Cougars Top Attendance in League; Theede Ranked by NHL Central Scouting
By Sam Laskaris | Hockey Now
@SamLaskaris
Trio Of OJHL Players On NHL Watch List
Pro scouts are now keeping rather close tabs on three OJHL players.
Central Scouting released its Players To Watch list for the 2015 National Hockey League Entry Draft.
The list, which features players deemed to have a chance at being selected in the pro draft, included three current OJHL players.
Making the list, which was released on Nov. 20, were Cobourg Cougars forward Dawson Theede, Oakville Blades centre Jackson Bales and North York Rangers defenceman Will Reilly.
All three players are in their first season in the OJHL.
Bales, however, did suit up for eight games with the Blades last season as an affiliated player. He spent the bulk of last year with the Oakville Rangers' Midget AAA squad.
Reilly, who played high school hockey last season with Toronto's Upper Canada College Blues, also appeared in one game with the Blades last year.
All of those on the Players To Watch list were awarded either an A, B or C rating.
The three OJHL skaters were all C-rated players.
Individuals expected to be a first-round selection at the 2015 NHL draft, which will be staged in Florida in June, were given an A rating.
B-rated players are expected to be chosen in either the second or third rounds. And those with a C rating are candidates to be taken in the fourth, fifth or sixth rounds.
A total of 210 players will be selected over seven rounds in next year's draft.
Golden Hawks Have Numerous Threats
Talk about some offensive power.
The Trenton Golden Hawks certainly have plenty of that this season.
The Golden Hawks were averaging almost five goals per match in late December, having netted a league-high 126 goals through their first 26 contests.
Opposing squads were having conniptions trying to figure out which Trenton players to cover. That's because the Golden Hawks had a rather balanced attack.
At their current pace of scoring, nine Trenton forwards had a rather decent chance to crack the 20-goal barrier this season.
Golden Hawks third-year forward Brady Wiffen had already reached that mark. He was leading the club in scoring with 39 points, including 20 goals.
A pair of other Trenton forwards, Danny Liscio and Michael Siddal, were in double digits in goals, with 17 and 10, respectively.
Even some of the Golden Hawks' defencemen were chipping in quite a bit offensively. Christian Lloyd and Braden Hellems were tied for fourth place in team scoring with 25 points apiece.
Lloyd's point total included nine goals while Hellems had scored five times.
Combined with the fact that Florida native Justin Kapelmaster is having a dazzling OJHL rookie campaign between the pipes for the Golden Hawks, and it's little wonder Trenton is viewed as a contender for the league crown.
Kapelmaster had a 15-2-0 record and a 2.19 goals-against average through his first 19 appearances. He had also earned a pair of shutouts thus far.
Tigers In Control Of North
The Aurora Tigers are doing their best to ensure the only battle in the North Division is for second place.
The Tigers have clearly been the class of the five-team North grouping, getting off to a 20-3-0-1 start.
With its 41 points, Aurora had a 12-point lead over the Stouffville Spirit, which was occupying second place in the divisional standings.
And the Tigers had played two fewer games than Stouffville.
Cougars Top Attendance Figures
Teams in the league's East Division have considerably better attendance figures so far this season.
The three squads that had the highest average of spectators for their home contests were all from the East Division.
The Cobourg Cougars were leading the way, having attracted a total of 7,568 fans to their first 15 home games. That's an average of 504 spectators per outing.
Cobourg, which finished second in league attendance a year ago, was the only franchise that was averaging more than 500 fans this season.
The Wellington Dukes were a close second, however, averaging 491 fans per outing. The Dukes had attracted 5,898 fans to their first dozen matches.
The Dukes, who topped the OJHL attendance figures a year ago, averaging 548 fans a night, could easily move into top spot again with some increased support in upcoming games.
Meanwhile, the Trenton Golden Hawks were third in fan support this season, averaging 449 fans a game. The Golden Hawks had attracted 6,286 spectators to their first 14 contests.
At the other end of the spectrum were the Toronto Jr. Canadiens. They were only managing to bring in an average of 85 fans per outing. Just 1,203 people had attended the Jr. Canadiens' first 14 matches.
