OHL Saginaw Spirit

Eagles Nest Notes

Published on December 1, 2008 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Saginaw Spirit News Release


The Saginaw Spirit remain in third place in the OHL Western Conference and second place in the OHL West Division following a hard fought 4-2 loss to the Windsor Spitfires last Friday and a 7-1 victory over the Sarnia Sting last Saturday. The Spirit have a record of 16-8-0-1 and 33 points. The Windsor Spitfires lead the conference and the Division with 48 points. In the conference rankings, the London Knights are in second with 39 points and the Guelph Storm are in fourth with 32 points.

The team plays three times this week, starting with a two game road trip. The Spirit will take on the OHL Eastern Conference Brampton Battalion Thursday night (7:00 PM) at the Brampton Powerade Centre, then return to the Western Conference for a Friday night (7:30 PM) match-up against the Kitchener Rangers at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium. Listen to the away games live on FM Talk and Sports 100.5 via the radio or live webstream!

The Spirit return to TheDow Event Center on Sunday, December 7 to host the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds at 4:00 PM. Great seats are still available for the game - contact the Spirit at 989-497-7747 or visit the Saginaw Spirit Ticket and Merchandise Store at 5789 State Street in Saginaw for more information.

Week 11 Recap

The Spirit started off their two game weekend series against the Windsor Spitfires last Friday, in what would be one of the final OHL games played at the old Windsor Arena before the Spitfires move to the WFCU Center in early December. The league leading Spitfires launched a massive attack against the Spirit net, with goalie Edward Pasquale earning the games second star after turning aside 48 of 52 shots. Saginaw's special teams squad saw plenty of action, stopping 9 of 11 Windsor power plays. Saginaw's Nick Crawford and Joe Pleckaitis tallied the Spirit goals in the effort. Despite the hard fought battle, the Spitfires would take the win, a 4-2 decision in regulation. The two divisional rivals square off again in the coming weeks, at Windsor's WFCU Center on Tuesday, December 16 and at Saginaw's TheDow Event Center on Friday, December 19.

The Spirit quickly rebounded the following day in their 7-1 win over the Sarnia Sting. Richard Jarusek posted his first OHL hat-trick and earned the games first star in the divisional match-up, with T.J. Brodie, Chris Chappell, Jordan Szwarz and Jack Combs also chipping in on the goal scoring. Brodie and Chappell had 3 point nights as well. Edward Pasquale anchored the net, notching 22 saves on 23 shots. The two teams part ways for awhile, not playing against each other again until Friday, January 9th at the Sarnia Sports and Entertainment Centre.

Week 12 Preview

Brampton Battalion

The Brampton Battalion host the Spirit Thursday night in the first of their two meetings this season. The Battalion, with 41 points and a record of 19-6-0-1, continue to be a contender in the OHL Eastern Conference, battling against the Belleville Bulls (42 points) for the top spot. The Battalion are 12-1-0-0 when playing at home this season.

The Battalion roster boasts two of the big stars from the 2008 ADT Canada-Russia Challenge in Cody Hodgson (Team OHL) and Evgeny Grachev (Russian Selects). Both were named as the player of the game by their respective teams for the first game of the series.

Hodgson (17G 18A), a 2008 NHL pick of the Vancouver Canucks, is the captain of the high powered Battalion offense featuring winger Grachev (16G 13A), center Matt Duchene (12G 21A) and overage winger Jason Dale (10G 11A). Duchene was listed as the second top OHL skater entering the 2009 NHL Entry Draft in the November 2008 NHL Central Scouting Preliminary Rankings. Veteran center and NHL Tampa Bay Lightning pick Kyle DeCoste (5G 5A) rounds out the offense.

