By Aaron Bell
The Windsor Spitfires and Brampton Battalion are the final two teams standing in the Ontario Hockey League playoffs and will hook up in the Rogers OHL Championship Series starting Wednesday in Windsor.
The Spitfires finished the season in first place in the OHL standings and put together their best regular season in franchise history. After knocking off the Owen Sound Attack, Plymouth Whalers and London Knights in the first three rounds of the OHL playoffs, the Spitfires are hoping to get past the Battalion to claim the J. Ross Robertson Cup as OHL champions for the first time in 21 years.
“We found a way to win even when we weren’t that good and that was the key,” said Spitfires’ coach Bob Boughner about their five game series against London in which every game went to overtime. “We talked about (winning the Western Conference) for a few minutes but then we talked about the other trophy we want to see there.”
Taylor Hall is in just his second season in the OHL but was dominant force against London and Boughner said that he is a key to their success. Hall had seven points against the Knights.
“I’ve been on Taylor to let him know that the best players have to play in the big games and have to really make a big difference,” Boughner said after the series win against London. “I thought Taylor Hall made a huge difference tonight.”
Windsor native Eric Wellwood scored a pair of overtime winners against London, including the winning goal in the series clincher on Thursday.
“All through my life, Windsor fans have been a great part of the team regardless if they were the worst team or the best team like we are,” said Wellwood, whose older brother Kyle also played for the Spitfires. “I think it means a lot to all the fans. To score as a hometown hero was definitely good.”
The Battalion have reached the OHL Championship Series for the first time since joining the OHL 11 years ago.
“I think you get a real appreciation for just how hard it is to get here,” said Battalion GM and head coach Stan Butler, who has held that title since the team came into the OHL in 1998. “We’ve had to win three series against three pretty good hockey teams. It’s tough sledding. I think a lot of times people just think it’s easier than it is and it should just happen all the time. If winning was easy then everybody would be winning.”
Spitfires’ defenceman Ryan Ellis and Battalion captain Cody Hodgson were teammates at the World Junior Hockey Championships in Ottawa at Christmas and helped Canada win its fifth straight gold medal. Last week, Ellis was named the OHL’s defenceman of the year and both players are in the running for the Red Tilson Award as the OHL’s top player, which will be announced on Tuesday.
Matt Duchene was outstanding against the Belleville Bulls in the Rogers Eastern Conference Championships and said that his team will have to be even better against a Windsor club that was ranked first in the CHL rankings most of the season.
“I think we just have to keep getting better and better every game,” said Duchene, a top prospect for the NHL Entry Draft this summer. “Heighten everything – forecheck, backcheck – not making mistakes. I think we’ll be fine. They’re a very good team and we’re really looking forward to getting started against Windsor.”
Rogers OHL Championship Series – Windsor Spitfires vs. Brampton Battalion
Head to Head: The Spitfires won both head-to-head games in the regular season. They skated to a 5-3 win on home ice on October 9 and the doubled the Battalion 6-3 in Brampton on January 4. The Spitfires finished the regular season in first place overall with a 57-10-0-1 record for 115 points while the Battalion were second in the Eastern Conference with a 47-19-1-1 record for 96 points.
How They Got Here: The Spitfires opened the OHL playoffs with a first round sweep over the Owen Sound Attack and then beat the Plymouth Whalers in six games in the second round. They won the Wayne Gretzky Trophy as Western Conference champions in five games over the London Knights. The Battalion swept the Peterborough Petes in the first round and beat the Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors in six games in the second round. They won the Bobby Orr Trophy as Eastern Conference champions for the first time in team history with a six-game win over the Belleville Bulls.
Top Scorers: The Spitfires are led up front by sophomore Taylor Hall (11-16-27), veteran Dale Mitchell (12-14-26) and Andrei Loktionov (6-18-24) while defenceman Ryan Ellis (8-19-27) has also been racking up points in the post-season. Brampton captain Cody Hodgson (9-18-27) is in a three-way tie with Hall and Ellis for the playoff scoring lead while Evgeny Grachev (11-13-24) has continued on from an outstanding regular season and Matt Duchene (13-10-23) stepped up with his best performances in the conference finals.
In the Nets: Andrew Engelage (10-2, 3.18 GAA, .897 Sv.%) has seen most of the duty for the Spitfires and has been at his best with the game on the line. He backed the Spitfires to four overtime wins against the Knights. Thomas McCollum (12-4, 2.62 GAA, .899 Sv. %) was brought to Brampton in January to provide championship-calibre goaltending and he has fit the bill admirably.
Special Teams: The Spitfires are third in the OHL playoffs scoring on 26.2% of their powerplay chances and are eighth with a 78.2% penalty killing rate. The Battalion are ninth on the powerplay at 19.5% and fourth in penalty killing at 83.1%.
Outlook: The Spitfires are looking to finish off an outstanding season with their second OHL championship and first in 21 years while the Battalion have reached the OHL finals for the first time in their 11-year history and are anxious to help Hodgson and McCollum cap their fine junior careers with an OHL championship. The winner of the series will represent the OHL at the 2009 MasterCard Memorial Cup in Rimouski, Quebec starting on May 16 against the champions from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
Schedule:
Game 1 – Wednesday April 29, 7:05 at WindsorAdvertisement
Game 3 – Monday May 4, 7:05 at Windsor
Game 4 – Wednesday May 6, 7:00 at Brampton
Game 5 – Friday May 8, 7:05 at Windsor *
Game 6 – Saturday May 9, 7:30 at Brampton *
Game 7 – Monday May 11, 7:05 at Windsor *
* Games are if necessary
All games will be broadcast live on Rogers TV and TV Cogeco.
