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Whalers, Spirit gearing up for OHL playoffs

MiHockey Staff


By Matt Mackinder –

Both the Plymouth Whalers and Saginaw Spirit are in the Ontario Hockey League playoffs and both open the first round as the underdog.

The Whalers, in the playoffs for a 23rd straight season, will play the OHL regular-season champion Guelph Storm, while Saginaw goes head to head with the Erie Otters, potential 2015 top-overall NHL draft pick Connor McDavid and league scoring champion Connor Brown (128 points).

Guelph (52-12-2-2) earned the Hamilton Spectator Trophy for the fourth time since 1995 and winning the top spot has the odds in the team’s favor – the winner of the trophy has gone on to win the OHL championship 21 times and the Memorial Cup 11 times.

The Whalers (28-33-0-7), the eighth seed in the Western Conference, and Storm meet in the post-season for the ninth time since the Storm moved from Hamilton, Ont., to Guelph in 1991.

  • 2012 Western Conference quarterfinals – Plymouth won in six games
  • 2007 Western Conference quarterfinals – Plymouth swept Guelph in four straight on the way to its second OHL championship
  • 2006 Western Conference semifinals – Guelph defeated Plymouth in six
  • 2004 Western Conference semifinals – Guelph swept Plymouth in four straight
  • 2000 Western Conference quarterfinals – Plymouth downed Guelph in six games
  • 1998 OHL semifinals – Guelph dropped Plymouth in four straight
  • 1995 OHL finals – Plymouth (then Detroit Jr. Red Wings) won its first title in six games over Guelph
  • 1993 Emms Division quarterfinals – Plymouth (then Detroit Jr. Red Wings) won in six

Guelph veteran Scott Kosmachuk finished third in OHL scoring this season with 48 goals and 52 assists for 100 points.

Saginaw (33-30-4-1) enters the playoffs as the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference with the Otters (52-14-2-0) at No. 3.

Along with Brown’s league-best point totals, Dane Fox was second in the league with 107 points (including a staggering 64 goals), while the goaltending tandem of Oscar Dansk and Saginaw native Devin Williams took home the Dave Pinkney Trophy by allowing a league-low 170 goals this season.

McDavid was fourth in the league with 99 points and also made the Canadian World Junior team as a rare 16-year-old.

 

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GUELPH

Top scorer: Scott Kosmachuk – 48 goals, 100 points

Top goalie: Justin Nichols – 35-7-1-0 (OHL-best 35 wins), 2.85 GAA, .918 SV%, four shutouts

Last OHL title: 2004

NHL alumni: Todd Bertuzzi (Detroit), Ryan Callahan (Tampa Bay), Dustin Brown (Los Angeles), Craig Anderson (Ottawa), Drew Doughty (Los Angeles), Dan Girardi (NY Rangers), Dan Paille (Boston), Manny Malhotra (Carolina), Brian McGrattan (Calgary) and Matt D’Agostini (Buffalo)

Michigan connections: Forward Tyler Bertuzzi (Todd’s nephew) was drafted by Detroit in the 2013 NHL draft and forward Kerby Rychel played minor midget hockey for Belle Tire in 2009-10.

 

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ERIE

Top scorer: Connor Brown – 45 goals, 128 points and Dane Fox – 64 goals, 107 points

Top goalie: Oscar Dansk – 29-9-1-0, 2.39 GAA, .909 SV%, six shutouts (tied for league lead) and Devin Williams – 23-5-1-0, 2.57 GAA, .905 SV%, five shutouts

Last OHL title: 2002

NHL alumni: Brad Boyes (Florida), Ryan O’Reilly (Colorado), Carlo Colaiacovo (St. Louis, Detroit in 2013) and Michael Rupp (Minnesota)

Michigan connections: Williams is a Saginaw native and started the 2011-12 season with the NA3HL’s Metro Jets in Waterford, third-year veteran Nick Betz is from Mt. Clemens and steady defenseman Troy Donnay is a Fenton native.

 

OHL WESTERN CONFERENCE QUARTERFINALS

Guelph Storm (1) vs. Plymouth Whalers (8)

  • Friday, March 21 at Guelph, 7:30 p.m.
  • Saturday, March 22 at Guelph, 7 p.m.
  • TUESDAY, MARCH 25 AT PLYMOUTH, 7 p.m.
  • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26 AT PLYMOUTH, 7 p.m.
  • Friday, March 28 at Guelph, 7:30 p.m. *
  • SUNDAY, MARCH 30 AT PLYMOUTH, 4 p.m. *
  • Tuesday, April 1 at Guelph, 7 p.m. *

Erie Otters (3) vs. Saginaw Spirit (6)

  • Friday, March 21 at Erie, 7 p.m.
  • Saturday, March 22 at Erie, 7 p.m.
  • MONDAY, MARCH 24 AT SAGINAW, 7:11 p.m.
  • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26 AT SAGINAW, 7:11 p.m.
  • THURSDAY, MARCH 27 AT SAGINAW, 7:11 p.m. *
  • Sunday, March 30 at Erie, 6 p.m. *
  • Monday, March 31 at Erie, 7 p.m. *

* = if necessary

In other Western Conference quarterfinal series, No. 2 Sault Ste. Marie plays No. 7 Owen Sound and No. 4 London plays No. 5 Windsor.

Eastern Conference matchups have No. 1 Oshawa against No. 8 Mississauga, No. 2 North Bay facing No. 7 Niagara, No. 3 Kingston playing No. 6 Peterborough and No. 4 Barrie squaring off with No. 5 Sudbury.