2012-2013 OHL East Division Preview

It will be a tough battle this season in the OHL's East Division.  All five clubs feel they have a team that can make the playoffs.  In Oshawa with a new General Manager and Head Coach in place the Generals are getting some preseason love to finish strong despite the lose of some key offencive tools.  The Belleville Bulls are early favourites and have the tools to make a strong run at the J. Ross Robertson Cup.  The Ottawa 67's will be lead by the OHL's Top Prospect and can never be counted out, as they are rarely on the outside looking in come March.  The Peterborough Petes have never missed the playoffs three years in a row,  in franchise history and will be pushing hard to make sure this years squad doesn't let it happen.  After what feels like years of "Next Year" and "What Happened ?" it looks like the Kingston Frontenacs might be headed in the right direction.

OSHAWA GENERALS 2011-2012 ( 31-30-4-3, 3rd in East Division, 8th in Eastern Conference )

The Oshawa Generals felt they had to make some changes after finishing below expectations the last few seasons, including last season, finishing 8th in the Eastern Conference and bowing out in the 1st round to the Eastern Conference Champions the Niagara IceDogs in six games.  First they brought in former Peterborough Petes General Manager Jeff Twohey, who made former Windsor Spitfires assistant D.J. Smith the new bench boss. On the ice, gone are New York Rangers prospect Christian Thomas and Vancouver Canucks draft pick Niklas Jensen, but the Gens still have plenty of fire power left in the likes of Scott Laughton (Philadelphia Flyers), Boone Jenner (Columbus Blue Jackets) and Lucas Lessio (Phoenix Coyotes). They have added Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Tyler Biggs from the University of Miami-Ohio and will expect more from German import Sebastian Uvira.  Scoring goals should not be a problem with Lessio likely to be one of the OHL's top scorers. Michael Dal Colle is two way centre with strong finishing abilities and is a very smart player who will fit in real well in Oshawa.  Cole Cassels will participate in the inaugural CCM/USA Hockey All-American Prospects Game and was also recently named on NHL Central Scouting’s Players to Watch list for the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.

On the back end Oshawa has five returning players.  They will depend on overage-rs Matt Petgrave and Geoffrey Schemitsch along with veteran Colin Suellentrop (Philadelphia Flyers), to eat a boat load of minutes.
In goal with the trade of Kevin Bailie to the 2012 OHL Champions the London Knights, the Generals open the door for Daniel Altshuller (Carolina Hurricanes ) to take over as the number one.  Altshuller showed several times throughout last season that he is capable of being a number one goaltender.  He held the Generals in games in last years playoffs after replacing Bailie.  Rookie Ken Appleby will be the back-up. Appleby is a big kid listed at 6'4" 208lbs and will look to impress in his draft year.

Leading Scorer(s) - Lucas Lessio, Boone Jenner
Top D-Man - Matt Petgrave
Top Rookie(s) - Tyler Biggs, Michael Dal Colle
Unsung Hero - Scott Sabourin
Top Draft Eligible - Cole Cassels, Ken Appleby
Prediction - Great goal tending and strong consistent scoring will help the Generals finish 1st in the East Division.


BELLEVILLE BULLS 2011-2012 ( 35-32-1-0, 2nd in East Division, 7th in Eastern Conference )

The Belleville Bulls are very deep with 18 players returning from last years team that finished 7th in the conference and lost a tight 1st round playoff match up to the Ottawa 67's in six games. The Forward core is lead by Vancouver Canucks 1st round draft pick Brendan Gaunce, who is one of the top two way players in the OHL and can score at a point per game or better pace, and Winnipeg Jets draft pick Austen Brassard.  They are Belleville's top two scorers from last season and should be again.  Russian Daniil Zharkov (Edmonton Oilers) will be a force and 40 plus goals is attainable.  He will be joined by country men  Sergey Kuptsov  who was inquired in a trade with Mississauga.  All four of Belleville's top four draft picks made this years team. 1st round pick Niki Petti with his strong skating skills and the ability to score and create chances should help a Bulls power play that  has struggled the last few seasons.  Bulls will also look to 2011 draft pick Aaron Berisha who attended Salisbury Prep School last season.  He has excellent skill, vision and hockey sense
On defence the Bulls have six returning and its a very good group lead by Brady Austin (Buffalo Sabres) and 2013 NHL Draft prospect Jordan Subban. Overage-rs Stephen Silas and Belleville native Jason Shaw will play a big part in helping to ease 2nd round draft pick Daniel De Sousa in to the OHL.
The main man in Belleville will be in goal. The Bulls will look to Boston Bruins 2012 1st Rd Draft pick Malcolm Subban to play the bulk of games. When healthy last season Malcolm was one of the top goaltenders in not only the OHL but in the CHL. He put up great numbers with a 2.50GAA and a .923SV%.  This season the Bulls will need him at his best if they plan on going far in the playoffs.

Top Scorer(s) - Brendan Gaunce, Austen Brassard
Top D-Man - Brady Austin
Top Rookies - Niki Petti, Daniel De Sousa
Unsung Hero - Micheal Curtis
Top Draft Eligible - Jordan Subban, Sergey Kuptsov
Prediction - Belleville will need to score more then the 200 goals they had last season and get the PP rolling.  If they find a way to score they have the goal tending and the depth to finish at least 2nd in the East

OTTAWA 67's 2011-2012 ( 1st in the East Division, 2nd in the Eastern Conference )

The 67's will look to return to the Eastern Conference Final again where last season they went down in five games to the Niagara IceDogs.  Ottawa will be lead by Sean Monahan. Monahan is the OHL’s top prospect for the 2013 NHL Entry Draft and will be the leader of this team. Monahan will reach 40+ goals and the 100 point mark and challenge for the Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy. One player doesn't make a team and that's where Steven Janes, Brett Gustavsen, Ryan Van Stralen, and Slovakian-born right-winger Richard Mraz come in. Mraz has played for Slovakia Jr Team, and has spent a full year in the Russian Junior League, then played 3 games in the KHL,  he's big at 6'2"200lbs and is ready for the OHL.

Ottawa Senators draft pick Cody Ceci will lead the 67's defence core. After finishing 2nd in OHL D-Man scoring last season Ceci should put up great numbers again and will be in the running for the Max Kaminsky Trophy.  Michael Vlajkov is in his draft year and will look to help the 67's with his NHL ready shot.

Add in overage-rs Jake Cardwell and Sean Callaghan and the 67's have a solid top 4 and they will need them to at their best because the biggest question in the Nation's Capital is in net. No one has more pressure in Ottawa then Keegan Wilson, an overeager who was brought in from Brampton in the off season is the new number one guy. Wilson is an over aged player but has only played one season in the OHL and he has a tough act to follow in All-World Goalie Petr Mrazek. It unfair to Wilson to expect him to turn in the performances that Mrazek made common place, but he will be needed to do his part. The 67's could really benefit from the NHL Lockout, as they temporally have moved to the Scotiabank place and as fans in Ottawa look for hockey, being the only ticket in town could see them play before some huge crowds.

Leading scorer(s) - Sean Monahan, Richard Mraz
Top D-Man - Cody Ceci
Top Rookie(s) - Dante Salituro, Andrew Abou-Assaly (a home town steal at 56th after he slipped to the third round because he was considering the NCAA route)
Unsung Hero - Tyler Graovac
Top Draft Eligible - Sean Monahan, Michael Vlajkov
Prediction - If Ottawa can keep the goals against down and avoid playing catch up they should finish 3rd in the East division.

PETERBOROUGH PETES 2011-2012 ( 27-34-3-4, 4th in East Division, 9th Eastern Conferance )

In the lift lock city the Peterborough Petes want to return to the playoffs after missing the last two season and will look to veteran Alan Quine (Detroit Redwings) to carry the bulk off the offence. Quine should be the leading scorer and with help from new additions former Kitchener ranger Zach Lorentz and Brett Findlay from the Greyhounds will lead a promising group of young forwards. Sophomore Nick Ritchie will look to add to his point total of 39 from last year. Stephen Nosad had a real fine rookie season as well in 2011-2012 with 32pts. The Petes will look to this years rookie forwards, Eric Cornel and Josh Maguire who were selected on their skill, but the fact that they both have local connections is an added bonus. After Cornel's AAA team was beat out last spring, he joined the Kemptville 73's (CCHL) putting up 4pts in 8 games and he was a very good playing with older players. Eric is a great skater with great vision and the ability to find the open man around the net makes him an exceptional play maker. In Josh Maguire the Petes get a player that brings a physicality and competitiveness with top end nose for the net type skill but its his compete level which separates Josh from peers in his age group. One wild card for Peterborough is Import player Jonatan Tanus from Finland. Tanus plays a North American style game and has the ability to play in all situations. Jonatan is the youngest player ever to play in the mens premier in-line-league in Finland.
Most of the Petes experience will come from the back end in the likes of Captain Slater Koekkoek. The Tampa Bay first rounder is an elite level defender that excels in all situations. Connor Boland, Clark Seymour (Pittsburgh Penguins) and Steven Trojanovic round out a nice group of veterans that will cover up mistakes made by their young forwards.
In goal Andrew D'Agostini will handle the starters duties and will benefit from the strong defencive core. D'Agostini is a leader on and off the ice he has be awarded both the The Ivan Tennant Memorial Award in 2010-11 and the The Dan Snyder Memorial Trophy in 2011-12 and will teach this young team what it means to be a player in the OHL.

