CHL Playoff 1st Round Recap

Hello all! With the CHL playoffs second round getting under way this weekend it’s time to recap how our eight CHL prospects did in the first round.

Oscar Dansk-Erie Otters (OHL Western Conference)-Won Series 4-1
Series Stats 1GP 0-0 .800Sv% 6.56GAA
Oscar and the Otters opened the playoffs against the Saginaw Spirit in a 3-6 matchup. Otters coach Kris Knoblauch decided to go with backup (1B?) Devin Williams who is a native of Saginaw but you hope a coach wouldn’t start the local boy for that reason only in the playoffs. Luckily, the move worked. The Otters got off to a 2-0 lead before letting Oscar start game three. Oscar got that start and, well, it wasn’t his best night. He was pulled for the third time in four games after allowing five goals on 25 shots. Williams entered the game but unlike the other times, the Otters couldn’t come back and lost game three 7-6 in overtime. Here are coach Knoblauch’s postgame comments on Oscar along with a quick comment from Oscar on his recent struggles. The Otters won games four and five and advanced to face the West Division champs – the Sault Ste Marie Greyhounds. These teams have met twice in the regular season with Erie winning 3-0 with Williams in net and then getting blown out later in the season.

Kerby Rychel-Guelph Storm (OHL Western Conference)-Won Series 4-1
Series Stats 5GP 1-6-7 +3 6PIM
Kerby and the Storm faced off against the Plymouth Whalers and fellow CBJ prospect Gianluca Curcuruto in the 1-8 matchup. Kerby didn’t earn any points in the game one win but collected his first career playoff multi-point game in game two – a 3-0 victory. In the first, Kerby took a pass from Zack Mitchell to start a bang bang passing play with Matt Finn finishing the play. Kerby’s second point was an odd one as a Guelph player kept the puck in, Kerby stopped it allowing Nick Ebert to pick it up and fire a shot that went off a Whalers skate to make it 2-0. After being held scoreless in a game three loss, Kerby got back on the scoresheet in game four. In the second, Kerby  started a rush up ice getting the puck to Justin Auger with Auger finishing it in a 7-2 win. Game five was a big one for Kerby – he pretty much put the team on his back and collected four points in a 8-3 win. Kerby’s first point came late in the first. It’s hard to tell if he was trying to do the between the leg shot or a pass but whatever it was, he got the puck to Ebert who banged a shot past the Whalers goalie. Kerby’s three point third period started when after a board battle the puck went to Kerby who tapped it to Zac Leslie. Leslie passed it back to Kerby who unleashed a howitzer to make it 5-2. 1:31 later, Kerby worked a give and go with Ryan Horvat that Horvat finished. Later in the third Kerby curled to the point and made a pass to Scott Kosmachuk who seny a crosscrease pass to Nick Ebert whose slapshot made it 8-3. Up next for the Storm is a matchup with the London Knights. The teams met six times in the regular season splitting the series.

Josh Anderson-London Knights (OHL Western Conference)-Won Series 4-0
Series Stats 4GP 2-2-4 +4 8PIM
In the 4-5 matchup, Josh and the Knights faced off against the Windsor Spitfires in a series that had some controversy – luckily not involving Josh. Josh had points in game one, two and three – picking up multiple points in two of them. Starting off in game one, with the Knights leading 2-0, Max Domi drove in and lost the puck but Josh gathered it and found Chris Tierney who made it 3-0. Late in the third, Max Domi saucered a pass to Tierney (Josh may have got a piece hard to tell) setting them off on a two on one with Teirney passing it to Josh who had almost a wide open net to shoot into making it 6-1. Game two was a rough one with 72 penalty minutes being handed out including a second period linebrawl. Josh picked up an assist on Nikita Zadorov’s opening goal. Josh took a pass and delivered the puck again to Max Domi whose shot was stopped but the rebound went right to a pinching Zadorov to make it 1-0. The Knights went on to win 6-3. Game three was a rough one for both teams. For the Spits it was on the scoreboard for the Knights, well, it was the last game with starting goalie Anthony Stolarz. Stolarz high sticked the Spitfires’ Joshua Ho-Sang in the head which earned him a high sticking penalty and a eight game suspension  after the game. As for the game itself, Josh scored the eighth goal of a 10-2 Knights win. In the second period it looks like Josh took a pass from Tierney and slid the puck past the Spitfires goalie to end his night and tenure with the Spitfires as he pulled himself and just left the arena and quit the team. Josh was held pointless in a game 4 victory, a win that moves the Knights on to play the Guelph Storm.

