Phil Margonis
04-10-2008, 04:55 PM
After limping through the final month of the regular season, the Oshawa Generals have rebounded and are playing their best hockey of the season at just the right time.
The Generals finished the regular season with just two wins in their final 12 games, but exploded into the playoffs with a four game sweep of the Ottawa 67’s in the opening round. After Tuesday’s 6-4 win, they are up 3-1 on the Niagara IceDogs and are one win away from their first conference final berth since 1999.
“The last 10 or 11 games we were struggling defensively and were playing too much of an offensive game – kind of a pond hockey game,” said sophomore defenceman Michael Del Zotto (http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/stats/player.php?lang_id=en&id=4615). “Coming into the playoffs, we knew we had to bear down and play defence first. We knew the goals would come. We’ve done that so far and hopefully we can continue to do that.”
The Generals are playing outstanding defence while goaltender Michal Neuvirth (http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/stats/player.php?lang_id=en&id=4479) has rebounded from a late season injury and is back in the form that helped the Plymouth Whalers win the OHL championship last season.
In 68 regular season games, the Generals gave up an average of 3.85 goals but in the playoffs have cut that down dramatically to 2.13 goals per game in the post season.
“Obviously we’ve got good goaltending in the first series and in this series,” Del Zotto said. “We’ve just been bearing down in our own end. We’re trying to keep it simple and use the glass whenever we need to. We’ve done a good job of that so far.”
While star scorers John Tavares (http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/stats/player.php?lang_id=en&id=4302) and Brett MacLean (http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/stats/player.php?lang_id=en&id=3982) are leading the team with 10 points each, the Generals have enjoyed a balanced scoring attack in the playoffs to date. Patrick Asselin (http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/stats/player.php?lang_id=en&id=3025) and Dale Mitchell (http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/stats/player.php?lang_id=en&id=4306) each have nine points while defenceman Ryan McGinnis (http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/stats/player.php?lang_id=en&id=3083) has chipped in with eight points and Del Zotto has seven.
Del Zotto said that the attitude around the team has improved during the playoffs. After suffering through injuries and flu bug that made its way through the team late in the season, the Generals are ready for an extended playoff run.
“It seemed like guys were kind of getting down on each other,” said Del Zotto, who scored 16 goals and 47 assists for 63 points in 64 games this season. “Guys were trying to do it all themselves to try to help the team win. We had to get back to a team game and we’ve done so in the playoffs so far.”
The Generals have lost the services of veteran winger Shea Kewin (http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/stats/player.php?lang_id=en&id=4295), who broke his leg in Game 2 of the series against the IceDogs. Kewin only had one playoff point, but his teammates said that his contributions to the game show up in other ways.
“Kewin is a big part of this team,” Tavares said. “He brings a physical aspect and he makes good plays at the right times and will do anything for the team. We’ll miss him. He’s a character guy and we know how badly he wants to be out here. We’re definitely playing for him.”
Bulls stampede over Colts
Despite missing two of their top regular season performers, the Belleville Bulls have earned their second straight trip to the OHL’s conference championships.
With Shawn Matthias (http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/stats/player.php?lang_id=en&id=4029) sidelined with mono and veteran defenceman Nick Pageau (http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/stats/player.php?lang_id=en&id=4327) out with an ankle injury, the Bulls eliminated the upstart Barrie Colts in four straight games in their Eastern Conference semi-final series. The Bulls completed the sweep with a come-from-behind 3-2 win at the Barrie Molson Centre on Tuesday.
“We swept them but they were a tough team and they never gave up,” veteran forward A.J. Perry told the Belleville Intelligencer. “We’ve got to give them a tip of the hat.”
The Bulls are waiting for the winner of the Oshawa Generals-Niagara IceDogs series, which the Generals lead 3-1. If the Bulls and Generals face off, it would be the first time that they met in the semi-finals since 1999 when Belleville went on to win their only OHL championship.
Perry said that the extra rest will be welcomed by his squad.
“It’s awesome to get the sweep,” said Perry, who had a pair of assists in the clinching game. “We’ve got some guys who are banged up and other guys who are out so this extra rest should help us.”
Around the rinks – the OHL announced the top performers for the month of March, which included both regular season and playoff games. Steven Stamkos (http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/stats/player.php?lang_id=en&id=4595) was the top player of the month after scoring 18 goals and 24 points in 14 games. Mike Murphy (http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/stats/player.php?lang_id=en&id=4326) of the Belleville Bulls was the top goaltender with a 9-1 record to go along with a 2.02 goals against average and .928 save percentage. Taylor Hall (http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/stats/player.php?lang_id=en&id=4895) of the Windsor Spitfires was the top rookie after leading all OHL scorers with 26 points (14 goals and 12 assists) in 13 games last month and Alex Pietrangelo (http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/stats/player.php?lang_id=en&id=4543) of the Niagara IceDogs was the top defenceman after scoring five goals and 13 assists in 10 games.
