NEWS

As we enter the final week of the 2012-2013 OJHL Regular Season there remain many unknowns in the Southwest Conference.  One certainty, however, are the eight teams who will go to battle in the first round of the Buckland Cup Playoffs.  With a 3-2 shootout victory over the Oakville Blades, coupled with a loss by the Mississauga Chargers, the Burlington Cougars clinched the eighth and final playoff spot in the conference.

As of today, the Southwest standings are:

TEAM               GR         PTS     versus
1. Buffalo        2          79        vs OAK, @ ORA
2. St. Mike’s    2          74        @ MIL, @ OAK
3. Gtown         1          78        vs. MIS
4. North York   0          74       
5. Lakeshore    2          69        vs. ORA, vs. MIL
6. Oakville       4          67        @ BUF, vs. MIS, vs. STM, vs. ORA
7. Toronto       0          59       
8. Burlington   1          52        @ MIL

There are plenty of different matchups that can materialize but there are also a couple of safe bets.  The Cougars will finish eighth and open the first round on the road versus either Buffalo or Georgetown, whoever captures the West Division crown.  The Jr. Canadiens are cemented in seventh and will visit the South Division champs.  In all likelihood, it will be the St. Mike’s Buzzers, who need only a single point to clinch the division.

After a rough couple weeks the Oakville Blades are in tough to surpass Toronto Lakeshore for fifth seed.  An important battle because whoever slides in at sixth will have to face the Raiders or the Jr. Sabres in the opening round.  For a Blades team that had so many games in hand coming into the New Year, they have squandered an opportunity to secure home ice in the first round.

North York is done with their 55 game schedule and hopes that Oakville will not pick up enough points to drop them out of home ice in the first round.  As it stands now, the Rangers would open the post-season at home versus Toronto Lakeshore, but as mentioned, that could easily be the Oakville Blades in the 5th seed.

The league scoring race has cooled down as we enter the final week of play.  Buffalo’s Tyler Gjurich appears set to take home the title of OJHL Top Scorer this season, currently sitting seven points ahead of Oakville’s Jonah Renouf with 93 points on the year.  Of note, Milton’s Shane Bennett has torn up the leader board and now sits fourth in league scoring with 80 points on the season.  Bennett’s efforts weren’t enough to get the Milton Icehawks into the postseason and it’s a shame that we’re almost done watching Shane’s explosive speed and dominate play for the year.

Expect a couple of surprises down the stretch drive, with teams such as the Icehawks and Chargers looking to play spoiler to teams like St. Mike’s and Oakville as they battle for top spot in the South.  If Milton can upset the Buzzers and the Blades can somehow down the Sabres tonight, it would set up one heck of a Saturday night matchup between Oakville and St. Mike’s with 2nd place in the Southwest on the line.  Enjoy the last week of the season and we will see you all in the playoffs!

Ian Cunningham covers the Ontario Junior Hockey League for TVCogeco.  He calls play-by-play for the Georgetown Raiders broadcasts of OJHL Tonight as well as hosting TVCogeco’s flagship highlight show, OJHL Rinkside, alongside Al Galloway.  You can also find Ian Between the Benches for OJHL Tonight broadcasts of Oakville Blades home games.  Ian began his broadcasting career five years ago as Director of Broadcasting for the Oakville Blades.  Since that time Ian has become one of the most recognized members of the OJHL media and a go-to source for expert knowledge and opinion throughout the league.