Top Scorer(s) - Alan Quine, Stephen Nosad
Top D-Man - Slater Koekkoek
Top Rookies - Jonatan Tanus, Josh Maguire
Unsung Hero - Andrew D'Agostini
Top Draft Eligible - Stephen Nosad, Jonatan Tanus
Prediction - No reason to think that the D and D'Agostini wont do there job, Petes need the Forwards to do theirs if they want to finish 4th in East

KINGSTON FRONTENACS 2011-2012 ( 5th in the East Division, 10th in the Eastern Conferance )

In Kingston fans have a reason to believe that their Frontenacs are on the right path, with a great draft where they had four of the first 24 picks, General Manager Doug Gilmour and Head Coach Todd Gill are looking forward to the next few years as thier fine crop of rookies develop, With the 2nd Overall pick in the OHL Priority Selection Kingston Selected Toronto Marlies' Captain Roland McKeown who Gilmour described as "a right-handed Scott Niedermayer". McKeown can play in all situations, is an effortless skater and Roland is at his best when he has the puck, He will make mistakes,  but he will learn so much this year and will be the cornerstone of the Fronts team moving forward. At the 9th pick Kingston brought in Sam Bennett who comes advertised as a highly skilled, strong skater with great mobility and elusiveness. Bennett is great in one on one situations. Kingston fans should look forward to seeing Ryan Kujawinski who put up 30 points in 30 games after coming over from Sarina via trade last season. and with both top scorers back from last year in Darcy Greenaway and overager Cody Alcock. The Fronts should be able to score.

On the back end Michael Moffat and import Mikko Vainonen will play big minutes Warren Steele and Ryan Hutchinson will be given plenty of opportunity to shine. Rookie D-Man Dylan DiPerna can jump up in the rush and create offense for his teammates and still be able to be one of the first ones back to defend thanks to his skating ability. He get will chances but brought along with ease. In goal the man in the Limestone City will be overager and former Kitchener Ranger and Peterborough Pete Mike Morrison.

Top Scorer(s) - Darcy Greenaway, Ryan Kujawinski
Top D-Man - Mikko Vainonen
Top Rookies - Roland McKeown, Sam Bennett
Unsung Hero - Henri Ikonen
Top Draft Eligible - Ryan Kujawinski, Ryan Hutchinson
Prediction - This should be the last year in a while the Fronts finish 5 in the east

Belleville Bulls 2012 OHL Priority Selections

In the 2012 OHL draft on Saturday the Belleville Bulls needed to address a weakness, The Power Play. They felt that Niki Petti could be part of the solution selecting the The Southern Tier Admirals Forward with their 1st round pick ,10th overall.

This is a break down on the Bulls selections as we see them.

1st Rd 10th Overall - Niki Petti - Southern Tier Admirals

The Scouting report on Niki Petti is that he has a boat load of offensive talent. He put up 40 goals and 45 apples in 57 games last season for his home town Southern Tier Admirals based in Welland. His skating is off the chart and should show up well on the big ice at the Yardman. He could be the best manufactured skater in the draft. Bulls chief scout and Assistant GM Barclay Branch went as far as to call Petti the Best Pure Skater next to 1st overall selection Conner McDavid. Its safe to say he can skate.

He sees the ice very well and believes one of his strengths is his vision to the weak side saying that he feels the big ice in Belleville will help his game and that's a skill he can translate on to the ice. GM George Burnett was quoted as saying that Petti was "through the roof about becoming a Belleville Bull. He has above average puck skills and can handle the biscuit well under pressure. He's dynamic with the ability to score and create chances.

Petti is ready to help the power play and he has the tools to work down low behind the goal line off the half boards or in front of the net. Not the biggest guy at 5'11" 175lbs but he can bring a physical game and he plans to. He plans to hit the weights this summer with the hope of becoming stronger more flexible and as efficient as possible.

I think this was the smart pick by the Bulls, it gives them an element their lacking and have been for awhile.

2nd Round 31st Overall- Daniel Desousa - Toronto Marlboros

This might turn out to be a huge steal for the Bulls with almost all mock drafts having Desousa going in the 1st round. In Desousa the Bulls get a hard-hitting defense man with flair. He is smart and skilled defensively, the OHL scouting report called him a defence man that players dislike playing against and is the type of player who can play in any situation, playing at his best on the PK and against the other teams top lines. His offensive skill set is also a big draw. Daniel loves to rush the puck and with a stride like his he should also benefit from the the large ice.

3rd Rd 52nd Overall- Michael Cramarossa - Toronto Marlboros

The brother of Bulls player Joesph Cramarossa Michael brings a big game presence, above average skill set, and he is a great two way guy. He plays a smart game and can mix it up physically. I know his skill set will fit real nice in the system that the Bulls run.

4th Rd 70th Overall- Chad Heffernan - Peterborough Minor Petes

This was an other strong pick for the Bulls. Heffernan is a good working, tough, consistent power forward. He works the puck to the net, cycles well down low and is a nice complementary player. He will be a fan favorite. Chad enjoys the physical side of the game and uses his size to dominate play. He hits hard but has the skill to be a complete player. Heffernan's stepfather is retired NHL veteran Steve Larmer

5th RD 90th Overall- Nik Coric - York Simcoe Express

Coric is a flashy puck handler who has speed to burn and can make very intelligent plays at top speed. He is a gifted play maker who makes his whole team better. With his explosive speed he gets a lot of breakaways.”

6th Rd 112th Overall- Hayden Lavigne - Toronto Young Nationals

The only goalie the Bulls drafted. Lavigne At 6' 3" is a big goalie who is both athletic and technical. He separates himself from other goalies his age using strong positioning, consistently challenging and making saves outside the blue paint.

7th Rd 132nd Overall- Andrew Ming - Eastern Ontario Wild

Ming has the intangibles to compete in the OHL, he is gritty, tough, and a hard worker who puts team interests ahead of his own. He is the brother of Kitchener Ranger Eric Ming.

9th Rd 172nd Overall- Brody Morris - Quinte Red Devils

Brody plays for the Quinte Red Devils and is a big, stay at home type defence man. he is tough to beat out of the corners. He will do whatever it takes to win, like block shots, and battle for pucks. Nothing flashy, he just moves the puck up the ice.

10th Rd 192nd Overall- Daniel Barnes - Toronto Red Wings

Barnes is a smart D man, has good vision and positioning away from the play

11th Rd 212th Overall- Connor Cobbold - Ottawa Valley

Cobbold is the wild card according to scouts, because the prospect plays a "roller-coaster" style game that sees him shine on one night and underwhelm on another. His brother Spenser Cobbold plays for the Mississauga St. Mikes Majors

12th Rd 232nd Overall- Trent Shore - Ajax Pickering

A nasty, physical defence man. You won't get much offence out of him, but unlike a lot of kids in this age group, he loves to play physical, he knows his role and plays it well.

13th Rd 252nd Overall- Joe Wegwerth - Brewster Bulldogs

Wegwerth is built like a tank at 6-2 and 205 pounds, and has skill to back it all up. Real good chance he will play for the USA NTDP.

14th Rd 272nd Overall- Mark Price - Peterborough Minor Petes

Mark Price could become a very good power forward in the OHL. His greatest attributes are his great hands and he's tough in the corners. He's a big body who comes out with the puck.

15th Rd 292nd Overall- Jacob Panetta - Quinte Red Devils

Panetta is the Captain of the Quinte Red Devils. Jacob is a great athlete. He was the smallest player the Bulls drafted and will have to work his but off to play in the OHL. It says here that he knows that and will.

15th Rd 295th Overall- Colton Keuhl - Ottawa Valley

He played a few games with the Jr.A Gloucester Rangers.

Bulls/Leafs 1989 Draft

The Bulls and Leafs draft connection from 1989 was a bust for the Leafs for sure, but not so much for some of the Bulls Alumni involved.

Scott Thornton was drafted 3rd overall, but I don't think anyone other then the Leafs staff at the time, thought he would be a NHL Superstar , He only scored 62 goals in 171 games with Belleville. I think Thornton turned in to the NHLer he should have, a good tough two-way player , a third liner that could give you good minutes. Its thanks to the lock out that he missed being the 1st Belleville Bull to dress in 1000 NHL games. Scott and others trade out of Toronto brought Glen Anderson, Grant Fuhr, and Craig Berube. Anderson was later Traded to the NYR for Mike Gartner, Fuhr was traded to Buffalo that brought the last Leaf 50 goal scorer to town in Dave Andreychuk, and Berube well he left town in the Gilmour trade. Thornton won a Calder Cup playing with the Cape Breton Oilers in 92-93 under current Bulls Head Coach and GM George Burnett.

Rob Pearson left the Bulls for the Generals and peaked playing with Lindros when Eric was at his OHL best.

Steve Bancroft was a guy I thought for sure would have played in the NHL, he was tough, he could fight, hit and had a beauty of a shot from the point. It helps that he is from Madoc. and was also a Centurion. He still holds track and field records at CHSS. He never panned out in the NHL but the minor leagues were an other thing . He played in 1024 minor pro games, 546 AHL and 478 IHL. Winning a Calder Cup in 1998-99. In 2005-06 when playing with the Calgary Flames farm team Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights, then Flames GM Darryl Sutter payed Bancroft a great complement saying he was that guy that was good enough for the NHL but you wanted him on your farm team to show all your kids how to be real pros.

OHL Eastern Conference Playoffs - (7) Belleville Bulls Vs (2) Ottawa 67's Game 6 and Series Review

OHL Eastern Conference Playoffs - (7) Belleville Bulls Vs (2) Ottawa 67's Game 6 Review

Monday night in Belleville, with 2857 on hand the Ottawa 67's ended the Belleville Bulls season with a 2-1 victory, winning the series in 6 games.

The first period was scoreless with the Bulls out shooting the 67's 16-11.

In the 2nd it was Belleville that got on the score sheet first when Garrett Hooey buried his 1st of the post season from Scott Simmonds and OA Adam Payerl at 3:22. The Party didn't last long and before the period would end at 18:08 Tyler Toffoli scored his 5th from Sean Monahan and Jake Cardwell to tie the game 1-1. The 67's outshot the Bulls 17-12 in the frame.

The third seen who else but Tyler Toffoli score the game winner his 2nd of the game and 6th in the playoffs from Cody Ceci at 5:51. With his team trailing Joesph Cramarossa dropped the mitts with Tyler Graovac in what was a very impressive bout by both player but it wasn't enough for the home team and the 67's defeated the Bulls 2-1. In the 3rd Ottawa out shot Belleville 9-4 and 37-32 in the game. Both clubs went 0/3 on the power play.

