Barrie Colts - Week 25 Review

by Taylor Pope (@TPope91)

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The final week of the regular season was certainly an entertaining one for OHL fans across the league. Playoff matchups were nowhere near finalized as teams battled for positioning.

With three games left on the schedule, the Barrie Colts sat 4 points behind the Belleville Bulls for first place in the Eastern Conference and would almost certainly have to win all three games to have a chance of passing the Bulls.

The Colts were also scoreboard watching to see which team they would meet up with in the first round of the playoffs as Mississauga, Kingston and Peterborough were all battling for the final two spots.

Thursday night in Barrie, the Kingston Frontenacs were in town for a possible playoff preview of the first round.

The Frontenacs came out of the gate flying, knowing they needed a win to help their playoff chances.

Mathias Niederberger was sharp in the Barrie goal and the Frontenacs were unable to beat the German import through the first twenty minutes.

The game remained scoreless until a Colts powerplay goal by Steven Beyers put the home side on the board late in the second period.

Barrie would double their lead just 18 seconds after the Beyers goal when Zach Hall banged in his 24^th of the season to make it 2-0 heading into the break.

Darcy Greenaway would cut the lead to one, 9:31 into the third period as Kingston kept fighting and were finally rewarded with a goal.

The Colts would respond quickly when Brendan Lemieux beat Mike Morrison for his 6^th to regain the Colts two goal advantage.

While on a 5 on 3, the Frontenacs would once again cut the lead down to one but that’s as close as they would get.

Mark Scheifele scored on the empty net and Niederberger finished the night with 49 saves and the Colts skated away with a 4-2 win.

Friday, the Colts traveled to Brampton to take on a Battalion team that has had the Colts number all season.

Through the first five meetings, the Battalion held a 4-1 record and were hoping to dash the Colts chances at first place with a win.

Aaron Ekblad opened the scoring for Barrie as the Colts got off to a quick start but the “Bunker” has not been kind to the Colts this year and every visit things seem to change from good to bad in a hurry.

Brampton scored two quick goals just over three minutes apart and all of a sudden the Battalion had all the momentum.

The Battalion added another midway through the second period and the Colts could not get anything going. Brampton held Barrie to just 13 shots after two periods and held a 3-1 lead.

Beyers would score quickly to open the third period but the Battalion always seemed to have an answer whenever Barrie scored and it came in two’s.

Brampton scored two quick goals capped off by a Matt Macleod hat-trick to take a commanding 5-2 lead.

Barrie received some late powerplays and managed to get one goal back when Ryan O’Connor squeezed a shot through the legs of Jake Allen but they couldn’t get another and fell for the fifth time this season to Brampton, 5-3 the final.

The Colts chances at first place ended with the loss and a Belleville win so Saturday night’s game against Niagara was a meaningless game to both squads as neither team could improve on their position in the standings.

‘Let the kids play,’ that was the Colts motto before Saturday’s game against the visiting IceDogs as all the big guns and veterans were given the night off to rest.

Mark Scheifele, Anthony Camara, Zach Hall, Steven Beyers, Ryan O’Connor and Mathias Niederberger were all healthy scratches which meant the youngsters were given a shot at top line minutes.

No one took advantage of the extra ice time more than 19 year old Cody Brown. Brown has been the odd man out for most of the year, appearing in just 34 games entering the night but he was given every opportunity to shine and impress the coaching staff to put him in the lineup for the opening night of the playoffs.

Brown was flying all over the ice and he would set up the first goal. Brown threw the puck on goal and Dylan Corson and Justin Scott banged away before finally the puck crossed the line. Scott would get credit for his 4^th goal of the year.

21 seconds later, Brendan Lemieux blew past the Niagara defence and as he was getting taken out into the end boards, he slid the puck out front to Erik Bradford who fired home his 18^th.

Shayne Rover beat Alex Fotinos on a Niagara powerplay late in the first to make it 2-1 Barrie after one period.

Brown was buzzing around the net all game long and he set up Andreas Athanasiou on the powerplay to give the Colts their two goal lead back at 4:05 of the second frame.

Mack Lemmon beat Fotinos late in the period to keep Niagara in the game but they never really threatened in this game and the Colts hung on for a 3-2 win.

The Colts finished the year with a 44-20-2-2 record for 92 points and finished in second place in the Eastern Conference and fifth place overall in the league.

Barrie will play the seventh place Kingston Frontenacs in the first round of the playoffs. Barrie won the season series 3-1.

