OHL Saginaw Spirit

Spirit Primed For Four Games In Seven Days

Published on February 24, 2010 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Saginaw Spirit News Release


(Saginaw, MI) The Saginaw Spirit round out the month of February with three games this week at the Dow Event Center, and with a game at the start of March the Spirit will find themselves hosting four games in seven days. The Saginaw Spirit host the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds Wednesday, February 24 (7:11 PM), the Sarnia Sting Saturday, February 27 (7:11 PM) and the Guelph Storm Sunday, February 28 (4:00 PM). The Spirit are also hosting an education day game, presented by The Dow Chemical Company and The Dow Corning Corporation with support from The American Chemical Society, on Tuesday March 2 at 10:45 AM against the Plymouth Whalers.

Saginaw checks into the week in fourth place in the Ontario Hockey League's West Division and seventh in the Western Conference with nine games to play, courtesy a record of 29-24-4-2 and 64 points. Entering the week, the Spirit remain one point behind both the Erie Otters and Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds in the battle for playoff positioning in the West, while maintaining a five point advantage over eighth place Owen Sound, the owners of the final post season position in the conference.

On the ice, for the second consecutive week goaltender Eddie Pasquale has been named the State Farm Saginaw Spirit Player of the Week for his superb effort in a 2-1 loss this past Friday in London, to earn the game's second star honors, before backing the Spirit to a home ice victory one night later against the Mississauga Majors. Jordan Skellett (23-55-78) now has some company in the battle for the assists lead in the OHL entering the week as the overage forward is now tied with both Taylor Hall of Windsor and Chris MacKinnon of Kitchener with 55 helpers this season. Josh Shalla (30-28-58) is the first Spirit shooter to join the 30 goal club this season and winger Jordan Szwarz (22-27-49) recently recorded OHL career goal number 50 in a Saginaw uniform. On the injury front, the team is hoping to have both Barry Sanderson (13-14-27) and Garret Ross (7-4-11) back in the lineup within the next week to ten days.

Sault Ste. Marie (30-24-1-4 65 points) at Saginaw - The Spirit have managed to secure four victories in six starts against the vastly improved Greyhounds this season as the Soo has emerged from a non playoff season a year ago to a contender for home ice advantage in the first round this time around. The Hound's work from the blueline back is one of the main reasons for their prosperity on the ice this year, with the defense headlined by overagers Jake Muzzin (13-47-60), who is in a great battle in the points race among blueliners as he is tied for the overall lead, and powerplay specialist Michael Quesnele (11-36-47). Strong support comes from the NHL draft eligible pair of Brandon Archibald (4-25-29) and Brock Beukeboom (6-17-23), as well as veteran Dylan King (2-5-7 151 pims) who has turned in a strong year. Goaltending is another strong suit as Ottawa draft pick Robin Lehner leads the way. The Swedish import was shaken up the last time the Spirit and Greyhounds met in Sault Ste. Marie but has since returned to the lineup. Up front, one of the OHL's most improved players has to be Sault forward Brett Thompson (35-23-58) who has come out of nowhere to lead the team in goals. The Greyhounds have also been bolstered by the return of former Plymouth Whaler Vern Cooper (24-33-57), who missed some time with a concussion. Another strong suit for the Greyhounds has been the special teams play as they currently have a top five powerplay and the best penalty killing in the OHL statistically.

Sarnia (16-40-3-1 36 points) at Saginaw - The Spirit will look for the season series sweep against Sarnia, a rebuilding team that continues to work hard in a bid to play the spoiler role down the stretch. Sarnia lost as much firepower up front as any team in the OHL, mostly by graduation to the New York Islanders system as Justin DiBenedetto, Mark Katic, and Matt Martin have been plying their trade with Bridgeport of the American Hockey League although Martin has been a recent call up to the Islanders recording two assists in his first NHL start. Further veteran departures this season - including Jordan Hill to Saginaw, Adam Courchaine to Erie, and Steve Reese to Sudbury - has yielded the Sting some much needed picks for the future. Those future selections will join the youth movement in Sarnia with some pretty good young talent including this year's top pick Brett Ritchie (12-12-24), Brandon Francisco (10-16-26), and draft eligible Brandon Alderson (13-10-23). The blueline is led by Joe Rogalski (6-22-28), who represented the Sting at this year's All Star Game, and goaltender Shayne Campbell is out to prove he is the future at the position after the Courchaine trade made him the number one man earlier this season.

Guelph (27-28-3-1 58 points) at Saginaw - The Storm have had a good surge towards sewing up a playoff position in the West in recent weeks and have closed the gap between themselves and eighth place Owen Sound to one point. The Storm have two games in hand on the Attack. The big guns up front for the Storm have been at the forefront of this strong effort in the second half of the season as Anaheim First Round Pick Peter Holland (25-40-65) and Nashville selection Michael Latta (29-28-57) have been scoring with regularity lately. In fact, there are few hotter shooters in the circuit than Latta, who joins Taylor Beck (29-48-77) in the Predators system. Beck, who leads the Storm in points, has had very consistent season as he has been among the league leaders in scoring virtually all year. While the top Storm scorers have picked up their game in recent weeks, the Guelph turnaround has been in large part spearheaded by goaltender Brandon Foote, who has given the Storm stability at the position after his return from a hip injury that kept him out for the first half of the season. Foote's heroics could not have come at a better time for the Storm as goaltender Cody St. Jacques has been down with a serious injury and may be done for the season.

Plymouth at Saginaw - The team rounds our four games in seven days with a Tuesday matinee match-up against OHL West Division rival the Plymouth Whalers on March 2 at 10:45 PM. Stay tuned to SaginawSpirit.com for more information!

Get your tickets! The Saginaw Spirit host the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds Wednesday, February 24 (7:11 PM), the Sarnia Sting Saturday, February 27 (7:11 PM) and the Guelph Storm Sunday, February 28 (4:00 PM). The Spirit are also hosting an education day game, presented by The Dow Chemical Company and The Dow Corning Corporation with support from The American Chemical Society, on Tuesday March 2 at 10:45 AM against the Plymouth Whalers. For ticket information, please contact the Spirit at 989-497-7747 or visit the Official Saginaw Spirit Ticket and Merchandise Store at 5789 State Street in Saginaw.

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from February 24, 2010


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