3 Stars 1- 67's Tyler Toffoli 2- Bulls Garrett Hooey 3- Bulls Malcolm Subban

The Belleville penalty kill was very good in the series going 16/18 with a shorthanded goal and was 2nd in the league during the 1st round, only the 67's were better going 28/29. Ottawa was also very good on the kill but that number also says alot about the Bulls very ineffective power play after being ranked 20th the last two regular seasons , it was also the last ranked power play in the playoffs running at very weak 3.4%.

Both goaltenders had some great moments in this series. 67's Petr Mrazek put up great numbers posting a 2.43GAA and a .934SV%. In the games two Ottawa lost in OT he was also strong. Malcolm Subban earned his 1st OHL playoff victory and was really strong facing an average of 36 shots a game. As we have seen this season there where times when Malcolm was holding the fort on his own. He is Belleville's best penalty killer. He posted a 2.93GAA and a .917SV%.

Belleville's defence was good with Jake Worrad, Brady Austin and Stephen Silas scoring big goals for the Bulls. Jason Shaw even without any goals was Belleville's best defender.
With Captain Marc Zanetti missing the last 4 games due to suspension Ottawa turned to Cody Ceci who did his thing. Veteran Jake Carwell and Michal Cajkovsky both played well in the Captain's absence.

Upfront was the difference, Ottawa's big guns where their big guns, the 67's scored 20 goals in the series, their top 3 regular season goal scorers lead the charge, Tyler Toffoli with 6 , Shane Prince with 4 and Sean Monahan with 4 combining for 14 of the 20. For Belleville their top three regular season scorers Brendan Gaunce, Austen Brassard and Daniil Zharkov had 3 between them. The Bulls just couldn't match up, Toffoli's 6 goals matched the out put of Gaunce, Brassard, Zharkov, Luke Judson, Adam Payerl and Jordan Mayer combined. Sean Monahan was spectacular in this series and I look for him to be a deference maker for the 67's moving forward.

OHL Eastern Conference Playoffs - (7) Belleville Bulls Vs (2) Ottawa 67's Game 5 Review

OHL Eastern Conference Playoffs - (7) Belleville Bulls Vs (2) Ottawa 67's Game 5 Review.

On Friday night the Belleville Bulls traveled to the Nations Capital to face the Ottawa 67's in Game 5 of their very tight 1st round playoff match up. Coming in to game 5 every game in this series minus game 2 , where there was an empty net goal, had been decided by one goal, Three games have gone to over time. The series was tied 2-2.

On Friday Ottawa's big guns were their big guns and they defeat the Bulls 5-2 to take a 3-2 series lead. Game 6 goes Monday night in Belleville.

The Bulls did what they wanted to do and that was score early and take the 6838 fans in attendance out of it and at just over 5 minutes in at 5:18 Joesph Cramarossa scored his 2nd from Daniil Zharkov and Austen Brassard to give the Bulls a 1-0 lead. Things looked to be going the Bulls way, Ottawa had taken a penalty, their 2nd minor of the game. Belleviille looked great on their 1st chance doing everything but scoring. Some body scored but that somebody was Shane Prince shorthanded at 12:44 to tie the game. The first would end tied 1-1. Ottawa out shot the Bulls 11-8. In the 1st Dalton Smith layed a huge hit that rocked Daniil Zharkov and sent him to the quiet room for a check up. He returned.

The OHL has decided against applying supplementary discipline to Smith.
Smith caught Zharkov with his head down and rocked him with a solid check. Replays show Smith makes hard contact with Zharkov’s head with his raised arms. The Ref made the correct call — five for check-to-the-head and game misconduct.

Some others would argue that Zharkov had this coming, all series he has been doing his share of dirty work, but in a league that has made it clear it wants to rid its product of any kind of contact to the head or borderline legal hits to players in a vulnerable positions why was this hit to the head not punished ? Bulls rookie and 1st time offender Alex Carnevale got 8 games for a hit that was all shoulder but this one gets nothing ? Smith didn't have to raise his arms and it would have been a great hard hit, but he did. Smith plays a hard physical in your face game and is no saint . He is a repeat offender, I don't understand it ?

Shane Prince would score his 2nd of the night and 3rd of the playoffs from Cody Ceci and Mike Cazzola at 13:20. The 2nd ended with the home team up 2-1. Belleville had the lead in shots department 11-7 in the period.

At 9:27 of the 3rd Belleville tied the game 2-2 when Stephen Silas scored his 1st of the post season from Brendan Gaunce and Luke Judson. That was it for the Bulls as it was the 67's the rest of the way. At 12:26 Sean Monahan scored the game winner his 4th of the post season from Brett Gustavsen and Sean Callaghan. The OHL's regular season goal leader Tyler Toffoli got in on the fun lighting the lamp with his 4th from Monahan and Ceci. To round out the scoring it was Shane Prince with his 3rd of the game and 4th of the series from Toffoli in to the empty net at 19:02. Belleville would out shot the 67's 15-11 in the 3rd and 34-29 in the game.


Ottawa didn't not have any PP chances and the Bulls went 0/6. Belleville is now 1/26 in the series. The 67's with 2 have more shorthanded goals then Belleville has PP goals. The 67's are 2/15 with the man advantage in the series.

3 Stars - 1- 67's Shane Prince 2- 67's Sean Monahan 3- 67's Cody Ceci

OHL Eastern Conference Playoffs - (7) Belleville Bulls Vs (2) Ottawa 67's Game 4 Review

The 2363 fans who did their part to #packtheyard, were rewarded with a thrilling over time victory by the home town Belleville Bulls.  Belleville defeated the Ottawa 67's 4-3 in OT and tied the series at two games each.

Before the game there was a real buzz going around the Yardman, the fans,  the media,  Bulls staff and players, every one was fired up for game 4.  After winning Game three in OT on Sunday afternoon, and with momentum now on Belleville's side,  this was Belleville's game to lose.

Bulls Charlie Graham, Alex Carnevale, and Mack Lemmon were all victims of the numbers.  After leaving Sunday's game on his own with an upper body injury Dylan Corson also didn't dress.

67's scratches would be Shayne Campbell, Daniel Broussard, John McFarland, and Daniel Walsh.  Earlier in the day the 67's learned they would be without Captain Marc Zanetti for the next three games.  Zanetti was suspended 5 games for a spearing incident that happened during the pre-game warm-up in game two.

Belleville got off to a great start and scored at 0:52 of the 1st.  Bulls playoff goals leader Micheal Curtis scored his 3rd, when he finished a real nice passing play from Game 3 hero Jordan Mayer and Captain Luke Judson.  Its nice to see Curtis get rewarded,  after netting 19 goals in his rookie year followed by totals of 9 in 2010-11 and 13 this season, the offence hasn't came easy for Curtis , but he has turned in to a great defensive player that the Bulls have been known for under Burnett.  Belleville would keep the pressure strong in the games first few minutes.  At 3:11 Ottawa's Taylor Fielding took a 4 minute double minor for high sticking that lead to top NHL prospect Brendan Gaunce 1st post season goal from Judson and Daniil Zharkov.  The goal would break a slump of 0/14 on the PP in the postseason.  Belleville was clearly the better team in the 1st carrying the play and out shooting the 67's 14-6

The second period was scoreless with both teams firing 14 shots on net.  This was one of the most exciting scoreless periods I've seen this season.  Both goalies played very well,  both teams were skating well, some nice hard hits.  Everyone in Black was blocking shots.   Mayer blocked two in a row on one shift and Brady Austin had a great period and was up and down the ice leading the way for the Bulls.

The third period started good when Austen Brassard scored his 1st of the post season from Joesph Cramarossa and Garrett Hooey at  8:30 to give the Bulls a 3-0 lead.  But then everything changed Belleville started sending one guy,  maybe two and not skating the way they were in the 1st and 2nd.  We all know what happens when you stop skating , you take penalties.  So with Carter Sandlak in box 67's Tyler Toffoli scored his 3rd of the playoffs on the PP from Michal Cajkovsky and Mike Cazzola.  All of a sudden the Belleville Bulls are back on there heels and before you can say "Bay of Quinte" Ryan Van Stralen made it 3-2 on his 1st from Shane Prince.  Ottawa had taken the momentum back and was looking for the tying goal and at 18:22 Jake Cardwell  tied it 3-3.  in the third Ottawa out shot Belleville 16-11.

In OT both teams had 5 shots and it looked like they wanted to end it.  With everyone in the building on their feet, holding their breath and ringing their cowbells Brady Austin skated with the puck from inside his own blue line after a pass from Jake Worrad and ripped the winner home at 7:46.

This game was the third of the first four to go to OT.  Good goal tending has been the norm.

Petr Mrazek was good, just like he has been in every game and stopped 40 of the 44 shots he faced.  In the second and when the visitors where picking up steam in third, he was at his All World Best.

Malcolm Subban was also at his All World Best making 38 saves on 41 shots and was named the games 2nd Star.

3Stars -  1- Bulls Brady Austin   2- Bulls Malcolm Subban   3- Bulls Luke Judson.

This was a great game with lots of back in forth action. It didn't have the same edgy feel that Game 3 had , it had more of an lets get this win,  feel from both teams.  saying that there was plenty of hits, after whistle stuff, and Worrad and Giftopoulos dropped the mitts in the 3rd.  Ottawa took the games first 8 minor penalties and finished 6/7 on the PK.  Belleville went 2/3 on PK.  Game 5 goes Friday night in Ottawa.

OHL Eastern Conference Playoffs - (7) Belleville Bulls Vs (2) Ottawa 67's Game 3 Review

OHL Eastern Conference Playoffs - (7) Belleville Bulls Vs (2) Ottawa 67's Game 3 Review

In the playoffs when teams are down like the Belleville Bulls were to the Ottawa 67's two games to none,  they look forward to coming home and turning it around,  Belleville did just that winning 4-3 in OT on Sunday afternoon.   The win cuts Ottawa's series lead to 2-1.

