Stanley Cup, complete with winners’ names on it, is in the McLeod house.
“I won it last,” said McLeod. “It was always a lot of fun. Usually, it didn’t end well for one of us, and we weren’t friends for a few days after.”
McLeod, the 12th overall pick by New Jersey in the 2016 draft, feels his game has come a long way this year. “I feel I simplified my game, and am a lot stronger down the middle of the ice.”
His focus right now is the Robertson Cup.
“Anytime you have a chance to win a championship, it’s huge and great for our organization,” McLeod said. “There is not better feeling than winning this championship and going to the Memorial Cup.”
For Strome, this is his last chance at winning a championship in the OHL, complete with its trip to the Memorial Cup. In three previous years with the Otters — including two seasons with Connor McDavid — his seasons have ended too soon.
“It’s something that I’ve been working toward for a long time,” Strome said. “Just for myself, being so close so many times, it feels like every year we have a chance to win and things don’t go right in the playoffs.”
Strome, the third overall pick in the 2015 NHL draft, has had a whirlwind year, starting the season with the Arizona Coyotes before being returned to Erie. He captained Canada at the world junior championship — he and McLeod were teammates there — and won silver.
“I experienced so many different levels of hockey this year,” Strome said. “It’s been great. Different things you have to adjust to. We want to go as far as we can get. That’s one more step. Hopefully we can finish it off.”