Joshua Leivo

This was my preseason comment on Leivo :

The 11th round pick in the 2009 OHL priority draft is a smooth skating forward with some offensive flair. Leivo was so far off the map that the Wolves didn't actually sign him until after the start of this years training camp.

With his size and work ethic, he should be fun to watch this coming season and to see if he can carry that through an entire OHL season. If he can do that, and continue to find his offensive ability, he could garner some attention from scouts. He has ability, he just needs to put it all together.

Wolves head coach Trent Cull had this to say about Leivo: "Josh has been outstanding, He has been one of the best offensive players at camp. He drives the net hard and shows creativity with the puck. He has scored some nice goals in scrimmage, works very hard in practice and certainly deserves to be here."

The rookie however, got off to a slow start in the regular season. He finished the year with 13 goals and 17 assists for 30 points. But he picked it up midway through the season with 22 of his points coming in January, February and March (30 games).

There is no question that Leivo has some talent and ability. Most importantly, he has heart and the desire to work hard in practices and games. To Leivo, success is the only option.

But then came the playoffs. And what a playoff it was for Leivo. In a stunning four game sweep against the Ottawa 67's, Leivo stood out more than anyone. He finished the series with 4 goals and 6 assists including a 3 goal 2 assist effort in game 1.

In round 2, the Wolves were swept by the Mississauga St Mikes Majors. Although Leivo's production slipped he still managed 2 goals and an assist in the 4 games. He finished the playoffs with 6 goals and 7 assists in 8 games, only being held off the scoresheet twice.

So what does this all mean? Well, there was never any doubt that he had some ability. He certainly has good size and is a good skater. Being able to put it all together was the only doubt with Leivo. And since the 39 game mark of the regular season, he was almost a point per game player.

Leivo definitely has garnered some attention. But where that will place him on June 24 and 25 is anyone's guess. I place him at a very early fourth round pick, maybe top five in the round. But if teams believe he is more of what we seen in the last half of the season and the playoffs, he could move up into a late third rounder.

OHL Playoffs - Day 19

Mississauga 6 Sudbury 3 - Mississauga leads series 3-0

The Mississauga St Mikes Majors took a commanding 3-0 series lead when they defeated Sudbury 6-3 on home ice on Tuesday evening. Game 4 goes tonight in Sudbury.

The Majors come out flying again in this one doubling up on the Wolves in shots at the end of the period 18-9 and built a 2-0 lead. Jordan Mayer got it started when he scored his second of the playoffs at 5:31 of the period. Maxim Kitsyn and Mika Partanen would draw the assists on the goal. Then at 12:27 of the period, Mayer would score his second of the period and third of the post season when he connected from Corey Bureau.

The second period brought more of the same in shots with the Majors once again doubling up the Wolves, this time 16-8 but they would trade goals notching 2 a piece.

Rob Flick would get it started with his second of the playoffs at the 3:51 mark of the second period with the assists going to Chris DeSousa and Riley Brace to make it 3-0. Frank Schumacher would then score his first goal of the playoffs at 5:21 to make it 3-1. Josh Leivo would get credit with the only assist. At 12:05, Eric O'dell would get his 6th on the power play on a set up from Mike Lomas and Andrey Kuchin to pull the Wolves within 1. But just 1:16 later Justin Shugg would restore the Majors lead to 2 goals when he tallied his 4th from Casey Cizikas. The second frame would come to an end with the Wolves trailing 4-2.

But just 1:28 into the third the Wolves would pull back to within one when Leivo scored his 6th of the play offs with the lone assist going to Lomas. Almost 10 minutes later, at 11:25, Kitsyn scored his 5th from Mayer to put Mississauga back up by 2 once again.

With Alain Valiquette on the bench for an extra attacker, Bureau would score his second of the playoffs into an empty net to seal the victory.

Valiquette 9 of 10 in the third and 39 of 44 overall for Sudbury while JP Anderson stopped 18 of 21 in the game. Sudbury managed just 4 shots in the third and will have to drastically improve that if they want to force a game 5 back in Mississauga after tonight.

boxscore

Saginaw 5 Windsor 2 - Saginaw leads series 2-1

The Spirit won for the second straight game, and at home, to take a 2-1 series lead before the series switches back to Windsor for game 4 on Thursday.

