Battalion's Duchene named Boston Pizza OHL Player of the Week
April 27, 2009 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL) News Release
Toronto, ON - The Ontario Hockey League today announced that forward Matt Duchene of the Brampton Battalion is the Boston Pizza OHL Player of the Week for the week ending April 26. Duchene scored four goals with one assist for five points with a plus-minus rating of plus-1 in three games.
Duchene and the Battalion opened the week Tuesday night in game four of the Rogers Eastern Conference Championship Series in Brampton against the Belleville Bulls. Duchene scored the first of four unanswered goals to lift the Battalion to a 4-3 comeback win over the Bulls. He also assisted on the game-winner scored by Scott Tanski at 13:47 of the third period as third star of the game. Held pointless in game five, Duchene had his best offensive game of the playoffs scoring a hat-trick in the sixth and final game of the series Friday night leading the Battalion to a 7-4 victory as first star of the game. The win gave the Battalion a 4-2 series win to capture the Bobby Orr Trophy as Eastern Conference Champions. They will now face the Windsor Spitfires in the Rogers Championship Series for the J. Ross Robertson Cup beginning Wednesday night in Windsor.
Duchene, an 18-year-old from Haliburton, ON, is in his second OHL season with the Battalion. He has 13 goals and 10 assists for 23 points in 16 playoff games after finishing the regular season ranked 14th in league scoring with 79 points. Duchene was named the winner of the Bobby Smith Trophy as the OHL's Scholastic Player of the Year. He is eligible for the 2009 NHL Entry Draft and was ranked second overall amongst North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting.
Also considered this week was Nick Palmieri of the Belleville Bulls. Palmieri scored six goals in three games highlighted by a two goal performance where he scored the overtime winner Thursday night in game five in Belleville as first star of the 3-2 win. Cody Hodgson of the Battalion scored three goals and two assists for five points in three games. In goal, Andrew Engelage of the Windsor Spitfires won two games in overtime to lead his club to the Rogers Championship Series. He made 80 saves with a goals-against-average of 3.20 and a save percentage of .920.
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