Mitch Marner scoring at nearly the same rate Connor McDavid did in the OHL playoffs last season could be a prompt to cite a very recent precedent—at least for the anyone-but-London fan base.
Marner’s current team is rolling against McDavid’s old team in the OHL Western Conference final—the London Knights are ahead of the Erie Otters 2-0 with the next two games at home at Budweiser Gardens on Tuesday and Wednesday. The matchup between the league’s two best clubs has not been close at all. Erie tried countering the Christian Dvorak-Matt Tkachuk-Marner line with a behemoth line centred by Vancouver Canucks sixth-rounder Kyle Pettit, and it didn’t work.
| Name | Team | GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | PTS/G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mitchell Marner | LDN | 12 | 12 | 19 | 31 | 21 | 2.58 |
| Matthew Tkachuk | LDN | 12 | 14 | 14 | 28 | 18 | 2.33 |
| Kevin Labanc | BAR | 13 | 6 | 18 | 24 | 14 | 1.85 |
| Christian Dvorak | LDN | 12 | 8 | 14 | 22 | 19 | 1.83 |
| Dylan Strome | ER | 11 | 10 | 11 | 21 | 10 | 1.91 |
| Andrew Mangiapane | BAR | 13 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 15 | 1.54 |
| Alex DeBrincat | ER | 11 | 8 | 11 | 19 | 8 | 1.73 |
| Justin Scott | BAR | 13 | 15 | 3 | 18 | 13 | 1.38 |
| Mike Amadio | NB | 11 | 12 | 6 | 18 | -3 | 1.64 |
| Michael Dal Colle | KGN | 9 | 6 | 12 | 18 | 9 | 2.00 |
| Josh Ho-Sang | NIAG | 11 | 4 | 13 | 17 | 2 | 1.55 |
Marner scored in the first minute of Game 2 on Sunday and London built a four-goal lead for the second game in a row. Marner is up to 31 points in 12 playoff games, only one fewer than McDavid through the same number of games in the 2015 post-season.
And, of course, no Dale Hunter-coached Knights team has ever failed to seal the deal after going up 2-0.
The Erie Otters will again start the game by putting their Fellows-Pettit -Betz line up against the @GoLondonKnights Tkachuk- Marner-Dvorak.
— Mike Stubbs (@stubbs1290cjbk) April 24, 2016
Mitch Marner opens the scoring early. Knights up 3-0 at end of 1st over Otters. #BattleReady #Leafs #OHLPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/F6bzstLutz
— Toronto Marner Leafs (@MarnerLeafs) April 24, 2016
So were the Owen Sound Attack the wake up call for the London Knights? Unbeaten since and controlling Game 2. #OHLPlayoffs
— Manny Paiva (@paivatheway) April 25, 2016
Ironically, the Marner-McDavid point comparison might be a rallying point for those hoping London might not be invincible. After all, those McDavid Otters were stopped in the final by the Oshawa Generals last May.
Mitch Marner, Christian Dvork and Matt Tkachuk have combined for 81 points through 12 playoff games. (OHL Images)
That’s nice for narrative, but Dvorak, Tkachuk and Marner are as copacetic as any line the OHL has seen in many seasons. Playing the heavy game against a waterbug-type winger such as Marner also does not seem to work too well, since brawnier opponents can’t keep up with No. 93 when he skates his long program—those extended, creative shifts.
Warm up with a little 'sewer ball' with @Marner93 and @GoLondonKnights Pregame at 6:30 @CJBK pic.twitter.com/5KxcsMDKbB
— Jim Van Horne (@JCVH60) April 24, 2016
London scored five of its 13 goals in Erie by beating overage goalie Devin Williams glove side. Perhaps having the book on a frequently faced foe factored into the Knights winning handily.
The Knights still need two more wins against the Otters, and nothing is guaranteed. The same goes for the Niagara IceDogs, who also took a 2-0 series lead on the road, against the Barrie Colts in the Eastern Conference final.
But if things go as they are titling now, London will face an elite netminder in the final against Alex Nedeljkovic and the IceDogs. That might as well be the narrative for anyone who would prefer that another team reps the OHL at the MasterCard Memorial Cup in Red Deer come mid-May. Otherwise, London going deep in another playoffs, to non-Knights fans, seems about as exciting as elevator music.
Nedeljkovic also led Team USA to a bronze at this year’s world juniors. (Aaron Bell/OHL Images)
London’s 19-3 run, and counting, lacked any exciting buildup, like in the form of a big January trade. The Knights simply added grit at the deadline by dealing for defenceman Jacob Graves and winger Chad Heffernan.
Relentlessly good isn’t as entrancing as a team pushing all its chips into the middle.
Guess the big Erie/London final game of the regular season for home ice didn't end up mattering as much as we thought it would #OHL
— Oshawa Generals Live (@GeneralsUpdates) April 25, 2016
Ned, you so crafty
Nedeljkovic put his own twist on the concept of ‘an eye for an eye’ during Niagara’s 4-1 Game 2 win against Barrie. In the third period, the Carolina Hurricanes prospect broke the stick of OHL scoring leader Kevin Labanc. Suffice to say, Nedeljkovic had his reasons.
I didn't notice or see in the replays, apparently Labanc got hit stick into Ned's nether-region so he busted his stick. #makessense #OHL
— Craig Ripley (@Craig_Ripley) April 24, 2016
Of course, Barrie has been Ouchtown since the IceDogs scored three goals in 67 seconds to take the series opener last Thursday. Nedeljkovic has stopped 54-of-57 shots in the series and the IceDogs are holding up well defensively, even though St. Louis Blues prospect Vince Dunn has a leg ailment that likely will keep him out of the series.
Ice meets meta
Niagara radio commentator Ted Lehman had a perfect line to describe the effect of the IceDogs’ clinching goal last Saturday. When Brendan Perlini scored to give the visiting visitors a 4-1 mid-third period lead, the Barrie Molson Centre sellout crowd of 4,205 thinned out considerably.
“The crowd has gone Mississauga on us,” Lehman quipped in reference to the long-running stereotype about sparse support for the OHL in the Toronto area.
Officially, the Mississauga Steelheads averaged 3,025 fans, their best attendance figure since Elliott Kerr bought the team in 2012. There’s no excuse for that not to increase next season when Michael McLeod, Alexander Nylander and Owen Tippett, et al., will all be older and wiser.
Canadian NHL team prospect of the week
Mitch Marner, RW, London (Toronto, No. 4, 2015)
The Marnificient One had six more points over two games. Marner is too good for major junior, but the CHL-NHL agreement dictates that’s where he will be if he doesn’t make the Leafs to stay in 2016-17. He does still have the world junior championship to conquer, remember.
New name to know
Christopher Paquette, C, Niagara IceDogs
The sophomore centre suffered a broken orbital bone in Niagara’s first-round series, but has soldiered onto help the IceDogs go 10-1 in the playoffs. The 6-foot-2, 195-pounder has been using his big frame well while bolstering Niagara’s depth. The 18-year-old from Kingston, Ont., had a third-period primary assist in Game 2.