Hello all – time to recap how our CHL prospects did last round. Overall we had five prospects playing in the conference semifinals with three moving on which will provide another prospect matchup in the OHL Western Conference Final.
Oscar Dansk didn’t play in any game of the Otters four game sweep of Sault Ste. Marie and, unless Devin Williams falters, I didn’t see Oscar making an appearance in the Western Conference Finals against Guelph (Editor’s note: Oscar did start the game last night with not so great results – we’ll have more on that in our next update)
Kerby Rychel-Guelph Storm (OHL Western Conference)-Won Series 4-1
Round Stats 5GP 1-5-6 +4 2PIM
Playoff Stats 10GP 2-11-13 +7 8PIM
Kerby and the Storm faced off against the London Knights and picked up a 4-1 series win. In game one Kerby put the icing on the cake of a 6-4 win when he scored an empty net goal with only 10 seconds remaining. The goal came when London’s mammoth Russian Nikita Zadorov played the puck and cleared it…right to Storm forward Jason Dickinson who skated in drawing the attention of two Knights. This allowed him to find a wide open Kerby who scored for his second of the playoffs. Kerby was held scoreless in game two – a 7-2 Storm loss. The Storm is 1-2 in the playoffs when Kerby is held off the scoresheet.
In game three Kerby was the star – he assisted on three of the Storm’s four goals. In the second period Kerby gathered a loose puck in Gretzky’s office and sent the puck out to Phil Baltisberger who fired a blast to make it 1-1. In the third with the game tied, Kerby set up Robby Fabbri when he drove to the net and dropped a pass to Fabbri who potted it to make it 2-2. In the third, Kerby took a drop pass from Fabbri and, with a Knights defender all over him, found Fabbri who snapped off his second of the game. Guelph added an empty net goal to make it 4-2, Kerby was named third star in the win.
In game four Kerby picked up an assist when he got the puck to Zack Mitchell who sent a crossrink pass to Robby Fabbri to make it 6-1 in a 6-3 Storm win. In the series clinching game five win, Kerby picked up yet another assist in the first period. Kerby worked behind the net and got the puck to Zack Mitchell who scored on his second whack at it. Guelph would win the game 5-4 and clinch the series. Up next for Guelph is the Western Conference for the Wayne Gretzky Trophy.
Josh Anderson-London Knights (Western Conference)-Lost Series 4-1 but will play in Memorial Cup
Round Stats 5GP 3-2-5 -5 6PIM
Final OHL Playoff Stats 9GP 5-4-9 -1 14PIM
Final Regular Season Stats 59GP 27-24-51 +31 81PIM
Josh and the Knights faced off against the Midwest Division Champs the Guelph Storm and, despite falling 4-1 in the series, Josh played well and was a point per game player. Josh was held pointless in the game one loss but picked up his second multi-point game of the playoffs in game two. In the second, Chris Teirney got the puck to Josh who stickhandled into the slot and snapped a shot home to make it 4-1. Six minutes after a Storm goal with the Knights shorthanded Josh worked a give and go with Nikita Zadorov who skated in and shot to make it 5-2 in a 7-2 Knights win.
In game three Josh picked up an assist on the opening goal when Dakota Mermis dumped the puck in with Josh gathering it behind the net and finding Bo Horvat to make it 1-0 Knights. It would mark only one of two goals for the Knights as they went on to lose the game 4-2. After being held pointless in game four, Josh had another big game in game 5 when he scored two goals. Late in the first with London trailing 2-1 the Knights’ 16 year old wunderkind Mitchell Marner went behind the net and threw the puck in front with Josh scoring the goal from the scrum in front. In the second period, Max Domi drove down the wing and sent a pass in front that Josh finished to make it 4-4 in a game. Ultimately, the game ended in a 5-4 loss with the game winner coming seven seconds after Josh’s goal. Josh and the Knights are now done until the Memorial Cup making this the third year in a row the Cup host was eliminated in the first two rounds. The last host to win its league was the 2008 Kitchener Rangers – a roster that boasted a young Steve Mason.
