Memorial Cup : Mississauga St Mikes Majors

The Majors were the class of the OHL in the regular season finishing with a league best 53-13-0-2 record for an 11 point margin over second place (and OHL Champions) Owen Sound Attack. They led the league in scoring with 287 goals scored. They were also one of only three teams to allow less than 200 goals against when they allowed just 170. Niagara (197) and Ottawa (199) were the other two.

Win or lose, the Majors were guaranteed a spot in the Memorial Cup as the host city. And although they lost in the final to Owen Sound, they were involved in some dominant series.

The Majors road to the Memorial Cup.

Round 1 : The Majors opened the playoffs with a 4 game sweep of the Belleville Bulls. Game 1 was a 4-1 victory on home ice. Game 2 was in Belleville, a 1-0 victory. Game three, back at home, was yet another whitewash, this time 2-0. And back on the road for game 4, their third shutout of the series, this time 4-0.

Round 2 : Swept Sudbury, who stunned Ottawa in a sweep in round 1. Again Mississauga opened on home ice with a 8-5 victory. Game two was played in Sudbury, a 3-2 Majors victory. Back in Mississauga, they took game three 6-3. They completed the sweep in Sudbury with a 4-3 overtime victory.

Round 3 : beat Niagara Ice Dogs 4-1. Again the Majors opened at home, again with a victory, and again with a shut out, this time 3-0. They headed to Niagara for game two, not having lost in 19 games going back to the regular season. However, that would end with the Ice Dogs 5-3 win. The Majors won game three 3-2 in overtime at home and game four 6-1 in Niagara before closing out the series at home with a 4-1 victory.

Round 4 : Lost in game 7 overtime to Owen Sound.  For all the scores, please check the Owen Sound post below.

Having beaten a powerful Niagara squad in five games, one wonders if the Majors took the Attack a little to lightly in the finals. I would think not. The Majors are loaded with experience and have two Memorial Cup Champs from least year in Justin Shugg and Marc Cantin while they were with the Windsor Spitfires. And just like the Attack players, the Majors, to a man, said they did not want in through the back door and were out to win the OHL Championship.

It'll be up to that experience to lead them through a tough loss and to concentrate on the task at hand that's ahead of them now. The Majors aren't without some draft eligible players though, most notably Stuart Percy and Joseph Cramarossa.



So I've given you my choices for fourth place and third place. But I'll hold off in predicting a winner until I do the update on the St John Sea Dogs. It'll keep things interesting for now.

A Look Back At The Finals And The Draft Eligible Players

It's often said that the playoffs, or "big games" can solidify or hurt a players rankings for the NHL Entry Draft. So how did they all do for the Champion Owen Sound Attack and runner up Mississauga St Mikes Majors? Lets take a look.

Jordan Binnington - Owen Sound. Binnington came into the season as one of the top ranked goalies in the OHL for the draft. He was suppose to be the back up to number one Scott Stajcer. When Stajcer went down with a season ending injury (for the regular season at least), Binnington took over and lead the team to first place in the Western Conference.

He appeared in 46 regular season games with a 27-12-4-1 record and posted a 3.05 GAA and .899 Save Percentage. Binnington got of to a bad start in the playoffs in round one against the London Knights and was replace by Michael Zador and eventually Stajcer, who led the Attack to the OHL Championships.

Down 3 games to two, Coach Reeds decided it was time for Binnington, who hadn't started a game in over a month. He stole game 6 and was sharp when he had to be in game 7 to bring the championship to Owen Sound for the first time.

Binnington finished the playoffs with a 4-2 record, a 3.21 GAA and .894 save percentage. And he proved that when the stakes are high, he's capable of putting in a top notch performance.

Stuart Percy - Mississauga Majors. Percy finished the playoffs solidifying all the things that were the hype of the 15th overall pick in the Priority draft and then some.

He's a very solid defensive defenseman with the potential to provide some offense with the ability to log a lot of minutes. He's a mobile skater but will use his on ice vision and excellent passing ability to move the puck forward. That may have more to do with coach Cameron's philosophy than a lack of confidence in his own abilities, or it could be a little of both. Which should make Percy an interesting project for whoever selects him in the NHL draft.

