Whatever it is that draws you in—goals galore, the opportunity to watch the NHL’s future stars develop, the luxury of having a team right in your backyard—junior hockey fandom is thrilling. Yet, following a smaller league like the OHL also has its drawbacks. It doesn’t get the same media coverage as the professional leagues in […]

Last month, I picked a fight with a couple Kitchener Rangers fans, who were bemoaning what they said was their team’s mediocre play over the past few seasons. “We haven’t contended for years!” one of the fans lamented. “What about the 2015-16 season?” I asked. “That team put up 90-plus points and was top-10 in […]

Last month, the Windsor Spitfires finalized a trade that was big in more ways than one, shipping behemoth defenceman Logan Stanley to the Kitchener Rangers for a parcel of distant draft picks. Stanley is a first-round NHL pick, 18th overall by the Winnipeg Jets in 2016, and there’s a possibility that he sticks with the Jets this […]

It’s been a rough six years for the Windsor Spitfires. Since their back-to-back Memorial Cup Championships in 2009 and 2010 and another Conference Finals run in 2011, the Spitfires have missed the OHL playoffs twice and lost in the opening round four times, including three times to the rival London Knights. This year, they suffered […]

Much has been made of the importance of stockpiling second-round draft picks in the OHL Priority Selection. Because the OHL prohibits the trading of first-round selections, second-round picks are the most valuable futures available on the market. Adding one or more extra top-40 players to a team in a given year can inject a franchise with much-needed talent. […]

After a thrilling Game 7 overtime win on Tuesday, the Erie Otters moved on to join the Peterborough Petes, Mississauga Steelheads and Owen Sound Attack in the OHL’s conference finals. Thanks to two playoff rounds in which there were almost no upsets, the conference finals will see arguably the top two teams in each conference face off. Let’s […]

Fresh off their thrilling Game 7 win against the Windsor Spitfires on Tuesday, the London Knights are back in action already, facing down the top-seeded Erie Otters in their Ontario Hockey League (OHL) Western Conference Semifinal. Beating the Otters will be a tall task, as my colleague Andrew Forbes points out. Led by captain Dylan […]

After a pair of tight Game 7 victories, the fourth-seeded Kingston Frontenacs and London Knights have advanced to the second round of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) playoffs. And because the other six higher-seeded teams all advanced, this marks the first time in the 19-year history of the 20-team OHL that the higher-seeded team won […]

The first round of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) playoffs is underway. Old rivalries are heating up, new rivalries are igniting, and with the stakes raised and all but a few teams still in the running, fan loyalty is at its annual peak. But something curious is happening. Fans from Ottawa to Sault Ste. Marie are […]