Busy weekend will test Knights’ depth, mettle

Knight Watch: Two straight 3-game weekends on tap for London; Elliott continues to dominate; Hawery impresses; Barkey sets shorthanded mark; It’s Brampton, Erie, Kitchener this weekend …

(Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

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The London Knights are hoping to ride the momentum that saw them tally 19 goals in three wins last weekend.

That made it five straight wins for the Knights, as they extended their lead atop the OHL Standings to six points over Kitchener — one of the teams they’ll face this weekend. It will be the first of two straight weekends that will see them play three games in three days.

They’ll bookmark this weekend with home games against Brampton Friday night and Kitchener Sunday, while mixing in a road trip to Erie on Saturday. All three have wins over London this season and should be challenging matchups for the first-place Knights.

Friday marks 31 days until the end of the regular season, and the Knights are set to play 16 games during that stretch. Kitchener and Windsor are the only teams within realistic striking distance of the Knights, and they still sit six and seven points back, respectively. London plays the Rangers and Spitfires two more times each this season, including a matchup against both in the final weekend of the regular season.

Austin Elliott and Aleksei Medvedev have rotated starts pretty much all season, but last week Elliott made two straight starts for the Knights for the first time since late October. With wins in both of those contests, he improved his record to 23-1-0-0 in a Knights uniform.

Logan Hawery was called up to play a game in his hometown of Barrie and he performed quite nicely, scoring a pair of goals in front of family and friends, helping the Knights beat the Colts for the second time this season. It’s his first game with the Knights in more than a month. He has eight goals and 13 points in 10 games with the GOJHL’s St. Thomas Stars.

The move to send their most recent first round pick to Junior ‘B’ came as a surprise, but it has certainly paid off. It has allowed the young forward to get more playing time, and when the GOJHL season is over on March 7, he’ll be eligible to return to the Knights’ lineup on a more full-time basis.

(Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

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UPCOMING GAMEDAYS

Friday (Feb. 21, 7:00pm) vs. Brampton Steelheads (25-20-8-0, 6th in Eastern Conference)

You have to go back to early October, the second week of the season, for the last time these two teams met. The result was a 6-3 win for the Steelheads, which was London’s third loss of the season. Since then? The Knights have gone 42-5-1-0. Carson Rehkopf (Seattle Kraken) scored a pair of goals against London earlier this season. He also scored two against London last year when he was with the Kitchener Rangers. Porter Martone just set the Steelheads’ single season record with 84 points. He’s third in the OHL with 56 assists. Luke Misa (Calgary Flames) is second on the team with 73 points. Brampton has won six of their last seven as they make a late push for home ice advantage in the Eastern Conference. Defenseman Finn Harding has 14 points over his last seven games. Braydon Gillespie has started and won Brampton’s last three games. Jack Ivankovic, a top goaltending prospect for the NHL draft, started four straight prior to that. Brampton has scored the third most goals this season behind London and Saginaw.

Saturday (Feb. 22, 7:00pm) @ Erie Otters (27-21-4-1, 5th in Western Conference)

The Otters took the first matchup of the season, but it’s been all London in the three games since. Jacob Julien (Winnipeg Jets), Sam O’Reilly (Edmonton Oilers), Landon Sim and Evan Van Gorp have all scored multiple goals against Erie this season. For the Otters, Dylan Edwards has three goals against London this year. Both he and Malcolm Spence lead the head-to-head matchup with four points each. Sam Alfano leads the team with 34 goals and 65 points, while Pano Fimis sits just behind at 63 points. There will be no Matthew Schaefer for the Otters yet again (he’s yet to dress against the Knights this season). The first overall pick in the 2024 OHL draft and top defenseman eligible for this year’s NHL draft has been limited to just 17 games this season. 

(Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

Sunday (Feb. 23, 6:00pm) vs. Kitchener Rangers (38-13-4-1, 3rd in Western Conference)

Kitchener is paced by their overagers, Adrian Misaljevic and Trent Swick (Vegas Golden Knights), who are one-two in team scoring. Jackson Parsons leads all OHL goaltenders in goals-against average, wins and shutouts. Aylmer’s Cameron Reid has seen his draft stock rise significantly this season. He has 11 goals and 46 points through 56 games. Jack Pridham (Chicago Blackhawks) has been a wonderful pickup for the Rangers. Five of his 19 goals this season have been game winners. Christian Humphreys (Colorado Avalanche) has five goals and 20 points since joining Kitchener. Like his current teammate, Pridham, they are two of many NCAA commits to come over to the OHL this season. Draft-eligible forward Luca Romano gives the Rangers three 20-goal scorers, with a couple others likely to join the club before season’s end. 

KNIGHTS BY THE NUMBERS

12 - Captain Denver Barkey (Philadelphia Flyers) is now the franchise’s all time leader in shorthanded goals, as he scored a pair in Monday’s win over Flint to pass former Knights captain Liam Foudy.

12 - Jacob Julien’s 12-game point streak is the 18th longest streak in the OHL this season.

136 - The Knights have allowed the fewest goals against in the OHL. They were the only team last season to allow fewer than 200 goals, and they look to be on pace to follow that up again this season — though, they will finish well above the OHL record of 125 goals allowed by the Knights during the 2004-05 season.

3 - Monday’s comeback win against Flint was the third time this season London won a game despite trailing going into the third period.

A LOOK AT THE LOCALS

- Ilderton’s Andrew Willis signed with the Erie Otters earlier this month and recorded his first OHL assist in just his second game. He’s been playing with the GOJHL’s Port Colborne Sailors this season.

- Guelph Storm captain Jett Luchanko (Philadelphia Flyers) has two goals and nine assists during his current five-game point streak.

- Komoka’s Beckham Edwards is closing in on 20 goals. The first-year forward has scored 19 goals with the Sarnia Sting.

AROUND THE OHL

- The Peterborough Petes will host the 2026 Connor McDavid Top Prospects Game.

- Owen Sound Attack forward Pierce Mbuyi is the OHL Rookie of the Week for the second straight week. He scored three hat tricks during an eight-game stretch, helping him move up to third in OHL rookie scoring.

- The Kitchener Rangers have extended their coaching staff through the 2026-27 season. That includes Jussi Ahokas (head coach), Jeff Kyrzakos (associate coach and assistant GM), and Brad Flynn (assistant coach). The trio have led Kitchener to the second best record in the OHL this season.