In 64 regular season games, Percy netted 4 goals and 29 assists and was an astounding plus 50. In 20 playoff games he added 2 goals and 10 assists and was a plus 11 which put him on pace to exceed his regular season totals. In this observers eyes, Percy increased his stock.

Andrew Fritsch - Owen Sound. Hard to judge what the playoffs will do to Fritsch after missing time with injury and being a healthy scratch. Coming over from Niagara Ice Dogs, Fritsch had the promise of playing a power forward with goal scoring ability as he had 28 goals and 35 assists in 64 regular season games followed by 2 assists in 7 playoff games.

Not noted for his playmaking abilities, ask any Owen Sound fan who followed the team and they will tell you that they think that the lack of goal production by Joey Hishon in the playoffs (5 goals in 22 games) can be directly attributed to Fritsch missing time.

I think teams will have to look past the playoffs when looking at Fritsch, but you can't ignore the fact that having him in the lineup for the final two games may have opened up some space for his team mates.

Joseph Cramarossa - Mississauga. Cramarossa's offensive numbers dropped in the playoffs. In 59 regular season games he had 12 goals and 20 assists while he was 2-2 in 14 playoff games.

But what he did show in the playoffs was his ability to bring his compete level up for big games. One word: Tenacity. He never gave up on a play, fought for the puck with every ounce of energy he had, was solid in the face off circle and played an all around excellent defensive game.

Cramarossa will never dazzle you with his offensive prowess, but he will give you a solid two way game and won't be a liability to his team.

Majors Take 2-0 Series Lead With a 6-2 Victory Over Attack

The Mississauga St Mikes Majors and Owen Sound Attack took to the ice Thursday in Owen Sound for game 2 of the OHL finals with the Majors leading the series 1-0. The Attack were hoping home ice would reverse their fortunes from game one.

A penalty filled first period led to a trio of power play goals. Justin Shugg scored his sixth of the playoffs just 1:25 in on the power play to put Mississauga up 1-0. It was an unassisted marker for Shugg. Jordan Mayer then notched his seventh, also on the power play from Maxim Kitsyn and Brett Flemming at 7:56.

Robby Mignardi would score the only even strength goal of the period at 9:21 of the opening period from Matt Petgrave. It was Mignardi's 12th of the post season. Jesse Blacker would even things up for Owen Sound with a power play goal of their own from Joey Hishon. It was Blacker's fifth goal of the playoffs.

The period would end with Mississauga holding a 17-10 shot advantage. There were 15 penalties called in the period with Mississauga going 2/4 and Owen Sound 1/2 on the power play.

Mississauga would retake the lead just 42 seconds into the second period when Shugg notched his second of the game from Devante Smith-Pelly and Stuart Percy. Another Majors power play goal would restore the two goal lead. It would be Mayer again from Flemming and Rob Flick at 6:49 to close out the second period scoring.

The Shots in the period were 11-8 in favor of Mississauga. There were only 5 penalties called in the second with the Majors going 1/2 and the Attack 0/1.

Casey Cizikas, who's been the best player for either team through games one and two, scored his fifth from Percy on the power play at 9:41 of the third. Chris DeSousa added his 4th into an empty net from Joseph Cramarossa with just  24 seconds remaining to close out the scoring.

It was another penalty filled third period with 12 penalties called including a couple of misconducts as the referees tried to keep a handle on the game.

The shots would end 39 - 27 in favor of Mississauga. The Majors were 4/8 on the power play while the Attack were 1/5. JP Anderson got the start for the Majors while Scott Stajcer started for the Attack.

Owen Sound Alternate Captain Matt Stanisz told Rogers Sportsnet between the second and third periods that he was "embarrassed with the teams performance in game one and through two periods." He went on to say that as leaders he and Jesse Blacker would say something to their team mates.

Game 3 goes Friday back in Mississauga.

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OHL Final Preview

 

            VS







Owen Sound visits Mississauga for game one of the OHL Finals and the chance to hoist the J. Ross Robertson Cup beginning Tuesday May 3, 2011.

Both teams are coming off of 4-1 series victories. Mississauga took care of the Niagara Ice Dogs and suffered their only defeat through three rounds of the playoffs to date. Owen Sound knocked off the defending Robertson and Memorial Cup Champs while suffering only 3 losses through the playoffs.

