Henri Ikonen – McKeen's Hockey

Kingston Frontenacs and Peterborough Petes Playoff Match is a Slump Buster

Peter Harling — Thu, 27 Mar 2014 14:49:39 +0000

For the first time in 16 years, the Kingston Frontenacs are about to win a playoff series as they hold a commanding three games to none lead over the Peterborough Petes.

The series opened in Kingston in what was a convincing win for the Fronts. The Petes played a very chippy and physical style of game right out of the gate, taking liberties on the Fronts star players Sam Bennett and Roland McKeown.

Photo by Aaron Bell/OHL Images

Despite the physically aggressive style of the Petes, the Fronts badly out shot them in the first period and carried the play for the majority of the game. The Fronts won by a final score of four to one.

Peterborough got off to a much better start in game two, scoring on the first shift of the game and owning the lead for most of the game. Peterborough again played a hard physical game, but as a result found themselves killing several penalties which arguably cost them the game. The Fronts scored to tie it with the net empty, and went on to win in overtime by an exciting goal from McKeown.

The series then shifted to Peterborough and continued to be a physical affair. After Sam Bennett scored into the empty net to seal the third win in the series things got a little nasty. Peterborough forward Michael Clarke received a match penalty for cross checking and there were two line brawls in the final seconds of the game.

A suspension will be issued to Clarke as a result and he will miss game four for sure, and possibly more should the Pete’s extend the series.

Both teams are in a playoff drought so one team is assured to break a slump. Peterborough has not seen playoff action since 2010, while the Fronts have failed to win a playoff series in 16 years.

This series also features several prominent 2014 NHL draft eligible prospects lead by Kingston’s Sam Bennett. Bennett has been a factor in this series. In three games he has two goals, and three assists for five points and 14 minutes in penalties. In the McKeen's Hockey March draft rankings, Bennett topped the list at #1. Teammate Roland McKeown is ranked 24th overall and Peterborough’s Nick Ritchie is ranked 8th.

There are several players who have been standouts in this series. Sam Schutt of Kingston has three goals and Tampa Bay Lightning prospect Henri Ikonen has a goal and three assists for the Fronts. The Petes offense has been mainly supplied by Greg Betzold who has two goals and an assist to pace the Pete’s with three points in three games.

Perhaps the biggest factor has been the solid goaltending from Kingston’s overage Matt Mahalak who has a 3-0 record with a GAA of 2.23 and a save % of 0.932. Mahalak came into the OHL as a highly ranked goalie prospect but has had struggles with consistency this season in Kingston. This is the final season for the Carolina Hurricanes draft pick.

The fourth and possibly final game of the series will be on Thursday March 27th in Peterborough. If the Petes avoid the sweep, Game 5 comes back to Kingston on Friday March 28th at the K-Rock centre

Blueprint: Putting Kingston Back in Front

Peter Harling — Mon, 20 Jan 2014 14:52:35 +0000

Doug Gilmour is in his third season as the General Manager of the Kingston Frontenacs. When he began he had a blueprint for the franchise to help guide it out of the Ontario Hockey League basement and into a perennial contender. His vision would see Kingston become a desirable location to play, a beautiful city with a professional Frontenac’s club starting a long and proud traditions of excellence and winning.

Gilmour made his first impression on the team when they drafted Max Domi eighth overall in the 2011 OHL Priority draft. Knowing his friend Tie Domi’s son would only play for the London Knights, Domi refused to report to Kingston and the Fronts were compensated with a 2012 first round pick. The Frontenacs proceeded to trade Domi to London for two 2012 second round picks and a 2015 second round pick as well. Armed with five picks in the first two rounds of the 2012 Priority draft Gilmour was able to load the franchise up with fresh new talent and selected Roland McKeown second overall after Connor McDavid was granted exceptional status. Sam Bennett was selected with the second first round pick, ninth overall. McKeown and Bennett were teammates with the Toronto Marlboros Minor Midget AAA team. With the first two picks in the second round the Fronts added Dylan DiPerna and Spencer Watson. The future was indeed starting to look brighter for Kingston.

The fruits of that draft are ripe indeed as Sam Bennett is the number one North American ranked skater in the 2014 NHL draft class as ranked by NHL Central Scouting. Chris Edwards of Central Scouting had this to say of Bennett

"Bennett has not only been very noticeable but extremely effective every shift of every game so far this season, his puckhandling and playmaking are excellent and he has one of the best shots in this year's draft class.”

photo by Aaron Bell, OHL Images

Indeed it is a testament to the scouting staff Gilmour hired and the Coaching staff of Todd Gill and Darren Keily who have help develop Bennett into the top ranked player in his draft.

The Frontenacs also made two significant acquisitions at the 2012 import draft when they selected Mikko Vainonen and Henri Ikonen. Ikonen would lead the Fronts in scoring in 2012-13 and was selected by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the sixth round of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. Together, the pair would win the Gold Medal for Finland at the 2014 IIHF World Junior Tournament.