Schedule:

Thursday March 21 at Barrie 7:30

Saturday March 23 at Barrie 7:30

Monday March 25 at Kingston 7:00

Wednesday March 27 at Kingston 7:00

Thursday March 28 at Barrie 7:30*

Sunday March 31 at Kingston 7:00*

Monday April 1 at Barrie 7:30*

News and Notes:

The annual OHL coaches poll took place this past week and six Barrie Colts were recognized in the Eastern Conference.

Most Dangerous in the Goal Area: Mark Scheifele finished 1^st

Best Shot: Mark Scheifele finished 1^st

Best on Face-Offs: Mark Scheifele finished 2^nd

Best Shootout Shooter: Mark Scheifele finished 2^nd

Most Improved Player: Anthony Camara finished 2^nd

Best Body Checker: Anthony Camara finished 3^rd

Best Stickhandler: Andreas Athanasiou finished 2^nd

Best Offensive Defenceman: Ryan O’Connor finished 1^st

Best Defensive Defenceman: Aaron Ekblad finished 2^nd

Best Shootout Goalie: Mathias Niederberger finished 2^nd

Barrie Colts - Week 22 Review

by Taylor Pope (@TPope91)

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The Barrie Colts came into the week losers of their last two games and sitting in second place in the Eastern Conference for the first time since October.

It was another tough week for Barrie and another set of three games in three nights starting at home Thursday night against their rivals, the Owen Sound Attack.

This game marked the fifth meeting between the two teams this season with Owen Sound leading the season series 3-1 and having won the previous three contests by a combined score of 8-1.

The Colts needed to find a way to solve Jordan Binnington who had looked unbeatable in their previous encounters.

Scoreless into the second period until nine seconds in, Zack Nastasiuk opened the scoring for the visitors.

Mark Scheifele would reply for Barrie eight minutes later with assists going to Zach Hall and Jonathon Laser.

Daniel Zweep would reply quickly for the Attack firing a shot through a screen that beat Mathias Niederberger 32 seconds after the Scheifele goal.

The Colts top line was battling hard all night and Scheifele would notch his second goal of the game late in the period to tie the game at two. Assists to Steven Beyers and Laser.

The chances went back and forth in the third period but neither team could solve the masked men.

In overtime, an odd man rush by the Attack was finished off by Kurtis Gabriel and the Colts losing streak would hit a season high, three games.

Friday night the Colts traveled to Sudbury for the fourth and final time this season. The hostile crowd was all over the Colts right from the beginning of warm-up.

The Wolves would strike late in the first period with two quick goals from Dominik Kahun and Nathan Pancel to take a 2-0 lead into the intermission.

The Wolves continued their ferocious attack and Kahun potted his second of the game 2:45 into the second period.

That would be the end of Mathias Niederberger’s night as the German import allowed 3 goals on 14 shots and was pulled for just the second time this season.

Alex Fotinos would come in relief and with the Colts down 3-0, frustrations began to boil.

Mark Scheifele lined up Brody Silk skating down the boards with a good hard check. Silk appeared to duck on the play, resulting in his head taking the brunt of the hit. Silk stayed down on the ice before being helped off and Scheifele was issued a five minute major for boarding and a game misconduct. Scheifele was also given an unsportsmanlike game misconduct on the play.

With the two game misconducts issued on the same play, Scheifele was given a two game suspension.

The Colts would have to finish the game without their star forward. Sudbury scored once on the five minute powerplay, Pancel’s second goal of the game to stretch the lead to 4-0.

Once again though, you can never count the Barrie Colts out of a game. This team has had countless third period comebacks and it all starts with getting that first goal.

Andreas Athanasiou snapped a shot past Franky Palazzese to make it 4-1. Zach Hall then finished off a give and go with Athanasiou to cut the lead in half with 3:15 remaining.

Barrie pulled Fotinos and Athanasiou would score his second goal of the period with 1:38 remaining off a pass from Hall and all of the sudden the fans that were leaving for the exit, were heading back to their seats as it was 4-3.

The Colts fought hard for an equalizer but Danny Desroachers’ long clearing attempt curled into the empty net to give the Wolves a 5-3 win.

Alex Fotinos was solid in relief for the Colts. The second year goaltender made several highlight reel saves to keep the Colts in it even though they were down 4-0.

The Colts and Wolves will meet for the eighth and final time on March 7^th in Barrie. Wolves lead the season series 4-3.

