Thoughts from the Editor... week ending Nov 20

^{Here I am, another Sunday and more crazy thoughts and stats to fill up some space, but also to add a different perspective on how you may be viewing the OHL right now. Leave a comment below... positive or negative.}

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The Niagara IceDogs continue to struggle and be seen as a giant anomaly. Niagara currently sitting at a record of 11-10-0-2 have let up the third most goals in the Eastern Conference while scoring 4^th highest in the Conference. 6 players boast better than a 0 +/- while Steven Shipley still leads the team with a -10.

Mark Visentin is enjoying a roller coaster season. With a 6-7-0-1 record, Visentin still has a plus 3 GAA and a SV% under .890 but he does have 4 shutouts this season. 7 of the 15 games he has appeared in his GAA has been 1 or less. In the other 8 games, 4 or higher.

The Oshawa Generals should not be forgotten although they are trying hard to be an afterthought. Despite having 9 players with at least double digits for points, 2^nd in the Eastern Conference in Goals for, the Generals are sitting in 8^th place in the conference. In true Generals fashion this team leads the Conference in PIM with 536, 64 more PIM than the next team. Oshawa has also let in the most goals in the Eastern Conference, 9 more than Kingston, and are third worst in the league. Goaltending and Defence is an issue and they should either blow up the lineup or definitely get help because  something is wrong in Oshawa.

After marching up the East Division, putting up 6 straight victories, the Belleville Bulls dropped Two 4 point games this week. Bulls are currently sitting in 3^rd in the division with Peterborough and Ottawa just sitting ahead of them. The Bulls, despite their 6 game winning streak, never played a complete 60 minute game during the stretch, relying on the unbelievable goaltending from Subban and Chartrand.

For those experts who said the Plymouth Whalers would be unstoppable, well it looks like you can begin to brag once again as the Whalers have rattled off a 9-0-01 record in their last 10. Whalers have scored the second most goals in the league while taking over top spot in the West Division leading Sarnia by 1 point. JT Miller has been unbelieveable since I handed him a single American Dollar with 9 goals and 23 points in his last 16 games. Scott Wedgewood is also on fire in the month of November with a 5-0-0-1 record in 6 games this month sporting a 1.64GAA 946V% and 2 shutouts in November.

After a RED HOT start, London’s Michael Houser is being overshadowed yet again. With a 5-2 record in November he is being outshined by the like of the aforementioned Wedgewood and Subban but still sporting a respectable 2.86GAA and 9.14SV%. I point this out because the lack of ‘statistical evidence’ suggesting he is a top goaltender does not mean that he is not pulling out all the stops to steal games and help his team when they don’t play in front of him.

Ottawa’s Tyler Toffoli is looking to not only take over the top spot in the OHL Scoring race but run away with the Goal Scoring title as well. My preseason prediction of Sean Monahan outscoring Toffoli was a bit of a joke but if anyone could do it, it would be a player on his line. Tyler currently has 24 goals in 22 games while sitting 8 pts behind Barrie’s Tanner Pearson in the overall scoring title with 43pts to date. At current pace Toffoli could have 70 goals if he stays healthy… although he is expected to make a big splash and more than likely make Team Canada for the World Junior Hockey Championship. Back to Back 50 Goal seasons is not out of the realm of possibility with Tyler.

Kitchener fans need not worry that John Gibson has an American passport anymore. Gibson is in the T-5 with a .927SV%, in the T-10 with a 2.70GAA and 4^th in the league with 11 wins.

4 of the 5 Goalies in the league with the most wins are American born, Michael Houser, Brandon Maxwell, John Gibson and Jack Campbell.

There are 3 European Goaltenders in the top 10 in OHL Wins category, Petr Mrazek, Mathias Niederberger and Johan Mattsson.

The Top 3 Canadian Born goaltenders in the Wins Category is JP Anderson, Matt Murray and Scott Wedgewood. Team Canada WJHC Incumbent Mark Visentin, is tied for 17^th in the league with 6 Wins.