| 02 October 2011
As the junior hockey season gets underway, all of the Boston Bruins prospects are officially back on the rosters of their respective teams.
The five players, all under the age of 20, are back to competing against each other in the Ontario Hockey League. Jared Knight went back to the London Knights, Ryan Spooner to the Kingston Frontenacs,
Alexander Khokhlachev to the Windsor Spitfires and Anthony Camara to the Saginaw Spirit. The Bruins’ first round draft pick in 2011 Dougie Hamilton has returned to the blue line for the Niagra Ice Dogs.
Getting a spot on the Stanley Cup Champion Bruins team proved to be even more difficult than it might normally be due to the fact that only three players left in the off season but these young players have a long future ahead of them where they will have plenty of opportunity to play in the NHL.
So as the race for the Mastercard Memorial Cup has already begun, how are these teams going to do?
Niagara Ice Dogs
The Ice Dogs ended last season when they were eliminated by the Mississauaga St. Michael’s Majors in the Eastern Conference Championships in five games. In order to get there they had beaten the Oshawa Generals and Brampton Battalion in the prior rounds.
With Dougie Hamilton returning, the Ice Dogs have a lot to be happy about. The defenseman put up 58 points last season, which was the most of any defenseman on the team; he had 12 goals and 46 assists as well as 77 penalty minutes.
While currently not in the Top 10 in the CHL rankings, Niagara is expected to do well this season even with the possibility of them playing without Ryan Strome (and that they lost the only game they have played so far). Strome is currently still battling for a spot on the roster with the New York Islanders and has been impressive with fancy goals in his time with the NHL club. An important player also returned to the team is their goaltender Mark Visentin, a Phoenix Coyotes draft pick. He has become a bigger part of the team every year and last season had a 2.52 GAA and .917 save percentage.
Saginaw Spirit
In what was a standout season for the Michigan based OHL team, the Saginaw Spirit were eliminated by the defending Memorial Cup defending champion Windsor Spitfires in the conference semi-finals. It was the first time they had ever made it past the first round. In the regular season, they had clinched their division for the first time ever.
Left winger Anthony Camara returns for a third season with the squad after he was picked 81st overall in the 2011 NHL entry draft. This past season he had 8 goals and 9 assists for 17 points through 64 games. Where he really racked up the numbers was with penalty minutes; he amassed 132 minutes, leading the team. The six-foot forward plays very physical and can skate well which puts him in a good role defensively. Be sure to watch for Camara dropping the gloves as the season progresses.
The Spirit are looking at another successful year but they may lose a handful of players to the NHL or AHL. The have split their first two games with a win and a loss but there is still plenty of time to go. The team is excited for the arrival of Jamie Oleksiak, the towering defenseman picked in the first round of the 2011 NHL entry draft. However the goaltending may be a weak spot as both goaltenders, Jake Paterson and Tadeas Galansky, have not seen as much playing time as other goaltenders. Coach Todd Watson says he will go with the “hot hand” as the season goes on and up to the opening game he would not name a starter.
Windsor Spitfires
After being the Memorial Cup Champions for two straight seasons, the Windsor Spitfires were eliminated last season by the Owen Sound Attack in the Western Conference Finals. Prior to the season start the team lost Taylor Hall and their Coach Bob Boughner (who returns this year). Regardless, they finished fourth in the Western Conference.
A favorite amongst Bruins fans at camp, Alexander Khokhlachev has made an immediate impact in his sophomore year with the team. In Sunday’s game against the Ottawa 67’s he had an assist as well as the overtime winning goal. In his season debut last year, he amassed 76 points through 67 games with 34 goals and 42 assists.
The Spitfires are a very young team and some doubt their ability to make the playoffs this season. Khokhlachev is going to be very important to their offensive output and they need a defenseman to pick it up if Ryan Ellis ends up with a roster spot on the Nashville Predators. Goaltender Jack Campbell, who many know for his gold medal achievements in World Junior Hockey, may be heavily relied on if there is a loss of Ellis.
London Knights
Currently ranked in the second spot for CHL rankings, the London Knights are looking to bounce back after being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs last season. They snagged the last spot in the Midwest Division of the Western Conference to make the playoffs but were beaten in six games by first place in the Western Conference Owen Sound Attack.
Wearing the “A” on his sweater for the upcoming season, the Knights are glad to have Jared Knight back. With 25 goals and 45 assists for 70 points last season, he gave some Bruins fans a first glimpse of his skill in three games with Providence after the Knights were eliminated. Despite sitting out his first game back from Boston due to a groin injury, Knight’s season is off to a great start. In a match up against the Plymouth Whalers, Knight got his first hat trick in his home state of Michigan. That should set the pace for a pretty solid season.
Knight will also be surrounded with some other good players. Making headlines for his creative goal at NHL Research and Devlopment camp, Andreas Athanasiou as well as Max Domi and Bo Horvat will be players to watch. Vladislav Namestnikov, a first round pick for the Tampa Bay Lightning, who was the only player on the Knights to score 30 goals last season in his debut OHL season, is expected to be even better with the other youthful talent. As for goaltending, Michael Houser will likely play the majority of the games for the team as such last year when he appeared in 54.
Kingston Frontenacs
The Frontenacs are looking to make the playoffs again this season but hopefully not trailing the team in front of them by 20 points. They finished with 67 points, third in the East Division of the Eastern Conference, but were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Oshawa Generals.
Ryan Spooner’s place in Kingston is wary as his skill makes his trade value very high. In his time split between the Peterborough Petes and Kingston Frontenacs season, Spooner had 35 goals and 46 assists for 81 points in 64 games. In four games so far he has a goal and an assist while the Fronts have only come out victorious in one of six games. Unless Spooner is traded, he is going to be one of the key players for the team.
Kingston will hopefully get better as the season progresses but this could be a rebuilding season. Goaltender Igor Bobkov had a very high goals against average last season and has to play a solid game. Four defensemen from last season are returning and three are rookies and of all who will be skating on the blue line, have more than two seasons of experience. A potential roster shake up could happen and it will be interesting to see how the season pans out.
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