By Aaron Bell
The overage forward joined the Barrie Colts this season after a trade from the Belleville Bulls in the summer. The Burketon, ON native jumped out to a screaming start with his new team scoring four goals in their season-opener against the Owen Sound Attack on Thursday and then adding a hat trick against the Niagara IceDogs on Saturday.
Pither was named the Boston Pizza OHL and CHL Player of the Week for his efforts.
"It feels pretty good," Pither said. "It's great to have the fan support here and I'm just looking forward to having a good year here."
Pither has been known to make good first impressions in the past. The former first round pick of the Kingston Frontenacs scored three goals and had five points in his debut with the Bulls after a trade deadline deal with the Guelph Storm.
Pither is a key part of a deep offensive squad in Barrie. Former Bulls' teammate Bryan Cameron was added last week to a roster that also includes all-star Alex Hutchings, World Junior champion Stefan Della Rovere and veterans like Josh Brittain and Darren Archibald and newcomer Alexander Burmistrov, the Russian forward that scored eight points in two games last week.
"It's crazy - I think we might even have more offence than we did last year in Belleville," said Pither, who helped the Bulls advance to the Eastern Conference championships against the Brampton Battalion. "Just looking down the lines - we have three or four scoring lines. We're going to be a threat."
The Colts jumped out to a pair of wins to start the season despite having players like Della Rovere and Archibald still away at NHL camps.
"It feels good to get that early chemistry," Pither said. "We've got some young guys in with the vets and it's good to see some of the young guys stepping up. It's great to see that early."
Happy Returns:
With the NHL exhibition season in full swing, OHL teams are starting to get some of their star players back in the lineup. The Ottawa 67's were happy to see all-star defenceman Tyler Cuma returned from the Minnesota Wild camp earlier this week.
Cuma was reportedly very close to making the Wild last year after being their first round pick but he was returned to the OHL for more seasoning. He may have been ready to play in the NHL this year but he sat out nearly half of last season with a knee injury that required surgery.
The Guelph Storm also breathed a collective sigh of relief this week when captain Matt Kennedy made his way back to the team last week to play his overage season.
Kennedy was in the Carolina Hurricanes camp and was working to sign a pro contract.
OHL action continues this weekend with a full schedule of games including a Friday night tilt featuring the Barrie Colts visiting the Sudbury Wolves. The Colts have scored a league-high 20 goals in three games. Other Friday night action includes a battle between two teams ranked in the BMO CHL MasterCard Top 10 Rankings as the fifth ranked Mississauga St. Michael's Majors visit the eighth ranked London Knights. The Knights will be in tough again on Saturday when the travel to Plymouth to take on the Whalers. The weekend wraps up with four games Sunday including a Midwest Division clash between the Kitchener Rangers and the Guelph Storm.
