Around the OHL
By Aaron Bell
With the Christmas break quickly approaching, several OHL clubs are in the charitable mood. Many teams are hosting their annual Teddy bear Toss promotions this weekend, a program that has provided hundreds of thousands of stuffed toys over the past several seasons to underprivileged children during the holiday season and throughout the year.
The Oshawa Generals and Ottawa 67's teamed up for a recent charity shootout between stars
John Tavares and
Logan Couture.
Tavares won the first round in Ottawa on November 9, but Couture won the rematch at the General Motors Centre on Sunday despite admitting that he was nervous before the shootout started.
"It's nerve wracking for me personally," Couture said. "Going out on the ice with the goalie and going one-on-one always makes me nervous. I just try to have fun with it."
Tavares, shooting for the Special Olympics Foundation, was one-for-five against Ottawa goalie
Chris Perugini on Sunday while Couture scored twice on five shots against
Daryl Borden to claim the win for the Canadian Cancer Society.
"I was definitely nervous in front of the home town," Tavares said on Sunday. "I got the win in Ottawa but unfortunately I came up short here."
The promotion recreated a similar shootout between Wayne Gretzky of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and Bobby Smith of the Ottawa 67's 30 years ago. Couture said that it was fun going up against Tavares, the OHL's scoring leader.
"We're pretty good friends off the ice," Couture said. "I don't think there's any rivalry between us other than we both want our teams to win every time we play each other. We both play hard."
INTERNATIONAL FLAVOUR
In addition to the 13 OHL players that have been invited to Canada's final selection camp, several other OHLers are looking forward to representing their countries in the World Junior Championships this Christmas in the Czech Republic.
Defencemen
Bobby Sanguinetti of the Brampton Battalion and
Kevin Montgomery of the London Knights and goaltender
Jeremy Smith of the Plymouth Whalers were named to the U.S. team on Tuesday.
Michal Jordan of the Whalers was named to the host Czech team and
Jan Mursak of the Saginaw Spirit and
Patrik Lusnak of the Sudbury Wolves will suit up for the Slovak squad. Kitchener Rangers' standout
Yannick Weber will patrol the blueline for Switzerland.
Kaspars Daugavins of the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors,
Arturs Kulda of the Peterborough Petes and
Andris Dzerins have already left their teams to compete for Latvia in the "B" pool.
Additional players are expected to be announced this week.
MAJOR TURNAROUND
If there has been one word to describe the St. Michael's Majors first season in Mississauga, it would be streaky.
The majors had an up-and-down start to the season, losing their first three games before putting together a three-game winning streak. Then they went through a stretch of winning just once in eight games but snapped out of it midway through November and won six straight games.
Their upswing continues with seven wins in their past eight games, including a 6-2 victory over the Barrie Colts on Sunday.
"I guess it has a lot to do with our room -- a lot of the guys are starting to step up," said sophomore defenceman
Tim Billingsley. "Everyone is just working together. We got a little taste of winning and now
We're just trying to keep it going."
The Majors expected to be in a rebuilding mode this year with several 16 and 17-year-old players making key contributions. But with veteran coach Dave Cameron back behind the bench, the team has found their step very quickly and hope their immediate success continues.
In his previous stint with the Majors, Cameron turned the club into a perennial contender, guiding them to the OHL semi-finals in four straight years before accepting a job with the Ottawa Senators' AHL team in Binghamton.
"Coach is happy; all the guys are happy," said Billingsley, one of three 17-year-old defenceman playing a regular role with the club. "We're all working hard and trying hard and things are starting to work out for us now even though we are sort of a young team."
