NEWS

By: Chris McLachlin, OHA Media
Photo: Ryan McCullough / OJHL Images

As the 2017-18 OJHL Regular Season reaches its final week the playoff picture is starting to take shape. There's still a lot to play for this week with positions still to be decided and the scoring race still up for grabs between Andrew Petrucci of the Toronto Patriots and Jake Bricknell of the Aurora Tigers. This is the best time of the hockey season, and playoffs start next week!

The Toronto Patriots have clinched the South Division and the #1 seed in the South-West Conference and the Georgetown Raiders have clinched the West Division and the #2 seed in the South-West. Behind them the North York Rangers and Oakville Blades are battling for the #3 and #4 seeds, while the Toronto Jr. Canadiens are the #5 seed (although they could still tie Oakville in points, they would have tied their season series and Oakville’s goal average will be impossible for the Jr. Canadiens to match), the Buffalo Jr. Sabres are the #6 seed, and the St. Michael’s Buzzers will be the #7 seed (Orangeville can tie them in points, but the Buzzers would hold the first tie-breaker with more wins). The final playoff spot is not clinched yet as the Orangeville Flyers are currently seven points ahead of the Burlington Cougars, but Burlington has four games left and will need to win all four and have Orangeville lose in regulation.

The playoff picture in the North-East Conference is still less clear, we do know the Aurora Tigers have clinched the North Division and secured one of the top two seeds. The Wellington Dukes hold the #2 seed right now, but the Kingston Vees still have a slight shot at catching the Dukes with three games left. A win today by the Dukes over the Whitby Fury would clinch the #2 seed for Wellington. The Newmarket Hurricanes have a strong grip on the #3 seed, but could still be passed by Kingston. Meanwhile, Kingston has the most to gain and lose this week as they could still catch Wellington for the #2 seed, or they could drop to the #5 seed but for that to happen the Cobourg Cougars would need to win both of their games remaining by large margins and the Vees would need to lose their final three games by large margins as well. The final three seeds will be determined by the play this week of the Markham Royals, Pickering Panthers and Trenton Golden Hawks; a good week by any of these teams could move them into #6 while a bad week could drop them to #8.

SCORING LEADERS - POINTS
1. 96 - Andrew Petrucci, Toronto Patriots
2. 95 - Jake Bricknell, Aurora Tigers
3. 87 - Dante Spagnuolo, Toronto Patriots
4. 80 - Lucas Condotta, Markham Royals
5. 78 - Jack Jeffers, Markham Royals
Click here for full OJHL Scoring Leader stats
 

CJHL 2017-18 TOP 20 (As of Feb. 19/18)
1. Carleton Place Canadians (CCHL) (1)
8. Toronto Patriots (OJHL) (8)
18. Georgetown Raiders (OJHL) (HM)
20. North York Rangers (OJHL) (18)
HONOURABLE MENTION: Aurora Tigers (OJHL)
Click here for the latest full CJHL Top 20 Rankings
 

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NORTH-EAST CONFERENCE
1. Aurora Tigers 75 PTS (35-12-1-4) North Division Champion
Home (18-5-1-1) Away (17-7-0-3) Last 10 (7-2-0-1)
2 games remaining (Pickering, Lindsay)
- can finish #1 or #2

2. Wellington Dukes 70 PTS (31-12-3-5) East Division Leader
Home (16-6-2-3) Away (15-6-1-2) Last 10 (5-5-0-0)
3 games remaining (@Whitby, @Kingston, @Trenton)
- can finish as high as #1 and as low as #4

3. Newmarket Hurricanes 68 PTS (31-14-5-1) 
Home (17-5-2-1) Away (14-9-3-0) Last 10 (5-5-0-0)
3 games remaining (@Stouffville, Milton, Trenton)
- can finish as high as #3 and as low as #4

4. Kingston Voyageurs 64 PTS (30-17-2-2)
Home (16-8-2-0) Away (14-9-0-2) Last 10 (7-1-1-1)
3 games remaining (Wellington, @Lindsay, @Whitby*)
- can finish as high as #2 and as low as #5

5. Cobourg Cougars 60 PTS (28-20-2-2)
Home (15-8-2-1) Away (13-12-0-1) Last 10 (8-2-0-0)
2 games remaining (Jr. Canadiens, @Markham)
- can finish as high as #4 and as low as #5

6. Markham Royals 56 PTS (25-21-1-5) 
Home (14-10-0-2) Away (11-11-1-3) Last 10 (2-6-0-2)
2 games remaining (@Lindsay, Cobourg)
- can finish as high as #6 and as low as #8

7. Pickering Panthers 54 PTS (25-23-1-3)
Home (14-10-1-2) Away (11-13-0-1) Last 10 (7-2-0-1)
2 games remaining (@Aurora, @Mississauga)
- can finish as high as #6 and as low as #8

8. Trenton Golden Hawks 50 PTS (23-24-2-2)
Home (10-13-1-1) Away (13-11-1-1) Last 10 (4-6-0-0)
3 games remaining (Stouffville, Wellington)
- can finish as high as #6 and as low as #8
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9. Whitby Fury 39 PTS (17-29-4-1)
Home (12-11-1-1) Away (5-18-3-0) Last 10 (4-6-0-0)
3 games remaining (Wellington, @Orangeville, Kingston)
- have been eliminated from postseason contention

10. Lindsay Muskies 19 PTS (8-40-0-3)
Home (4-18-0-3) Away (4-22-0-0) Last 10 (2-6-0-2)
3 games remaining (Markham, Kingston, @Aurora)
- have been eliminated from postseason contention

