I was going to have a little bit of a different subject heading my blog this week but it looks like Dale Hunter has stolen the show once again.
From 1st to 18th
Dale Hunter has stepped down from behind the London Knights bench as head coach to pursue a head coaching position with the NHL's Washington Capitals. The Knights currently ranked #1 in the BMO CHL Top 10 and are currently 1st in the OHL have started the year with a 20-5-0-1 record with Dale behind the bench. Mean while Hunter is stepping into a challenge as Bruce Boudreau county get his star studded NHL Washington Capitals to preform up to snuff. We all know that it has been rumoured for years that Dale Hunter would be the "next" head coach of the Washington Capitals, I guess today is finally that day. If Dale can get the same results out of his players and transfer his success from the OHL to the NHL the Washington Capitals may be a force to recon with for years to come. As a head coach of the London Knights over the past 11 season Dale has amassed a very successful and impressive record (451-189-23-24) with a winning percentage of .691 which is the highest winning percentage by a coach in OHL history. Over Dale's tenure in London he has 6 49+ win seasons, the team never missed the playoffs, won a Memorial Cup, and didn't make it past the first round only twice.
Now don't worry Knight's fans as the team is in more then capable hands. Mark Hunter will be taking over as interim Head Coach for now until the end of the season at least by all reports. I wonder if the London Knights wish they still had Beaulieu (former Knight's assistant and now Sting head coach and general manager) as an assistant to step in and take over, so that Mark wouldn't have to play the dual role? However, Mark has plenty of coaching experience having coached 1 season in the AHL for the Toronto Marlies and 5 seasons as a head coach of the Sarnia Sting (1994-96, 1997-2000). Mark also has a winning record as a head coach with a 36-28-10-6 record in the AHL and a 158-111-33-4 record in the OHL with Sarnia. Mark only had 1 losing season in Sarnia which was his first in the OHL and only coached 38 games that season.
Sarnia Sting Stung Hard By Injuries
The Sarnia Sting went 0-3 this weekend only being able to squeeze out 1 point in a shootout loss against the Barrie Colts. Now injuries should never be an excuse for any team especially one of this calibre but the Sting have more star players in the stands then on the ice. This is probably the first time I can ever recall the Sarnia Sting having this many top end players in the stands unavailable due to injury. This Sunday against the Kitchener Rangers the Sting had to play with out leading point scorer Nail Yakupov (back injury), leading point scoring defenceman Alex Basso (hand), Brett Ritchie (hip flexer), Ludvig Rensfeldt (sick), Connor Murphy (knee) and Alex Galchenyuk (ligament repair). Now if their is any good news about this it is that Connor Murphy should be ready to make his Sarnia Sting debut in the next couple of weeks, Rensfeldt should hopefully be back next weekend along with Ritchie who is obviously day to day. Galchenyuk likely will not play this season and if he does it will be a return in March which on the plus side probably means that he will be back next season along with Connor Murphy who is again only going to play 1/2 of a season this year.
The Sting had to call up Dundas, Mater and Dipaolo all of who also had to play that night for the Legionaries in Chatham. Dipaolo a 4th round pick in 2010 by the Sarnia Sting made his OHL debut and was undressed on one of Kitchener's goals.
According to Sarnia Sting Website Yakupov (who missed 2 games on the weekend) will likely be out up to 10 days and Basso is out indefinitely. Who will fill Basso's spot on the blue line if this is a 4-6 week or couple of months thing? I don't see Dipaolo being a long term solution.
Hot and Cold
Inspired by the weekend demise of the Sarnia Sting here is what teams are hot and cold in the OHL right now, this was actually going to be the main focus of the blog this week prior to the London/Washington coaching changes.
Hot
Kitchener Rangers: After defeating Sarnia on Sunday the Rangers now have won 9 straight games at the Aud, are on a 3 game winning streak and have won 8 of their last 10 games. Kitchener now sits only 2 points behind Plymouth (2nd) and are tied with Sarnia for 3rd spot in the Western Conference
Belleville Bulls: Belleville is quickly climbing the Eastern Conference standings having won 8 of their last 10 game and 3 straight.
Niagara Ice Dogs: Ice Dogs have won 7 of their last 10 and 3 straight. The Ice Dogs should be an elite team this season and sit 5th currently in the Eastern Conference. With 4 top players invited to the Team Canada Selection camp, Chirstmas time could be a very tough time for the Ice Dogs.
Cold
Erie Otters: Are the basement dwellers of the entire league, I think it is safe to say that Erie is probably going to have the 1st overall pick in this years OHL Priority Selection. Erie only has 3 wins and 6 points on the season and has lost 10 of their last 10 games. Erie has only scored more than 1 goal 4 times in those 10 games (on all 4 occasions they scored 3 goals, and didn't score more then 3 goals in the whole month of November)
Sarnia Sting: Once leading the West Division and sat 2nd in the OHL now have slid to 2nd in the West Division, 3rd in the Western Conference and 3rd in the OHL. I wouldn't be surprised if you possibly see Sarnia drop out of the BMO CHL Top 10 this week. Sarnia dropped 3 of 3 games this weekend only picking up a single point vs the Barrie Colts. Sarnia has only won 4 of their last 10 games going 4-4-1-1 over the time for an 0.400 winning percentage.
Sault Ste Marie Greyhounds: Are in the same slump as the Sarnia Sting losing 3 of their last 3 and only having 4 wins in their last 10 (4-5-0-1)
Mississagua St Michaels Majors: Are the coldest team in the Eastern Conference right now. Mississagua has dropped all but 2 of their last 12 games (2-6-1-1 in their last 10) and all 3 of their last 3. Mississagua's only wins in November came over the Sault Set Marie Greyhounds and the Barrie Colts.
Team Canada Announces WJC Evaluation Camp Invites
Team Canada announced their WJC invites yesterday (November 28th, 2011). The biggest surprise left off of the roster from the OHL was probably 1st round Toronto Maple Leaf draft choice and Mississagua St Michael Major Stuart Percy. Others are saying Malcom Subban deserved an invite as well which I can't really argue with as he has been one of the best goaltenders in the OHL so far this season however I also cannot argue with the goaltender selections that were made with Mark Visentine (Niagara) and Scott Wedgewood (Plymouth) representing the OHL at the selection camp. Visentine is looking to be 1 of 3 returnees for this year and Wedgewood has been right up there among the best goalies in the OHL this season.
Team Canada's WJC won't effect the Sarnia Sting at all though as no Sting players have been invited this year. Brett Ritchie was the leading front runner to be invited for the Sting but was left off the list after a rather slow and injury filled start to the season.
Players invited from the OHL are:
Goaltenders:
Mark Visentine (NIA)
Scott Wedgewood (PLY)
Defecemen:
Cody Ceci (OTT)
Dougie Hamilton (NIA)
Scott Harrington (LON)
Ryan Murphy (KIT)*
Jamie Oleksiak (SAG)
Forwards:
Freddi Hamilton (NIA)
Boone Jenner (OSH)
Tanner Pearson (BAR)
Mark Scheifele (BAR)
Ryan Spooner (KIN)
Ryan Strome (NIA)
Christian Thomas (OSH)
Tyler Toffoli (OTT)
A full list of all selected players invited to WJC selection camp can be found here.
For more around the OHL from this past week check out Brendan Ross's "The OHL Rundown"
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