Running With the Colts
Published on March 19, 2007 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Barrie Colts News Release
WEEKEND RECAP: The Colts posted three victories over the weekend to close out the regular season on a seven game win-streak..They officially finished the regular season at 48-19-0-1 record with 97 points, the fourth highest point total in the OHL..The club closed out the regular season on top of the Eastern Conference standings for the first time since the 1999-00 season, and third time in franchise history.Their point total is the second highest total behind the 1998-99 club that posted 104..The Colts finished off the 2006-07 regular season with a 24-9-0-1 record at home and a 24-10-0-0 record on the road
March 17 vs. PETERBOROUGH: The Barrie Colts concluded their regular season Saturday night at the Molson Centre by recording their seventh straight victory as they defeated the Peterborough Petes by a score of 9-1 while they wore green jerseys to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.....The team finished off with a 49-19-0-1 overall record with 97 points, the second highest point total in franchise history.....They also finished out the regular season as the leaders of the Eastern Conference....It marks the first time a Colts team has accomplished this feat since the 1999-00 season, and the third time in franchise history where they have secured the regular season conference title...Kris Sparre (28,29) led the way with a pair of goals Saturday, while Matthew Bragg (14), Tomas Marcinko (19), Stefan Della Rovere (7), Cory McGillis (21), and Thomas Battani (5) added singles....Bryan Little also added a penalty shot goal, his 41st of the season....Alex Hutchings closed the victory out late with his first OHL goal
Shots- BAR: 39 PET: 27
Powerplays- BAR: 3/7 PET: 1/7
Attendance: 4,187
March 15 vs. MISSISSAUGA: The Barrie Colts improved to 47-19-0-1 on the season thanks to a 4-3 shootout victory over the Mississauga Ice Dogs Thursday night at the Barrie Molson Centre....Down by a goal late in the third, Kris Sparre (27) deflected Mike Weber's point shot with just 1:32 left to send the game to overtime...The extra period solved nothing, and then Vladimir Nikiforov, Brian Lashoff and Richard Clune, with the winner, scored in the shootout....The Colts built 1-0 and 2-1 leads in regulation on goals by Richard Clune (32) and Matthew Bragg (13) before the Ice Dogs overtook the homeside with Oskar Osala scoring to put the Ice Dogs ahead 3-2 at the 9:41 mark of the third...The Colts outshot the Ice Dogs 40 to 37 throughout the game....Barrie natives Michael Hutchinson of the Colts and Andrew Loverock of the Dogs were solid on both ends....Now at 95 points, this season's total places the club second all-time behind the 1998-99 club for the highest point total in a season
Shots- BAR: 40 MISS: 37
Powerplays- BAR: 1/2 MISS: 1/5
Attendance: 4,266
March 14 @ PETERBOROUGH: The Barrie Colts posted their second eight goal game in their last three as they scored an 8-2 decision on the road against the Peterborough Petes Wednesday night at the Memorial Centre....Bryan Little (2g-3a) and Hunter Tremblay (1g-2a) led the way offensively for the Colts, as they brought their season point total to 93, tying beside the 1999-00 team for the second highest single season total in franchise history....The pair for Little (39,40) puts him past the 40 goal mark for the second straight season, as he has now posted 14 points (3g-11a) in his last four games...Cory McGillis (20), Michael Lombardi (10), Tyson Aitcheson (3), Vladimir Nikiforov (19) and Chris Purves (1) also scored for the Colts, while Andrew Perugini kicked aside 30 Petes shots to record his 39th victory of the season
Shots- BAR: 46 PET: 32
Powerplays- BAR: 3/6 PET: 1/10
Attendance: 3,559
LOOKING AT ROUND ONE: The Barrie Colts and Brampton Battalion will face each other in the post-season for the second consecutive year, as the Colts eliminated the Battalion last season in five games during their second round series..Prior to that, the only other meeting between these two teams occurred during the 2003 playoffs, where the Battalion eliminated the Colts in five games of their first round series
Saturday March 24- Brampton at Barrie, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday March 25- Barrie @ Brampton, 2:00 p.m.
Tuesday March 27- Brampton @ Barrie, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday March 29- Barrie at Brampton, 7:30 p.m.
*Sunday April 1-Brampton @ Barrie, 7:30 p.m.
*Monday April 2- Barrie at Brampton, 7:30 p.m.
*Tuesday April 3- Brampton at Barrie, 7:30 p.m.
(* if necessary)
BREAKING DOWN THE BATTALION: The Battalion finished up the regular season eighth in the Eastern Conference with a 27-36-1-4 record and 59 points..This record included a 14-16-1-3 record on home ice combined with a 13-20-0-1 rate on the road.The Battalion scored 214 and allowed 277 goals, placing them 17th and 16th respectively in these categories..Their top point-getter during the regular season was 19-year old centre John Hughes, who tallied 79 points (24g-55a) through 62 games, followed by winger Luke Lynes at 65 (34g-31a), and rookie centre Cody Hodgson at 46 (23g-23a)..Minesing, ON native Graham McNabb finished fourth on the team with 41 points (19g-22a) through 68 games..Bryan Pitton carried most of the workload in goal for the Battalion this season as he appeared in all but seven of the team's games.The 19-year old Brampton, ON native finished up the regular season at 26-29-0-4 with a 3.57 goals against average and .879 save percentage..Looking at their specialty teams play, the Battalion ranked 16th with the man-advantage during the regular season at 17.4%, having scored 80 goals on 459 opportunities, meanwhile, their penalty kill also finished 16th at 77.6% while killing off 323 of the 416 shorthanded situations they faced
PRACTICE SCHEDULE: The Colts will hold practices from Monday to Friday this week in preparation for game one of their first round series this Saturday (7:30 p.m.) against the Brampton Battalion.All practices are open for the public to attend
GOALS FOR AND AGAINST: The Colts scored 273 goals through 68 regular season games, placing them sixth overall in the OHL in this category.Defensively, the team concluded the regular schedule third overall having given up 193 goals ..In terms of goals for and against per game, the Colts scored 4.01 and allowed 2.84
ROSTER UPDATE: Defenseman Kyle van de Bospoort is still listed as day-to-day for this week..Defenseman Mike Weber will miss game one against Brampton as he has to sit out a two-game suspension for a spearing penalty last Wednesday in Peterborough
ATTENDANCE & TICKET INFO: The Barrie Colts averaged 3,841 fans through the regular season..Tickets for home playoff games can be purchased through Ticketmaster by calling (705)-722-6587, in person at all Ticketmaster outlets or on-line at barriecolts.com
Ontario Hockey League Stories from March 19, 2007
- Eagles Nest Notes - Saginaw Spirit
- Attack Playoff Update - Owen Sound Attack
- Knights update - London Knights
- Luke Pither Grand & Toy Player of the Week - Guelph Storm
- Running With the Colts - Barrie Colts
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