PHOTO BY SCOTT VANKOUGHNETT
All is quiet on the Eastern Front.
With the trading deadline now come and gone and an extremely tight East division the question was who would stand up as the division’s contender to the twin powers of the conference Barrie Colts and Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors both of the central division.
The Colts and Majors currently sit 22 and 16 points ahead of East division leading, and currently the conference’s third seeded, Ottawa 67’s.
However, the East division is one of the tightest in the entire league and could potentially have every team make the playoffs. Currently only the Belleville Bulls sit four points out of the playoff picture.
After the trade deadline came and went last week neither team seemed to find a way to pull away from the pack for this year but all seemed to get still stronger for next season and what will surely be an OHL powerhouse in 2010/11. Here is how things shake down after the wheeling and dealings in the early part of this month.
Ottawa 67’s
The 67’s made two deals on trade deadline day (January 11) and both were to unload defensemen Brian Birkhoff and over age forward Peter Stevens. Both moves were needed more for a matter of numbers rather than getting younger but one thing was made certain and that was that Hall of Famer and 67’s General Manager Brian Kilrea was not going to be making any blockbuster moves in an attempt to play with the conference leaders.
“With eight healthy defensemen on the roster, it wasn’t possible to provide everyone with the ice time they needed to continue their development,” said Kilrea. “Sending Brian (Bickhoff) to Peterborough gives him a better opportunity for a regular shift and it also moves him closer to home, which is always a good thing.”
The move of Stevens came as no shocker as the team needed to find room on the roster for another overager, Corey Cowick, who missed the first 41 games of the season with a shoulder injury.
Stevens recorded only 1 goal and 1 assist for the 67’s this season while Cowick was third on the team in scoring in 2008/09. The 67’s will clearly be looking for Cowick to be an offensive key to any of the 67’s success heading into the playoffs if they are going to be able to provide an upset or two to become the OHL champions.
Peterborough Petes
The Peterborough Petes currently sit two points back of the 67’s in the division and made two deals at the deadline or leading up to it. The first being the most significant deal made by an East division team and the other being a minor one to fill a void on their blue line.
We start with the now suspended Zach Kassian, a first round pick of the Buffalo Sabres, was dealt away to the powerhouse of the Western Conference, Windsor Spitfires a day before the deadline. The deal saw the Petes give up Kassian for Austin Watson and two second round picks (2012 and 2014). The deal matches up to be a good one for the Petes looking ahead to their future both this year and next. Kassian was expected to do big things this season for the Petes but struggled to find a scoring touch netting only eight goals and 27 points with the Petes. Meanwhile, Watson had managed 34 points in 42 games for the Spitfires and will be looking to up those totals playing in a more prominent offensive role for the Petes. With the Spitfires, Watson sat lower in the depth charts at right wing behind the likes of Greg Nemisz, Justin Shugg and Dale Mitchell.
“We traded an excellent two-way player in Watson,” said Spitfires General Manager Warren Rychel. “Watson has been great for our team both on and off the ice, and we wish him the very best of luck in Peterborough and also later this year at the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.”
The Petes also managed to fill a void on defense after the injury of Barron Smith by picking up Brian Bickhoff from the 67’s for a fifth round draft choice in the 2010 OHL Priority Draft.
With the addition of depth on the blue-line from the 18-year-old Bickhoff and the potential of 17-year-old playmaker Austin Watson the Petes could very well find themselves being the top candidate from the East division to cause a stir in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Kingston Frontenacs
Happy with what they got is about all you can say about the Kingston Frontenacs. The Frontenacs added overage forward Joe Pleckaitis from the Saginaw Spirit through a three team deal including the Sarnia Sting.
The deal is hardly considered a blockbuster, as it will merely add some veteran presence on still a fairly young Kingston team in terms of experience.
The team has already surpassed their win total of 18 from last season and is looking to be above the .500 mark for the first time in three seasons. In each of the past two seasons the Frontenacs have found themselves in the basement of the East division and have set their goal for this season to be atop the division standings.
So far they sit one game below .500 and seven points back of Ottawa for that top spot. The drive for number one in the division will be lead by fourth year forward Nathan Moon who has lead the Frontenacs in goals, assists and points this season. He is also the only Frontenac who was in uniform for Kingston when they last saw playoff action in the ‘07 playoffs.
Oshawa Generals
The biggest move that the Oshawa Generals made on the ice over the days leading up to the trade deadline is one that seemed to be looming throughout the first half of the season. After inconsistent play from goaltender Michael Zador to start the season, the Generals Coach and General Manager, Chris DePiero, seems to have decided to take a closer look at Kevin Bailie in goal. The latter has proved to be much like the former however showing inconsistency.
DePiero continues to have the back of his young goaltenders, with only 46 games of OHL experience between the two of them before the season have had to make some adjustments. With the opportunity to possibly add some goaltending help at the deadline, DiPiero did the opposite and added some depth at the forward position by adding J.P. Lombardo from Guelph, Cody Alcock and Tyler Taylor both from Belleville.
The only hope that the Generals will have to come back and take the East Division crown to which they remain eight points out is to get the consistent goaltending that they have seen periodically throughout the season from either Zador or Bailie. With the confidence the coach and general manager have given by not giving up on the duo thus far in the season they may also be competing for that number one spot next year in the Generals lineup as both will be expected to return to OHL action next season.
Belleville Bulls
Sitting in last place in the division but only four points out of the final playoff spot in the conference, the Bulls have made the decision to go with a youth movement for the rest of the season.
A week before the deadline the Bulls traded away their number one goaltender Philipp Grubauer along with a couple 19-year-olds in Stephen Johnston and Marc Cantin in exchange for four players all 18-years-old or under as well as a package of five draft picks.
That trade has opened up the door for some younger players to take hold including 16-year-old local net minder Tyson Teichmann who was selected in the first round of the 2009 OHL Priority Draft.
In total the Bulls have used seven different players under the age of 17 this season and will continue to use that youth movement and see how far that will take them this year.
If all their young players continue to develop and Teichmann turns into the real deal that the organization believe him to be, the Bulls may be able to catch the Brampton Battalion for that final spot in the East Conference playoffs. Of course Teichmann and the youngsters will need to have some major help from veterans such as Shawn Lalonde and Kyle DeCoste to help them through as well as what they hope to be new found fire power with Slovakian phenom Richard Panik who was acquired from Windsor as part of the Grubauer deal.
Panik led the Slovakian U20 world junior team with six goals and eight points and is a second round pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2009. He will likely be expected to return to OHL action next season and the Bulls will likely be hoping that his speed and skill will help them put forth a division championship team in 2011.
Topics: Austin Watson, Belleville Bulls, Brian Bickhoff, Kingston Frontenacs, Oshawa Generals, Ottawa 67's, Peterborough Petes, Philipp Grubauer, Richard Panik, Zack Kassian
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