Game 3 in the most important game in a 7 game series.  If the series is tied , it gives the winner a lead in the series,  if the team that wins game 3 is already up 2 games like the Ottawa 67's were coming in.  it gives that team a stranglehold on the series, and on the other side if your a team down 2 games like the Belleville Bulls were, you have to win game 3 to have any chance to claw your way back in to it. 

In Belleville they don't have $1 hot dogs (they should), they have $2 cowbells and they know how to use them.  The Yardman doesn't get lots of credit for being a loud building every night, mainly because its not. But when motivated it can be and today the 2509 in attendance were super motivated.  There was a strong group of Ottawa fans at the Yardman and you could hear them.  To be honest they brought the best out of the Yardman faithful and the atmosphere was the best its been in Belleville in a long time.

The 1st period was scoreless with Belleville out shooting the 67's 13-8.  It didn't take long for the tone of the game to be set, at 0:54 Micheal Curtis and Mike Cazzola each headed to the sin bin for slashing.  After every whistle sticks got high, and someone took a face wash.  It's easy to see that a strong dislike for each other is building in this series.

Belleville's version of the "Russian Rocket" Daniil Zharkov scored his 1st of the post season to open the scoring at 1:00 mark of the 2nd. The lead was Belleville's first in the series.  The crowd was already fired up from some great music selections from the Bulls DJ, and the Zharkov goal really got them going.  Unfortunately the Ottawa 67's also like Gun and Roses and scored the next three goals.   Tyler Graovac at 5:09 tied the game.  Next it was Brett Gustavsen scoring his 2nd of the series from Nicholas Foglia and Cody Ceci at 5:50.  Sean Monahan scored his 3rd a shorthanded beauty from Tyler Toffli and Bratislava Slovakia native Michal Cajkovsky putting the 67's up 3-1 after 40 minutes.  The visitors had the edge in shots 14-11 in the 2nd.

The 3rd started kinda flat for the Bulls and Ottawa was looking like they were ready to cruse to a 3 games to none series lead, when at 4:43 with Joseph Cramarossa in the sin bin Belleville's Micheal Curtis scored his 2nd of the series on a shorthanded break a way, after breaking up a play at his own blue line.   The goal brought the building and the Bulls bench back to life, all of a sudden it was the Bulls bringing the play to the 67's.  At 5:41 Jake Worrad tied the game on a long shot that Petr Mrazek got a piece of and the puck literally trickled across the goal line.  Carter Sandlak wearing a full cage and Jason Shaw picked up helpers on the goal.  Belleville out shot Ottawa 15-13 in the third.

In overtime the Belleville Bulls ended it real quick when Kingston native Jordan Mayer found the back of the net at 0:14 with his first as a Bull in the post season from Adam Payerl and Shaw.  Belleville had the only shot in OT. and out shot Ottawa in the game 40-35

This game lived up to the hype and was just as good as the first two held in Ottawa.  Both Malcolm Subban and Petr Mrazek played well.  Subban faced 35 shots and made 32 saves in his 1st career OHL playoff victory.  Mrazek made 36 saves on 40 shots.  Mrazek's best work in the game was after the Bulls tied it up 3-3, Belleville was pushing to end it in the 3rd and he shut the door forcing the game to OT.

Both Clubs went 4/4 on the PK.  And in the series so far Ottawa's PP is 1/12, and Belleville's  PP is 0/13. We knew Belleville was a good penalty killing team and bad power play team, but Ottawa's PK has been very strong looking just as dangerous offensively at times as they do 5 on 5. This game had a nasty edge to it and was very entertaining,  Game 4 goes Tuesday in Belleville,  Lets hope we can #packtheyard. 

3 Stars 1- Bulls  Jake Worrad  2- Bulls Michael Curtis  3- 67's Tyler Graovac

OHL Eastern Conference Playoffs - (7) Belleville Bulls Vs (2) Ottawa 67's Game 2 Review.

OHL Eastern Conference Playoffs - (7) Belleville Bulls Vs (2) Ottawa 67's Game 2 Review.

After two strong games in Ottawa to start this series the Belleville Bulls find themselves down two games to none. The Bulls would drop Game 2 Friday night in the Nations Capital 4-2.

Belleville knew before the game that they had got the 67's attention Thursday night in Game 1. The result was a pre-game scrum, in the warm-up that lead to Ottawa's Captain Marc Zanetti taking a Match penalty for spearing before the game even started. The Bulls coaching staff called the penalty a compliment saying that "its means we are getting to them"
The rough stuff didn't end in the warm up. The teams combined for 34 minutes in penalties in the 1st period, and that doesn't included 10 minute misconducts to Belleville's Joesph Cramarossa and Ottawa's Tyler Graovac. The home side took two more minors in the 2nd and the visitors keep their noses clean the rest of the way. Both clubs were perfect on the PK, Belleville went 5/5 and Ottawa was 4/4. Both OTT and BEL had lengthy 5 on 3's.
The this game a real edge to it, at times it felt like you were waiting for something to break out after the whistle. The game was indeed OHL playoff hockey at its first round best. Both teams played with loads of intensity. Things got heated a couple times with Cramarossa and Graovac dropping the gloves as well as Adam Payerl and Dalton Smith.

The Bulls had 2 line up changes, rookie Jordan Subban who had a rough night in Game 1, was scratched in favor of veteran Branden Morris. Bulls also used John Chartrand as the back-up after using Charlie Graham in the first game. Mack Lemmon and Alex Carnevale were victims of the numbers.

Malcom Subban played in his 21st straight game including the regular season, and after a great effort in Game 1, he turned in a strong effort in game two as well. Malcolm faced 32 shots and stopped 29.
The Detroit Red Wings might have got an other later round gem in Petr Mrazek. The 5th round pick in the 2010 NHL Draft was great in Game 2. Mrazek turned away 44 of the 46 shots he faced. Petr was named the games 1st Star and made save after save on the Bulls, showing that he can be his teams best player when need be.

It was Ottawa getting the lead in the 1st, something Belleville is yet to do in the series, when Brett Gustavsen scored after some bad defensive play by the Bulls and a big rebound was kicked out by Subban. The goal came at 2:21 and was assisted by Remy Giftopoulos and Jake Cardwell. Belleville tied the game just under three minutes later at 5:18 when Micheal Curtis deflected home a Cramarossa shot. The goal was reviewed and was upheld. The 67's took a 2-1 lead in to the middle frame thanks to Sean Monahan who netted his first of the series at 9:53 from Graovac and Smith.
Belleville was out shot by Ottawa 13-12 in the 1st.

The second period was scoreless, but not without some good play from both sides. Both clubs killed off a 5-3, Both goalies played well with Belleville out shooting Ottawa 18-8.

The final frame was kinda like the first frame minus the penalties with the 67's scoring twice and the Bulls only able to lite the lamp once. At 4:59 it was Sean Monahan with his 2nd on the night from Tyler Toffoli, giving the home team a 3-1 lead. Belleville would tie it up when Joesph Cramarossa scored his 1st post season goal as a member of the Belleville Bulls. With the goal Cramarossa would complete the Gordie Howe Hat trick. Garrett Hooey and Carter Sandlak picked up apples on the play. If one dollar hot dogs weren't enough to send the crowd of 8598 home happy, Shane Prince did when he hit the empty net at 19:23 from Mike Cazzola and Cody Ceci, sealing the deal for the 67's 4-2. Belleville out shoot Ottawa 16-12 in the period and 46-33 in the game.

3 Stars 1- 67's Petr Mrazek 2- 67's Sean Monahan 3- Bulls Joseph Cramarossa

Belleville returns home on Sunday for a 2:00pm game, down two games in the series. To be successful and get back in this, Belleville needs to get production from their offensive leaders Brendan Gaunce, Austen Brassard and Daniil Zharkov. The Bulls top three regular seasons scoring leaders have combined for 1 point in the 1st two games. If Belleville wants to win those three and the power play that is 0/9 in the series have to get it going.

(7) Belleville Bulls Vs (2) Ottawa 67's OHL Playoffs Game 1 March 22, 2012

(7) Belleville Bulls Vs (2) Ottawa 67's OHL Playoffs Game 1 March 22, 2012

Game 1 of this 1st round Eastern Conference series started out pretty good for the Belleville Bulls,  and ended great for the Ottawa 67's.  Ottawa wins 3-2 in OT, and lead the series 1-0 

These two teams are alot closer then we think, but only when it comes to playing everyone else in the OHL not each other.  In the season series Ottawa owned the Bulls, out scoring Belleville 41-18 and winning 7 games and only losing once and that was in over time.  Ottawa picked up 15 of 16 possible points Vs the Bulls. The 67's and Bulls ended 17 points apart with 88 and 71 point total's respectfully, but if you eliminate the games against each other there point totals are alot closer. The 67's would have 73 and the Bulls would sit at 69.  So if Belleville plays like they can and Ottawa plays Belleville like they play every one else ? We might not only have a game, but we will also have a series.

The home team went with the pride of Ostrava, Czechoslovakia Petr Mrazek.  As advertised Mrazek was good and played well in the victory.  His most work came in the 1st when he faced 19 shots.  He allowed 1 goal in the 1st, but he held the 67's in the game.  After a little bit of a shaky start Belleville played a very good first frame.  They had a great best chance on a very good PP where they did everything but score.  Petr wasn't to busy the rest of the way only facing 11 shots combined in the 2nd and 3rd.  He faced 30 shots in total and none in OT.

Like they do and who could blame them, the Belleville Bulls would start Malcolm Subban and he didn't disappoint, he showed that he is the Number 1 ranked goalie in North America.  Malcolm faced 43 shots and stopped 40, he had his most work in the 2nd period facing 26 shots including stopping Taylor Fielding on a penalty shot.  With that stop Subban remains perfect on penalty shots and shootouts this season.  Subban showed he's ready to play and it wont be easy for the 67's.  Malcolm had a very strong effort, I expect him to be just as good on Friday.