11. Stouffville Spirit 18 PTS (8-42-1-1)
Home (4-20-1-1) Away (4-22-0-0) Last 10 (0-10-0-0)
2 games remaining (Newmarket, @Trenton)
- have been eliminated from postseason contention

Top Performances
Goals: 2 - Jacob Black (Cobourg) vs Trenton Feb. 12, Jacob Ball (Cobourg) vs Trenton Feb. 12, Braedyn Aubin (Markham) vs Newmarket Feb. 13, Jackson Savery (Newmarket) vs Markham Feb. 15, Brock Welsh (Aurora) vs Newmarket Feb. 16, Mitchell Martan (Wellington) vs Pickering Feb. 16, Josh Leblanc (Kingston) vs Aurora Feb. 17, Zach Wilkie (Aurora) vs Kingston Feb. 17, Teddy McGeen (Wellington) vs Stouffville Feb. 17, Connor McBroom (Stouffville) vs Wellington Feb. 17, Erich Roeder (Lindsay) vs Stouffville Feb. 18
Assists: 3 - Jack Jeffers (Markham) vs Newmarket Feb. 13, Jake Bricknell (Aurora) vs Kingston Feb. 17, Jackson Arcan (Wellington) vs Stouffville Feb. 17
Points: 4 - Braedyn Aubin (2G, 2A) (Markham) vs Newmarket Feb. 13, Brock Welsh (2G, 2A) (Aurora) vs Newmarket Feb. 16
Saves: 46 - David Bowen (L) (Stouffville) vs Lindsay Feb. 18
Shutout: 20 SV - Fraser Kirk (Newmarket) vs Markham Feb. 15

SOUTH-WEST CONFERENCE
1. Toronto Patriots 83 PTS (39-8-3-2) South Division Champion
Home (20-4-0-1) Away (19-4-3-1) Last 10 (5-1-3-1)
2 games remaining (Mississauga, Buffalo)
- clinched #1

2. Georgetown Raiders 75 PTS (35-11-3-2) West Division Champion
Home (18-6-2-1) Away (17-5-1-1) Last 10 (7-1-2-0)
3 games remaining (@Oakville, @Burlington, @Burlington)
- clinched #2

3. North York Rangers 76 PTS (35-11-1-5)
Home (17-7-1-2) Away (18-4-0-3) Last 10 (7-2-0-1)
2 games remaining (@Buffalo, @Milton)
- can finish as high as #3 and as low as #4

4. Oakville Blades 73 PTS (35-13-2-1)
Home (19-3-1-1) Away (16-10-1-0) Last 10 (6-4-0-0)
3 games remaining (Georgetown, Jr. Canadiens, Burlington)
- can finish as high as #3 and as low as #4

5. Toronto Jr. Canadiens 69 PTS (33-16-1-2)
Home (18-8-1-0) Away (15-8-0-2) Last 10 (7-3-0-0)
2 games remaining (@Cobourg, @Oakville)
- clinched #5

6. Buffalo Jr. Sabres 57 PTS (26-21-0-5)
Home (17-7-0-2) Away (9-14-0-3) Last 10 (2-6-0-2)
2 games remaining (North York, @Patriots)
- clinched #6

7. St. Michaels Buzzers 51 PTS (23-25-3-2)
Home (14-12-1-0) Away (9-13-2-2) Last 10 (4-5-0-1)
1 game remaining (@Burlington)
- clinched #7

8. Orangeville Flyers 49 PTS (21-25-1-6)
Home (10-12-1-3) Away (11-13-0-3) Last 10 (6-3-0-1)
1 game remaining (Whitby)
- can finish as high as #8 and as low as #9

9. Burlington Cougars 42 PTS (17-25-2-6)
Home (7-14-0-3) Away (10-11-2-3) Last 10 (4-4-0-2)
4 games remaining (St. Michaels, Georgetown, Georgetown, @Oakville)
- can finish as high as #8 and as low as #10

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10. Mississauga Chargers 42 PTS (18-28-4-2)
Home (11-13-1-1) Away (7-15-3-1) Last 10 (3-6-0-1)
2 games remaining (@Patriots, Pickering)
- have been eliminated from postseason contention

11. Milton Icehawks 11 PTS (4-45-0-3)
Home (2-22-0-2) Away (2-23-0-1) Last 10 (2-7-0-1)
2 games remaining (@Newmarket, North York)
- have been eliminated from postseason contention

Top Performances
Goals: 3 - Dylan Jackson (St. Michaels) vs Buffalo Feb. 16, Eric Theander (Orangeville) vs Milton Feb. 17
Assists: 3 - Jordan Crocker (Georgetown) vs Patriots Feb. 14, Ty Jackson (St. Michaels) vs Buffalo Feb. 16, Nicholas Zabaneh (St. Michaels) vs Buffalo Feb. 16, Jackson Alexeev (Patriots) vs Trenton Feb. 16
Points: 4 - Dylan Jackson (3G, 1A) (St. Michaels) vs Buffalo Feb. 16, Ty Jackson (1G, 3A) (St. Michaels) vs Buffalo Feb. 16, Nicholas Zabaneh (1G, 3A) (St. Michaels) vs Buffalo Feb. 16, Maxwell Routledge (2G, 2A) (Patriots) vs Trenton Feb. 16, Andrew Petrucci (2G, 2A) (Patriots) vs Trenton Feb. 16
Saves: 47 - Troy Timpano (T) (Georgetown) vs Patriots Feb. 14
Shutout: 18 SV - Nathan Torchia (Georgetown) vs Stouffville Feb. 15

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This Week: 26 games, including 7 today

(The OJHL Week in Review is posted on Mondays during the 2017-18 OJHL regular season.)

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