Knights vs Storm – 7:00 p.m. – Budweiser Gardens, London, Ont.
Broadcast: 6:30 p.m. – AM980, http://player.am980.ca and Radioplayer App
Where the teams sit
Nowhere near their classic matchups from 2003 to 2005. Back then these two teams made 0-0 ties thrilling. (See December 10, 2004)
The Storm were officially eliminated from playoff contention last Friday when they were beaten 6-0 by the Soo Greyhounds. When the year began, the hope was that the Storm would find their way into a spot to give their young core some post-season experience. Instead, they will wind up with a shot at more top-end talent. Guelph should select second overall in the 2017 OHL Priority Selection on Saturday, April 8. Last season the Storm struck gold, selecting Ryan Merkley first overall. At 16 and in his rookie year, he is already in the conversation about best defenceman in the league.
The London Knights officially clinched a playoff spot in late February. That was not a concern of theirs this season. Things aren’t exactly stress-free at the moment, though. The Knights have been in a five-team battle for the top five spots in the Western Conference and first place overall.
With the play of Owen Sound and a Windsor win over the Knights, things have become quite tight heading into the second-to-last weekend of the schedule. London is four points back of the Errie Otters for first place with a game in hand. Sault Ste. Marie’s win over Sarnia on Wednesday means that the Spitfires will have to be seven points better than the ‘Hounds over their final six games. That’s hard. Expect the Greyhounds to grab the West Division crown and the second seed. That leaves London at 89 points, Owen Sound at 88 and Windsor at 86.
One of those teams will not even have home ice advantage in the first round, so the pressure is on to win and win often before the regular season ends next Sunday.
The season series so far
The Knights have been able to win every time they have played Guelph this year. They are 4-0 and have outscored the Storm 21-5 in those games. The teams will play tonight and then finish their season series on Sunday afternoon in Guelph.
As much as their head-to-head work has seemed lopsided, the Storm are well-prepared thanks to the work of their coach, Jarrod Skalde and they are very skilled.
Owen Sound might have expected light work last Saturday, but needed overtime to win. Guelph’s last victory was on February 24, but it came against the Erie Otters.
London’s biggest challenge could be their focus on tonight’s game. Erie comes to Budweiser Gardens on Friday and the Knights will be doing their best not to look ahead.
The matchup
After an incredible comeback from a deficit of 4-0 on Friday, London ran into a wall in Windsor on Saturday and lost 4-1. That tightened the standings around them even more.
The Knights have seven games left. Three are at home and four are on the road. They will play Sault Ste. Marie once, Erie twice, Flint twice and Guelph twice.
Victor Mete has been great since returning from injury. He has nine points in seven games and continues to block passes and shots as easily as he breathes air.
Mitchell Stephens has averaged a point per game since coming to the Knights from Saginaw at the trade deadline.
Cliff Pu is a point away from 80. He leads London in scoring. With seven games left, it is likely that the Knights will not have a 100-point scorer for the first time since 2013-14.
At 16 years old, Ryan Merkley is turning himself into the rudder of the Storm ship. When he is on the ice, he is constantly making things happen. He will take risks and try to force passes at times, but most times those passes get through. He is an incredibly special player that teams are already game-planning for. If he is still on OHL ice at 18, he will be a nightmare for opponents.
Guelph has skilled size thanks to Isaac Ratcliffe and Givani Smith. Ratcliffe is from London and is in his draft year and he has 23 goals and 45 points, but has been held to just one assist in his last seven games.
Anthony Popovich has been seeing a great deal of time in goal in his rookie season and has been lights out at times. Former London Knight, Liam Herbst is the Storm’s other goalie.
One more story
The Knights have 89 points with seven games remaining. That means 100 points is within reach, but it would take winning at least five of those games and finding a way to get a point in another.
Since the 2003-04 season, London has hit the century mark nine times (out of 13).
No other OHL team can boast numbers like that. Guelph has won two league championships in that span and they have scored 100-point seasons twice. Windsor won back-to-back Memorial Cups and they have hit 100 points two times as well. The Kitchener Rangers have done it just once.
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