February 22, 2012
Posted in Ontario Edition, Minor Midget
BY ADAM DUNFEE /
The London Jr. Knights Gold team has been a permanent fixture on the OHL Cup’s Minor Midget rankings this season.
There’s a good reason for that.
In the regular season, the Knights posted a 28-1-1 record, had three of the league’s top four leading scorers, scored the most goals and allowed the least.
The Knights have continued their dominance into the playoffs where they swept the London Jr. Knights Green team 3-0 in the quarterfinals and then got out to a 2-0 series lead on the Lambton Jr. Sting in the semifinals.
“I’d like to say that it’s coaching,” jokes head coach Rob Simpson. “But a lot of it comes down to the players.”
Led by Spencer Watson’s 43 the Knights scored 173 goals in the regular season - 45 more than any other team - and kept the opposition to only 48 against.
Watson and teammate Jared McCann finished the season one and two in league scoring with 67 and 59 points respectively. Brett Seney finished fourth with 46 points.
Through five playoff games it’s McCann who leads the team in scoring with 12 points followed by Seney with 11 and Watson with 10. The trio are one, two and three in points per game average and Watson leads the league in game winning goals with four.
The offensive wizardry has been achieved through the exceptional individual talent of the players and the coaching staff’s willingness to let them be creative.
“When you’ve got the players that have the ability I think you’d be in the wrong if you didn’t let them do what comes naturally to them because that’s how they’re going to be successful,” says Simpson.
“I think you have to let players on the offensive side of the puck use their creativity and feel like they can try things without coming to the bench and feeling stagnated by a system.”
But the offensive talent on the team isn’t limited to just one line.
Watson and McCann’s one two finish in league scoring came while playing on different lines.
“We have three lines that on any given night can put up numbers. That makes it tough (for the opposition) when we have multiple guys that can make an impact because teams have to try hard to get the matchups that they want.”
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