Saginaw would score first 3:34 into the contest when Jordan Szwarz and Ryan O'Connor set up Garret Ross for his second of the playoffs. Josh Shalla would notch his 7th to make it 2-0 at 9:04 of the period with Ivan Telegin and Mathew Sisca. Then at 19:16 of the first, Szwarz and O'Connor would once again set up Ross for his second of the game to make it 3-0. Saginaw would outshoot Windsor 12-10 in the period.

The second period would see Saginaw extend their lead to 4-0 when Vincent Trocheck scored his 5th at 9:50 from Telegin and Brandon Saad. Windsor would cut into the lead when Zack Kassian scored his 2nd of the playoffs, unassisted at 14:09. That's the way the period would end with the shots tied at 8 in the second.

Another unassisted goal for Windsor, this time by Alex Khokhlachev at 12:52 of the third, would draw the Spitfires within 2. It was Khokhlachev's 5th of the playoffs.

But the comeback would fall short with Saginaw on the power play. Szwarz and O'Connor would each earn their 3rd assists of the evening, this time setting up Telegin for his 2nd of the playoffs at the 13:39 mark of the third.

Windsor would outshoot Saginaw 13-9 in the third and 31-29 overall. Jack Campbell was in goal for Windsor while Mavric Parks guarded the crease for Saginaw.

boxscore

OHL Playoffs - Day 15

Mississauga 8 Sudbury 5 - Mississauga leads series 1-0

The Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors began their second round playoff series last night against the Sudbury Wolves. Both teams are coming off of round 1 sweeps, the Majors against the Belleville Bulls and the Wolves in a shocker versus the Ottawa 67's.

The game had the makings of an old style blow out until the Wolves scored late to make the score a little more respectable.

   Devante Smith-Pelly opened the scoring to give Mississauga the lead when he scored his second of the playoffs at 11:42.  Dylan DeMelo and Rob Flick had the assists.Cizikas scored his first goal of the playoffs in his first period of playoff play at 13:32 to make it 2-0 Majors.  Smith-Pelly and Brett Flemming had the assists. It was Cizikas' first game in over a month after returning from injury. Jordan Mayer made it 3-0 at 19:52 with his first of the playoffs. Chris DeSousa and Riley Brace had the assists. That's the way the period would end with Mississauga out shooting Sudbury 21-8.

A wild second period saw goals come quickly and often. Smith-Pelly scored his second of the game, with Cizikas and Justin Shugg (one of our favorites from 2010) getting the assists at 2:21. Corey Bureau scored his first of the playoffs with a shorthanded unassisted marker at 3:26. Maxim Kitsyn scored his fourth of the playoffs at 10:24 on the powerplay to make it 6-0 with assists going to Rob Flick and Stuart Percy.

Rob Brace made it 7-0 from Percy and Dylan DeMelo on the powerplay 11:56. Chris DeSousa would end Mississauga's scoring when he made it 8-0 at 12:43 with his second of the post season from Brace. 

So would there be a comeback in the making?  Michael Sgarbossa began the Sudbury scoring with his 5th of the playoffs at 13:24 Tyan Hanes to get Sudbury started. Mike Lomas woud finish out the 2nd period with his 3rd 19:16 to make it 8-2. The Majors outshot the Wolves in the second period by a marginof 15-13.
  Eric O’Dell scored his 3rd of the playoffs at 1:56 with Matthew Campagna and Lomas adding the assists the assists.  Sudbury pulled within 4 at 4:55 when Joshua Leivo scored a powerplay goal assisted by Andrey Kuchin and Michael MacDonald. It was Leivo's 5th goal and 11th point of the playoffs.

 O’Dell’s 2nd of the game and 4th of the playoffs made a game of it, assisted by Campagna and Justin Sefton.   Unfortunately for Wolves fans, that's as close as they would come as it was to little to late.   Shots on goal in the third period were 9-8 in favour of the Wolves. 