Ottawa got on the score sheet first when the OHL regular season goal leader Tyler Toffoli scored his 1st of the playoffs on the PP with Garrett Hooey in the box for tripping from Shane Prince and Marc Zanetti at 16:44 of the 1st.  Before the period ended Belleville Bulls Captain Luke Judson tipped home a Jason Shaw point shot to score his 1st at 19:14 to tie the game 1-1.  Belleville out shot Ottawa 19-8.

In the middle frame it was Ottawa that broke the Tie at 9:11 when Steven Janes lite the lamp for the 1st time this post season from Zanetti and Prince.  Belleville tied it up 2-2 at 16:08 when Pittsburgh Penguins Prospect Adam Payerl slipped one past the goal line with Top NHL Prospect Brendan Gaunce drawing the lone helper.

The 3rd period was scoreless. 

In over time Ottawa didn't want Belleville to get set up in their trap and grind things out.  They wanted to end it early.  It took 2:02 and future  Los Angeles King Tyler Toffoli scored his 2nd of the night on a break a way from Michal Cajkovsky and Janes to send most of the 4284 in attendance home happy.  Bulls were 0/5 on the PP, and Ottawa was 1/3.

3 Stars 1- 67's Marc Zanetti  2- Bulls Malcolm Subban  3- 67's Tyler Toffoli

This was a good game, and at times both teams looked great, with Belleville owning the 1st and Ottawa owning the 2nd.  If  not for the Play of Mrazek in the 1st and Subban in the 2nd this is a way different game. Toffoli showed why he was recognized in the Coaches Poll.  It wont take long to find out what club benefits from the quick turn around as game 2 goes Friday night in Ottawa. 

The Team most likely to Upset

The team most likely to upset the higher seed in the first round is the Eastern Conference 6th seed Mississauga St. Michaels Majors over the 3rd seed Barrie Colts.

Barrie is a good young team on the rise who finished last in the league last year and really turned things around. But I think the experience that some of the Majors picked up in last years playoff run is the factor that will push them to the upset. Majors goalie Brandon Maxwell played very well down the stretch winning his last 5 games posting three shutouts and is playing as well as any tender in the OHL is right now.
I like the way Coach James Boyd has brought his team together
Riley Brace, Stuart Percy and Jamie Wise lead the charge and all will play a big part in the Majors moving on.

Belleville Bulls (7th) Vs Ottawa 67's (2nd)

The 7th place Belleville Bulls will play the Eastern Conference 2nd seed and East Division winner the Ottawa 67's in the 1st round of the 2012 OHL Playoffs.  Ottawa won the season series 7-1.  At times the 67's handed it to the Bulls.  In February Ottawa defeated Belleville 9-0, that was good for the 2nd worst lose in Bulls history. 

The last couple seasons Vs the 67's have not been kind to the Belleville Bulls.  They haven't won in the Nation's Capital since November 2008.  Something they will get an early chance to change as the 1st two games will be played in Ottawa on Thursday and Friday. 

Belleville and Ottawa have met 7 others times in playoff history with the Bulls holding the edge, 4-3.  Last time they met in the post season was 2006-2007 with Belleville ousting Ottawa in 5 games in the 1st round.

 

 

Goal tending : Very few series are won without good goal tending, This series should be no different. Both teams have very capable net minders that have the tools to lead their team to the next round.  Ottawa will go with World Jr's stand out and Detroit Redwings Prospect  Petr Mrazek. He played in 50 games this season,  winning 30 while posting a 2.84GAA and a .917SV%

Belleville will go with Top NHL Prospect Malcolm Subban.  Malcolm was slow to recover from a mid-season groin injury, but looks to be coming around and ready to carry the Bulls.  Subban finished the year strong and was an amazing 16-2 when he faced 30 shots or more this season.  His 2.50GAA and .923SV% are both top ten numbers in the OHL.   Belleville will go as far as Subban can carry them.

Advantage- Bulls

 

Home Ice:  Home ice will be huge in this series,  If Belleville wants to win, they have to win at least one game in Ottawa, something they don't do.  With the 1st two games in Ottawa the Bulls have to at least take one and come home with the split. You don't want to be down 2-0 early.  Ottawa was 20-11-2-1 at home this season,  Belleville was 14-19-1-0 on the road. 

At the Yardman the Bulls have a 21-13-0-0 record.  The 67's are a very good road team at 20-9-3-2 on the season.  The big ice doesn't hurts the 67's and the standard ice doesn't hurt the Bulls. Fans in Ottawa come out strong in support of their 67's, anything less then 7000+ a game will be a surprise.  The Belleville Bulls had a hard time drawing over 3000 fans a game this season, but should top that in their home games.  When motivated the Yardman faithful and their cowbells can be loud.

Advantage - 67's

 

Forwards:  Belleville's group has started to come together.  The Bulls have a Top NHL Prospect in Brendan Gaunce who is a point per game player.  You could also argue that Gaunce is the best two way player available in this years NHL cattle call.  Austen Brassard will be counted on along with import Daniil Zharkov and OA's Adam Payerl and Jordan Mayer to provide the bulk of the Bulls scoring. Captain Luke Judson, Joesph Cramarossa and Micheal Curtis all will chip in.  Belleville has a good tight defensive group of forwards, who can and have all played together at some point this season. 

Ottawa is loaded up front. The OHL's  Jim Mahon Memorial Trophy winner Tyler Toffoli and his league leading 52 goals and 100 points lead the way.  Toffoli,  Shane Prince and Sean Monahan's numbers are all double digits higher then the Bulls leading scorer. 

Every year the 67's have player that saves his best for Belleville.  This year its Dalton Smith.

Smith has 15 goals this season, 5 have come Vs Belleville..

Advantage - 67's 

 

Defense:  Ottawa has veteran's Cody Ceci, Marc Zanetti and Jake Cardwell for a very nice top three, who combined for 32 goals this season.  Pims leader Michal Cajkovsky is  +21.  Every regular d-man in the 67's line up is a plus player.  Belleville's group is not as high powered as the Ottawa group.  But every member of the Bulls blue line brings something different.  Jason Shaw and Brady Austin have been playing some of their best hockey of late.  Stephen Silas had a career best 6 goals.  Rookie Jordan Subban will make some mistakes, but at 16 the long term reward will be worth letting him play good minutes.  If the Bulls keep it simple and play together they will be fine.

Advantage - Draw

 

Special Teams:  Bulls have a slight edge on the PK, at 83.2 to Ottawa's 81.0.  On the PP its all about the 67's.  The Bulls have the least ranked PP in the OHL and some nights it looks every bit the part.

Advantage - 67's

 

To end the season the Ottawa 67's where on a little bit of a slide losing their last two and going 4-5-1 in their last ten.  Belleville on the other hand was heating up at the right time going 6-4-0 in their last ten and enter the playoffs on a three game winning streak, their 1st since early Dec. I like the Bulls chances in this series if they can steal a early win in Ottawa, if Malcolm Subban does his thing and allows his team to settle in to their game, Belleville  will drag this out.  A longer series favors Belleville.  The Ottawa 67's are capable of ending this real quick, a few times this season Ottawa has laid some huge beatings on the Bulls out scoring them 41-18  and if they start rolling and lighting the lamp, it will be over before it starts.

Belleville Bulls Weekend Review March 16-17 2012

Belleville Bulls @ Kingston Frontenacs, Friday March 16, 2012

The Belleville Bulls have picked the right time to turn the ship around. After Wednesday nights 3-2 OT win over the visiting Oshawa Generals, The Toro's knew what they had to do to avoid a 1st round playoff death match with the Niagara Icedogs. They had to win both of their remaining games and they did. They defeated the Frontenacs 4-3 in a shoot out in Kingston Friday night, followed by a 2-0 home win over the Sudbury Wolves on Saturday evening. With the Victories the Bulls improved their record to 35-32-1-0 with 71 points. The Bulls did everything they could and were rewarded as they finish the season in 7th and will now face the Ottawa 67's in the 1st round.

In Kingston, to no ones surprise the Bulls would start Malcolm Subban. Kingston would answer with their Regular season MVP, OA Russian import Igor Bobkov. earlier in the week Igor was named in the Eastern Conferences coaches poll. With 10 points he tied Frank Corrado of the Sudbury Wolves for 3rd Most Improved Player.

Both goalies played well in the game. Bobkov faced 34 shots in regulation and OT and stopped 31. In the shootout he stopped Brendan Gaunce before allowing the shootout winner to Bulls OA Adam Payerl. The winner had to be reviewed but it stood.

Malcolm Subban was also named in the Coaches Poll, Malcolm tied Belleville native Kevin Bailie of the Oshawa Generals for the 3rd Best Puck handling Goalie honours. Subban made 34 saves on 37 shots. But it was in the shootout Malcolm showed why he also was named Best Shootout Goalie in the Coaches Poll. He stopped all three of the Fronts shooters, leading scorer Darcy Greenaway, former Bull and Fronts Captain Cody Alcock and Super Rookie Ryan Kujawinski. With the 3 stops Subban is now 12/12 in shootouts and the Bulls improved to 5-0 in shootouts.

The Kingston faithful of 2571 had thought they had a victory when Conner Stokes slipped one past Subban in overtime, only to have the goal disallowed.

Kingston got goals from David Mazurek his 7th and two from Billy Jenkins his 9th and 10th. Ryan Kujawinski had two assists and now has 6 points in four games Vs Belleville this season. Michael Moffat, Stokes, and Tervor Morbeck added single helpers.

For Belleville it was defence men Brady Austin with his 5th, a real beauty of a goal. A nice rush by the big man, something he has been doing a lot of recently, something we hope he keeps up. Austin also scored his 6th. Bulls import Daniil Zharkov netted his 23 on the PP. The Bulls got helpers from Luke Judson, Jordan Mayer, Micheal Curtis, Stephen Silas and Brendan Gaunce, who was also named in the Coaches Poll as the 3rd Best Play maker.

