Around the OHL
Rangers reporter Josh Brown offers up 21 tidbits from the junior hockey league
KITCHENER — I hear a lot of things while milling around Ontario Hockey League rinks.
Some tips turn into bigger stories while others simply make terrific talking points, at least for those of us that enjoy junior hockey.
And that brings me to my weekly OHL column, which I’m going to change up a little bit this season.
Regular readers are familiar with my “Brownie points” segment that appears on Rangers Report blog posts for every Blueshirts game.
Think of this column as an extension of that.
The plan is to provide observations, thoughts and, in some cases, snippets of inside information on all 20 OHL clubs plus one bonus item because, hey, I’ve always got lots to say.
So sit back, grab a coffee and enjoy the debut of The OHL 21.
1. It’s turning into the year of the savvy pickup in net and the Barrie Colts sure are getting the most out of new overage goalie Leo Lazarev (3-0). It had to feel particularly good for the Russian to be in the crease for Barrie’s season opening 11-2 romp over the Ottawa 67’s, his former club.
2. The Erie Otters don’t have a second-round draft pick until 2025 so you know trades are on the agenda. It’s just a matter of when. The timeline might be earlier than expected with Erie off to a 1-3-1-0 start. Forward Taylor Raddysh (shoulder) is the big catch, but he has to get healthy first.
3. An early nominee for late bloomer of the year might just be Flint’s Garrett Forrest who is perfect through three contests with a 3.16 GAA and .912 save percentage. Forrest was a 10th round pick in 2013.
4. A hockey official once told me that you must get an impact player when you have a top five pick in the CHL import draft. It looks like the Guelph Storm got it right. Russian Alexey Toropchenko (fourth overall) has eight points in four games.
5. I thought scoring would be Hamilton’s strength and goaltending a question mark, but the Bulldogs own a league worst eight goals scored and keeper Kaden Fulcher has been outstanding. Go figure.
6. The Kingston Frontenacs are off to a hot start (4-1) but I don’t think the young squad has the depth and experience to continue to lead the eastern conference. Overage goalie Jeremy Helvig also seems like an attractive trade chip at some point.
7. Kitchener Rangers coach Jay McKee is sticking to his plan of rotating goalies, but you have to wonder how much longer it will last. Youngster Luke Richardson has fared well, but veteran Anthony Dumont-Bouchard (3-0) is making a strong case for the starting gig. 8. It’s not often that you see the London Knights get burned. But the club suffered a Finnish flame when the Vancouver Canucks cut defenceman Olli Juolevi and sent him to the pro loop in his homeland instead of back to London. That leaves the Knights with just one of their top six blueliners from last season. That’s tough to overcome.
9. The Mississauga Steelheads are 0-4 but we’ve seen this movie before.
Last season the Fish went 1-4 over its first five games and ended up in the OHL final. Though losing Owen Tippett — for now — to the Florida Panthers at just 18 years old is devastating.
10. Count me as one that raised an eyebrow when a Niagara IceDogs staffer predicted a thirdplace finish in the east during the pre-season. Yeah, it’s early, but so far the ’Dogs (3-1) are delivering.
11. North Bay’s Luke Burghardt is certainly making good on a fresh start. The ex-Storm forward is tied for the lead in league scoring with nine points in four games. His season high was 33 points in Guelph. Well played Stan Butler, well played.
12. Oshawa Generals backup goalie Logan Gauthier has allowed nine goals in two games. Makes one wonder if local prospect Nathan Torchia will get an early look. Torchia is currently playing for the Stouffville Spirit in the Ontario Junior Hockey League.
13. Listen, Ottawa is six games in but the top seven minus players in the league are all 67’s. That isn’t a stat you want to own. Mathieu Foget, Austen Keating and Nikita Okhotyuk are all minus-10.
14. OHL commissioner David Branch dropped by the visitation for late Owen Sound Sun Times reporter Bill Walker, who passed away from cancer in August. Walker was the beat guy for the Owen Sound Attack. Classy move, Mr. Branch.
15. Peterborough Petes forward Jonathan Ang was named OHL player of the week after scoring seven points in three games. Kitchener selected Adam Mascherin second overall in 2014 and he has worked out great for the Rangers but, interestingly, Ang’s name was also mentioned as a possibility for that slot at the time.
16. Saginaw Spirit overage candidate Mike Davies did not return to the Spirit this season, but he did land on his feet with the Jr. B St. Catharines Falcons. The former Rangers first rounder is tied for the lead in Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League scoring with 19 points in nine games.
17. Know why Sarnia is doing well? Because Sting stars are shining. Jordan Kyrou leads the OHL with 2.5 points per game while Drake Rymsha is first in faceoffs with a 71.8 per cent win rate among players that have been to the dot more than 75 times.
18. Waterloo native Boris Katchouk is coming off a career year that saw him score 35 goals and 64 points for the Soo Greyhounds. The Tampa Bay Lightning prospect is on pace to better that this season and already has two OT winners. Talk about clutch.
19. I know of at least one agent that was quietly trying to get his client traded out of Sudbury last season. And the Wolves’ 0-3-2-0 start this season probably isn’t helping change that.
20. Windsor’s perfect penalty kill, which has muted 20 consecutive opposition power plays, is one of the most impressive team statistics this season. Oh, Windsor owns the league’s top power play too (41.7 per cent). Wasn’t this supposed to be a rebuilding year?
21. If you’re wondering why the Gatineau Olympiques were listed among the OHL standings, and still are when you select team statistics on the league’s website, it’s because the QMJHL club has a home-and-home series with the Ottawa 67’s this season.