While teams are starting to take shape in terms of expectations and where they may finish at the end of the season, it’s a big weekend that could see some of the landscape shift one way or the other for teams.

It is the All-Star Showcase weekend in Woodstock for the third consecutive year. The weekend, which sees teams play three games on Friday and Saturday caps off with the Bantam, Minor Midget and Midget all-star games on Sunday. Personally, I think this format is fantastic and a big improvement from a few years back when All-Star weekend consisted of four teams and a mini-tournament amongst those four teams. I found that during those events, the final day seemed to drag, and the games weren’t as fluid as players were still trying to figure out playing with one another.

As promised, this is the second edition of the Alliance Scout Team Rankings. While the top four in the league seems to have separated themselves from the pack, there are five teams that seem to be competing for what should be four playdown spots. There are some matchups this weekend that could become even more relevant when late January arrives.

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After a long and very competitive season in the Alliance, we have finally reached the week that so many of these players have been waiting for. This Saturday will be the OHL Priority Selection, where many of these players will have their names called and for some, find a new home for themselves as early as this fall.

For the 2003 born age group, it was a solid bounce back for the Alliance after a bit of a dip last season. While last seasons selection saw 37 players selected, it was the absence of some top talent in those early rounds that was quite noticeable.

This season, the Alliance should see at least one player selected in the opening round while some people have speculated that as many as four skaters from the Alliance loop could be called in the first 21 picks.

When it comes to my personal rankings, this was a hard one without a doubt. Any player from 4-10 could easily have been flipped with legitimate reasoning. Saturday will be a busy time for the Alliance players.

No more delay, here is the final Top 25 Alliance Player Rankings.

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With the Cambridge Hawks still awaiting word of who they will play against in the Alliance OHL Cup Play-In series, a couple of players will get some game action in this week. Goaltender Jet Greaves and defenseman Jagger O’Toole will be on the ice for the Jr. B Cambridge Winterhawks this week according to head coach Dan Fitzgerald. O’Toole is expected to play tomorrow against Listowel while Greaves will start in net Friday night as the Winterhawks travel to Listowel for another contest.

Greaves has been one of the standouts for the Hawks during their playdown run this season. He had a stellar series against the Elgin-Middlesex Chiefs and then, despite being swept, Greaves had some great games against the top ranked London Jr. Knights. Greaves postseason record sits at 3-3 with a solid 2.67 GAA and a .911 SV%. In his lone game with the Winterhawks this season, Greaves took on Listowel back in October. Greaves allowed one goal while making 28 saves, falling to the Cyclones 2-0.

O’Toole has played in five of Cambridge’s postseason games thanks to a two game suspension he received in game one against London. In those games, O’Toole tallied one goal and two assists to go along with 33 penalty minutes. O’Toole suited up for the Winterhawks back in November against Stratford and did not register a point.

What many would call the biggest tournament of the year began this evening as the Silver Stick tourney kicked off in Whitby.

30 teams will compete as a countless amount of scouts take in the action as these athletes and afforded the opportunity to show what their individual games have to offer.

Alliance Scout will be in attendance for most of the weekend to check in on the Alliance squads.

Here is what went down on Thursday night.

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It really becomes apparent that the hockey season is in full swing when the OHL releases their first set of rankings for the 2016 OHL Cup.

That’s exactly what happened today as the week one rankings were revealed. There were only a few surprises in the rankings and we saw two Alliance teams make the cut.

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