The series resumes on Sunday when the Majors travel to Sudbury for game two.  Puck drop is at 7:00 PM. 

boxscore

Windsor 3 Saginaw 0 - Windsor leads series 1-0

Windsor took a 1-0 series lead with a 3-0 victory in Saginaw last night backsopped by Jack Campbell's 28 save performance for the shut out, his 1st of the playoffs.

Spirit goaltender Mavric Parks stopped 40 of 43 shots in a losing cause.

There was no scoring in the first period as Windsor outshot Saginaw 13-5. The only powerplay of the period belonged to the Spirit. The only other penalties were 5 minute fighting majors to Zack Kassian and Anthony Camara, who dropped the gloves just 17 seconds into the contest.

The second period was much the same as Windsor outshout Saginaw 17-9 in the period. However, Stephan Johnston scored his 5th of the playoffs at 14:06 with the assist going to Kenny Ryan.

To this point, Windsor would have the only 2 powerplays of the period, but were unable to capitalize on either opportunity. Then at 18:11 of the period, Ryan O'Connor of the Spirit would take his 2nd slashing penalty in under 9 minutes. Nick Ebert would make them pay with his first goal of the playoffs at 18:43 with assists to Ryan Ellis and Taylor Carnevale.

Kenny Ryan would score his 2nd of the playoffs at 10:24 of the third with assists going to Kassian and Johnston to close out the scoring.

Game 2 goes Sunday afternoon in Windsor.

boxscore

Playoff Preview - Round 2 - Eastern Conference

Here's a preview of the Eastern Conference matchups in round 2 of the playoffs.

Mississauga (1) vs Sudbury (7) - Mississauga won season series 5-1

And they did so almost convincingly outscoring the Wolves 41-21 in those 6 games.

In Round 1 Mississauga swept the 8th seed Belleville Bulls while the Wolves surprised the hockey world and swept the 2nd seed Ottawa 67's.

Your draft eligible players to watch for Sudbury. Vs Mississauga, this is what they did:

Josh Leivo 1G 2A
Frank Corrado 0G 2A
Charlie Dodero 0G 0A
Justin Sefton 0G 0A

For Mississauga

Stuart Percy 1G 4A

For Bruins fans wanting to follow Marc Cantin, he had 1 goal and 4 assists in those 6 games against Sudbury.

Prediction: Mississauga in 5 games.

Niagara (3) vs Oshawa (4) - Season Series tied 1-1

In round 1 Niagara swept Brampton in 4 games while Oshawa ousted Kingston in 5.

For the serious draft junky, this is the series to watch. It's loaded with potential first round picks.

For Niagara, here's what the draft eligible players did vs Oshawa:

Ryan Strome 1G 3A
Dougie Hamilton 1G 1A

For Oshawa:

Boone Jenner 0G 1A
Nicklas Jensen 3G 0A
Lucas Lessio 0G 1A

This series will come down to home ice advantage. Therefore,

Prediction; Niagara in 7 games

Fabulous Friday

For the Kitchener Rangers, Ryan Murphy and Tobias Rieder led the way. Murphy had a goal and 3 assists while Reider had 2 goals. The Rangers defenseman now leads the league in scoring.

The London Knights Michael Houser wasn`t asked to make a lot of saves, but when called upon he shut the door for his first shut out of the season. Seth Griffith had 2 assists in the Knights win.

Oshawa`s Lucas Lessio contributed 2 assists for the Generals.

For Sudbury, Josh Leivo had 2 goals and an assist.

Boone Jenner had two goals for Oshawa

Joshua Leivo

Joshua Leivo - Sudbury Wolves
6'2" - 185 LBS

The 11th round pick in the 2009 OHL priority draft is a smooth skating forward with some offensive flair. Leivo was so far off the map that the Wolves didn't acutally sign him until after the start of this years training camp.

 Wolves head coach Trent Cull had this to say about Leivo: "Josh has been outstanding, He has been one of the best offensive players at camp. He drives the net hard and shows creativity with the puck.  He has scored some nice goals in scrimmage, works very hard in practice and certainly deserves to be here."

With his size and work ethic, he should be fun to watch this coming season and to see if he can carry that through an entire OHL season. If he can do that, and continue to find his offensive ability, he could garner some attention from scouts. He has ability, he just needs to put it all together.