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