Skip to content

OHL Notebook: North Bay native signs NHL deal

It was only a matter of time but North Bay native Ken Appleby has signed a National Hockey League contract.

It was only a matter of time but North Bay native Ken Appleby has signed a National Hockey League contract.

The 20-year-old inked an entry-level contract with the New Jersey Devils over the weekend after attending the teams training camp as a free agent.

Though he hasn’t officially been reassigned, Appleby is expected to start the season with the ECHL’s Adirondack Thunder.

Appleby helped the Oshawa Generals to a Memorial Cup title last season, stopping 37 shots in a 2-1 overtime win over the Western League’s Kelowna Rockets in the final.

Appleby posted a 2.08 goals against average and a 0.915 save percentage in four wins in the tournament.

After posting a 38-7-4 record, 2.08 GAA and a 0.924 save percentage in the regular season, Appleby proceeded to go 16-5 in the playoffs with a 2.24 GAA and a 0.922 save percentage.

In other news around the league, Scott Walker has been named a player development consultant with the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks.

Walker will work directly with Canucks prospects in his new role.

The former Guelph Storm coach will remain as one of its owners while holding his new position.

****
FULL RESULTS

Wednesday
In Owen Sound, a three-goal opening period helped pace the Owen Sound Attack to a 5-2 victory over the Flint Firebirds. Jarett Meyer and Nick Suzuki had a goal and an assist each for the Attack while goaltender Michael McNiven stopped 30 shots. Justin Brack, Jonah Gadjovich and Ethan Szypula also scored for Owen Sound. Zach Grzelewski scored both goals for the Firebirds.

Thursday
In St. Catharines, Alex DeBrincat scored five times to lead the Erie Otters to a 6-1 win over the Niagara IceDogs. Taylor Raddysh assisted on three goals for the Otters while Kyle Maksimovich added a pair of helpers. Jake Marchment had the other Otters goal. Johnny Corneil had the lone goal for Niagara.

In North Bay, the Kitchener Rangers opened up a 4-0 lead and held on for a 4-2 victory over the North Bay Battalion. Sean Allan had a pair of assists for the Rangers while Mason Kohn, David Miller, Connor Bunnaman and Nick Magyar completed the Kitchener scoring. Battalion goaltender Jake Smith made 32 saves while Brett McKenzie had a goal and an assist in the loss.

In Peterborough, Michael McLeod and Alexander Nylander had a goal and two assists each as the Mississauga Steelheads skated to a 6-1 win over the Peterborough Petes. Goaltender Jack Flinn stopped 35 shots for the Steelheads while Josh Burnside added a goal and an assist. Nathan Bastien, Damian Bourne and Daniel Muzito-Bagenda also scored. Jonathan Ang scored for the Petes.

In Windsor, Patrick Sanvido and Logan Brown had three assists each as the Windsor Spitfires beat the Saginaw Spirit 7-1. Cristiano DiGiacinto had a goal and an assist for Windsor while Anthony Stefano, Gabriel Vilardi, Luke Kirwan, Jalen Chatfield, Bradley Latour and Aaron Luchuk also scored. Jesse Barwell had the lone goal for the Spirit while goaltender Evan Cormier stopped 36 shots.

In Barrie, Justin Fazio stopped 26 shots as the Sarnia Sting blanked the Barrie Colts 1-0. Sasha Chmelevski had the lone goal in the contest. Barrie goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood made 39 saves.

Friday
In St. Catharines, the Barrie Colts used three goals in the third period to beat the Niagara IceDogs 4-1. Brandon Prophet, Kevin Labanc and Justin Scott had a goal and an assist each for the Colts while Julius Nattinen assisted on a pair of goals. Cordell James had the other goal for the Colts. Anthony DiFruscia scored the lone goal for the IceDogs.

In North Bay, Zach Bratina’s power play goal at 7:41 of the third period was the eventual game winner as the North Bay Battalion beat the Sarnia Sting 5-4. Bratina had a pair of goals in the game while Brett McKenzie had a goal and two assists. Riley Bruce and Zach Poirier also scored for North Bay. Nikita Korostelev had a goal and an assist for Sarnia while Anthony Salinitri, Patrick White and Alex Black also had goals for the Sting.

In Ottawa, Sam Studnicka scored three times to pace the Ottawa 67’s in a 5-1 victory over the Hamilton Bulldogs. Dante Salituro assisted on four goals for Ottawa while Nevin Guy added a pair of assists. Evan deHaan and Travis Barron also scored for Ottawa while Mitchell Mendonca scored the lone Hamilton goal.

In Sudbury, goals by Gustaf Franzen and Adam Mascherin broke a 2-2 tie and helped the Kitchener Rangers to a 4-2 win over the Sudbury Wolves. Mascherin and Ryan MacInnis had a goal and an assist each for the Rangers while goaltender Dawson Carty stopped 34 shots. Dylan DiPerna also scored for Kitchener. David Levin had a goal and an assist while Pavel Jenys also scored for Sudbury.

In Guelph, Boris Katchouk scored two goals and an assist as the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds beat the Guelph Storm 8-4. Colton White, Zach Senyshyn, Bobby MacIntyre, Gabe Guertler, Gustav Bouramman and Jack Kopacka also scored for the Greyhounds. James McEwan scored twice for the Storm while Vladislav Barulin and Luke Burghardt also scored.

