Tag Archives: grant spence

2016/17 Chatham-Kent Cyclones Season Preview

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2016 OHL Priority Selection Draft Results

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The day that so many players and families have been waiting for has finally arrived. The OHL Draft has arrived and with plenty of anticipation.

For the live blog today, we will go through with you every single round and discuss every Alliance player selected in the draft. Historically, the Alliance has produced approximately 42 players into the OHL Draft on a yearly basis. Not a lot considering that there are over 200 players combined in the league.

Just remember, if your name gets called to savour the moment. Do not dwell if it is lower than you were expecting as your draft position is just a number and your future play will determine everything. Those players who will not be as fortunate to hear their name, hard work can still present that opportunity to you. Mike Hoffman of the Ottawa Senators knows that first hand and he is a story that should give motivation for any undrafted players still looking to make that jump to major junior hockey.

With everything said, sit back and relax if that’s possible. The draft begins at 9am and we will be here with you for its entirety.

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Final Alliance Scout Top 25 Player Rankings

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Just a couple days out from the OHL Priority Selection Draft and so much is still happening. The excitement for players, parents and coaches starts to hit its peak as the anticipation grows.

Plenty is still happening on the team front as it was announced today that the #3 overall pick was going to be forfeited by the Flint Firebirds due to the abomination that was their ownerships first season. With that news, there is even more talk about plenty of possibilities on who could fall where.

A lot of the talk includes Alliance Player of the Year Owen Lalonde. The Windsor defenseman seems to be a lock to be selected in the top 10 with some mock drafts placing him top five or in a couple cases top three. High praise for the young man, but that leads us into the final player rankings.

The top 25 saw some changes from its predecessor as playoff performances had some players jump while other players took a step back. Although a player does not make the top 25, that most certainly won’t exclude them from possibly hearing their name on Saturday. On average, the Alliance produces upwards of 45 picks every year. Look for a more in depth look at those stats before Saturday.

With that said, let’s begin the countdown and there is only one place to begin.

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Alliance Quarter-Finals Roundup

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It took a little over a week, but the quarter-finals have finally been settled and the final four teams have been decided. London, Waterloo, Kitchener and Windsor will battle it out for the chance to be crowned the Alliance champion. While no series went to a deciding 5th game, the series were close for the most part. The lone series that saw a large discrepancy was London’s win over Chatham, which was a #1 seed against a #8.

With the semi-finals now set, we will see top seeded London take on the lone upset winner of the first round Windsor. While Waterloo will battle with their highway 8 rivals the Kitchener Jr. Rangers. Each series brings different questions will some key factors that could determine who comes out on top. Previews for those series should be released this week.

London explodes offensively to take down Cyclones

The Jr. Knights were able to find the back of the net 18 times in three games as they completed the sweep of Chatham-Kent. The names you would expect to see on the game sheet were there, but there was one prominent name that was missing from this series.

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Alliance Scout Player Rankings 6-15

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We’re back once again to continue our trek towards the top of the Alliance talent pool. On this day, we are looking at the players ranked from 15 all the way up to six.

When we look at the players featured in this set of rankings, you will see a good variety of talent. There are a couple strong blue line forces, some power forwards, two gifted scorers and the top goaltender in the Alliance.

Many of the players listed here have incredible potential, including the opportunity to move even higher in the rankings and even possibly crack the top five.

If you missed the 16-25 rankings, they can be found here.

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Week 9 Alliance Scout Minor Midget Rankings

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Despite being a shortened week of Alliance action due to All Star festivities, there was still plenty of movement in the official Alliance rankings.

Following their blowout win over Huron-Perth last Wednesday, the Kitchener Jr. Rangers move from the honorable mention slot all the way to #4 in the rankings, their first week officially ranked this season. The Lakers fall to five and the big surprise was the Hamilton Huskies falling out of the top five and into the honorable mention slot.

That is surprising to me because their last game was a 1-1 tie with the top ranked team in the association, the London Jr. Knights. Not sure how that result can bump you down from the rankings, but that is how the Alliance does it, not have Alliance Scout does it.

So let’s get to the Alliance Scout rankings, which look much different from the official ones released yesterday.

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Alliance All Star Day 2 Recap

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The final day of the Alliance All Star weekend went today with four games, but two of the same games. In the early action, Team Navy took on Team Grey in a game that saw Grey take the win 7-4 behind a three point game from Hamilton’s Derek Seguin who took home the player of the game honours for Grey.

In the 2nd game, Team White shutdown the high powered offense of Team Blue with a 5-0 victory behind the stellar play of London’s Keaghan Brett. As it so turns out, the way the standings ended up we go these exact two same matchups for the afternoon games.

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Alliance All Star Day 1 Recap

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The best of the best from the Alliance came out to the Sun Life Financial Arena in Waterloo yesterday for the beginning of the Alliance All Star festivities. While the Bantam and Major Midget players played in one isolated game, the Minor Midget’s are competing in a mini four team tournament that will showcase the best attributes from each and every player.

The first day saw lots of action and lots of players were playing their best hockey of the season. There were four games in total, with Team Navy and Team Grey both going 2-0 while Team White and Team Blue both went winless in  their respective two games.

Here are some of the highlights from the first day.

Team Navy defeats Team White 5-4

The first game of the All Star weekend saw both Team Navy and Team White come out blazing with each team scoring a goal within the first 90 seconds of the game. It was two Jr. Knights who opened the scoring with Joel Mazzilli scoring for Navy and Brett Fisher for White.

London’s Keaghan Brett played the full game for Team White and played very well. He made some big saves including one on a breakaway by Sun County’s Jake Nimmo. James Walker got the start for Navy and definitely improved as the game progressed. Walker was fantastic for the third period, stalling the offensive pressure of White.

During the game, Team Navy was led offensively by Elgin-Middlesex’s Aidan Reid and Windsor’s Evan Ferguson offensively. Reid was especially impressive as he was all over the puck and when he was on the ice, plays went through him. The surprise player for Navy was Grant Spence who had lots of scoring chances and was a constant threat whenever in the offensive zone. Team White had many players who shined despite the loss. Isaac Taylor and Kyle Fisher were the stars on offense while Tristan DeJong and Duncan Core had great games on defense. Hometown guy Mason McMahon played probably the best game that I’ve seen him play this season and was constantly threatening and throwing heavy body checks.

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Alliance All Star Weekend Preview

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The Alliance will take a break this coming weekend to showcase all of the talent in the association with their All-Star Weekend festivities in Waterloo. The Minor Midgets take centre stage with a four team tournament while the Bantams and Midgets will send their best out there in a single exhibition game.

With the Minor Midgets bringing out four teams, there were plenty of players who were chosen to represent their teams. The Minor Midget Teams are as follows:

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2015/16 Chatham-Kent Cyclones Preview

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2014/15 Minor Midget Record – 1-26-6 (12th overall)

Final Result – Did not qualify for Minor Midget Playdowns

2014/15 Major Bantam Record – 3-23-6 (11th overall)

Final Result – Lost in 3 to London in Preliminary Round

After a season in which the Cyclones only tasted victory once, 2014/15 was a year to forget for the boys in Chatham-Kent. While there was only one regular season win, it seemed that the Cyclones figured some things out when it came to their version of the postseason.

Chatham-Kent went 3-1-2 in their preliminary playoff round. While they were eventually ousted by Sun County, it showed the promise that the team had. Down in Bantam, their Cyclone team had more victories, but still found themselves trailing behind a few teams. A couple of additions and some added experience are what Chatham believes can help them improve.

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