Brampton's blue line brings a lot to the table as well. The veteran leadership of alternate captain Brad Albert (1G 6A) and Sweden native Alexander Eriksson (8A) play a big role in a defense that has only allowed 78 goals this season. 1991-born defenseman Kyle Pereira (1G 10) is the teams current plus/minus leader with a plus-15 in 27 games. Matt Clark (7A) joins teammate Hodgson in the latest NHL Preliminary Rankings, being ranked the 23rd top OHL skater. Goalie Patrick Killeen, a recent pick of the NHL Pittsburg Penguins, has posted a 2.80 goals against average in 17 games.

Kitchener Rangers

The Kitchener Rangers haven't fallen as far as many experts predicted following their tear through the league last season as the 2008 OHL Champions and 2008 CHL Master Card Memorial Cup hosts. The team enters the week in the middle of the Conference and in position to challenge for one of the coveted top four spots with 28 points and record of 13-10-1-1. The Rangers are currently ranked fifth in the Conference, two points behind the Guelph Storm (30 points) and five points behind the Saginaw Spirit (33 points). The team also enters the week enjoying a four game win streak, their latest victory being a 3-2 Shootout victory over the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds last Saturday.

The top two goal scorers in center Scott Timmins (18G 12A) and overage winger Brandon Mashinter (14G 12A) have driven the offense this season, with winger Chris MacKinnon (7G 21A) providing support after arriving from the London Knights via a trade earlier in the season. Rookie winger Jason Akeson (5G 9A) has jumped right in, posting his first OHL career hat trick last Friday against the Sudbury Wolves.

Defenseman Ben Shutron (1G 15A) leads from the blue line as one of the team's three overagers. 91-born Demark native Simon Gronvalt (1G 6A) was ranked 25th amongst eligible OHL skaters in the latest NHL 2009 Preliminary Rankings. Alex Dzielski (5A) and Dan Kelly (1G 1A) round out the defense.

NHL Chicago Blackhawks pick Josh Unice has posted a 3.34 goals against average and 0.891 save percentage in 12 games, while former Spirit netminder Parker Van Buskirk has posted a 2.81 goals against average and 0.919 save percentage in 14 games. Van Buskirk backstopped the Rangers in their 3-2 overtime loss to the Spirit on November 2, notching a 2.92 goals against average and 0.906 save percentage in the game.

Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds

The Greyhounds pay a visit to the Spirit and TheDow Event Center Sunday, for the second of four contests being played between the two OHL West Division rivals in Saginaw. The eight game season series between the Spirit and Greyhounds stands tied 1-1, with the Spirit taking the November 8 home game 5-3. The Greyhounds enter the week ranked third in the OHL West Division and tied for fifth in the OHL Western Conference with 28 points and a record of 13-12-1-1.

The Greyhounds offense features many names familiar to Spirit fans, like center Matt Caria (10G 22A), center Mathew Lyall (11G 12A), NHL St. Louis Blues pick James Livingston (11G 7A) and center Michael Fine (9G 10A). Fine was ranked the 10th top OHL skater eligible for the 2009 NHL Entry Draft by Central Scouting's November 2008 Preliminary Rankings. In the last two match-ups between the Greyhounds and the Spirit, Lyall chipped in 2 goals and winger Jordan Nolan (7G 11A) contributed 1 goal and three assists.

Defenseman Michael Quesnele (5G 16A) is a contributor on both ends of the ice, currently ranked the top third scorer on the roster and the team's plus/minus leader with a plus-9. Veteran Jacob Muzzin (2G 10A) and rookie Brandon Archibald (2A), Port Huron native and graduate of the Detroit Honeybaked Midget program, round of the defense.

In the Greyhounds net, both Cody St. Jacques and Bryce O'Hagan have gotten the call this season, with St. Jacques posting a 3.64 goals against average in 17 games and O'Hagan a 3.90 goals against average in 15 games. O'Hagan backstopped the Greyhounds to their 6-2 win over the Spirit on September 27, posting a 2.00 goals against average and 0.931 save percentage.

Check out the Saginaw Spirit Statistics

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from December 1, 2008


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