Knight Watch: Will London tame the Storm?

The Knights, minus Luke Evangelista and Brett Brochu, will look to beat Guelph this weekend for the first time this season. Columnist Jake Jeffrey has all the latest Knights news, notes and numbers.

(Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

With arguably their two most valuable players now attending World Junior Selection Camp with Hockey Canada, the London Knights will need to get creative to maintain their place atop the OHL standings.

One could also argue you simply can’t replace Lule Evangelista’s clutch scoring. Or Brett Brochu's outstanding play between the pipes. But London will be without the pair for the foreseeable future.

Evangelista, who has 20 goals and 40 points in 21 games this season, will certainly get a long look at Canada’s camp, while Brochu is locked in as one of the three goalies for Team Canada, so he will be away from the team until early January.

The Knights are 8-2-1-0 when they've been outshot this season, so Brochu has stolen his fair share of points in the early going.

In net, the Knights will turn to Owen Flores, who has been honing his talent with the London Nationals and has made three appearances in the green and gold this season. Matt Onuska could return at some point this month after he was diagnosed with mononucleosis in November.

London should have a pair of tough tests this weekend, too, with a pair of home games against Windsor and Guelph (second place in the Western Conference). The Knights are winless against the Storm in a pair of matchups thus far, while they’ve been triumphant in all three of their games against the Spitfires.

Goaltender Owen Flores will look to step up while Brett Brochu is away with Canada’s World Junior Team. Fellow backup Matt Onuska (mono) is still sidelined, but could return in the near future. (Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

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UPCOMING GAMEDAYS

Friday (Dec. 10, 7:30pm) vs. Windsor Spitfires (10-8-2-2)

Good news for London: Windsor will also be without one of their best players Friday, as Will Cuylle is also at Hockey Canada's World Junior Selection Camp. Cuylle had nine goals in his last eight games before heading off to camp. Dallas Stars prospect Wyatt Johnson leads the Spitfires in scoring. He just had a 14-game point streak come to an end — a stretch that saw him score 10 goals and 30 points over that span.

Saturday (Dec. 11, 4:00pm) vs. Guelph Storm (14-8-1-1)

This game features two of the top teams in the Western Conference, and Guelph is a foe the Knights have yet to beat this season, losing once in overtime and once in regulation in their only two meetings so far. The Storm had won five of their previous seven games heading into their matchup Friday night against Saginaw, trailing the Knights by five points in the standings. After tearing up the league in the early going, Sasha Pastujov has cooled off in a big way for Guelph, with just one goals and two assists over his last six games.

A LOOK AT THE LOCALS

George Diaco (Hamilton Bulldogs) extended his point streak to 13 games this week, and he has 10 goals and 30 points in 24 games this season.

Bryce McConnell-Barker (Soo Greyhounds) has scored in three straight games, giving him 11 goals on the season (second most among OHL rookies).

Marcus Vandenburg, who’s been enjoying a strong season with the GOJHL’s Stratford Warriors, signed an OHL standard player agreement with the Kitchener Rangers.

Chase MacQueen-Spence played his first OHL game for the North Bay Battalion Thursday night. The Elgin Middlesex Chiefs graduate has eight goals and 27 points in 29 games with the NOJHL’s Powassan VooDoos this season.

KNIGHTS BY THE NUMBERS

Ranger Danger: Knights forward Sean McGurn continued his success over Kitchener with a pair of goals and four points earlier this week. In three games against the Rangers this season, McGurn has three goals and seven assists.

The Knights have allowed 59 goals against this season (in 23 games), second fewest in the OHL next to the Mississauga Steelheads (50 in 22 games).

The Knights have had success this season playing ahead. They’re 11-0-1-0 when leading after the first period, and they’ve won all 10 of their games where they’ve had a lead going into the third.

Colton Smith leads all OHL rookies with 12 goals.