Around the OHL: Players returning and critical coaches

The first week of the Ontario Hockey League season is complete and players continue to return from National Hockey League camps.

The Niagara IceDogs and London Knights each received good news on the weekend in that regard as Brenden Perlini, Mitch Marner and Christian Dvorak were assigned to their respective teams.

IceDogs General Manager/Coach Marty Williamson confirmed the news of Perlini’s return to Niagara following the IceDogs game in Sault Ste. Marie on Saturday night.

“He’ll be at practice Monday,” Williamson said. “It gives us another big weapon. It can really start to give us some matchups that will be difficult for teams with (Josh) Ho-Sang on one line and Perlini on another.”

The Barrie Colts will get a big piece of its blueline back as defenceman Rasmus Andersson was returned to the OHL by the Calgary Flames while the Erie Otters received a boost as the Los Angeles Kings assigned Slovakian defenceman Erik Cernak to the Otters over the weekend as well.

As for the Soo Greyhounds, the team is still awaiting word on forward Jared McCann, who is attending the Vancouver Canucks training camp.

As of Saturday, the team did not know whether the Canucks 2014 first round pick would be returned to junior hockey.

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BROWN HIGHLY CRITICAL

Ottawa 67’s Coach Jeff Brown was very critical of his team after a 4-0 loss to the Barrie Colts on Sunday afternoon.

The 67’s have started the OHL season 0-3 and have given up 16 goals while only scoring four.

Following Sunday’s 4-0 loss to Barrie, Brown expressed his disappointment to reporters.

“You don’t win with skill, you win with heart, character and leadership,” Brown said. “We have no identity right now. We have a bunch of guys that think they’re better than they are.”

“The undisciplined nature of our play right now is disgusting,” Brown added.

And that’s not all.

“This is eerily similar to last year,” Brown said. “It’s a bunch of selfish hockey players that don’t care about anybody but themselves. I feel sorry for (goaltender Liam Herbst). He gave us a pretty good effort (Sunday).

“This was a statement game for Herbie and his teammates let him down tonight,” said Brown.

“Right now more than half our team is playing for the number on the back and it’s disgusting,” Brown would also say.

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AROUND THE OHL

Results from the last week in the OHL.

Thursday
In Peterborough, Matt Spencer’s empty net goal with 1:34 remaining in regulation time turned into the game-winner as the Peterborough Petes beat the Ottawa 67’s 5-4. Petes goaltender Matthew Mancina made 32 saves while Steven Lorentz added a goal and an assist. Eric Cornel assisted on a pair of goals while Eddie Schulz, Jonathan Ang and Greg Betzold also scored for the Petes. Travis Konecny scored a pair of goals while Adam Craievich added a goal and an assist for the 67’s. Noel Hoefenmayer also scored for Ottawa.

In Saginaw, Zack Bowman made 24 saves as the Flint Firebirds blanked the Saginaw Spirit 3-0. Nicholas Caamano, Ryan Moore and Will Bitten scored for the Firebirds while Mathieu Henderson assisted on a pair of goals. Evan Cormier made 27 saves for the Spirit.

In Windsor, Darren Raddysh scored at 2:13 of overtime to lift the Erie Otters to a 4-3 win over the Windsor Spitfires. Raddysh and Kyle Maksimovich had a goal and an assist each for the Otters while Nick Betz and Travis Dermott had two assists each for Erie. Kyle Pettit and Taylor Raddysh also scored for the Otters. Overage forward Bradley Latour had a goal and two assists for the Spitfires. Anthony Stefano and Christian Fischer also scored for Windsor.

Friday
In Kingston. Roy Radke scored 3:#3 into overtime to lift the Barrie Colts to a 4-3 win over the Kingston Frontenacs. Michael Webster scored a pair of goals for the Colts while Andrew Mangiapane added a goal and an assist. Cordell Hames and Justin Scott assisted on two goals each for Barrie. Goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood made 42 saves. Juho Lammikko had a goal and an assist for Kingston while Roland McKeown assisted on a pair of goals. Chad Duchesne and Ryan Cranford also scored for the Frontenacs.

In North Bay, Greg Betzold scored a pair of goals while goaltender Dylan Wells stopped 31 shots as the Peterborough Petes beat the North Bay Battalion 4-1. Adam Timleck had a goal and an assist for the Petes while Steven Lorentz also scored. Zach Poirier scored the lone goal for North Bay.

In Sudbury, Josh Ho-Sang had a goal and three assists to lead the Niagara IceDogs to an 8-1 victory over the Sudbury Wolves. Blake Siebenaler and Anthony DiFruscia added a goal and two assists for Niagara. Vince Dunn, Jordan Maletta, Matt Gillard, Ryan Mantha and Nick Pastorious also scored for the IceDogs. Rookie David Levin scored the lone Wolves goal while goaltender Troy Timpano made 38 saves.

In Sault Ste. Marie, Mikhail Sergachev scored 28 seconds into overtime as the Windsor Spitfires beat the Soo Greyhounds 3-2. Anthony Stefano had a goal and an assist while Christian Fischer assisted on a pair of goals for the Spitfires. Aaron Luchuk also scored for Windsor. Colton White assisted on both Greyhounds goals while Jack Kopacka and Boris Katchouk scored.

