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OHL Saginaw Spirit

Saginaw Rides Scoring Wave into London Friday Night

January 12, 2024 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Saginaw Spirit News Release


London, Ont. - The Saginaw Spirit (25-11-0-1) travel to Budweiser Gardens in hopes of breaking the London Knights (27-11-0-1) ten game winning streak on Friday, January 12th. The Spirit are fresh off an 11-3 win over the Windsor Spitfires on Wednesday that saw 12 points from newly acquired players.

Tonight's Game:

Puck drop is at 7:00pm

Broadcast:

Television: CHL TV, CHL App, OHL Action Pak Ch. 469

Radio: 100.5 FM WSGW, WSGW.com

Last Game:

The Spirit defeated the Windsor Spitfires at WFCU Centre on Wednesday, January 10th, by a score of 11-3. Zayne Parekh notched his second hat trick of the season along with two assists. Newly acquired center Owen Beck had a six-point night, scoring two goals and four assists. Michael Misa also had two goals with an additional assist. Nic Sima, Hunter Haight, Sebastien Gervais and Matyas Sapovaliv all scored goals for Saginaw, while Josh Bloom (3A), Jorian Donovan (2A), and Aidan Castle (1A) all registered their first points with the Spirit this year. Andrew Oke started in net for the Spirit making 18 saves on 21 shots.

The London Knights traveled to Sarnia on Wednesday, January 10th, defeating the Sting, 9-2 for their tenth straight win. The first period ended 5-0 with Jacob Julien scoring two goals while Kaeden Johnston, Oliver Bonk, and Sam O'Reilly scored the other three. Oliver Bonk for London and Tyson Doucette for Sarnia were the only two goal scorers in the second, making it 6-2. London's Denver Barkey and Evan Van Gorp opened up the third scoring two goals followed by Daylen Moses scoring an unassisted goal for Sarnia. Kaeden Johnston scored in the last seconds of the game, giving London a 9-2 victory over Sarnia. Owen Willmore started in net for the Knights making 38 saves on 40 shots.

Last Matchup:

Last time the Saginaw Spirit traveled to London was on Friday, December 8th. A total of seven goals were scored in the first period with two coming from Saginaw's Rodwin Dionicio and Hunter Haight. London's Kasper Halttunen, Denver Barkey, Easton Cowan, Jacob Julien and Landon Sim all scored goals in the first for the Knights. Alex Christopoulos scored a goal in the second along with London's Denver Barkey. Max McCue scored the last goal of the night for the Knights, giving them the 7-3 win over the Spirit. Andrew Oke started in net for Saginaw making 18 saves on 21 shots before being replaced by Nolan Lalonde who stopped 16 of 19. Michael Simpson was the starting goaltender for London, making 19 saves on 22 shots.

Players to Watch:

Zayne Parekh leads the Spirit in points (55), amassing 18 goals and 37 assists. Just yesterday, he was named the #8 prospect on Craig Button's 2024 NHL Draft Watchlist. After his hat trick on Wednesday, Parekh's 18 goals are the most by an OHL blueliner. Michael Misa leads the Spirit in goals (19) including seven powerplay goals. He is followed by Parekh and newly acquired Owen Beck with 18 goals. Beck accumulated six points (2G, 4A) in Wednesday's game against the Windsor Spitfires, tying Pavel Mintyukov, Dalton Duhart, Cole Coskey and Vincent Trochek for most points in a Saginaw Spirit game. Andrew Oke leads in all major goaltending categories for the Spirit, including a 2.97 goals against average (GAA), fourth in the OHL, an .889 save percentage (SV%), and 16 wins.

Saginaw will be without Ethan Hay as he serves the first of a two-game suspension handed down after Wednesday's contest in Windsor.

Denver Barkey leads the team and is third in the OHL with 60 points. Barkey also leads the team in goals (21) and assists (39). Kasper Halttunen is second on the team in goals (20) but leads both his team and the league in power play goals (12). Sam Dickinson is tied for third in the OHL in plus/minus (27). Michael Simpson leads the Knights in all major goaltending categories, including a 2.73 GAA, a .903 SV%, and 20 wins. His GAA and win count are both tops in the league.

Saginaw currently has ten players tied to the National Hockey League (NHL), including Joey Willis (Nashville), Josh Bloom (Vancouver), Matyas Sapovaliv (Vegas), Hunter Haight (Minnesota), Ethan Hay (Tampa Bay), Owen Beck (Montreal), Jorian Donovan (Ottawa), Braden Haché (Florida), Rodwin Dionicio (Anaheim) and Nolan Lalonde (Columbus, FA).

London also has ten NHL draftees, including Easton Cowan (Toronto), Kasper Halttunen (San Jose), Jacob Julien (Winnipeg), Kaleb Lawrence (Los Angeles), Max McCue (San Jose), Denver Barkey (Philadelphia), Landon Sim (St. Louis), Isaiah George (NY Islanders), Oliver Bonk (Philadelphia), and Jackson Edward (Boston).

Check out the Saginaw Spirit Statistics



Ontario Hockey League Stories from January 12, 2024


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