Another major move Gilmour made early was to trade the team’s best player Ryan Spooner in his final season to the Sarnia Sting for Ryan Kujawinski. The Sting were loaded with stars Nail Yakupov and Alex Galchenyuk and had visions of a championship and Memorial Cup and felt the addition of Spooner would give them the push they needed. The cost was Kujawinski, who was selected fourth overall in 2011 ahead of Max Domi in the Priority draft. Spooner left Sarnia the following season to play pro in the AHL and Kujawinski has since been drafted by the New Jersey Devils and is still a key member of the Frontenacs.

The development of the young players acquired by Gilmour has been very successful. The team has improved and returned to the playoffs in 2013 but was summarily dismissed by the Barrie Colts in four games. The Fronts will again return to post season play with home ice in 2014 and look to make a deep run and challenge for a Championship as they currently reside in third in the Eastern Conference.

With star players and future NHLers Sam Bennett, Roland McKeown, Ryan Kujawinski, Henri Ikonen, and Spencer Watson all very likely to return for another season with the Frontenacs the best is still to come.

The OHL is a cyclical league typically where few teams are able to sustain long stretches of success because of the short playing career of the players. Turnover from year to year is significant and the best players graduate sooner than later. While Gilmour has succeeded in bringing a winning team back to Kingston in a short period of time with his blueprint, the true test will be if the team can maintain that success year after year.

CHL 2014 IIHF WJHC Participants On-Ice Stats

Gus Katsaros — Fri, 27 Dec 2013 20:22:56 +0000

A short post with the focus on participating players dressing for their respective countries in the 2014 IIHF World Junior Championships and their member clubs in the CHL playing overseas in Sweden.

I broke away from the traditional goals-assists-points statistics and focused on the breakdown of ON-ICE even strength goals for/against as well as on the percentage basis for their respective teams. The legend is located just before the table.

Some additional details break down the draft year, team that drafted the player (none of these players have been traded to another NHL team). There are very few undrafted players as this tournament is drafted prospect heavy, but there are many European exceptions – along with some draft-eligible players for 2014 (and two notable 2015 draft eligible players in Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel – as a late birthday).

ESGF - Even Strength Goals For (On-Ice)

ESGA - Even Strength Goals Against (On-Ice)

