Year End Thoughts, OHL Cup, Playoffs, U15 Championships
It has been a while since I have sent anything out and plenty has happened. We completed the Alliance regular season, alliance playoffs have started, the OHL Cup has come and gone and we crowned an Alliance championship at the U15 level.
This won’t be a super long one but we are going to try and hit as many things as possible. There will be a longer post sent out closer to the OHL Draft as we get prepped for those couple days along with the final Alliance player rankings. For today, we will go bullet point to hit everything.
Glad to see that the regular season was able to be completed. Although there was that month and a bit shutdown, I think we can safely say that the season was a success.
Playoff teams were determined long ago, but since November I’ve been saying that it was key to get into the top two seeds.
That came to fruition as both Elgin-Middlesex and Huron-Perth pulled off the “upsets” in their quarter-final series.
Story of the first round was definitely goaltending. James Robinson, Colby Boothgo-House and Carter Froggett each shined for their teams in victory
While three teams saw great goaltending, the Jr. Knights decided they would just score a boatload of goals.
OHL Cup was a great experience and if anyone hasn’t made it down for the week before, I hightly recommend it. Fantastic hockey and good pace. Just arrive early for a parking spot
Sucked to see the two Alliance wild card squads play each other. Crazy odds that they got matched up but each other league avoided their loop.
Heatbreaking end for Brantford to get eliminated in overtime. 99ers definitely opened some eyes with their play though
Great tournament from London. Thought they had a legit shot at taking down the Sens. Jett Luchanko had a great tournament and may be back in top form.
Considering the group they were in, EMC had a great tournament. Put quite the scare in the Sens in their final game.
Waterloo also had a tough elimination especially since Quinte ended up in the semi-finals. Brady Martin impressed lots especially with all the 07 attention on select others
Despite Huron-Perth not winning a game, they ended up with 3 overtime games and both loses by one goal. Carter McCluskey had some great games and I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Luke Bogart. He was really good for the Lakers.
Some non Alliance thoughts, always good to see Team NOHA have success
Thunder Bay continues to be a thorn in the Alliance side, defeating Waterloo and tying HPL. Alliance hasn’t beaten the Kings since the 2018 OHL Cup
One thing I hated seeing was a goalie sit on the bench for all four games, even when the team was eliminated. Not a fan whatsoever
I think it’s time we bring back Team HEO to the OHL Cup. Bring an all-star team. They have great prospects everyone wants to see. Why would this be something people hate?
With the OHL Cup now completed, the Alliance semi-finals will get underway. Brantford vs Huron-Perth and London vs EMC
Lakers will rely on their goaltending and strong defense to slow down the 99ers offense. Brantford will need to see some secondary scoring aside from the Karmiris, Vanacker and Chariot line. Lots of eyes on Braydon McCallum and Tommy Karmiris
EMC is in tough against London as the Jr. Knights. Obviously the gameplan will be to slow down Luchanko and Roobroeck, but London has shown scoring depth across all three lines. Chiefs will need strong series from Ethan Facchina and Colin Langstaff
Do I like that it’s a best of 3 series? No, but I understand we have to get this thing wrapped up with tryouts happening in a few weeks.
Speaking of tryouts, got to check out a few games at the U15 Championship last weekend. Congrats to the Huron-Perth Lakers as they join host Elgin-Middlesex in the OHF Championships
Looking forward to some of the players coming to U16 next season. Parker Snelgrove, Carson Harmer and Brendan Gerber stood out in the games I saw.
Every with the season just completed, I’m already hearing of some potential player movement that should shift the balance of power in the Alliance
As we look at next season, almost all the Alliance centres have announced coaches for next season. Huron-Perth would be the outlier in this case.
That is all I have for now. Once again, I will be back in a couple weeks with a final player rankings and will be around both days for the OHL Priority Selection.
As always, if you have any comments or questions, hit me up on Twitter @Dave_Coulson.