This will be both teams first appearance in the OHL finals, although the Attack have been their before and won in 1986 when they were the Guelph Platers. The Majors have also won the Robertson Cup and the Memorial Cup back in the old OHA days when they played in Toronto. The current Majors franchise was revived in 1996.

The two teams squared off just twice in the regular season with Mississauga winning both contests. The first was on November 29 in Owen Sound with a 4-2 victory. JP Anderson was in goal for the Majors and stopped 26 of 28 shots. It was a costly loss for Owen Sound. Starting goalie Scott Stajcer stopped just 4 of 8 shots and left the game after the first period with an injury and didn't play again until late in the first round of the playoffs. Jordan Binnington came on in relief and stopped all 18 shots he faced and then carried the Attack the rest of the season.

Justin Shugg led the way offensively for the Majors with 2 goals and an assist. Marc Cantin and Mika Partanen would add the other goals. Devante Smith-Pelly had a single assist in the game. Andrew Fritsch led the way for Owen Sound with both their goals. Leaders Joey Hishon and Garrett Wilson had assists in that game.

The rematch was in Mississauga just eight days later with the Majors taking that one 6-3. Anderson would stop 34 of 37 shots while Binnington stopped 24 of 29 for the Attack.

Smith-Pelley tallied 2 goals and an assist while Casey Cizikas, Joseph Cramorossa and Riley Brace each had a goal and an assist for Mississauga. For Owen Sound, Garrett Wilson had a pair of goals while Joey Hishon had a pair of assists.

Here's a look at the playoff leaders, and their draft eligible players through the playoffs.

For Owen Sound's 15 games:

Garrett Wilson 9 goals 9 assists
Robby Mignardi 9 goals 7 assists
Joey Hishon 4 goals 12 assists

Andrew Fritsch 0 goals 2 assists (4 games played)
Cameron Brace 1 goal 4 assists (12 games played)

For Mississauga's 13 games:

Maxim Kitsyn 7 goals 7 assists
Jordan Mayer 5 goals 7 assists
Devante Smith-Pelly 7 goals 4 assists

Mika Partanen 2 goals 3 assists
Stuart Percy 1 goal 3 assists
Joseph Cramarossa 2 goals 1 assist

The goaltenders in this series have spectacular playoff numbers although Binnington's aren't that great. Owen Sounds Michael Zador leads all goalies with a 1.10 GAA and .958 SV%. JP Anderson is second with a 1.68 GAA and .931 SV%. Scott Stajcer is fourth with a 2.08 GAA and tied with Anderson with a .931 SV%. Binnington has a 3.88 GAA and .864 SV%. Owen Sound has used all three goalies in these playoffs.

The keys for Owen Sound are going to be difficult to come by. Hishon will have to provide more goal scoring. Stajcer is going to have to be a wall in goal. They can't afford to take undisciplined penalties against the Leagues second best power play and are going to have to find a way through the leagues best penalty kill when they get their chances.

For Mississauga its the same as its always been. Play their own game. The leagues best offense has 7 players with double digit scoring and the leagues best defense is allowing less than 2 goals per game.

With Mississauga being the host city for this years Memorial Cup, both teams are automatically entered this year, win or lose this series. But neither team wants in via the back door. To a man, both teams want this series and head to the Memorial Cup as Champions.

I've been lucky enough to be 10 for 14 selecting winners in these playoffs, so now it's prediction time. I think I'll have to go with the experience, leadership and depth in this one.

Mississauga in 6 games.

Mississauga 6 Niagara 1

Mississauga leads series 3-1

Mississauga went into Niagara's barn in St Catherines and dominated from start to finish leaving them just one victory shy of the bobby Orr Trophy as the Eastern Conference champs and a birth in the final and a chance to win the J. Ross Robertson Cup before hosting the Memorial Cup.

Niagara must find a way to not just create some chances but bury them against the OHL's stingiest defence. That will begin tonight in Mississauga.

Joseph Cramarossa got it started with his first goal of the playoffs at at 5:53  of the opening period from from Maxim Kitsyn and Jordan Mayer. That lead would hold up until 15:09 of the period when Johnson Andrews scored his second from Dougie Hamilton and David Pacan. That would be Hamilton's first point of the Conference Finals.

The period would end up tied at one with Mississauga out shooting Niagara 12-7. Niagara would go 0/1 on the power play as would Mississauga.

