Ontario Junior Hockey League Team Reports

February 22, 2012
Posted in Ontario Edition, Junior A

BY SAM LASKARIS /

It’s playoff time in the Ontario Junior Hockey League. Regular season action wrapped up on Feb. 12 and the post-season began the following day for some squads.

The top two finishers in each division earned opening-round byes. And the teams placing third through sixth in each grouping will begin with best-of-five showdowns.

Here’s a closer look at the latest from all 27 league entrants.

NORTH DIVISION

AURORA TIGERS

The Tigers enter the post-season on a bit of a roll. Aurora, which placed third in the North standings, won its last four regular season matches.

HUNTSVILLE OTTERS

Odds are the Otters, who were still playing last April as Dudley Hewitt Cup hosts, won’t have a lengthy post-season this time. They placed fifth in the divisional standings.

NEWMARKET HURRICANES

Morgan Bonner and Bowman Webster finished tied for the team scoring lead with 64 points apiece for the Hurricanes, who topped the North standings with 79 points.

MARKHAM WAXERS

The Waxers, fourth-place North finishers, are hoping their high-scoring ways leads to some playoff success. Markham scored 216 regular season goals, the fourth highest total in the OJHL.

ORANGEVILLE FLYERS

Despite having one more win than fifth-place Huntsville (19-18), the Flyers finished in the North basement. Why? The Otters earned points in five shootout losses while Orangeville had none.

STOUFFVILLE SPIRIT
The Spirit grabbed the division’s second bye. Stouffville is led by 20-year-old sniper Christian Finch, who won the league scoring title with 104 points.

WEST DIVISION

BRAMPTON CAPITALS

The Capitals’ season is mercifully over. Brampton, which only managed to register six victories this season, had a league-low of 13 points.

BUFFALO JUNIOR SABRES

The Junior Sabres had a respectable campaign. Buffalo ended-up third in its divisional standings, behind only a pair of rather decent teams in Georgetown and Oakville.

BURLINGTON COUGARS

By playing .500 hockey (seven wins, seven losses) in their 14 regular season games in 2012, the Cougars finished in fourth place in the West standings, earning home ice advantage in the first round.

GEORGETOWN RAIDERS

If the old adage of defence wins championships holds true, keep an eye on the Raiders, who allowed a league-low of 109 goals this season.

HAMILTON RED WINGS

The Red Wings had the same amount of points (39) as fifth-place Milton. But Hamilton ended up in sixth as it had one less victory than the Icehawks.

MILTON ICEHAWKS

It won’t be a huge upset if Milton beats Burlington in its opening playoff round. The fifth-place Icehawks ended up just one point behind fourth-place Burlington.

OAKVILLE BLADES

Oakville earned itself a bit of a rest, grabbing an opening-round bye by finishing second in the West standings with 68 points, behind only front-running Georgetown.

SOUTH DIVISION

MISSISSAUGA CHARGERS

Losing their last six regular season matches cost the Chargers dearly. Mississauga missed out on the playoffs, finishing one point behind sixth-place Pickering.

NORTH YORK RANGERS

The Rangers managed to secure home-ice advantage in the opening round of the playoffs - but just barely. North York placed fourth in its divisional standings, two points ahead of the Junior Canadiens.

PICKERING PANTHERS

Pickering squeaked into the playoffs, finishing sixth in the South standings. The Panthers vaulted over Mississauga thanks to a 6-3 victory over the Chargers on Feb. 5.

ST. MICHAEL’S BUZZERS

The Buzzers were the class of the South, winning the division by 18 points. St. Michael’s is led by goalie Adrian Ignagni, who had a league-high 32 victories.

TORONTO JUNIOR CANADIENS

The fifth-place Junior Canadiens should have plenty of incentive in their opening playoff round. They play North York, who finished two points ahead of them and grabbed home-ice advantage.

TORONTO LAKESHORE PATRIOTS

Getting thumped 8-2 by Wellington in their final game of the season cost the Patriots dearly. The club fell to third in the South standings, missing a bye by a mere point.

VAUGHAN VIPERS
Vaughan earned an opening-round bye thanks to a 4-1 victory over the Junior Canadiens in their regular season finale on Feb. 12.

EAST DIVISION

COBOURG COUGARS

The Cougars scored a league-high 232 regular season goals. And Cobourg earned a opening-round bye by placing second in the East standings.

KINGSTON VOYAGEURS

The Voyageurs grabbed the division’s sixth and final playoff spot. But they’ll be in tough in their opening round versus the defending league champs from Wellington.

LINDSAY MUSKIES

Belgian-native Bryan Kolodziejczyk created havoc for play-by-play announcers and opponents, netting 38 points in his first year with Lindsay. Muskies placed fifth in the division.

PETERBOROUGH STARS

The Stars scored a league-low of 105 goals this season. Thus it’s not a surprise Peterborough was the only East squad that failed to advance to the playoffs.

TRENTON GOLDEN HAWKS
Trenton finished atop the East standings—but just barely. The Trenton Hawks ended up with 78 points, just one more than second-place Cobourg.

WELLINGTON DUKES

The Dukes finished third in the East, after topping the division a year ago. But the reigning OJHL champs are hoping to be heard from again in the post-season.

WHITBY FURY

The Fury finished fourth in the division this season; an improvement from a year ago when they failed to advance to the playoffs. Whitby will be looking to go at least two post-season rounds this year.

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