In Guelph, Jeremy Brodeur stopped all 23 shots he faced as the Oshawa Generals beat the Guelph Storm 3-0. Matt Mistele assisted on a pair of goals while Owen McDade, Kenny Huether and Lukas Lofquist completed the Oshawa scoring. Guelph goaltender Justin Nichols made 26 saves.

In Kitchener, newly-acquired forward Bryson Cianfrone scored at 4:27 of overtime to lift the Owen Sound Attack to a 5-4 win over the Kitchener Rangers. Cianfrone had a goal and two assists for the Attack while Santino Centorame and Nick Suzuki added a goal and an assist each. Josh Sterk also assisted on a pair of goals for Owen Sound. Ethan Szypula and Jaden Lindo also scored for the Attack. Jake Henderson scored a pair of goals while Adam Mascherin and Darby Llewellyn also scored for the Rangers.

In London, Matthew Tkachuk had a goal and two assists as the London Knights beat the Hamilton Bulldogs 5-3. Kole Sherwood, Aaron Berisha and J.J. Piccinich had a goal and an assist for London while Owen MacDonald also scored for the Knights. Jake Bricknell, Matt Luff and Stephen Harper scored for Hamilton.

In Mississauga, Jared Walsh had a goal and three assists to lead the Mississauga Steelheads to a 7-0 victory over the Ottawa 67’s. Nathan Bastien scored twice and assisted on another while Josh Burnside also had a three-point night with a goal and two assists. David Muzito-Bagenda, Brendan Harrogate and Marcus Dickerson also scored for the Steelheads.

Saturday
In Hamilton, Stephen Harper scored twice and added a pair of assists as the Hamilton Bulldogs beat the Oshawa Generals 4-3. Trent Fox added a goal and an assist while Brandon Saigeon also had a two-point night with a pair of assists. Christian Miertz also scored for Hamilton. Lukas Lofquist had two goals and an assist for Oshawa while Anthony Cirelli also scored.

In London, Juho Lammikko had the shootout winner as the Kingston Frontenacs beat the London Knights 6-5. Jared Steege scored a pair of goals in regulation time for Kingston while Lammikko, Ryan Cranford and Spencer Watson chipped in with a goal and an assist each. Goaltender Jeremy Helvig made 38 saves and stopped all three Knights shooters in the shootout. Matthew Tkachuk paced the Knights with a goal and two assists offensively. J.J. Piccinich and Olli Juolevi added a goal and an assist each while Aaron Berisha assisted on a pair of goals. Owen MacDonald and Kole Sherwood also scored for London while goaltender Tyler Parsons made 41 saves.

In Sault Ste. Marie, a pair of power play goals lifted the Soo Greyhounds to a 3-1 win over the Niagara IceDogs. Tim Gettinger scored twice for the Greyhounds while Boris Katchouk also scored. Anthony DiFruscia scored for Niagara while goaltender Brent Moran stopped 30 shots.

In Flint, Matyas Kantner scored the lone shootout goal as the Flint Firebirds beat the Saginaw spirit 3-2. Goaltender Zack Bowman stopped 32 shots and all three Saginaw shooters in the shootout. Connor Chatham and Mathieu Henderson completed the Flint scoring in regulation time while Will Butten and Vili Saarijarvi assisted on both goals. Mitchell Stephens and Matthew Kreis scored in regulation time for Saginaw who got a 44-save performance from Evan Cormier.

In Owen Sound, Jaden Lindo scored at 3:44 of overtime to lift the Owen Sound Attack to a 1-0 victory over the Guelph Storm. Michael McNiven made 30 saves for the shutout while Guelph goaltender Justin Nichols stopped 45 shots.

Sunday
In Sudbury, Dmitry Sokolov had the shootout winner as the Sudbury Wolves beat the Mississauga Steelheads 6-5. Michael Pezzetta scored a pair of goals in regulation time for the Wolves while Jacob Harris added a goal and an assist. Charley Graaskamp also scored for the Wolves. Alexander Nylander had a goal and two assists for the Steelheads. Everett Clark had a goal and an assist while Nathan Bastien and Damian Bourne also scored for the Steelheads.

In Sarnia, Nikita Korostelev and Jakob Chychrun scored shootout goals to lift the Sarnia Sting to a 4-3 win over the Kingston Frontenacs. Daniel Nikandrov, Anthony Salinitri and Troy Lajeunesse scored in regulation time for the Sting while Conor McGlynn scored a pair of goals for Kingston. Robbie Burt also scored for Kingston.

In Ottawa, Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 44 shots as the Barrie Colts blanked the Ottawa 67’s Andrew Mangiapane had two goals and an assist for the Colts while Justin Scott assisted on three goals. Kevin Labanc added a goal and an assist for Barrie while Cordell James also scored. Ottawa goaltender Liam Herbst stopped 29 shots.

In Oshawa, Jeremy Brodeur made 30 saves as the Oshawa Generals blanked the North Bay Battalion 5-0. Joe Manchurek scored three times for the Generals while Kenny Huether added a goal and an assist. Jacob Graves Matt Mistele and Jack Studnicka assisted on a pair of goals while Stephen Desrocher had the other Generals goal. Battalion goaltender Jake Smith made 30 saves.