Gianluca Curcuruto (OHL Western Conference)-Lost Series 4-1
Series Stats 5GP 0-1-1 -7 0PIM
Regular Season Stats 57GP 7-21-28 -14 16PIM
Gianluca and the Whalers had a rough go in the first round facing the best team in the Western Conference, the Guelph Storm. Gianluca was held pointless in losses in games one and two but he did pick up a point in the Whalers only win in game three. In the third period Ryan Hartman won a faceoff back to Gianluca who passed to Danny Vanderwiel (try not to real that like Thurston Howell, I dare you). Vanderwiel’s shot was deflected in by Zach Lorentz who scored the game winner in a 2-1 win. Gianluca was held pointless in games three, four and five but was named the Whalers Labatt Blue Collar Player of the Game in game four. This could end Gianluca’s tenure as a Jackets prospect as the team needs to make a decision on signing him. I’m undecided on if he’s signed – the team has good depth on defensmen but none possess a shot as big as Gianluca’s. After the playoffs the Whalers’ announced its award winners with Gianluca named the team’s best defenseman.

Nick Moutrey-Saginaw Spirit (OHL Western Conference)-Lost Series 4-1
Series Stats 5GP 0-3-3 +2 2PIM
Regular Season Stats 68GP 15-26-41 +13 82PIM
Nick and the Spirit played the Erie Otters in the first round with the Spirit falling in five games. Nick was held scoreless in a games one and two before picking up his first career playoff points. In the first with the game tied, Nick was wreaking havoc in front of the crease when he got a whack at the puck along with Justin Kea with Dylan Sadowy finally knocking it in to make it 2-1. In the second just 1:22 after the Otters tied it Nick carried the puck into the zone and passed to Sadowy through not one but two Otters defenders for Sadowy’s second of the night. The Sprirt would win the game 7-6 in overtime. Nick picked up his final point of the series in game four when he earned an assist off Dylan Sadowy’s third period goal to make it 4-3 Otters in a 7-3 Otters victory.

Peter Quenneville-Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL Eastern Conference)-Won Series 4-0
Series Stats 3GP 1-0-1 -2 0PIM
Peter and the Wheat Kings pulled off an upset in the WHL playoffs by sweeping the number two seed, the Regina Pats, in four games. The Pats and Wheat Kings finished the regular season with three straight games and Peter collected seven points in the last two games and then scored a goal in the series opener. In the first period with the Kings leading 2-0 and his little brother having scored a goal, Peter decided to get in on the act. With the Wheat Kings on the power play, Peter let loose a one timer off a Rich Pilon pass to make it 3-0  in the Wheat Kings in a 6-3 victory. Peter missed game two with an injury and was held scoreless in games three and four. The Wheat Kings swept the Pats and now face the back to back Eastern Conference Champions Edmonton Oil Kings in a battle of the WHL Kings (I feel like I should make a Game of Thrones reference here).

Oliver Bjorkstrand-Portland Winterhawks (WHL Western Conference)-Won Series 4-0
Season Stats4GP 4-4-8 +2 0PIM
Oliver and the Hawks swept the Vancouver Giants in the first round picking up the sweep with Oliver picking up points in every game. In game one Oliver scored two of the Hawks four goals. Starting off in the first, Oliver picked up a rebound, skated to the sidewall and fired a shot that bounced off a Giants defender to make it 2-1. Oliver was the hero when, with 1:37 to go, Matt Dumba fired a shot that bounced right to Oliver who slid the puck past the Giants goalie to win it. In game two, Oliver was part of the game winner again when he picked up an assist on the first goal of a 3-0 win. Late in the first period, Oliver sent a cross crease pass to Nic Petan who finished with a one timer. When the series moved to Vancouver, Oliver earned a goal and an assist. In the first, Oliver got the puck to Brenden Leipsec who then got the puck to Derrick Pouliot at the point. Pouliot fired a blast to make it 1-0. In the third, Chase De Leo gathered a loose puck and found Taylor Leier in front. Leier’s shot was poked away by the goalie but Oliver picked it up and scored to make it 5-1 in a 6-3 Hawks win. Oliver had another big night in game four collecting points on three of the Winterhawks’ six goals. His first assist looked almost exactly like his assist in game two but with Brendan Leipsec finishing it this time to make it 1-0. In the second period Oliver took a pass from Derrick Pouliot at the sidewall and fired a one timer to make it 4-1. In the third, Oliver passed to Matt Dumba who fired a shot with the rebound going to Chase De Leo to make it 6-1. Up next for the Winterhawks is a series against the Victoria Royals which sets up a two-three matchup in the west.

Dillon Heatherington-Swift Current Broncos (WHL Eastern Conference)-Lost Series 4-2
Series Stats 6GP 0-1-1 -6 8PIM
Regular Season Stats 70GP 6-29-36 +24 63PIM
Dillon and the Broncos faced off against the Medicine Hat Tigers in a 4-5 matchup with the Tigers picking up a 4-2 series win. Dillon’s only point came on the Broncos’ only goal in a 2-1 game one loss. In the third with the Tigers leading 2-0, Heatherington got the puck from Julius Honka and passed it back before skate into the slot snapping a shot to make it 2-1. Dillon was held pointless in the remaining games. The teams split games one through four with Medicine Hat winning game five and six.

There you have it folks a recap of the Jackets CHL prospects in their playoff rounds. I’ll be back after the second round and we’ll see how many prospects move on. We know we’re guaranteed at least one player in the OHL’s Western Conference Final due to the prospect match-up between London and Guelph.