The Peterborough Petes will not be the next Belleville, which seems like the biggest win a small-market OHL city has had since the Owen Sound Attack won the league championship six years ago.
The long-term outlook for major junior hockey under its present financial model is, to say the least, cloudy, thanks to litigation, spiralling costs and ever-increasing competition for the entertainment dollar. So it was a net positive last week that the Petes were able to negotiate a more favourable arena lease in Peterborough that will help keep costs in check well into the next day.
All told, the financial relief the Petes negotiated will get the OHL’s oldest continuously operating franchise an estimated extra $343,500 annually, while the team will also get breaks on costs and upgrades to the creature comforts at the Peterborough Memorial Centre. The total estimated cost to taxpayers of $2.4 million shouldn’t be glossed over, although it’s relatively small compared to what other Ontario cities have taken on when they built new arenas.
By no means should this be looked at as a cure-all, but it’s an immediate boon to the Petes and ought to foster more positive energy around a team that is on track for its highest finish in the Eastern Conference since its last championship season in 2006.
The Petes are exactly level with the archrival Oshawa Generals for first in the East, as both have a .651 win percentage with 15 games left in the regular season, including two head-to-head matchups. The stakes in that race are amplified since the victor is guaranteed not to see Mike McLeod, Owen Tippett and the Mississauga Steelheads (13-2-2-3 since Christmas) until the third round of the playoffs.
A little hope is a good thing and all news is local, so in this context it means little that the Eastern Conference is watered-down. Or that, at least according to OHL Twitter, the Petes might be a little too dependent on goaltending and the power play – Edmonton Oilers draftee Dylan Wells sees an average of 36.8 shots per game and the PP, at 20.6 per cent, is the most efficient of any Eastern team – for the long haul. Between Wells as a last line of defence and Toronto Maple Leafs draftee Nikita Korostelev as their creative attacker, Peterborough has two big x-factors at each end of the rink.
Playing till May, even just once – see the 2011 Attack or 2014 North Bay Battalion – can do at lot for confirming the team’s viability. In the short run, having Peterborough gain some security is a win-win for the sport.
Shawinigan statement
The second week of February is too early for the phrase President’s Cup preview, but last weekend could go a long way towards how ready the Shawinigan Cataractes will be for the QMJHL playoffs.
With 18-year-old goalie Mikhail Denisov – the Muscovite by way of the Boston Jr. Bruins – posting back-to-back road shutouts, the Cataractes blanked both the regressing Saint John Sea Dogs and the Nico Hischier-led Halifax Mooseheads. Saint John was without its catalyst, superstar defenceman Thomas Chabot (suspension), but it was an impressive performance by the Cataractes, nonetheless.
Winning low-scoring games on the road is a good post-season primer and star defenceman Samuel Girard (Nashville) was up to the task. As so often seemingly happens, Shawinigan met coach Claude Bouchard’s goal of taking 4-of-6 possible points from a three-game swing down east, but just not in the expected order. The trip started with an 8-2 wipeout at Acadie-Bathurst that Bouchard called the team’s worst game of the season.
Shawinigan and Saint John, which has a game in hand, are dead even for first overall with five weeks left. The Charlottetown Islanders are just one point off the pace.
Eagles’ yearlings step up
An underrated part of scoreboard-watching on Sundays – a busy day in the OHL and QMJHL – is seeing younger teams pull off against-almost-all-odds wins.
The Cape Breton Screaming Eagles had to use an all-rookie defence corps but won 4-2 at Victoriaville on Sunday. Seventeen-year-olds Leon Gawanke, Alexis Sanfaçon and Sacha Roy, 16-year-old Adam McCormick and call-up Ryan MacLellan limited the host Tigres to 18 shots. The callow convocation, combined, came into the game with 153 games’ experience in the Q.
The Eagles were short-staffed since Marcus Tesink (upper-body injury) was dressed but unable to play. Overager Olivier LeBlanc (Columbus) hasn’t played since being injured on Feb. 3.
Canadian NHL team prospect of the week: Filip Chlapik, C, Charlottetown Islanders (QMHL)
Pretty easy call. Chlapik is on a six-game multi-point streak for the contending Islanders. The Ottawa Senators signing has notched at least two points in 11 of 16 games since returning from playing for Team Czech Republic in the WJC.
Chlapik leads the Quebec League with a 1.86 points per game scoring average, having 77 in 42 starts. As for the actual scoring title, his 13-point gap behind Rimouski’s Tyler Boland suddenly doesn’t seem that insurmountable, even with just 15 games to go.
New name to know: Giovanni Vallati, D, Kitchener Rangers (OHL)
Vallati had as many A’s on the game sheet as he does in his full name. Vallati, who was the Rangers’ first-rounder (No. 16 overall) in last spring’s priority selection, had his first three-assist OHL game during a Kitchener win against the Sarnia Sting on Sunday.
The smooth-skating defenceman came into the league with pedigree for a high hockey IQ. While usage probably plays a sizable role in this, that has been borne out by the fact that Vallati leads the Rangers defencemen in plus-minus, while also being second among the group in scoring with four goals and 19 points across 48 games.