Mississauga would explode with four unanswered goals in the second period. Devante Smith-Pelley would score his sixth of the playoffs from Justin Shugg and Marc Cantin at the 5:38 mark. Just 1:02 later, on a bad give away at the Mississauga blue line Cramarossa would come in alone on Mark Visentin to score his second of the game, this one a short handed marker to give Mississauga a 3-1 lead.

Riley Brace would extend the lead to 4-1 from Derek Schoenmakers at 15:51 of the period. It was Brace's fourth goal of the playoffs. Smith-Pelley would score his second of the game just 23 seconds later from Shugg to close out the second period scoring and give the Majors a 5-1 lead.

Mississauga would send 15 shots at Visentin in the period and end his night while Niagara fired 11 shots at a perfect J P Anderson. Mississauga would go 1/2 on the power play while Niagara was 0/1 while giving up the short handed marker.

Jamie Wise scored the lone goal of the third period on the power play from Schoenmakers. It was Wise's second goal of the post season.

Mississauga was 1/2 on the power play while Niagara was 0/3. Niagara had 14 shots in the period while Mississauga fired 6 at Dalton McGrath.

It was a penalty filled third period. Andrew Agozzino, who Niagara needs to score and is goalless in the series took a 5 minute major for a hit to the head and also received a game misconduct. The league will certainly review this one and the Ice Dogs can ill afford to lose Agozzino if they have any intention of coming back in this series.

Then during a scuffle in which roughing penalties were handed out, Niagara's Andrews, their lone goal scorer on the evening, took a game misconduct for abuse of officials. That to will get a look by the league. It's not known whether suspensions could be handed down before Tuesday's game back in Mississauga.

Niagara needed their power play to be what it was in the regular season; the Leagues best. But it's disappeared in this round. They needed their stars, Agozzino, Ryan Strome and Freddie and Dougie Hamilton to produce. Agozzino has yet to score, Strome has but one assist, Dougie Hamilton got his first point in this game but Freddie Hamilton leads them all with 2 goals and 1 assist.

For Mississauga, defenseman Stuart Percy was once again solid and dominant in ways that don't show up on the stat sheet. His stock is sure to rise.

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Some lessor knowns to watch Part II

Clark Seymour - Kingston Frontenacs
6'3" 185 LBS

The OHL has produced some big tough defensemen in recent years and Seymour could be the next generation.


He was selected 42 overall in the Priority Draft after getting 3 goals and 28 assists in 53 games in AAA Midget. He scored 1 goal and added 5 assists in 60 games as a rookie for Kingston.

His maturity shows after he played a few games as a 16 year old for the Brockville Braves of the CJHL, playing against players 4 or 5 years older.

He’s a big defenseman who plays the physical game. He is a good skater but could use some more speed. Positions himself well and can play all situations.

Ben Thompson - Kitchener Rangers
6'3" 186 lbs

As an 8th round pick in the Priority draft, Thomson decided against the College route to play for the Rangers in 2009/10 where he contributed 6 goals and 6 assists in 46 games.


He’s a big, power forward who can put up points and plays extremely well on the defensive side of the puck.

With half a dozen sophomores for the Rangers in 2010/11 and an influx of rookies, Thomson’s offensive abilities are going to be counted on heavily.

Ben Fanelli - Kitchener Rangers
6'1" 177 lbs

Fanelli was a 3rd round pick in the Priority draft and only played 7 games on a Rangers team that had 12 defensemen listed on their roster during the 09/10 season.


He is a big puck moving defenseman who makes perfect tape to tape passes and plays very well defensively. With Ryan Murphy on the team, he probably won’t be asked to do as much offensively in his first full year, but he is more than capable. He could stand to add some bulk to his 6’1” frame. Fanelli was twice carried off the ice on a stretcher in 2009-10.

Joseph Cramarossa - Mississauga Majors
6'0' 185 lbs

The former 49th pick in the 2008 priority draft is a big strong center who plays a two way game. In his rookie season, he put up 6 goals and 10 assists in 64 games, with 60 PIM and was a plus 5.





He’s a pretty good skater, strong, and can fight. He is also strong in the face-off department. He comes in with potential on his side and will need to realise that potential in the upcoming season.