Knights’ second half begins with a flurry

Knight Watch: London continues to win with star players away; Blake Montgomery in a groove; Cam Allen makes immediate impact; On tap: In Flint, home-and-home vs. Sarnia, showdown vs. Niagara …

(Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

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With 27 wins prior to the holiday break, the London Knights wrapped up their most successful first half in more than a decade.

It’s the most wins before Christmas since the franchise won 29 during the first half of the 2012-13 season.

Even without some top talent at the World Junior Championships, London posted convincing 6-1 wins over Erie and Sarnia last weekend to close out the unofficial first half.

Newly acquired defenceman Cam Allen made an immediate impact with his new team, recording a goal and two assists in his Knights debut in Erie, and then adding another two assists against Sarnia. 

Blake Montgomery has really found his stride in the OHL. After recording just an assist through his first five games, the Ottawa Senators prospect has 18 points in his last dozen games, including goals in each of his last four.

London has also been getting a fair bit of production from a pair of Edmonton Oilers prospects. William Nicholl was held pointless last Sunday, but that ended a stretch of seven straight games with a point. Sam O’Reilly, meanwhile, had goals in three straight games.

First year forward Logan Hawery took advantage of more playing time, picking up his first multi-goal game of his young OHL career, scoring twice and adding an assist last weekend. He was named the OHL Rookie of the Week for his efforts, becoming the second Knight to receive the honour this season after Aleksei Medvedev was the Rookie of the Week on two occasions.

In alumni news, former Knight Sam Gagner is captaining Canada at the Spengler Cup. He recorded 118 points with the Knights during the 2006-07 season.

(Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

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UPCOMING GAMEDAYS

Sunday (Dec. 29, 4:00pm) @ Flint Firebirds (15-15-1-1, 6th in Western Conference)

Flint entered the break with 100 goals for, the sixth fewest in the OHL. When they do get offence, it’s typically by committee. No player is above a point per game at the moment, but they have a dozen players with double digit points. Firebirds captain Connor Clattenburg just signed his entry level contract with the Edmonton Oilers. He has 10 goals and 18 points this season. Christopher Thibodeau leads the team in scoring with 26 points. Kaden Pitre (Tampa Bay Lightning) has four goals in his last six games, and netminder Nathan Day (Edmonton Oilers) is the reigning OHL Goalie of the Week.

Tuesday (Dec. 31, 4:00pm at home) & Wednesday (Jan. 1, 2:05pm on road) vs. Sarnia Sting (11-18-2-5, 8th in Western Conference)

This will be the latest installment of the annual New Years home-and-home between London and Sarnia. The Knights have been successful in all three meetings this season, most recently a 6-1 victory just before Christmas. Denver Barkey has eight points against Sarnia this season, while Liam Beamish has been a tremendous addition for the Sting. The Penn State commit, who was the OHL’s Rookie of the Week earlier this month, has 10 points in 11 games this season.

Friday (Jan. 3, 7:00pm) vs. Niagara IceDogs (22-9-1-1, 1st in Eastern Conference)

It’s been a while since an IceDogs team this good rolled into London. With 22 wins, they not only entered the Christmas break with the best record in the Eastern Conference, but they’ve also surpassed their win totals for the last four seasons. Kevin He (Winnipeg Jets) and former London Junior Knight Ryan Roobroeck are among the league leaders in points and goals. Braidy Wassilyn has been one of the top performers of the 2024 draft (he was the fourth overall pick). Former Knight Owen Flores has been great in net, and he’s backed up by Londoner Charlie Robertson.

(Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

KNIGHTS BY THE NUMBERS

27 - The Knights had 27 wins going into the Christmas break, the most by a Knights team since they won 29 prior to the holidays during the 2012-13 season.

19 - The Knights have won all 19 of their games in which they’ve outshot their opponent.

496 - The Knights may have ended up on Santa’s naughty list. They’re the second most penalized team in the OHL with 496 minutes thus far. That’s actually a slight improvement, as they led the league with 1,065 last year.

A LOOK AT THE LOCALS

- In just his second game with his new team, Ilderton’s Noah Jenken scored the first two goals of his OHL career. The Knights traded Jenken to Guelph on Dec. 17.

- It was a breakout first half for Aylmer’s Cameron Reid. He’s seventh among OHL defensemen with 29 points, and he’s a big reason why the Kitchener Rangers are one of the OHL’s top teams.

- Former London Junior Knight Aiden Young leads the Peterborough Petes with 17 points.

AROUND THE OHL

- The Niagara IceDogs lead the OHL with 145 goals, more than a third of which have come off the sticks of Kevin He and Ryan Roobroeck, who have combined for 49 goals this season.

- What a turnaround season it’s been for both the Niagara IceDogs and Windsor Spitfires. After finishing in the basement last season, Windsor and Niagara are second and fourth in the OHL, respectively.

- Is Peterborough turning the corner? After winning just twice through their first 25 games, the Petes won five of their final eight games heading into the holiday break.