The Bulls PP went 1/6 and the PK went 5/5. Bulls win 4-3 in a Shootout

3 Stars 1- Kingstons Billy Jenkins 3- Bellevilles Brady Austin 2- Kingstons Ryan Kujawinski

Belleville Bulls Vs Sudbury Wolves Saturday March 17, 2012

Belleville would finish 12-9 in their last 21 games. What does this mean ?

It means the goal the Belleville Bulls set for them selves on Feb 3rd to break their last 21 games down in to three 7 game series and win the 3 series, they would be a playoff team. Two games before it was over the Bulls knew they would be in. But they still didn't know where they would finish. So after a strong game Vs the Wolves that the Bulls won 2-0, The answer was division rival the Ottawa 67's.

Saturday night started in Belleville with the Bulls 3 over age players Jordan Mayer, Adam Payerl and Captain Luke Judson being honoured for their time in the OHL and with the Bulls. Also before the game Captain Luke Judson was awarded the Jake Gilmour awarded. The "Gilly" is voted on by the fans and is awarded to the player who best demonstrates the qualities that Gilmour exhibited as a valued and extremely popular member of the team from 2001-2003. The "Beast from the East" always showed pride in the Bulls jersey, a love of the game, and equal respect for teammates opponents and fans. Luke Judson does all these things.

Judson is only the second 3 year Captain in Team History, the other being the Bulls 1st Captain Dunc MacIntyre, who also holds the honour of having his number 15 hang from the rafters the only Bull to have that honour. Its very fitting that Judson won this award for the 3rd straight season.

Sudbury would start Joel Vienneau and he was very good stopping 34 of the 36 shots he faced. But in this goaltender's duel it was Malcolm Subban who stole the show. Subban was great for the Bulls in his 19th start in a row, making 39 saves for his 3rd shut out of the season.

Coming in to the playoffs Malcolm is looking real strong something the Bulls need if they hope to have any success. Subban finishes the season with some good numbers. In 39 games played he has a 2.50GAA and a .923SV% to go along with a 25-14-0-0-0 record.

Both of the Bulls goals were scored in the last ten minutes of the 3rd by Adam Payerl his 21st and 22nd in his last regular season OHL game. Brendan Gaunce, Carter Sandlak and Jason Shaw drew assists. Jason Shaw played what was easily his best game in the OHL.

The PP went 0/2 and the PK went 5/5. Attendance: 2532

3 Stars - 1- Bulls Malcolm Subban 2- Bulls Adam Payerl 3- Wolves Joel Vienneau

Belleville starts the Playoffs Thursday night in Ottawa.

Belleville Bulls Vs Oshawa Generals March 14, 2012

The Belleville Bulls came in to Wednesday nights home game Vs the Oshawa Generals knowing that they were going to the playoffs, thanks to Oshawa.  The Generals defeated the Peterborough Petes 4-3 Tuesday night and eliminated them from play contention and sealing a spot for the Bulls.

To start the night Belleville sat in 8th and was looking at a 1st round match-up with the Niagara Icedogs.  If the Bulls want to avoid that death match, they will have to win all three remaining game.  They got off to a good start with a 3-2 OT victory over the visiting Generals. They gave up the extra point to the Generals,  making 6th spot, a real tough stretch, but 7th is still up for grabs. At this point though the Bulls just need to get on a roll, try and gain some momentum, because 7th or 8th, the Icedogs or the Ottawa 67's,  it wont matter if the Bulls are not playing at their very best.

The Bulls would start Malcolm Subban for the 17th straight game. The Generals would go with Belleville native Kevin Bailie.  Scratches for the Bulls were  Austen Brassard (injured), Jason Shaw (injured), Alex Carnevale (last game of an 8 game suspension), and John Chartrand (numbers)

To start the 1st it looked like the Bulls might be giving the Generals a thank you present, Belleville was out of sync.  The Bulls didn't register there first shot till the 7 minute mark, but they turned it around and had some chances.  At one point they even evened out the shots. The Generals would out shot the Bulls 16-10 in the frame, and lead  1-0 after 20 minutes, on a goal by Christian Thomas at 17:29 his 33rd from Scott Laughton.  At times in the period, the Bulls would play their version of the trap.  I'm not against Burnett's trap I've seen it work, but your already in, go for it, at some point you have to attack.  It felt at times like the Bulls were playing with the lead.   In any system you have to move your feet,  something Belleville doesn't always do when they settle in to their defensive mode.  Malcolm Subban played well in the 1st and was the reason the Bulls were only down by one.

In the 2nd Brendan Gaunce scored his 28th unassisted, short handed at 7:38 to tie the game 1-1.  The shorty was his 4th on the year, the Bulls as a team only have 5  short handed goals total.  The Generals are dangerous and have lots of guns, but on the same PP they retook the lead 2-1 when Geoffrey Schemitsch scored his 2nd on the year and 1st on the PP from Boone Jenner and Julian Melchiori.  The Generals would out shoot the Bulls 12-10

 

Belleville out shot Oshawa 10-9 in the third and tied the game at 5:38 when Brady Austin scored his 4th from Micheal Curtis and Jordan Mayer.  It was nice to see Austin rewarded,  he played a strong game.

In OT it was Jake Worrad who won the game for the Bulls.  Worrad's goal his 5th from Joseph Cramarossa and Gaunce was his 3rd game winner of the year and his 2nd OT goal. 

Belleville's PK was 3/4, and the PP went 0/3.  The Generals outshot the Bulls 40-31.

Attendance: 2503

 

3 Stars : 1- BEL Brendan Gaunce 2- OSH Christian Thomas 3- BEL Brady Austin
 Malcom Subban and Jake Worrad also could have been named stars.

 

Belleville will travel east on Friday to face the Kingston Frontenacs.

Belleville Bulls Weekend Reports March 9 & 10, 2012

 

The Belleville Bulls came in to the weekend only needing one point to clinch a playoff spot.  With a 3-1 loss to the Sudbury Wolves Friday night in the Nickle City and a 3-0 loss in Barrie to the Colts on Saturday night they didn't get it.  With three games remaining the Belleville Bulls have a record of 32-32-1-0 for 65 points.  If the Bulls fail to gain a point in any of their last 3 games and the Peterborough Petes win their last three, The Bulls will be forced to play a one game playoff at home Vs the Petes to determine the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference.

 

The Bulls have made it clear that Top NHL Prospect Malcolm Subban will be their guy for what looks like the rest of the way.  Subban has started 16 straight for the Bulls and took both loses on the weekend road trip giving him a record of 22-14-0 with 2 shut outs, a 2.58GAA and a .919SV% in 36 games played.  The Bulls have gone 8-8 over those 16 games and have been out scored 61-38.  Malcolm played well in both games this weekend and has played very well in some games over his current run.  He has showed why earlier in the season he was named CHL goaltender of the week twice.  But for the Bulls to be successful moving forward it will depend on the play of Malcolm Subban,  its not a big secret that Belleville will need Subban to be at the top of his game if they plan on winning a playoff series.

 

Friday Night Vs the Wolves Belleville fired 30 shots at  Swedish Import Johan Mattsson.  Mattsson is big at 6'04" 192 and played very well.  He was named the games first star and was just under 5 minutes away from his 1st career OHL shut out when Micheal Curtis buried his 13th from Garrett Hooey and Branden Morris at 15:12 of the 3rd.

 

Saturday night Barrie's goalie Alex Fotinos did earn his 1st career shut out in the the OHL.  Stopping 38 shots on his way to 1st star honours.

 

 With OA Adam Payerl already on the shelf with a shoulder injury, Austen Brassard would join him Saturday night as a late scratch after taking part in the pre game warm.   No excuses but with their 2nd and 3rd leading scorers out of the line up, the Bulls who are hard pressed for goals at the best of times, just couldn't beat two goalies having great nights.

 

The Bulls look to get back in the win column on Wednesday at home Vs division rivals the Oshawa Generals.

Belleville Bulls Vs Peterborough Petes Wednesday March 7th 2012

In sports teams turn to their leaders when everything is on the line.  Last night Vs the Peterborough Petes the Belleville Bulls turned to their leader.  And he came through, pushing the hometown Bulls to a 6-5 victory over the visiting Petes.

With the victory the Bulls jump to 6th place in the Eastern Conference playoff race.  The loss keeps the Petes in 9th.  Its really tight and the Bulls can't afford to lose to many.

• 6th - Belleville Bulls 65 Games Remaining - 5
• 7th - Oshawa Generals 64 Games Remaining - 5
• 8th - Mississauga St. Michaels Majors 63 Games Remaining - 6
• 9th - Peterborough Petes 59 Games Remaining - 4

The Bulls would start Malcolm Subban for the 15th straight game.  Malcolm gave up 5 goals for the 2nd straight game,  In this game he was better then he was in the Niagara game, one of the Petes goals was on a PP, an other was on a two on none.  Tonight he wasn't the best we have seen him,  but he made the stops when he had to.  At the other end for Peterborough it was Mike Morrison . Bulls out shot the Petes 40-37

Belleville would give the 2166 fans at the game something to cheer about at 9:49 when Captain Luke Judson scored his 16th from Jordan Mayer and Micheal Curtis to put the Bulls up 1-0.  Andrew Yogan tied it for the Petes at 12:05 with his 34th from Lino Martschini and Stephen Pierog.  Mr Yogan wasn't done there he netted his 35th and 2nd of the night at on a nice individual effort at 16:16 on the PP.  It looked like Belleville might end the 1st down 2-1, but there was Luke Judson to pull his team out of the hole and tie the game.  The Captain scored his 17th from Brady Austen and Mayer at 19:40 and the Bulls and Petes were tied 2-2 after 20 minutes.  Belleville was out shot 12-11 in the frame.

