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OHL Saginaw Spirit

Preview: Spirit Begin 11th Consecutive Playoff Journey Friday in Erie

March 25, 2016 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Saginaw Spirit News Release


SAGINAW, MI - On Friday night, the Saginaw Spirit (#8, Western Conference) take on the Erie Otters (#1, Western Conference) in Game One of the Western Conference Quarter-Final at Erie Insurance Arena in Erie, Pennsylvania. The puck drops at 7:00 P.M.

For the second consecutive season, the Saginaw Spirit draw the top team in the entire Ontario Hockey League in the first round of the OHL playoffs. Last season, the Spirit fell victim to the juggernaut Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds in four games during the Western Conference Quarter-finals. This season, the Spirit draw the Hamilton Spectator Trophy winners again in the form of the defending Western Conference Champion Erie Otters.

2015-16 marks the 11th consecutive trip to the postseason for the Saginaw Spirit, however the Spirit have not traveled past the opening round of the playoffs since 2012, when they beat Sarnia in six games and fell to London in five games in the Western Conference Semi-finals. To get back to the second round, the Spirit have a tall mountain to climb in the league's top team.

Players to Watch:

Saginaw Spirit:

C Mitchell Stephens (2015 2nd round pick, Tampa Bay Lightning) - The Tampa Bay prospects appeared in only 39 games this season after a broken ankle in October and a World Junior appearance with Team Canada kept Stephens out of the Spirit lineup for almost half of the season. Stephens responded with 18 points in his last 15 games, leading him to back-to-back 20-goal seasons with the Spirit.

RW Artem Artemov (2016 NHL Draft Eligible) - The Spirit's leading goal scorer during the regular season amassed career highs in goals, assists, and points and was the Spirit point leader against the Otters this season (4).

G Evan Cormier (2016 NHL Draft Eligible) - Cormier appeared in all four games this season against the Otters, shutting down the second highest scoring team in the Western Conference making 140 saves on 150 shots, earning a 2-2-0-0 record. Cormier finished second in the OHL in minutes played and saves.

Erie:

C Dylan Strome (2015 1st round pick, Arizona Coyotes) - The league's fourth most prolific scorer finished the 2015-16 season with 111 points to lead the Otters. Strome had 18 games in which he scored three or more points in a game, including a six point game in Sudbury on January 10th. Strome only had one assist and was -8 in four games this season versus Saginaw.

RW Alex DeBrincat (2016 NHL Draft Eligible) - The Farmington Hills, Michigan native and Victory Honda graduate notched back-to-back 50-goal seasons in 2015-16. His 51 goals put him at second on the team in scoring. The Spirit held DeBrincat in check during the season as well, to the tune of two assists in four games and a -7 rating.

G Devin Williams (Undrafted Free Agent) - The Otters fifth-year goaltender from Saginaw is the Otters all-time leader in wins with 106. His 41 wins in 2015-16 is a career-high for the Otters fifth round pick in 2011. His 2.36 goals against average and .915 save percentage finished second best in the OHL. Williams made the most appearances of any goaltender ranked in the top 15 in the OHL. Williams appeared in three of the four games against the Spirit this season earning a 1-1-0-0 record.

Broadcast Information:

Spirit fans can catch radio broadcasts of ALL playoff games on WSGW 100.5 FM, www.fmtalk1005.com , and the FM Talk 100.5 App in the App Store or Google Play with the voices of Spirit Hockey, Joey Battaino and Dennis Desrosiers.

Check out the Saginaw Spirit Statistics



Ontario Hockey League Stories from March 25, 2016


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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