%TmESGF - Percentage of On-Ice Even Strength Goals For

%TmESGA - Percentage of On-Ice Even Strength Goals Against

Draft Team - Team that drafted this player

Draft Yr - Draft Year

DOB - Date of Birth

Country	Team	Pos	ESGF	ESGA	%Tm ESGF	%Tm ESGA	Draft Team	Draft Yr	DOB
Canada
Josh Anderson	London Knights	C	29	13	20.28	25.00	CBJ	2012	1994/05/07
Chris Bigras	Owen Sound Attack	D	26	30	27.08	27.78	Col	2013	1995/02/22
Jonathan Drouin	Halifax Mooseheads	C	36	19	25.71	19.00	TBL	2013	1995/03/28
Aaron Ekblad	Barrie Colts	D	25	24	22.12	25.53	--	--	1996/02/07
Zachary Fucale	Halifax Mooseheads	G	0	0	0.00	0.00	MTL	2013	1995/05/28
Frederik Gauthier	Rimouski Oceanic	C	25	24	22.12	60.00	Tor	2013	1995/04/26
Bo Horvat	London Knights	LW	37	19	25.87	36.54	Van	2013	1995/04/05
Charles Hudon	Chicoutimi Sagueneens	LW	27	29	26.21	26.36	MTL	2012	1994/06/23
Scott Laughton	Oshawa Generals	C	36	27	30.00	33.75	Phi	2012	1994/05/30
Curtis Lazar	Edmonton Oil Kings	C	41	18	32.80	30.00	Ott	2013	1995/02/02
Taylor Leier	Portland Winterhawks	LW	39	20	23.93	18.02	Phi	2012	1994/02/15
Anthony Mantha	Val-d’Or Foreurs	LW	50	33	29.07	37.50	DET	2013	1994/09/16
Connor McDavid	Erie Otters	C	42	20	24.85	42.55	--	--	1997/01/13
Josh Morrissey	Prince Albert Raiders	C	40	29	34.48	42.65	Wpg	2013	1995/03/28
Jake Paterson	Saginaw Spirit	G	0	0	0.00	0.00	Det	2012	1994/05/03
Adam Pelech	Erie Otters	D	44	21	26.04	44.68	NYI	2012	1994/08/16
Nicolas Petan	Portland Winterhawks	C	52	27	31.90	24.32	WPG	2013	1995/03/22
Derrick Pouliot	Portland Winterhawks	D	51	37	31.29	33.33	Pit	2012	1994/01/16
Griffin Reinhart	Edmonton Oil Kings	D	15	11	12.00	18.33	NYI	2012	1994/01/24
Sam Reinhart	Kootenay Ice	C	32	28	31.37	31.82	--	--	1995/11/06
Kerby Rychel	Guelph Storm/Windsor Spitfires	LW	32	19	26.67	19.19	CBJ	2013	1994/10/07
Czech Republic
Radek Faksa	Kitchener Rangers	C	23	33	24.21	28.70	Dal	2012	1994/01/09
Jan Kostalek	Rimouski Oceanic	D	24	26	21.24	65.00	Wpg	2013	1995/02/17
Marek Langhamer	Medicine Hat Tigers	G	0	0	0.00	0.00	PHX	2012	1994/07/22
David Nemecek	Saskatoon Blades	D	23	28	21.30	20.00	--	--	1995/06/29
Michal Plutnar	Tri-City Americans	D	6	11	6.67	11.58	--	--	1994/02/21
Petr Sidlik	Victoriaville Tigres	D	24	32	24.24	25.20	--	--	1994/01/18
Dominik Volek	Red Deer Rebels	RW	23	20	23.47	26.32	--	--	1994/01/12
Patrik Zdrahal	Rimouski Oceanic	RW	12	16	15.00	30.19	--	--	1995/04/09
Finland
Julius Honka	Swift Current Broncos	D	42	33	35.59	32.04	--	--	1995/12/03
Henri Ikonen	Kingston Frontenacs	LW	40	25	32.00	21.93	TB	2013	1994/04/17
Mikko Vainonen	Kingston Frontenacs	D	36	22	28.80	19.30	Nsh	2012	1994/04/11
Germany
Tim Bender	London Knights	C	16	4	11.19	7.69	--	--	--
Marvin Cupper	Shawinigan Cataractes	G	0	0	0.00	0.00	--	--	--
Leon Draisaitl	Prince Albert Raiders	C	31	30	26.72	44.12	--	--	1995/10/27
Markus Eisenschmid	Medicine Hat Tigers	C	13	20	11.50	21.05	--	--	1995/01/22
Dominik Kahun	Sudbury Wolves	C	10	15	7.94	12.10	--	--	1995/07/02
Maximilian Kammerer	Regina Pats	C	1	5	0.91	6.41	--	--	--
Norway
Jorgen Karterud	SSM Greyhounds	RW	14	16	10.22	31.37	--	--	1994/05/06
Russia
Ivan Barbashev	Moncton Wildcats	C	31	33	30.39	34.74	--	--	1995/12/14
Nikita Zadorov	London Knights	C	12	4	8.39	7.69	Buf	2013	1995/04/16
Valentin Zykov	Baie-Comeau Drakkar	RW	22	9	16.30	10.11	LAK	2013	1995/05/15
Slovakia
Martin Reway	Gatineau Olympiques	LW	31	21	27.93	18.75	Mtl	2013	1995/01/24
Sweden
Andre Burakovsky	Erie Otters	LW	35	16	20.71	34.04	WSH	2013	1995/02/09
Oscar Dansk	Erie Otters	G	0	0	0.00	0.00	CBJ	2012	1994/02/28
Nick Sorensen	Quebec Remparts	RW	22	12	18.49	13.79	Ana	2013	1994/10/23
Switzerland
Phil Baltisberger	Guelph Storm	D	34	15	20.12	28.30	--	--	1995/11/13
Jason Fuchs	Rouyn-Noranda Huskies	LW	23	20	16.79	30.77	--	--	1995/09/14
Fabrice Herzog	Quebec Remparts	RW	30	28	25.21	32.18	TOR	2013	1994/12/09
Mirco Mueller	Everett Silvertips	D	21	20	19.09	27.03	SJ	2013	1995/03/21
Vincent Praplan	North Bay Battalion	LW	22	21	24.44	60.00	--	--	1994/06/10
Yannick Rathgeb	Plymouth Whalers	D	19	27	22.89	27.55	--	--	1995/10/24
United States
Adam Erne	Quebec Remparts	LW	30	27	25.21	31.03	TBL	2013	1995/04/20
Ryan Hartman	Plymouth Whalers	C	21	37	25.30	37.76	Chi	2013	1994/09/20
Anthony Stolarz	London Knights	G	--	--	--	--	Phi	2012	1994/01/20

**********

Henri Ikonen – McKeen's Hockey

Kingston Frontenacs and Peterborough Petes Playoff Match is a Slump Buster

Blueprint: Putting Kingston Back in Front

CHL 2014 IIHF WJHC Participants On-Ice Stats

Follow the McKeen's team on Twitter:

@mckeenshockey
@KatsHockey

Henri Ikonen – McKeen's Hockey

Kingston Frontenacs and Peterborough Petes Playoff Match is a Slump Buster

Blueprint: Putting Kingston Back in Front

CHL 2014 IIHF WJHC Participants On-Ice Stats

Follow the McKeen's team on Twitter:

@mckeenshockey@KatsHockey

@mckeenshockey
@KatsHockey