The London Knights and the Sarnia Sting are about to meet for the second time in the 2017-18 OHL season.
A quick look at the Ontario Hockey League standings will show you that the Sting have had an excellent year. They have spent a great deal of the season at the top of the Canadian Hockey League rankings and if you were to take away the 18-game winning streak that the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds are on and the play of the Moose Jaw Warriors out west, they might still be there.
Sarnia is 24-7-2 on the year.
But, don’t spend too much time focused on what the overall records of the Sting and the Knights look like in the Western Conference.
The sports world is usually better based on the idea of, “What have you done for me lately?”
It’s how teams like the 2011-12 Los Angeles Kings can squeak into the playoffs and ride a hot streak all the way to the Stanley Cup.
What have you done for me lately can also favour Sarnia? The Knights and the Sting have played one game against each other this year. It happened in Sarnia on Wednesday, Nov. 22 and the Sting rode a Hugo Leufvenius hat trick to a 4-1 victory over the Knights.
The OHL standings will tell you that London and Sarnia are 16 points apart.
If you adjust that to more recent history, things change.
Over their past 20 games, London has a 14-5-1 record.
Over Sarnia, past 20 games, they are 12-6-2.
Knights assistant coach, Rick Steadman says there was almost a moment that you can trace London’s success to. You could say it happened after an overtime loss to Owen Sound that stretched the Knights’ record to 1-8-1.
“I think they came together as a group,” says Steadman. “They didn’t like how we looked at the start and they didn’t like how everybody was talking about us. They came into the dressing room, they really buckled down and they are now playing like a team and we are really proud of the way they have handled it.”
You can reach for all kinds of examples, but the best one might come from London’s most recent game against Erie on Tuesday. Down 2-0 in the second period and missing two of their top players, the Knights found a way to tie the game even after a third-period goals was disallowed and then won it in overtime on a backhand to backhand play between Sam Miletic and Evan Bouchard.
“We just constantly preach to them that this can be a crazy game,” admits Steadman. “You can never get down on yourself. We’ve seen games when you can be up by five and lose or be down by five and come back and win. Hockey tends to reward hard-working teams so if you go out and get pucks to the net or let the puck bounce off you, get into dirty areas, good things can happen.”
London can look back 11 games ago and still see that first loss to the Sting. Now they get a chance at some redemption.
“I think the guys are really excited (about this game). The last time we were there we weren’t happy with what happened,” Steadman says.
The best way to change that is to change the outcome in their latest meeting.
Bouchard to play at Top Prospects
Evan Bouchard missed the cut-off for the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. He was born 35 days late. That means he is eligible for the 2018 Draft in June in Dallas, Texas. Bouchard has been named to the Top Prospects game which will take place on Jan. 25 in Guelph. It brings together the top 40 draft eligible players from the Canadian Hockey League and pits them head to head on teams annually coached by Don Cherry and Bobby Orr. Bouchard has had a dynamite start to 2017-18. He was named defenceman of the month in November and is averaging better than a point per game for the Knights.
Mete to Team Canada
The Montreal Canadiens announced on Monday that they were loaning Victor Mete to Team Canada for their World Junior selection camp this week. The camp wraps up on Friday, Dec. 15 and most hockey experts expect Mete to not only make the roster but play on Canada’s top pairing with Jake Bean of the Calgary Hitmen. Bean is a Carolina Hurricanes’ prospect.
Mete is joined by former Knights’ teammates, Robert Thomas and Alex Formenton. All three sat out Team Canada’s first camp exhibition against a team of U Sports all-stars on Wednesday. Team Canada goalies, Carter Hart and Colton Point combined to shut out Canada 3-0.
Team Canada will play a pre-tournament game at Budweiser Gardens on Dec. 20 against the Czech Republic and open the tournament on Boxing Day at 4 p.m. against Finland.
What would be next for Mete?
That is the big question. If and when Mete makes Team Canada, his schedule will be set until Jan. 5. That’s when the gold and bronze medal games take place and Team Canada is expected to have a roster that will take them that far. At the end of the tournament, the Canadiens would have two choices for Mete. He would be able to return to Montreal to finish out the season in the National Hockey League or he could be assigned to the London Knights.
If we look back at recent history, in 2015 Jake Virtanen was loaned to Team Canada by the Vancouver Canucks for the World Junior and then returned to the NHL afterward.
In 2014, Curtis Lazar was loaned to Canada by the Ottawa Senators and captained a gold medal-winning team with a tremendous tournament. The New York Rangers loaned Anthony Duclair to that same team and he also had a fantastic performance. At the end of the celebration, Lazar returned to Ottawa and Duclair was sent to the Quebec Remparts of the QMJHL. Quebec hosted the MasterCard Memorial Cup tournament that year. It is anyone’s guess what Montreal might want to do with Mete this year.
Tickets available for Knights and Steelheads
There are still tickets available for the game between the London Knights and the Mississauga Steelheads on Saturday, Dec. 16 at 7:00
Call 519-681-0800 x 1, visit the Knights Armouries or go online to http://www.londonknights.com
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