After another big week of stars doing their thing. Click here for the full standings, but all you need to know about what happened in the “O” past week is here.
The boys are back in town
If the Oshawa Generals weren’t already turning heads with a good shot at top of the East again this year, Michael Dal Colle’s return to the lineup is sure to do it. After his release from the New York Islanders roster—with whom he very recently signed his entry-level contract—his first game back saw a game-tying goal and an assist against the Kitchener Rangers on Sunday afternoon. The only thing we’re waiting on is whether or not Josh Brown will return from the Florida Panthers.
Josh Ho-sang was also sent back by the Islanders, he’ll be making his return to Windsor and it’s expected Robby Fabbri will be headed to Guelph soon. He’s waiting on an upper body injury to heal.
Most newsworthy on the OHL front this past week was the return of Max Domi to the London Knights. I can’t say I’m surprised and, as I like to reiterate time and time again, another year of junior isn’t a bad thing. It goes without saying that Domi earning a spot in Arizona would have been a nice storyline (perhaps because the Coyotes are expected to have another dismal season), but the opportunity to dominate in the OHL will only help for his development. It’s bound to happen, too.
London is off to a 1-3 start, and Domi picked up two points this weekend. Of course, pending the potential return of currently injured Bo Horvat from the Vancouver Canucks and (possibly) Nikita Zadorov from the Buffalo Sabres, Domi could be finishing his career somewhere else come trade deadline time (or earlier). The Knights need to recoup some picks, and any of the big stars could move.
Lastly in huge OHL returns, Saginaw goaltender Jake Paterson was sent down by the Detroit Red Wings. Taking a look at Detroit’s current goalie situation: behind the Jimmy Howard-Jonas Gustavsson duo are Petr Mrazek and Thomas McCollum in Grand Rapids, and Jared Coreau in the ECHL. There isn’t really any space for Paterson as of yet, but he’ll have a busy year as an overage netminder. In fact, it’s already begun. He made 39 saves on 40 shots in his first game back to lead Saginaw over Windsor 4-1.
Wells dominates in Petes debut
Rookie Dylan Wells made a stellar first impression with the Peterborough Petes by stopping 37 of 40 shots in his OHL debut last Thursday. That helped his team to a 7-3 victory over the Belleville Bulls. Wells was the first goaltender chosen in the 2014 draft, joining what is shaping up to be a good contending team in the East.
We know Nick Ritchie is back in town, which means the Ritchie-Garlent-Cornel trio that I’m so fond of is back in full in force. If you remember last season, those three were on fire following Hunter Garlent’s trade to Peterborough from Guelph in exchange for Stephen Pierog, a Guelph native himself.
Chychrun’s on the board
Sarnia’s Jakob Chychrun scored goals No. 1 and 2 Sunday afternoon—both nearly identical one timers. Poised up against on-the-rise Sean Day, last year’s exceptional status grantee, Chychrun grabbed his fourth and fifth points. He’s expected to have a good rookie season and play a big role in Sarnia’s rebuild after last season’s weak finish. Anthony DeAngelo will be strong this season as well, but with Nikolay Goldobin heading back to Europe, Sarnia will be in tough.
Goldobin says he's headed to Europe for the season, still TBD where. Won't be on #SJSharks and won't return to junior
— Kevin Kurz (@KKurzCSN) October 6, 2014
Chychrun is one of 24 OHL players invited to three Canadian rosters for the World U-17 Championships in Sarnia.
Also making headlines
In keeping with firsts, Kitchener Rangers rookie Adam Mascherin scored his first two goals on Sunday as well.
The Belleville Bulls have impressed 4-1 start to the season, and Dallas Stars prospect Remi Elie grabbed two goals against Kingston, bringing him up to seven points in total. Positive vibes in Belleville.
NHL Draft Tracker
Connor McDavid, C, Erie Otters Ho hum, another four-point game. Wait… what is he wearing?!
Your Don Cherry look-a-like for the night is your captain, @cmcdavid97!!! pic.twitter.com/YuLffpa04C
— Erie Otters (@ErieOtters) October 5, 2014
Matt Spencer, D, Peterborough Petes Only has two points so far, but with the Petes projected to be good, chances are we’ll see a lot out of him this year.
Travis Konecny, RW, Ottawa 67’s Had a goal and an assist over the weekend. Ottawa has started the season 0-4 and has been outscored by a staggering 19-5 in the past three games. It’s looking like Konecny might be on his own for the most part. He doesn’t appear to have much help out there, but he’s done it before.
Three Stars of the Week
Joseph Blandisi, C, Barrie Colts We know he is going to put up incredible points in his overage season, but nine points in three games over the weekend deserves recognition once again. He was named Pioneer Energy OHL Player of the Week and currently leads the league in points with 14 (seven goals, seven assists).
Ken Appleby, G, Oshawa Generals Helped guide the Generals to two big wins over the weekend, including a shutout against Ottawa. The league’s current top goalie (followed very closely by Belleville’s Charlie Graham) now has four wins. Basically, he’s doing a great job picking up where Daniel Altshuller left off.
Pius Suter, C, Guelph Storm The Storm appear to be getting back on track, or back to the team they’re expected to be (guys returning from NHL camps helps, too). The 18-year-old from Wallisellen, Switzerland put up a whopping five points in two games. Suter went undrafted this past summer, and while although he may have been on the radar, it’s easy to be overshadowed when a team has as much depth as Guelph did last year. He has the opportunity to step up and make a larger impact this season.