One need not be a neurosurgeon to know a brain injury can have more lifelong effects than getting kneed in a sensitive area.
Make no mistake, comparing what are likely the two most watched plays from the first two games of the WHL final is like comparing apples to grapes. In Game 1, Seattle defenceman Turner Ottenbreit put Regina’s Adam Brooks (TOR) out of the game with a check that did not seem malicious but did involve contact to the head on an opponent who had just passed the puck. The tumult of overtime in Game 2 got to Thunderbirds right wing Keegan Kolesar (CLB), who kneed Pats captain Connor Hobbs (WSH) near the groin area during some after-the-whistle extra-curricular activities. Regina scored the game-winner while Kolesar was in the penalty box, meaning the teams are squared 1-1 as they venture to Kent, Wash., for Games 3, 4 and 5 on the Thunderbirds’ home ice.
The rub is that Ottenbreit’s check, which wasn’t penalized and can be called legal, might be the type of play that has more serious repercussions from a player safety standpoint. Contact to the head is contact to the head, regardless of whether the action can be classified as a “hockey play.” At the same time, it is easy to conclude a check was unacceptable after repeatedly pausing and un-pausing the clip like it was the Zapruder film. Brooks also appeared to have his head down — which used to be considered a cardinal sin — as he carried the puck across the offensive blue line.
Point being, there is still some great reluctance, at least in the mainstream, to talk about what degree such high-speed collisions should be acceptable in junior. A NHL player in his mid-20s has a few more years of physical development to help with taking a shot, not to mention a seven-figure annual income for his trouble. Yet one would hate to see something instinctive and intuitive taken away from the defenceman.
There is no grey area with Kolesar’s knee; it’s easy to call out striking below the belt, especially when the game was in overtime. The other play is much more of a spur to thought, though.
Omen for Otters?
Since the Mississauga Steelheads have a shorter bench than the Erie Otters, the tight turnaround for Game 3 of the OHL final on Monday is more pertinent to their situation than any small sample sizes.
However, for anyone wondering after Erie’s 2-1 and 3-2 wins at home, the last two teams who went up 2-0 in the OHL final due to successive one-goal wins each went on to sweep the championship series. Both the 2006 Peterborough Petes (against the London Knights) and 2010 Windsor Spitfires of Ryan Ellis/Taylor Hall fame (against the Barrie Colts) prevailed in tight early contests, then went on to capture the J. Ross Robertson Cup in more convincing fashion.
Erie led Game 2 for all of one minute 57 seconds, after Warren Foegele (CAR) cashed in after being sprung by a backhand breakaway pass from Anthony Cirelli (TBL). It was classic case of a team making its luck — Foegele leaked out of the defensive zone early in a late-and-tied scenario and was rewarded for the risk.
The Steelheads and leader Mike McLeod (NJD) have been as competitive as most informed OHL observers expected them to be against Erie. Game 3 is a must-win for the Steelheads.
Gauthier in beast mode
The QMJHL final is also the litmus test for the two blockbuster trades in January that involved NHL first-round picks who were also part of Team Canada at the world junior championship. Through two games, Julien Gauthier (CAR) has contributed four goals and six points toward the Saint John Sea Dogs taking a 2-0 lead. Pierre-Luc Dubois (CLB) has zero points (and only four shots) for Blainville-Boisbriand Armada.
It was the first time Gauthier had back-to-back multi-goal games since his draft season in 2015-16 with the Val-d’Or Foreurs. That is not a surprise, since a prospect’s priorities — fine-tuning defensive zone work, playing without the puck — get more complex after being drafted (Gauthier did triple his assist total over last season while playing in 11 fewer regular-season games).
Gauthier’s Game 2 ended abruptly with a checking to the head major and game misconduct after nailing the Armada’s Joël Teasdale, but the Quebec league did not make any sanction.
Spirit add Jenkins
Notwithstanding arrivals to come via the import draft, Blade Jenkins will be the 17-year-old newcomer to watch in the OHL in September.
The Saginaw Spirit were rewarded for playing a long game when Jenkins, a playmaking centre who was the No. 4 overall choice in the 2016 priority selection, de-committed from the University of Michigan to move farther north in his home state by signing with Saginaw. Saginaw’s more recent No. 4 overall pick, forward Nick Porco, has also signed on. Essentially, Spirit GM Dave Drinkill and coach Spencer Carbery will have two first-round choices arriving simultaneously except Jenkins, as the 17-year-old, will be that much older and wiser. That is a slight improvement over having a pair of 16-year-olds.
There probably hasn’t been this much excitement about two forwards in Saginaw since Brandon Saad came onboard alongside Vincent Trocheck in 2010-11. The most team success that came out of that was a second-round trip a season later.
‘Hounds mourn owner
The title of owner fell short of describing the nature of Dr. Lou Lukenda, the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds majority owner and president who died last Thursday at age 88.
Benefactor might have been more fitting. Lukenda’s stewardship of the Greyhounds seemed to link directly to his being a Sault Ste. Marie native, who arrived in the 1930s as the son of Croatian immigrants. As he put in a 2012 interview, Lukenda looked at business and philanthropy came down to “getting embedded in the community from the standpoint of ‘why would anybody want to be anywhere else?’”
While there is no one definitive right reason to own a major junior hockey team, that was a pretty good one. A junior team should belong to a city in a more profound way than it belongs to the ownership, especially one in a centre the size (75,000) of Sault Ste. Marie. Lukenda, who owned the ‘Hounds for 16 years, deserves credit for ensuring the ‘Hounds have remained a fixture in northern Ontario.
Canadian NHL team prospect of the week: Filip Ahl, LW, Regina Pats (WHL)
Hours after his NHL organization, the Ottawa Senators, pulled off a come-from-behind overtime win in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Ahl (No. 109 overall in 2016) was integral during Regina’s OT win against Seattle.
In the third period, Ahl scored the game-tying goal unassisted, pouncing after Seattle’s Aaron Hyman flubbed a clearing attempt to steal the puck and whip it into the net. The six-foot-four, 225-pound Swede had the first assist on Josh Mahura’s overtime winner by virtue of jimmying the puck free from a corner scrum, where it slid out to Mahura at the point.
All told, Ahl has 16 points (5G-11A) in as many playoff games for Regina, which actually tops his per-game production from the regular season.
[relatedlinks]
