Hello, all! Other than the QMJHL the CHL League, finals are about to get underway and the CBJ still have four prospects with a chance at a spot in the Memorial Cup. So let’s take a look at recent action.
Justin Scott-Barrie Colts (OHL Lost Series 4-0)
Conference Final Stats 4GP 3-1-4 -4 4PIM
Final Playoff Stats 15GP 17-3-20 +12 8PIM
Regular Season Stats 67GP 28-37-65 +32 60PIM
Final OHL Career Stats 251GP 69-78-147 +65 152 PIM
Justin and the Colts took on fellow CBJ prospects Jordan Maletta and Blake Siebenaler in the OHL’s Eastern Conference Final where they were playing for the Bobby Orr Trophy. Starting off in game one, Justin opened the scoring when, out of a board battle, Kevin LeBanc skated to the net but lost the puck and Andrew Mangiapane gathered it before firing. That shot was stopped but Justin was able to pick up the rebound for his 15th of the playoffs. The Colts scored another goal in the third before the IceDogs took over and scored three goals in 1:58 to clinch a game one victory.
In game two, Scott picked up his third assist of the playoffs when, early in the third, with the Colts trailing 2-0, off a bang bang passing play Justin’s shot bounced off the post and went to Mangiapane who had an almost empty net to shoot into with the Dogs goalie down. The Dogs scored two more to make it 4-1 in a game two win.
Game three was more of the same except the Colts had a bit of a lead early in the second when Josh Carrick kept the puck in at the blueline and sent it to Mangiapane who passed to Justin. Justin then skated in with a defender all over him before scoring his 16th of the playoffs on a backhand to give the Colts a 3-2 lead in what ended as a 6-3 Colts loss.
In a do or die game four, Justin again opened the scoring when Dylan Sadaowy entered the zone and curled away from a defender before finding Justin who skated into the zone and hammered one home to make it 1-0 in a 3-2 game four loss that ended Justin’s OHL career.
As his playoffs end, Justin still leads the OHL playoffs in goals with 17 but that likely will not stand as London’s Matt Tkachuk is second in 16 and his teammate Mitchell Marner has 15. Justin should probably be off to Cleveland to join up with the Monsters but I’m not sure he’ll make it into a game with the Monsters going on all cylinders as they are and the team may not want to mess with that chemisty. That being said, it can’t hurt to get to know your new teammates.
Jordan Maletta-Niagara IceDogs (OHL-Won Series 4-0)
Conference Final Stats 4GP 1-0-1 E 8PIM
Playoff Stats 13GP 2-8-10 +1 15PIM
It was a quiet series for Jordan but his one point was a huge one. Late in game one, after the Dogs had clawed back to tie the game with two goals in 54 seconds, Jordan completed the comeback 14 seconds later when Ryan Mantha got the puck at the blueline and fired a shot that it appears was blocked by a Colt but the puck went straight to Jordan in the slot and he fired to make it 3-2 and give the Dogs a 1-0 series lead. Here are Coach Marty Williamson and Jordan’s postgame press conference.
Jordan would go without a point for the rest of the series.
Blake Siebenaler-Niagara IceDogs (OHL-Won Series 4-0)
Conference Final Stats 4GP 1-2-3 +7 2PIM
Playoff Stats 13GP 1-5-6 +5 2PIM
Yes were talking about game one in this series again. After the Colts drove out to a 2-0 lead, Blake is the player who started the Dogs comeback. Just 41 seconds after a Colts shorthanded goal, with the Dogs on the power play, Ryan Mantha passed to Brendan Perlini who instantly passed to Blake who would hammer a shot for his first of the playoffs and the goal that got the Dogs on the board in a 3-2 game one victory.
Blake went without a point in games two and three before starring in game four’s series clincher. Late in the first with the Dogs trailing 1-0, Josh Wesley kept the puck in at the blueline before sending a pass to Blake just above the circle. Blake snapped a shot that looked like it was going to be a goal anyway but “the ex Prime Minister” Stephen Harper tipped it in to make it 1-1. Blake also assisted on Wesley’s game and series winner but you cant see it in the highlights. The Dogs swept the Colts with the 3-2 win.
In the OHL Finals, the Dogs will face off against the London Knights who swept Erie making it the first time since 1998 that both Conference Finals ended in a sweep. Kole Sherwood only dressed in one game of the Finals and picked up no points.
Keegan Kolesar-Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL-Won Series 4-0)
Series Stats 4GP 1-3-4 E 4PIM
Playoff Stats 11GP 6-4-10 +11 8PIM
Keegan and the TBirds faced off against the Kelowna Rockets in the Western Conference Finals and, like the Jackets’ OHL prospects they swept the competition. Keegan went without a point in game one before picking up an assist in game two on Mathew Barzal’s first period goal to make it 1-0 in a 3-2 TBirds (unfortunately, you can’t see it in the highlights). Game two helped set a new franchise record as it was the 10th win in the playoffs beating the old record of nine set in 1996-97.
In game three, early in the third with the game tied at one, Keegan gathered a loose puck out of a board battle and found Barzal who stickhandled along the wall before passing to Ethan Bear. Bear pinched in and fired to make it 3-1. Keegan also set the screen on the 2-1 goal of a 3-1 game three win.
Game four was a wild one for the two teams. Starting in the second with the Birds trailing 3-1, Keegan gathered a loose puck and passed to Barzal who skated behind the net and found Bear in front who made it 3-2. After the teams exchanged third period goals – including a late one by the TBirds – Keegan got to play (partial) hero. With two point seven seconds left, Ethan Bear fired a bomb from the point that created chaos in front and who would it be to complete the comeback but Keegan. The big forward jumped on a loose puck to tie it at four and send the game to overtime. The first overtime solved nothing so on the teams went to a second with Birds’ rookie Matthew Wedman scoring his first playoff goal to win it 5-4. This will be the TBirds first chance at a WHL title since the 96-97 season. Here is on ice video of the postgame celebration and trophy presentation. In a classy move, the TBirds named Kelowna’s three 20 year old players as the three stars in the game.
As for the WHL Final, if Red Deer had come out of the East, Seattle would automatically have qualified for the Memorial Cup since the Rebels are the host but that didn’t happen so the Birds will faceoff against the Brandon Wheat Kings in the final.
Quickly, in player movement news, it was announced that Veeti Vainio will join KooKoo in Liiga next season.
There you have it – we’re getting to the end the road for the 15-16 season but we’re at least guaranteed one Jackets’ prospect to see Memorial Cup tournament action.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