With the Colts losing streak at four games and their best player suspended, the Guelph Storm were looking take advantage of the Colts misfortunes and add to their misery as they came to the Barrie Molson Centre Saturday night.

The Colts were handed some bad news after warm-up as Mitchell Theoret was a late scratch as he was dealing with the flu. Barrie did have some good news as power forward Anthony Camara was back in the lineup after serving his six game suspension.

The Storm had the better chances in the first period, outshooting Barrie 17-10 but Niederberger was red hot after his sub-par performance the night before.

The game remained scoreless till the 15:24 mark when a nice three way passing play between Hall, Camara and Beyers found the back of the net. Beyers was left all alone beside Storm goalie Garrett Sparks and tapped in his 14^th of the season.

In the third, on a Barrie powerplay, Alex Yuill rushed up the ice and dished the puck off to Brendan Lemieux who from behind the goal line found Tyson Fawcett atop the crease and he jammed in his 9^th of the year to give the Colts a 2-0 lead.

Niederberger was solid the rest of the way stopping all 44 Storm shots fired his way for his third shutout of the season and 30^th win.

The Colts sit 6 points back of the Belleville Bulls for first in the Eastern Conference as the Bulls are beginning to pull away as they are currently riding a 9 game winning streak.

Next up for the Colts (37-19-4): Owen Sound (38-17-4) makes a trip back the Molson Centre exactly one week later as the teams will meet Thursday night. Barrie then travels to face division rivals the Mississauga Steelheads (25-29-5) on Friday. 

Barrie Colts - Week 21 Review

by Taylor Pope (@TPope91)

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It was a week that started on a high, with a 10-1 thumping of the lowly Ottawa 67’s and then a return to the Barrie Molson Centre for the first time in three weeks that ended with a 3-0 win over Mississauga.

But a collapse in Brampton on Sunday and a loss in Belleville on Monday meant the Barrie Colts were no longer the “Beasts of the East” as they fell to second place for the first time in months.

Wednesday night’s contest started with some bad news for the Colts as Anthony Camara was issued a 6 game suspension for a cross check that had occurred in Plymouth on February 8^th.

Even without Camara, the goals came fast and furious in this game and the Colts were lead by Mark Scheifele who notched a hat-trick at the mid-way point of the second period and finished the game with 3 goals and 6 points.

Zach Hall and Erik Bradford each had 2 goals and 4 points and Brendan Lemieux who entered the game with 5 points on the year, had a career best 4 point night with a goal and 3 assists in front of his father Claude, who was in attendance.

Andreas Athanasiou and Mitchell Theoret rounded out the scoring for Barrie with singles.

Mathias Niederberger was solid in goal stopping 28 of 29 shots for the win. The same can’t be said for the 67’s goaltenders as Clint Windsor and Jacob Blair were both lit up for 5 goals apiece.

Saturday, the Colts returned home after their 6 game road trip and it was the Steelheads who were in town.

A slow pace at times in this game but the Colts played a sound 60 minutes of hockey which is something they haven’t been able to do in recent weeks.

“I thought that was one of our few games of the year where we played a full 60 minutes and really put it to them the whole game and it was good to see.” Said Colts defenceman Alex Yuill.

The Steelheads never really threatened in this game and Barrie got goals from Hall, Athanasiou and Theoret to walk away with a 3-0 victory.

Niederberger picked up his second shutout of the year, making 28 saves in the win.

The game was physical at times and two 16 year old rookies dropped the gloves in the second period when CJ Garcia and Bobby MacIntyre went toe to toe. Both players landed several punches as there was no defence in this bout.

Late in the third Alex Lepkowski squared up with Craig Hottot for his first fight in nearly two seasons. The much bigger Lepkowski took the win.

The Colts traveled to Brampton on Sunday and the game started well for them as they took a quick 2-0 lead after goals by Bradford and Scheifele.

The Battalion added a late powerplay marker to end the first period to cut the lead in half.

In the second, the dust unraveled for Barrie, a sharp angled shot squeaked through the arm of Alex Fotinos to tie the game.

Three minutes later, bad defensive zone coverage lead to the Battalion taking the lead 3-2 as Patrik Machac was left all alone streaking to the goal.

Off the ensuing faceoff, a long dump in bounced off the pads of Fotinos right to Machac who passed it to Brandon Robinson and just like that it was 4-2 Brampton 5:06 into the second period.