In London, Logan Brown scored 17 seconds into overtime to give the Windsor Spitfires a 6-5 victory over the London Knights. Brown finished the night with a goal and two assists while Gabriel Vilardi scored a pair of goals for Windsor. Hayden McCool added a goal and an assist while Cole Carter also had a two-point night with a pair of assists. Jalen Chatfield and Mikhail Sergachev also score for the Spitfires. Overage goaltender Michael Giugovaz stopped 37 shots. Christian Dvorak had a goal and three assists for London while Aaron Berisha scored twice. Mitch Marner (one goal, one assist) and Matthew Tkachuk (two assists) also had multi-point nights for London while Brandon Crawley also scored.

In Mississauga, Spencer Watson scored a pair of goals as the Kingston Frontenacs beat the Mississauga Steelheads 3-1. Lucas Peressini stopped 29 shots while Ryan Cranford also scored for Kingston. Owen Tippett scored for Mississauga while goaltender Jack Flinn stopped 28 shots.

In Oshawa, Jeremy Brodeur stopped all 14 shots he faced as the Oshawa Generals blanked the Peterborough Petes 3-0. Joe Manchurek, Anthony Cirelli and Matt Mistele scored for the Generals. Peterborough goaltender Matthew Mancina stopped 27 shots.

Saturday
In Erie, Nick Betz had the shootout winner as the Erie Otters beat the Flint Firebirds 3-2. Christian Girhiny and Shaun Bily scored in regulation time for the Otters while goaltender Devin Williams made 30 saves and stopped all three Firebirds shooters in the shootout. Zack Bowman stopped 44 shots for the Firebirds while Zack Pittman had a goal and an assist. Will Bitten also scored for the Firebirds.

In Peterborough, Greg Betzold’s goal at 17:22 of the third period lifted the Peterborough Petes to a 3-2 win over the Niagara IceDogs. Hunter Garlent and Eric Cornel also scored for Peterborough. Vince Dunn had a goal and an assist for the IceDogs while Josh Ho-Sang assisted on both Niagara goals. Brenden Perlini also scored for the IceDogs.

In Saginaw, Mitchell Stephens scored three times to lead the Saginaw Spirit to an 8-5 win over the Guelph Storm. Brady Gilmour and Connor Brown chipped in with a goal and two assists each for the Spirit while Blake Clarke, Devon Paliani and Artem Artemov also scored. Defencemen Greg DiTomasso and Marcus Crawford assisted on two goals each for the Spirit. Sault Ste. Marie native Nic Sicoly scored his first two OHL goals for Guelph while Isaac Ratcliffe, Luke Burghardt and Tyler Boston also scored in the loss. C.J. Garcia picked up a pair of assists for Guelph.

In Barrie, four unanswered goals helped the Barrie Colts to a 4-2 win over the Kingston Frontenacs. Roy Radke scored three times for the Colts, including a pair of power play markers with the other goal coming shorthanded. Kevin Labanc had the other Barrie goals while Julius Nattinen and Cordell James had two assists each for Barrie. Kingston goaltender Lucas Peressini stopped 39 shots while Ted Nichol and Spencer Watson had the Frontenacs goals.

In Owen Sound, Blake Speers and Zach Senyshyn scored shootout goals to lift the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds to a 4-3 win over the Owen Sound Attack. Senyshyn scored twice for the Greyhounds in regulation time while Gabe Guertler had a goal and an assist. Joseph Raaymakers stopped 38 shots and a pair of Owen Sound shooters in the shootout. Michael McNiven stopped 37 shots for Owen Sound while Jonah Gadjovich, Jaden Lindo and Petrus Palmu scored.

Sunday
In Mississauga, Zach Grzelewski’s goal at 19:15 of the third period was the game-winner as the Flint Firebirds beat the Mississauga Steelheads 2-1. Bryce Yetman also scored for Flint while goaltender Kyle Keyser stopped 28 shots. Alexander Nylander had the lone goal for Mississauga while goaltender Jack Flinn stopped 31 shots.

In Sudbury, Troy Lajuenesse scored three times to lead the Sarnia Sting to a 5-2 win over the Sudbury Wolves. Noah Bushnell and Alexandre Renaud also scored for the Sting while goaltender Justin Fazio stopped 28 shots. Jakob Chychrun added a pair of assists for the Sting. Danny Desrochers and David Levin scored for the Wolves. Sudbury goaltender Troy Timpano stopped 31 shots.

In Hamilton, Stephen Harper scored at 1:56 of overtime to lift the Hamilton Bulldogs to a 3-2 win over the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. Charlie Graham stopped 29 shots for the Bulldogs while Cole Candella and Matthew Strome also scored for Hamilton. Jack Kopacka and Zach Senyshyn scored for the Greyhounds. Joseph Raaymakers stopped 22 shots for the Greyhounds.

In Oshawa, five different players had goals as the London Knights beat the Oshawa Generals 5-2. Aaron Berisha had a goal and an assist for London while Christian Dvorak, Owen MacDonald, Aiden Jamieson and Mitchell Marner also had goals. Matthew Tkachuk and Kole Sherwood assisted on a pair of goals each for the Knights. Daniel Robertson and Stephen Desrocher scored for Oshawa.


What's next?


If you would like to apply to become a Verified reader Verified Commenter, please fill out this form.




Brad Coccimiglio

About the Author: Brad Coccimiglio

A graduate of Loyalist College’s Sports Journalism program, Brad Coccimiglio’s work has appeared in The Hockey News as well as online at FoxSports.com in addition to regular freelance work with SooToday before joining the team full time.
Read more