If the Majors take away from the OHF Central Canadians is that it was a vital and informative learning experience and that with several players eligible to return next year who have been exposed to such high-level competition, they have taken a big step to return there next year. I'm sure everyone around the team expected a little better overall result, but such is the OHFs. A championship season in the Great North got them to the Central's and it's one heck of an accomplishment. I've mentioned before that the tournament-style format of an OHF can lead to teams getting on a run or teams not finding their footing to get their game in high gear.
The Majors had a stellar year. Never forget that.
After going undefeated in the round-robin and semi-final, Waterloo ran into a red-hot Markham club who dropped the Waterloo side 6-5 in a highly entertaining gold medal game.
In a somewhat mild upset, Ottawa beat Vaughn to claim the bronze.
I managed to watch all of the Majors games as they were livestreamed. I pretty much saw all of the teams play and it was a gas to be able to kick back on the sofa and watch some very good hockey.
Last weekend's OHL Priority Draft saw a number of Northern players selected. The Soo area led the way. I've listed who was selected and in what round as well as their listed hometown. Some of the names may be unfamiliar to local hockey fans as a number of players did not compete for their hometown clubs.
Here we go.
In the first round Luca Bionda of the Soo who played in Pittsburgh was the first Northern Ontario player selected. He played with the Penguins Elite 15's
Here are the balance of selections by round with hometown and past season's team
- 1st Evan Headrick, Garden River, Oakville U16
- 3rd Nik Rossetto, Soo, Pittsburgh Pens Elite 15's
- 4th Cole Wreggitt , Soo, Soo Jr Greyhounds U18
- 5th Logan Rivard, New Liskeard, New Liskeard Cubs
- 7th Dawson Morris, Sudbury, Sudbury Wolves U16
- 7th James Elliott, Soo, Barrie Jr Colts U16
- 8th Brady Real, Soo, Soo Jr. Greyhounds U18
- 9th Mason Walker, Sudbury, Sudbury Wolves U16
- 11th Aiden Atkinson, Soo, Halton U16
- 11th Carter Kucher, Soo, Toronto Titans U16
- 11th Kaden Wicklander, Sudbury, Sudbury Wolves U16
- 13th Samuel Rivet, North Bay, Halton U16
- 13th Cameron Ingram, Echo Bay, Toronto Junior Canadiens U16
- 13th Jameson Fabbro, Sudbury, Sudbury Wolves U16
- 13th Liam Watson, Soo, Soo Jr. Greyhounds U18
- 14th Ashston Pitawanakwat, Garson, Sudbury Wolves U16
- 14th Aydin Beharie, North Bay, North Bay Trappers U18
- 15th Edan Etheridge, Timmins, Majors U18
- 15th Danny MacDonald, Soo, Soo Jr. Greyhounds U18
- 15th Cameron Lockhart, North Bay, North Bay Trappers U18
Congrats to all!
So our girl's teams attended the Ontario women's championships this past weekend. All accorded themselves quite well and were in the hunt for medals all weekend.
The U18A team beat the second-ranked team and were third overall going into the quarterfinals. In the quarters they would fall just short of getting to the medal round.
The U18C club made it to the bronze medal game, where they dropped a nail-biting 2-0 game to Tillsonburg.
In case you missed it, here is a sample of the recent National Hockey League Players' Association poll conducted with the league's players.
"If you needed to win one game, what forward would you pick?"
McDavid 48 per cent, Crosby 11.5 per cent, MacKinnon 6.5 per cent, Kucherov 5 per cent, Panarin 2.5 per cent
"If you needed to win one game which defenceman would you pick?"
Makar 56 per cent, Hedman 10.5 per cent, Josi 4.5 per cent, Quinn Hughes 4 per cent, Fox 2.5 per cent
"Who is the league's most complete player ?"
Crosby 38 per cent, Barkov 14.5 per cent, Kopitar 8 per cent, McDavid 7.5 per cent, MacKinnon 6.5 per cent
"Needed to win one face off ?"
Ryan O'Reilly 14.5 per cent, Crosby 13.5 per cent
I love player polls because they are based on experience and have no bias. As an example, Brad Marchand was voted as the player you least like playing against but would like to have him on your team.
A lot of sports writers will cringe at this notion, but it is something I strongly feel — Would NHL awards not be far more accurate if they were based on current player voting?
At worst, they should have player input into awards. To me, who knows better?
Just another thought from a mind that never seems to rest.
Last week I encouraged you to get out to see the U13AA championships being hosted by Timmins on the weekend. Seems the unrested mind was a week early. The playdowns are this weekend !
This is pure poetry. A packed house in overtime at the Women's Worlds chanting, "USA, USA , USA.," while Canada pots the winner mid-chant!
Later skater.
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