The 2nd would start at 00:34 when Belleville took the lead 3-2 on a Joesph Cramarossa goal, his 14th from Daniil Zharkov and Judson. Just like the 1st Belleville gave up the lead shortly after taking the lead, allowing Nick Ritchie to tie the game with his 15th from Martschini and Jonathan Jasper.  All night long Judson was carrying this team, and he was rewarded for all his hard work when he scored a nice goal from Mayer and Curtis in close at 13:42. The goal was Judson's 3rd of the night and 18 on the year, more importantly it put Judson's club up 4-3.  Peterborough had some guys stepping up as well. And  before the 2nd was over Ritchie scored his 2nd in game from Yogan at 19:18 tying the game 4-4.  Both Yogan and Ritchie had real strong games for the Petes.  Richie's 2nd goal and his16th on the season was his 6th Vs the Bulls this year.  The Petes out shot the Bulls by one , 13-12,

The 3rd was the best period in the game.  As it seen Peterborough jump out to the lead at 3:17 when Martschini, who also had a big game for the Petes, hammered home his 20th from

Alan Quine and Yogan. The Petes lead of 5-4 would last till 11:39 when Zharkov lite the lamp with his 22 on the PP from Stephen Silas.  Belleville took the lead for good when Mayer bagged the game winner at 12:43 his 17th from Austen and Judson.  

Belleville hands Peterborough a 6-5 loss.  Bulls had the edge in shots 40-37 out shooting the Petes 17-12 in the final period.  Bulls PK went 1/2 and the PP was 1/7.

 

3Stars: 1- Bulls Luke Judson    2- Bulls Jordan Mayer    3- Petes Andrew Yogan

 

Luke Judson had a career night when his team needed him, he scored 3 goals and had 2 assist for 5 points.  He wasn't going to let his Bulls lose this one, he set the bar and others followed.  Bulls OA Jordan Mayer had his best game as a member of the Belleville Bulls scoring the Game winner and adding 3 helpers for 4 points.  Petes Andrew Yogan looked dangerous on every shift.

 

Bulls head on the road for the weekend. It starts Friday night in Sudbury

Who is the best player in the OHL who is already drafted ?

Who is the best player in the OHL who is already drafted ?

My vote goes to Kitchener Rangers defence man Ryan Murphy. Mr Murphy was drafted 12th overall by the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. Ryan signed a three-year, entry level contract with Carolina, and began the 2011-2012 season in the NHL. He is a very gifted offensive defense man who has great vision. Few D-Man in the OHL are as dangerous on the PP as he is. Murphy is a wonderful skater. he's very elusiveness, a great passer and has a great shot.

The Rangers selected Murphy 3rd overall in 2009. As a 16 year old he put up 39 points in 62 games and was named to the OHL First All-Rookie Team
He followed up his stellar rookie campaign by helping the Rangers proceed to the third round of the OHL Playoffs with 17 points in 20 games, leading the Rangers defence in scoring.
Murphy broke out his sophomore season, leading the OHL in defence men goal scoring with 26 goals. He added to that, 53 assists for 79 points in 63 games, good enough for second in defence men scoring in the league.
Murphy was named to the OHL First Team All-Star team for the 2010-11 season.
He played for team Canada at the World Under 18 Championships in 2011.
At the Under-18s, he was very impressive and was named defence men of the tournament, scoring 13 points and leading the tournament in defence men scoring, as well as leading Canada to a 4th place finish as their leading scorer.

Earlier this season Murphy suffered a severe concussion and as a consequence, he was placed in "complete shutdown mode" by the Rangers. Since then he was cut and missed a chance to play for Team Canada at the WJC.
He has returned to form, looks great and is producing at a better then a point per game clip. Enjoy him because he's a real treat to watch. I believe that Ryan Murphy will lead Team Canada back to Gold at next years World Jr Tournament. I could be wrong, he could be playing on a young rebuilding Carolina team.

Belleville Bulls Vs Niagara Icedogs Saturday March 3, 2012

Belleville Bulls Vs Niagara Icedogs Saturday March 3, 2012

Saturday night the Class of the OHL was in Belleville to face the Bulls. The Niagara Icedogs. What can I say about the Niagara Icedogs that hasn't already been said ? One thing I can tell you is, that this isn't your fathers Icedogs. They are really good. The Icedogs in my view are the most complete team in the league from top to bottom. And they where in fine form on Saturday night giving the the Bulls the Business. Defeating the Toro's 10-3

The Bulls started Malcolm Subban for the 13th straight game. Malcolm played well and keep the Bulls in the game for the 1st frame, stopping 15 of the 17 shots he faced. In the 2nd the coaching staff gave Subban the hook after 3 NIA goals, in total he gave up 5 goals on 28 shots. In came former Icedog John Chartrand. John has been on the self for 15 games and it showed. He allowed 2 goals on the first 3 shots he faced, and in total he gave up 5 goals on 17 shots. At the other end of the rink the only thing standing in the Bulls way was the net minder who should be not only the OHL goaltender of the year , but for my money the CHL goaltender of the year in Mark Visentin. It might not have been Visentin's best night, he only faced 17 shots . Seven in the 1st and 2nd, and a measly three in the 3rd and allowing 3 goals. Not a real busy night. Saying that with the score 10-3, Visentin made a save that was easily highlight of the night material.
Niagara out shot Belleville 45-17 in the game.

With the 10-3 win NIA sweeps the season series with BEL 4-0 with a combined score of 26-3. Belleville's PP went 0/1 and the PK was 2/4.
Scoring for the Bulls were Carter Sandlak with his 5th in the first to tie the game at 1-1, Captain Luke Judson netted his 15th in the second, and to round out the Bulls scoring Scott Simmonds beat Visentin for his 3rd. Dylan Corson, Sandlak, Brendan Gaunce, Garrett Hooey and Jason Shaw all had single helpers.

Niagara is a real strong, deep team. They have 12 NHL drafted players on their roster, 5 players from team Canada's WJC entry. But I didn't see them being this strong. Belleville is a good team , but injuries and inconsistent play has hurt them. But when the Bulls are firing on all cylinders they can be a top team in the East. But Saturday night the Icedogs did what they wanted, sometimes looking like they were on the PP when it was 5 on 5.

They got 3 goals each from Steven Shipley and Freddie Hamilton. Brock Beukeboom chipped in with 2 goals. Andrew Agozzino and Myles Doan had singles.
NIA Assists - Ryan Strome(4), David Pacan(3), Shayne Rover(2), Jesse Graham(2). Seven different Icedogs added single helpers.

3Stars : 1- Freddie Hamilton 2- Steven Shipley 3- Ryan Strome

Belleville Bulls @ Mississauga St.Micheals Majors Friday March 2,2012

The Belleville Bulls came to Mississauga Friday night feeling good about themselves. Last weekend they took four of a possible 6 points, and look pretty good doing so. They defeated Kingston at home on Wednesday. And tonight they defeated St.Mikes 4-2.

On February 3 the Belleville Bulls coaching staff broke the 21 remaining games in to three 7 game series, saying that if they could win 4 out of each 7 and maybe a few more, that they should be in a playoff position. After tonight's win the Bulls are 8-6 in the first 14 games. They didn't win the 1st series of games but picked up the desired 8 wins in 14 games. The Eastern Conference is still tight for the last 3 playoff spots :

6-Belleville 63 pts
7-Mississauga 63pts
8-Oshawa 60pts
9-Peterborough 59pts

The Sudbury Wolves sit in 5th with 69pts and are in reach with a good run and some luck.

The Belleville Bulls have a pretty good goalie in Malcolm Subban who was starting his 12th straight for the Visitors. Subban played good and is starting to return to form. He made 25 saves on the night and none bigger then when with less than a minute to go he stopped the Majors on two attemps. He was named the games 3rd star. The home team Majors have a pretty good goalie of thier own in Brandon Maxwell the reigning OHL player of the week. Maxwell made 20 saves in the lose.

Before the game we learned that Bulls rookie Alex Carnevale was suspended for 8 games for a hit on Bo Horvat of the London Knights. I'm not sure why this happened, but I have seen the hit , He doesn't leave his feet, doesn't use his elbow, knee, or stick. It looks like he delivered a good hard clean hit. Horvat was hit with a suicide pass, put his head down and got caught. The belief is that with his helmet popping off it made the penalty so harsh. On the OHL website video, the Discipline Rationale was - unsuspecting player (He put his head down)- Blind side hit( Carnevale hits him in the middle of his chest with his shoulder) - then a funny one that says "- Contact to the head, is not the head, what does that mean ? So he is disciplined for hitting to the head , but didn't ? It also says -No injury on the Play, but we knew that because after the hit Horvat scored a beauty.
Fresh off signing his 1st NHL contract, it was announced that Adam Payerl could miss up to 2 weeks with an upper body injury. John Chartrand returned to the lineup, so that meant Charlie Graham would be a healthy scratch along with Branden Morris.

Belleville and Mississauga traded goals in the 1st. For the Bulls it was Daniil Zharkov at 12:44 with a beauty his 21st from Brendan Gaunce and Austen Brassard. For the Majors it was Mika Partanen on the PP with his 16th from Riley Brace. Shots were even at 10 each.

In the second frame the Bulls where out shot 9-5 but still hit the score sheet with a goal when Carter Sandlak jumped out of the penalty box and scored his 4th from Brady Austin and Jordan Subban at 5:42.

The 3rd started slow with Belleville protecting their lead. With less then 5 minutes to go at 14:26 Tervor Carrick tied the game with his 5th from Partanen and Brace. Belleville's go a head goal and the game winner was originally gave to Brady Austen his 5th from Jordan Subban. It was later given to Sandlak for his 2nd of the night. Rookie Jordan Subban's assist was the 20th point of the season for the rookie rear guard. Micheal Curtis rounded out the scoring with his 12th at 19:54 in to an empty net. Belleville out shot the Majors 9-8 in the third, Mississauga had the edge in the game 27-24. Bulls PP was 1/2 and the PK went 4/5. Attendance: 2080

3 Stars:1-Bulls Carter Sandlak 2G, 2-Majors Mika Partanen 1G 1A, 3-Bulls Malcolm Subban 25 saves.

Bulls will face the Niagara Icedogs Saturday night at the Yardman.