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The Generals finished the regular season with just two wins in their final 12 games, but exploded into the playoffs with a four game sweep of the Ottawa 67’s in the opening round. After Tuesday’s 6-4 win, they are up 3-1 on the Niagara IceDogs and are one win away from their first conference final berth since 1999.
“The last 10 or 11 games we were struggling defensively and were playing too much of an offensive game – kind of a pond hockey game,” said sophomore defenceman Michael Del Zotto (http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/stats/player.php?lang_id=en&id=4615). “Coming into the playoffs, we knew we had to bear down and play defence first. We knew the goals would come. We’ve done that so far and hopefully we can continue to do that.”
The Generals are playing outstanding defence while goaltender Michal Neuvirth (http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/stats/player.php?lang_id=en&id=4479) has rebounded from a late season injury and is back in the form that helped the Plymouth Whalers win the OHL championship last season.
In 68 regular season games, the Generals gave up an average of 3.85 goals but in the playoffs have cut that down dramatically to 2.13 goals per game in the post season.
“Obviously we’ve got good goaltending in the first series and in this series,” Del Zotto said. “We’ve just been bearing down in our own end. We’re trying to keep it simple and use the glass whenever we need to. We’ve done a good job of that so far.”
While star scorers John Tavares (http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/stats/player.php?lang_id=en&id=4302) and Brett MacLean (http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/stats/player.php?lang_id=en&id=3982) are leading the team with 10 points each, the Generals have enjoyed a balanced scoring attack in the playoffs to date. Patrick Asselin (http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/stats/player.php?lang_id=en&id=3025) and Dale Mitchell (http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/stats/player.php?lang_id=en&id=4306) each have nine points while defenceman Ryan McGinnis (http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/stats/player.php?lang_id=en&id=3083) has chipped in with eight points and Del Zotto has seven.
Del Zotto said that the attitude around the team has improved during the playoffs. After suffering through injuries and flu bug that made its way through the team late in the season, the Generals are ready for an extended playoff run.
“It seemed like guys were kind of getting down on each other,” said Del Zotto, who scored 16 goals and 47 assists for 63 points in 64 games this season. “Guys were trying to do it all themselves to try to help the team win. We had to get back to a team game and we’ve done so in the playoffs so far.”
The Generals have lost the services of veteran winger Shea Kewin (http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/stats/player.php?lang_id=en&id=4295), who broke his leg in Game 2 of the series against the IceDogs. Kewin only had one playoff point, but his teammates said that his contributions to the game show up in other ways.
“Kewin is a big part of this team,” Tavares said. “He brings a physical aspect and he makes good plays at the right times and will do anything for the team. We’ll miss him. He’s a character guy and we know how badly he wants to be out here. We’re definitely playing for him.”
Bulls stampede over Colts
Despite missing two of their top regular season performers, the Belleville Bulls have earned their second straight trip to the OHL’s conference championships.
With Shawn Matthias (http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/stats/player.php?lang_id=en&id=4029) sidelined with mono and veteran defenceman Nick Pageau (http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/stats/player.php?lang_id=en&id=4327) out with an ankle injury, the Bulls eliminated the upstart Barrie Colts in four straight games in their Eastern Conference semi-final series. The Bulls completed the sweep with a come-from-behind 3-2 win at the Barrie Molson Centre on Tuesday.
“We swept them but they were a tough team and they never gave up,” veteran forward A.J. Perry told the Belleville Intelligencer. “We’ve got to give them a tip of the hat.”
The Bulls are waiting for the winner of the Oshawa Generals-Niagara IceDogs series, which the Generals lead 3-1. If the Bulls and Generals face off, it would be the first time that they met in the semi-finals since 1999 when Belleville went on to win their only OHL championship.
Perry said that the extra rest will be welcomed by his squad.
“It’s awesome to get the sweep,” said Perry, who had a pair of assists in the clinching game. “We’ve got some guys who are banged up and other guys who are out so this extra rest should help us.”
Around the rinks – the OHL announced the top performers for the month of March, which included both regular season and playoff games. Steven Stamkos (http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/stats/player.php?lang_id=en&id=4595) was the top player of the month after scoring 18 goals and 24 points in 14 games. Mike Murphy (http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/stats/player.php?lang_id=en&id=4326) of the Belleville Bulls was the top goaltender with a 9-1 record to go along with a 2.02 goals against average and .928 save percentage. Taylor Hall (http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/stats/player.php?lang_id=en&id=4895) of the Windsor Spitfires was the top rookie after leading all OHL scorers with 26 points (14 goals and 12 assists) in 13 games last month and Alex Pietrangelo (http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/stats/player.php?lang_id=en&id=4543) of the Niagara IceDogs was the top defenceman after scoring five goals and 13 assists in 10 games.
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