Peter Quenneville-Brandon Wheat Kings (Eastern Conference)-Lost Series 4-1
Round Stats 5GP 0-3-3 E 4PIM
Final Playoff Stats 8GP 1-3-4 -2 4PIM
Final Regular Season Stats 44GP 21-31-52 -11 10PIM
Peter and the Wheat Kings pulled off an upset in the first round when they swept the second seed Regina Pats. That upset set up a match-up with the Eastern Conference’s top seed the Edmonton Oil Kings. The Wheat Kings were held without a goal for the first seven periods of the series before Peter’s brother John scored the Wheat Kings first goal in the second period. Peter picked up an assist late in the third period to make it 4-2 (you don’t see Peter’s assist in the highlight) with the Wheat Kings allowing a late empty net goal to fall by a score of 5-2.
In game four the Wheat Kings picked up a win with Peter notching two assists. Peter’s first assist came when he passed as part of a brief two on two passing it to Tim McCauley who snapped a shot home to make it 2-1. Peter’s second assist came on Richard Nejezchleb’s empty net goal to make it 5-2 – the Wheat Kings only win of the series. Peter was held pointless in a 5-1 game five loss ending the Wheat Kings season.
As for next season Peter will count as one of the Wheat Kings three 20 year olds if he is returned to Brandon which I’m fairly certain will happen. He could play in the AHL if signed, but I don’t think that will happen before next season.
Oliver Bjorkstrand-Portland Winterhawks (Western Conference)-Won Series 4-1
Round Stats 5GP 5-6-11 +8 2PIM
Playoff Stats 9GP 9-10-19 +10 2PIM
The Winterhawks faced off against the Victoria Royals in the Western Conference semifinals and Oliver led the charge with three multi-point games. Starting off in game one, in the first Oliver stopped on a dime at the circle and passed to Chase De Leo who finished it to make it 1-0. In the second period, Oliver scored the first of his two goals. With the Hawks leading 3-1 Derrick Pouliot started the rush from behind the net and got the puck to Oliver who passed to Taylor Leier. Leier left the puck for Oliver who fired to make it 4-1. Later in the second with the Hawks on the power play, Oliver picked up the rebound of a Taylor Leier one timer. The Hawks won the game 8-2.
In game two Oliver matched his performance with another three point night. With the game tied at one Oliver sent a crossrink pass to Taylor Leier who dropped a pass to Anton Cederholm who fired a shot to make it 2-1. In the second, Oliver scored a goal a lot like his second goal the night before when he picked up the rebound of a Brenden Leipsec one timer. Oliver struck again early in the third period when he deflected a Chase De Leo shot to make it 5-3. Oliver was named first star in a 6-3 win.
When the series switched to Victoria Oliver was held pointless for the first time this playoffs in what was also the Hawks first loss of the playoffs. In game four, Oliver picked up an assist on Brenden Leipsec’s goal when he got a whack at the puck in a scrum before Leipsec finished to make it 2-1 in a 4-3 win. In the series clincher Oliver was the star – contributing to four of the Winterhawks five goals.
Late in the first with the Hawks on the power play, Oliver fired a shot in the slot with Brenden Leipsec picking up the rebound to make it 1-0. Midway through the second period Taylor Leier drove to the net after receiving the puck from Oliver – Oliver would get the loose puck and snap a shot to make it 3-0. In the third after some rough stuff (this was a chippy game) Oliver picked up an assist on Chase De Leo’s first of the game (unfortunately you cant see it in the highlights). Later in the third, with the Hawks on the power play, Oliver got the puck in the corner and sent a cross-rink pass to De Leo who scored to make it 5-1. Oliver was named second star in the win.
Up next for the Winterhawks is a matchup with the number one seed – the Kelowna Rockets. This sets up a series of the two best teams in the Western Conference. The Rockets and Hawks were the only two WHL teams to score more than 300 goals and six of the 12 Western Conference all stars come from these two team’s rosters.
There you have it folks – we can look forward to seeing a Jackets prospect in the OHL Finals and Josh will be back for the Memorial Cup in mid May.
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