do or die battle for ohl supremacy
May 12th, 2013
It all comes down to this.
The London Knights and the Barrie Colts are about twelve hours away from deciding who's going to the 2013 Memorial Cup and who's going home.
Game 7 of the OHL final is Monday night at the Budweiser Gardens.
If the Knights win, they go to their third Memorial Cup in franchise history, and second successive tournament after falling 2-1 in overtime to Shawinigan in last season's final.
That final is now history, and it's the 2013 tournament that has London buzzing. The Knight's are in the running to host the 2014 tournament, and once the post game festivites are concluded, the Ontario Hockey League will be on the clock to announce the host of next season's tournament.
Barrie and Windsor are the other two cities hopeful of landing Junior Hockey's biggest tournament. The OHL delayed the announcement of the winning bid, in the hopes of not distracting the two teams battling it out for the J. Ross Robertson Cup.
If the Knights' come out on top, London will become only the second city to house both the OHL and Sutherland Cup hockey titles at the same time. Toronto’s St. Michael’s Majors and Buzzers hold that honour, in 1935, and more recently in 1961.
The OHL Championship series, ably battled out between London’s Dale Hunter and Barrie’s Dale Hawerchuk, was supposed to be short and quick in the Knights’ favour.
The Colts had other ideas.
They stole game 1 in London on May 3, before the Knights' evened the series following a dominant Seth Griffith performance in game 2.
Games 3 and 4 will be remembered as the Mark Scheifele show, as the Colts forward notched 10 points (6G, 4A) putting his team one win away from their first title since the 1999/2000 season.
Game 5, the Knights' first taste of elimination since 2011, was a high intensity, high stakes battle, London running out 6-4 winners, before an overtime thriller in game 6.
Ryan Rupert forced this do or die game 7, after a third period collapse by the Knights, meaning the Budweiser Gardens will host just the fourth game 7 in arena history: the first one since 2010.
In the three other game 7's at the arena, the Knights' have a 1-2 record.
While the Knights' class of 2005 basks in the glory of their momumental 4-0 victory over Sidney Crosby and his Rimouski Oceanic in the 2005 Memorial Cup, arguably the greatest game in Knights' history, this game will be a lot bigger.
Seventh heaven.
----
OHL Championship Series
Game 7: London Knights vs Barrie Colts. Series Tied 3-3
Players to Watch:
> Bo Horvat, London: The Rodney, ON native is enjoying a great run in these playoffs, notching two game winners in the finals. He's been effectively closing down Mark Scheifele, and has been consistently good.
> Brett Welychka, London: The Londoner missed parts of the playoffs due to injury but came back strong in the finals. 5 of his 6 points these playoffs have come against Barrie, 4 of them being goals, and is on a three game goal streak.
> Mark Scheifele, Barrie: The Winnipeg Jets prospect missed most of the third period in game 6, but is a front runner to lift the MVP honours following the conclusion of the series. He's leading the OHL in playoff points, and has 41 in 21 games. With Anthony Camara suspended, Scheifele needs to deliver.
> Andreas Athanasiou, Barrie: Double A as he's called, the ex Knight has goals in every game this series, except for game 4, where he notched an assist. The speedy winger knows what its like to play in London, and could be counted on to step up in his teams biggest game of the season.
> Jake Patterson, London: The Knights' goalie hadn't played in 54 days following the end of the regular season, but found it in him to win back to back, must win games for London. He may have let in 10 goals in three outings, but the victory was what counted for the Knights. Patterson is getting his first taste of OHL playoff action, and could be the one the Knights turn to in game 7.
Back to Sports Stories
It all comes down to this.
The London Knights and the Barrie Colts are about twelve hours away from deciding who's going to the 2013 Memorial Cup and who's going home.
Game 7 of the OHL final is Monday night at the Budweiser Gardens.
If the Knights win, they go to their third Memorial Cup in franchise history, and second successive tournament after falling 2-1 in overtime to Shawinigan in last season's final.
That final is now history, and it's the 2013 tournament that has London buzzing. The Knight's are in the running to host the 2014 tournament, and once the post game festivites are concluded, the Ontario Hockey League will be on the clock to announce the host of next season's tournament.
Barrie and Windsor are the other two cities hopeful of landing Junior Hockey's biggest tournament. The OHL delayed the announcement of the winning bid, in the hopes of not distracting the two teams battling it out for the J. Ross Robertson Cup.
If the Knights' come out on top, London will become only the second city to house both the OHL and Sutherland Cup hockey titles at the same time. Toronto’s St. Michael’s Majors and Buzzers hold that honour, in 1935, and more recently in 1961.
The OHL Championship series, ably battled out between London’s Dale Hunter and Barrie’s Dale Hawerchuk, was supposed to be short and quick in the Knights’ favour.
The Colts had other ideas.
They stole game 1 in London on May 3, before the Knights' evened the series following a dominant Seth Griffith performance in game 2.
Games 3 and 4 will be remembered as the Mark Scheifele show, as the Colts forward notched 10 points (6G, 4A) putting his team one win away from their first title since the 1999/2000 season.
Game 5, the Knights' first taste of elimination since 2011, was a high intensity, high stakes battle, London running out 6-4 winners, before an overtime thriller in game 6.
Ryan Rupert forced this do or die game 7, after a third period collapse by the Knights, meaning the Budweiser Gardens will host just the fourth game 7 in arena history: the first one since 2010.
In the three other game 7's at the arena, the Knights' have a 1-2 record.
While the Knights' class of 2005 basks in the glory of their momumental 4-0 victory over Sidney Crosby and his Rimouski Oceanic in the 2005 Memorial Cup, arguably the greatest game in Knights' history, this game will be a lot bigger.
Seventh heaven.
----
OHL Championship Series
Game 7: London Knights vs Barrie Colts. Series Tied 3-3
Players to Watch:
> Bo Horvat, London: The Rodney, ON native is enjoying a great run in these playoffs, notching two game winners in the finals. He's been effectively closing down Mark Scheifele, and has been consistently good.
> Brett Welychka, London: The Londoner missed parts of the playoffs due to injury but came back strong in the finals. 5 of his 6 points these playoffs have come against Barrie, 4 of them being goals, and is on a three game goal streak.
> Mark Scheifele, Barrie: The Winnipeg Jets prospect missed most of the third period in game 6, but is a front runner to lift the MVP honours following the conclusion of the series. He's leading the OHL in playoff points, and has 41 in 21 games. With Anthony Camara suspended, Scheifele needs to deliver.
> Andreas Athanasiou, Barrie: Double A as he's called, the ex Knight has goals in every game this series, except for game 4, where he notched an assist. The speedy winger knows what its like to play in London, and could be counted on to step up in his teams biggest game of the season.
> Jake Patterson, London: The Knights' goalie hadn't played in 54 days following the end of the regular season, but found it in him to win back to back, must win games for London. He may have let in 10 goals in three outings, but the victory was what counted for the Knights. Patterson is getting his first taste of OHL playoff action, and could be the one the Knights turn to in game 7.
Back to Sports Stories