The OHL Finals moved to Peterborough for game 3 of the series on Monday. It was a wild, exciting, back and forth game that the Petes would take 6-5 in overtime.
Up 2-1, Jackson Edward had time but a weak attempt from the point got intercepted and the Petes sent the puck the other way for a breakaway goal. With the score tied at 4, Edward from the same spot sent a shot that got through and found the back of the net for his first goal of the playoffs and put London up 5-4. A simple looking 3 on 3 in the Knights end turned out to be not so simple. Edward’s gap was far to large and of course the puck found the Petes player walking down the slot. Edward dropped to one knee attempting to block it, took away the eyes of his goaltender and the shot found twine to tie the game. The Petes would win it 2:32 into overtime to take a 2-1 series lead.
On Wednesday, London dominated the shot counter 53-34 and still without number one goaltender Brett Brochu. At the other end, Michael Simpson stole the show. Once again, London got out to an early lead scoring before the first whistle but the Petes built a 4-1 lead in in the third period. The Knights mounted a comeback but fell short and the Petes scored an empty netter to take it 5-3 and take a commanding 3-1 series lead. Edward had zeroes right across the board.
Game 5 took place Friday in London with the Petes getting their first crack to win the J. Ross Robertson Cup and earn a birth in the Memorial Cup. But it was London who came out with a 4-1 victory in large part thanks to Edward. He was rock solid defensively all night and when trailing 1-0, he had the puck in the neutral zone. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Easton Cowan skating along the blueline and fed him a perfect pass. Cowan then crossed the line and ripped it home.
Guess who was pissed!
But Edward wasn’t finished there. With the score tied he made a great pinch under pressure at the blue line and fed Ryan Humphrey along the left boards. Humphrey walked of the boards and fired home the GWG. If Humphrey’s name sounds familiar to you, it is. He was at Bruins development camp last summer and they’ve been keeping an eye on him.
Game 6 went on Sunday and what a game it was. This was a goaltending battle between Michael Simpson, who won the Wayne Gretzky Trophy as MVP and Owen Willmore, London’s third goaltender who won game 5 for the Knights. But the Petes prevailed 2-1 and captured their 10th J Ross Robertson Cup and a birth in the Memorial Cup. That puts an end to Edward’s season in which he was a pleasant surprise. Edward was the last man standing among Bruins prospects in league play.
But there is still the IIHF Men’s Hockey Championships going on.
On Monday, day 4 of the IIHF Men’s World Hockey Championships, the United States defeat Germany 3-2. Kai Wissmann, the Bruins restricted free agent is manning the blueline for Germany. He had 17:07 TOI in this match with one shot on goal and finished a minus-1. The Germans dropped to 0-0-3-0 in the tournament (W-OW-L-OL).
Also on Monday, Latvia defeated Czechia 4-3 in overtime. Jakub Zboril had 14:43 TOI with no shots, a minus-2 and 2 PIM. Dans Locmelis did not play for the second game in a row. Latvia improves to 0-1-2-0 while Czechia drops to 2-0-0-1)
Skipping to day 6 on Wednesday, Latvia scored two goals just 39 seconds apart in the second period and were able to hold on for a 2-1 victory and improve their record to 1-1-2-0 for 5 points (IIHF uses a 3-2-1 points system) and fourth place in Group B. Locmelis did not dress for this game.
Onto day 7 of the World Championships and I’m asking myself what the Bruins intentions are with Wissmann, the restricted free agent blueliner who was scratched a lot in Providence. In today’s 6-4 victory over Denmark, Wissmann played well with 19:51 TOI – second most among defenceman and had 2 assists with two shots on goal. He now has a goal and 2 assists through 4 games for the Germans.
Czechia defeated Slovakia 6-2 in what has been Zboril’s best game so far with an assist in 15:17 TOI. Zboril now has a goal and an assist through 4 games with 7 shots on goal and averaging 13:12 TOI. In the third game of the day, Switzerland defeated Slovakia 4-2. Locmelis was once again scratched in this one.
On day 8 (Friday), Germany defeated Austria by a 4-2 score. Wissmann was pointless in this one with two sots and goal, a plus-1 and was closer to his 20 minutes per game at 19:27. Wissmann is averaging 19:22 TOI per game, second only to Seider among German blueliners.
In the other match on Friday, Latvia defeated Slovakia 3-2. Locmelis dressed in this game and saw just 7:35 TOI with none in the third period.
On day 9, Czechia defeated Norway 2-0 to improve to 4-0-0-1 and second place in Group B. Zboril did not hit the score sheet in this one but he was solid defensively while tacking up 17:35 TOI – second most among Czechian defencemen.
In the other game, Latvia defeated Kazakhstan 7-0 and improved to 1-0-2-2. Locmelis finished with 6:45 TOI, 2 shots, 3 for 7 in the faceoff circle and a plus-1 with no points.
Day 10 saw the Germans defeat Hungary 7-2 in a much-needed victory. Wissmann had a big game for the Germans with 3 assists and a plus-4 in 20:04 TOI. Germany improved to 3-3-0-0 and moved into 4th spot in Group A while Wissmann moved up to 1 goal and 5 assists (leads team) and 6 points (second on his team) with a plus-7 (leads team) while averaging 19:29 TOI (second on team).
Also on Sunday, Switzerland defeated Czechia 4-2 and dropping the Czechs to a 4-0-1-1 record and second place in Group B. Zboril had zeroes across the board in 18:18 TOI in this one. In the tournament to date, Zboril has a goal and an assist, is a plus-1 with 7 shots on goal while averaging 14:47 TOI.
If you missed my prospect rankings, you can find that here.
If you missed a little piece I wrote on a comparable for Frederic Brunet, you can find that here.
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Dom - Hockey 