NEWS

Captains Jack Richard (left) of Burlington and Cam Garvey of Collingwood will be prominent when their teams meet in the OJHL North-West Conference championship series beginning Wednesday in Collingwood. (Photos by Spencer Smye & Michelle Malvaso / OJHL Images)

BY RON VALENTINE

Two sizzling hot teams meet in the Ontario Junior Hockey League North-West Conference final beginning Wednesday night in Collingwood.

For the playoff brackets, schedules and other stats click on: http://ojhl_stats.wttstats.pointstreak.com/brackets.html?leagueid=231&seasonid=21100

COLLINGWOOD BLUES (No. 1 seed) versus BURLINGTON COUGARS (3)

In the meetings between the two clubs in the 54-game regular schedule the Blues had three wins from their five games. All were won by the home team. 

The Cougars won their last nine regular season games and a straight eight in the playoffs for 17 in a row while the Blues won their last six to end their season and are 8-0 in the playoffs for a total of 14 on the trot. Something has to give!

COLLINGWOOD BLUES

The Blues finished first in the conference over the 2022-2023 regular season with 89 points. Through the two playoff rounds the club posted a perfect record scoring 41 goals and allowing just 10. In the regular season club captain CAM GARVEY led the team in goals with 38 followed by MARK MCINTOSH with 22. SPENCER YOUNG and IKKI KOGAWA had 21 each. 

In the postseason, LUKE TCHOR has seven goals to date, with McIntosh at six (including three game winners). CARTER DICEMAN has five and BRYCE SUTHERLAND and DYLAN HUDON have four goals.

In net, Yale commit NOAH PAK, who had a goals against average of 2.01, a league high of 29 wins including five shutouts in the regular season. He was named to the second OJHL All-Star team. In the playoffs so far he has started and completed all eight games, accumulating a measly 1.25 goals against average and a .944 save percentage.

MARCUS LOUGHEED, the only player on the club from Collingwood, had a four-goal game on Sept. 16.

Stability was the key to the Blues' roster this season. Sutherland was added from St. Michael's at the trade deadline. He had a total of 32 goals in the regular campaign. Tchor, who started his OJHL career with the Oakville Blades, was picked up from the CCHL's Brockville Braves.

Garvey, who will play at NCAA Division I Robert Morris University next season: "Our confidence level has been on a high since Owen Sage scored in our last regular season game. Our forwards have been able to spread the scoring around and our defence has held firm and Noah has been practically unbeatable in the net. We have to play a physical game against Burlington, shut them down and use our depth to our advantage. Starting at home and having the extra game in front of our great fans will be a huge plus for us."

The current Collingwood club was a transfer from Kingston following the 2018-19 season, where the club was called the 'Voyageurs'. The new team was first known as the 'Colts'.

The Cougars ended on 81 points, good for third place in the North-West conference and scored the most goals in the OJHL with 257, one more than the Jr. Canadiens. 

BURLINGTON COUGARS

Captain JACK RICHARD had 53 goals and 88 points in 52 regular season  contests. THOMAS LENART was second in team scoring with 27 goals and 71 points. CROSSLEY STEWART finished as the fifth-highest scoring defenceman in the OJHL with 54 points. 

In the playoffs, Lenart leads the way with 17, Richard has 16 and ERIC BERTELSEN, who had the second round Game 4 winner, has 13. Goalkeeper ZACH DIETZ sports a 1.88 goals against average. Richard and Stewart were selected to the OJHL first and second all-star teams, respectively.

The Cougars made three key in-season deals, obtaining goalkeeper WILLIAM DYKE from Trenton in November, forward RYAN GAGNER from Aurora in December and, at the trade deadline, blueliner ERIK MACNIEL, also from the Tigers. 

Richard, an NCAA Division I Niagara University Purple Eagle in 2023-24: "We are coming off a sweep of a very good Georgetown club, and the whole team from the goalie out was on top of their game. Our defence has really tightened up and we have been spreading out our scoring. It's going to be a real battle and I think we will be looking at a low-scoring series with two top goalies going head to head. We played well against the Blues in the regular season. Now it's back to one game at a time, stick to our plan and we'll be fine. Unfortunately, Isaac Faccio suffered a season-ending injury in our last game so we will be dedicating this series to him."

In the 2016 playoffs, Burlington lost the South-West conference final to Georgetown in six. Like their opponents they have yet to win an OJHL title.