Adam Payrel signs with the Pittsburgh Penguins

The Pittsburgh Penguins announced that they have signed Belleville Bulls overage forward Adam Payrel to a three-year entry-level contract. The deal begins in the 2012-13 season and runs through the 2014-15 campaign

The 6-foot-3, 216-pound Payerl started his OHL career with the Barrie Colts and joined the Bulls in 2009-2010 in a trade that sent Bryan Cameron to Barrie.

To start the 2011-12 season the Kitchener native attended the Columbus Blue Jackets training camp, he play in the Traverse City prospects tournament and suited up in a pair of exhibition games with the Jackets. He returned to Belleville and has been a real force for the Bulls this season. He has already set career number with 20 goals and 45 points. Adam is a big body who plays well along the boards and is a right handed shot. Payrel isn't afraid to step up when needed and leads the Bulls with 104 penalty minutes.

This year Adam Payrel has really been a leader on the Bulls, scoring, standing up for teammates, playing hard every game, doing what it takes to help this team win. This year Payrel has played the best "Character" hockey I've seen him play in the OHL. He is emerging as real strong leader. During January 2012 in what was one of the worst months in team history, Adam Peyrel was doing his part to try and pull his team out of their funk. He's play carried the team to a better February. Adam scored seven goals, four assists and 11 points in 12 games, including a three-game point streak (2G-2A) to finish the month.

Belleville Bulls Vs Kingston Frontenacs February 29, 2012

Belleville Leaps in to 7th.

A visit from our old friends the Kingston Frontenacs is just what the Belleville Bulls needed to start a very important week. Every game will have playoff implications including this one. With a win the Bulls would leap in to sole possession of 7th place in the tight Eastern Conference. There was even playoff implications for the Frontenacs. After I said that, all I can hear in my head is Jim Mora saying "Playoffs ?, Playoffs ? you want to talk about playoffs ?". But with a lose in regulation the Fronts would be eliminated from playoff contention.

Kingston would start OA Import Igor Bobkov and Belleville would answer with Malcolm Subban for the 11th straight game. Scratches for the Bulls would be Jordan Subban with a lower body injury, who should return Friday night barring any set backs, Mack Lemmon , and Alex Carnevale, who for has been suspended indefinitely by the OHL for a hit on London Knights rookie Bo Horvat. Now I'm not sure what tape the powers that be are watching, all that I've seen is the hit itself, and the view from TV Cogeco, and in my opinion there was nothing wrong with that hit. Maybe I missed it, but when did clean open ice hits become suspendable ?
This game would also see the return of Carter Sandlak to the Belleville line-up, after missing 33 games with an ankle injury.

The 1st period started just the way Coach Burnett said it had to for the Bulls to be successful. They got to Igor Bobkov early. Less then a minute in at 0:48 Brendan Gaunce scored his 26th from Austen Brassard and Jason Shaw. The 1st period ended with the Bulls leading the Fronts 1-0 and out shooting Kingston 16-14. It was a good period for both teams.

The 2nd started good for Belleville as well when at 3:26 OA Adam Payrel hit Joesph Cramarossa with a pass and he netted his 13th to give the Bulls a 2-0 lead. The Visiting team would score their lone goal at 5:48 on the PP, when Trevor Mobeck tipped home a Micheal Moffat point shot for his 8th, Ryan Kujawinski had the other helper on the goal. With the Bulls leading 2-1 Jordan Mayer gave Belleville a 3-1 lead over his home town team when he scored his 16th 4 on 4 at 8:25 from Jake Worrad and Shaw. Bulls would finish their scoring at 9:52 when Brendan Gaunce with his 2nd of the night and 27th on the season from Worrad giving Belleville a 4-1 lead. In the 2nd the Bulls would out shot the Fronts 10-9.

There was no scoring in the third. Kingston would out shot Belleville 10-8 in the frame. Top prospect Malcolm Subban looked strong and held the lead at 4-1. The 3rd period was just what the Bulls needed, all of the Toro's penalties were in the first 30 minutes and they played very strong and discipline the rest of the way. Belleville was rolling four lines, making no mistakes and playing the type of game you should when you have a three goal lead. Belleville out shot the Fronts 34-33 in the game. Bulls PP was 0/2 and the PK was 4/5. Attendance: 2132
3 Stars: 1- Bulls Brendan Gaunce 2- Bulls Jason Shaw 3- Bulls Jake Worrad

Gaunce had 2 goals, and has scored in back 2 back games, Jason Shaw had two helpers and always plays well against the team that cut him in training camp. Jake Worrad had two helpers on the night as well and has really come in to his own in the last 4 games.
Belleville will travel to Mississauga on Friday night for a game Vs the St. Michael's Majors.

Belleville Bulls Week Review February 24-26, 2012

Belleville Bulls @ Brampton Battalion Friday February 24, 2012

The Belleville Bulls came in to the weekend with some serious questions ? Had Burnett lost the team ?, Are they a playoff team ? If they make the playoffs would it be four and out ? Is Malcolm Subban 100% ?

They answered a lot of them and showed the Eastern Conference and the rest of the OHL that they can hang with the best. Belleville went 2-1 in three games this weekend. 3 games big games in 43 hours.

Bulls where 2-1 winners over the Brampton Battalion on Friday night in Brampton , after a few forgettable game's, Malcolm Subban played a good game making 32 saves on his way to 1st star honours. All night the Troops where making Subban aware of their presence . Brampton out shot Belleville 33-25. Battalion net minders Keegan Wilson had a strong game at the other end. This game saw Micheal Curtis and Jason Shaw return to the Belleville line-up. Belleville was 0/2 on the PP and 2/3 on the PK.

Early in the first the 2392 fans at the game cheered when they thought former Bull Brett Mackie had scored, only to have the goal called back. It wasn't till 8:37of the 3rd that some one lite the lamp and it was Bulls Russian Import Daniil Zharkov with his 19th from Adam Payerl. After that Jordan Mayer scored what would be the game winner at 12:21 when he scored his 14th from Garrett Hooey and Dylan Corson giving the Bulls a 2-0 lead. Brampton wasn't about to hand the "W" to Belleville, and broke up Subban's shutout bid at 18:28 on the PP when Sam Carrick scored the home teams lone goal his 32nd from Mackie and Zach Bell.

This was a game Belleville had to win, and did, Subban played a good game and the team put in a real gritty effort in front of him. They held tight and when they got in to trouble Subban was there.
3 Stars 1- Bulls Malcolm Subban 2- Bulls Adam Payrel 3- Battalion Sam Carrick

Belleville Bulls Vs London Knights Saturday February 25, 2012

Its always a fun night when the London Knights come to town. They are without question the measuring stick of the OHL. Every season since the Hunters took over they contend. This year is no different, they not only lead the OHL but are also the number one team in the CHL.

The Belleville Bulls have beat the London Knights before but its been a while. Of course I have to mention Jonathan Cheechoo's 5 five goals in game seven of the 1999 OHL Final. What about the night in 2005 when the Knights were having what many people consider to be the best season in Jr Hockey and Bulls goalie Kevin Lalande gave the performance of his career with the Bulls. After being left out of the Top Prospects game that season Lalande had something to prove and helped the Bulls become one of the few teams to beat the Knights that season. But not much success since then, losing their last 11 Vs London and not winning on home ice since 2005.

Before the game Coach George Burnett made it very clear that his team "Will make the playoffs". Malcolm Subban would start in net for Belleville. And Making his 1st start for the Knights was Belleville native and former Bulls 1st round pick Tyson Teichmann.

The Belleville Bulls knew they needed a quick start and that's what they got when Joesph Cramarossa who played what I would say was his best game as a Bull, put his 12th goal of the season past Teichmann. OA Adam Payrel had the lone helper. With the Bulls up 1-0 the Knights were starting to surge. Then BAM, after being hit with a suicide pass London rookie Bo Horvat put his head down and Belleville rookie Alex Carnevale got him with a great open ice hit. Unfortunately for the Bulls and 2538 fans that witnessed this beauty of a hit, the zebras made the worst call I've seen at the Yardman this year and Carnevale was was gone for the game.

In the 2nd Horvat seemed to be recovered from the hit and tied the game with his 10th from Tyler Ferry and Chris Teirney. The next goal scored gave the knights the lead when Josh Anderson scored his 11th from Jared Knight and Finnish Import Olli Maatta. After 40 minutes the Knights lead 2-1.

So if the second belonged to the Knights the third belonged to the Belleville Bulls . Daniil Zharkov tied the game with his 20th from Austen Brassard at 7:45. Captain Luke Judson scored his 14th, the game winner at 12:21 from Cramarossa. Bulls win 3-2, Shots were 34-31 in favor of Belleville. PK 2/2 PP 0/3.

Out of the three games the Bulls played this was considered to be the biggest test, and they passed. Maloclm was good, Adam Payrel had an other strong game, Jake Worrad playing his former team was also very good. The 3 Star selections were bang on.
3 Stars- 1- Bulls Joseph Cramarossa 2- Bulls Daniil Zharkov 3- Bulls Luke Judson


Belleville Bulls @ Peterborough Petes Febuary 26, 2012

Well I was away at a Youth Bowling tournament. This was the one that got away from the Bulls. With a win Belleville could have really put some distance between them and Peterborough. But the boys from the lift lock city had other plans and defeated the boys from the Friendly City 4-3. Even in defeat the Bulls showed lots of good stuff in this game. Three times they came back from one goal deficits. Adam Peyrel was really good in this game and continued his strong play scoring two goals his 19th & 20th. For the Petes it was Andrew Yogan with 2 goals and Alan Quine scored the winner. Belleville out shoot the Petes 40-31, PK was 0/1 and the PP was 0/2.
3 Stars - 1- Petes Andrew Yogan 2- Bulls Adam Payerl 3- Petes Lino Martschini