OHL Saginaw Spirit

Eagles Nest Notes

Published on December 10, 2007 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Saginaw Spirit News Release


Welcome to Eagles Nest Notes, the Saginaw Spirit weekly recap and preview. The Spirit wrap up a three game stint last weekend - the team lost 4-2 to the Oshawa Generals Thursday, lost 3-1 to the Guelph Storm on both Friday and Sunday. This week the Spirit host the Erie Otters on Thursday and the London Knights on Saturday. The team is in Brampton on Sunday before taking a short break for the holiday season.

The Spirit enter the week with 26 points and a record of 11-14-3-1. The team is ranked fifth in the OHL West Division and eighth in the OHL Western Conference. In the Conference, the Guelph Storm are ranked seventh with a record of 11-14-4-2 and 28 points; the Owen Sound Attack are in the ninth spot with 26 points and a record of 12-18-2-0. The Spirit are 7-5-0-0 when playing in Saginaw and 4-9-3-1 when on the road.

Following Sunday's contest against the Guelph Storm, the Spirit offense has reached the 100 goals plateau, tallied in 29 games this season.

OHL Leader Board - Top 20

Jack Combs is ranked 17th amongst all OHL'ers in the scoring category. Ryan McDonough is ranked 6th and Combs 18th in goal scoring; Combs is also ranked in the assists category, at the 19th spot. In the rookie scoring category, Tyler Murovich holds down the 14th spot.

Spirit Leader Board

Jack Combs is the leading scorer for the Spirit with 43 points, followed by Ryan McDonough with 34 points and Tomas Zaborsky with 31 points. Tyler Murovich has posted 16 points and Jordan Szwarz has notched 12 points.

Ryan McDonough has notched 21 goals this season, making him the team's leading goal scorer. Jack Combs has tallied 18 goals and Tomas Zaborsky has scored 15 goals. Tyler Murovich is ranked 4th with 10 goals, with several players tied in the 5th spot with 3 goals.

On the assists leader board, Jack Combs has tallied 25. Tomas Zaborsky is ranked 2nd with 16 assists and Ryan McDonough 3rd with 13 assists. T.J. Brodie has notched 11 assists this season and Jordan Szwarz has earned 9 assists.

Ryan McDonough has a plus-10, followed closely by Chris Breen with a plus-8. Jordan Ogilvie has a plus-7, Jack Combs a plus-5 and Jason McDonough a plus-4.

Erie Otters

December 13th; 7:11 PM

TheDow Event Center, Saginaw, MI

Former Spirit forward Zach Torquato and the Erie Otters will be town Thursday night for a 7:11 PM match-up, riding a 3 game win streak. The Otters, with 17 points and a record of 7-20-2-1, are in fifth place in the OHL Midwest Division and tenth in the OHL Western Conference. The two teams have previously met this season, with the Spirit beating the Otters 3-1 in November. Jack Combs, Ryan McDonough and Tomas Zaborsky each tallied a goal in the contest; goalie Ryan Daniels posted a 1.00 GAA and 0.971 save percentage.

The offense is lead by center Justin Hodgman (15-26-41), center Ryan O'Reilly (11-17-28), center Zack Torquato (10-15-25), winger Nick Palmieri (12-3-15) and winger Sean Jones (7-8-15). Winger Kelly Geoffrey (6-9-15) tallied a goal in Otters previous outing against the Spirit. The Otters recently added d-man Paul Cianfrini (0-5-5) - in his first 8 games with Erie he has been a stud on the blue line posting a plus-8, with a plus-16 on the season. Rookie netminder Jaroslav has seen action in 22 games for the Otters this season.

The Spirit are 13-7-0-0 against the Otters over the last five seasons, 6-3-0-0 when playing in Saginaw. The Otters are 1-12-2-1 when playing at home.

London Knights

December 15th; 7:11 PM

TheDow Event Center, Saginaw, MI

The Spirit are set for Saturday's contest against the London Knights - in the previous contest between the two teams, the Spirit battled back from a 2-0 deficit to push the game into overtime, where they eventually succumbed 4-3. Defenseman Nick Crawford tallied 2 goals in the effort.

Rookie winger Patrick Maroon (17-29-46), winger Adam Perry (15-19-34), center Justin Taylor (15-13-28), winger Akim Aliu (10-17-27) and winger Jadran Beljo (14-12-26) power a strong offensive up front. In their first outing against the Spirit, Aliu tallied 2 goals with Perry and Taylor each notching 1 goal. In the defensive zone, Scott Aarssen (0-9-9) has posted a team high plus-16. Starting netminder Steve Mason is looking to participate with Team Canada in the World Juniors Tournament; if he makes the team the Knights will be without one of the top goalies in the league for a couple of weeks. Mason has a 2.79 goals against average and 0.916 save percentage in 26 games.

The Spirit are 2-17-1-1 over the last five seasons against the Knights, 0-9-0-1 when playing in Saginaw. London, in 2nd place in the OHL Midwest Division with 41 points and a record of 19-10-1-2, is 6-6-0-1 when on the road.

Brampton Battalion

December 16th; 2:00 PM

Powerade Centre, Brampton, ON

The Spirit will square off against the Battalion for the first time this season on Sunday. Brampton is in first place in the OHL Central Division, second in the Eastern Conference, with 39 points and a record of 18-10-1-2. The Battalion enter the week on a five game win streak.

The Battalion just picked up winger Corey Emmerton (14-21-35), adding another punch to an already explosive offense featuring center Cody Hodgson (19-25-44), center John Hughes (11-28-39) and winger Luke Lynes (9-17-26). D-man Bobby Sanguinetti (17-28-39) chips in from the blue line, and along with veterans John de Gray (2-7-9) and Zack Shepley, anchor a strong defensive corps. Shepley is a recent overager acquisition from the Plymouth Whalers. The Battalion has one of the top goaltenders in the league with Bryan Pitton, who has posted a 2.31 goals against average and 0.915 save percentage on the season.

The Spirit are 3-5-2-0 against the Battalion over the last five seasons, 1-4-0-0 when playing in Brampton. This season the Battalion are 9-6-0-0 when playing at home.

Information accurate as of Sunday, December 10th

Next 5 Games

December 13th, 2007; Home vs Erie Otters; 7:11 PM

December 15th, 2007; Home vs London Knights; 7:11 PM

December 16th, 2007; Away at Brampton Battalion; 2:00 PM

December 27th, 2007; Away at Plymouth Whalers; 2:00 PM

December 29th, 2007; Home vs Plymouth Whalers; 7:11 PM

Check out the Saginaw Spirit Statistics

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