Theoret would cut the deceit to 4-3 but again, another bad goal given up by Fotinos would regain the Battalion’s two goal lead.

Niederberger would start the third for Barrie and he would face just two shots and the Battalion held on for the 5-3 win.

The Brampton Battalion have been the Colts kryptonite this season. Through five meetings, the Battalion hold a 4-1 lead. The two teams will meet once more on March 15^th.

Family Day Monday really gave the Colts a chance to be a family and spend a lot of time together. The trip from Barrie to Belleville is normally about two and a half hours. On this Family Day, it took the Colts 6 hours to finally make it to Belleville.

A tractor trailer accident left the Colts team bus trapped on the 401 for 3 hours before they were finally able to turn around and get to Belleville. The game was delayed two hours and as much as the fans were disgruntled with the delay; they certainly weren’t going anywhere and missing this game.

It was the battle for first in the East as the surging Bulls had cut Barrie’s lead a top the Eastern Conference to just one point. 

Mathias Niederberger and Malcom Subban who sit 1-2 in league save percentage went head to head for the first time this season.

Both teams had glorious chances in the first period but the game remained scoreless.

Tyler Graovac pounced on a rebound off a Jordan Subban shot to bury the game’s opening goal at the five minute mark of the second.

That’s the way it stood until the mid-way point of the third period when Joseph Cramarossa was hauled down on a breakaway by Jonathon Laser and was awarded a penalty shot.

Cramarossa came down on Niederberger with a full head of steam and he made a quick move to the backhand and slipped the puck through the legs of Niederberger to give the Bulls an all important insurance goal.

Barrie held ferocious pressure late, pulling Niederberger with three minutes remaining with a two man advantage to give them a 6 on 3.

No one could solve Subban and the Colts hit three goal posts and the already long day became even longer as a frustrated group went home in second place after a tough 3-0 loss as the Bulls would add a late empty netter.

The Bulls have now won 6 in a row and are 9 and 1 in their last 10 games.

Next up for the Colts (36-18-3): After playing the past 8 of 9 on the road Barrie will host the Owen Sound Attack (36-17-4) on Thursday night before heading to Sudbury (25-21-11) on Friday for a big divisional game. The Colts then round out another 3 in 3 with a home date against the Guelph Storm (32-19-5) on Saturday.  

News and Notes:

Anthony Camara is eligible to return from his suspension on Saturday against Guelph.

Mark Scheifele has been on fire since returning from Winnipeg. The 19 year old has 8 goals and 15 points in 7 games since before returned to Barrie.

“It’s pretty awesome, he averages about 2 goals a game so that helps out the offense a lot and he just plays so many minutes and he’s so strong, everything he does is good and it’s just wicked to have him back.” Colts defenceman Alex Yuill when asked what it’s like to have Scheifele back in the lineup.

Scheifele loves playing Ottawa, in 3 games this year he has 7 goals and 16 points. Zach Hall loves the 67’s too; in 4 games Hall has 5 goals and 15 points.

Scheifele registered his 200^th career OHL point on Saturday night with an assist on Hall’s opening goal.

Ryan O’Connor played in his 300^th career OHL game on Sunday in Brampton. The overager is close to another milestone as he sits just 2 points away from 200 on his career. 

Barrie Colts - Week 17 Review

by Taylor Pope (@TPope91)

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For the third week in a row the Barrie Colts played three games in as many nights. The Colts skated away with five of a possible six points and are pulling away with the Central Division lead and sit atop the Eastern Conference by seven points over the Belleville Bulls.

The first two games this week went the distance with a 3-2 shootout win at home over Oshawa before the Colts dropped a 3-2 shootout decision in Sudbury Friday night. The Colts returned home Saturday and roared back in the third period, scoring five goals to beat Kitchener 6-3.

The big and physical Oshawa Generals came to the Barrie Molson Centre Thursday without their two star forwards (Boone Jenner and Scott Laughton) who were both still with their NHL clubs.

The Generals came out hard in the first period, outshooting Barrie 13-6 but it would be the Colts getting the lone goal of the period.

With the clock winding down, Andreas Athanasiou threw the puck in front from behind the goal line and the puck found an unmarked Erik Bradford who beat Ken Appleby with 0.64 seconds remaining in the period.

The lead was short lived as just 44 seconds into the second period; Michael Dal Colle notched his 11^th goal of his rookie campaign to tie the game at one.

Barrie headed to a powerplay just minutes later and it was newly acquired Jake Dotchin firing home his first goal in a Colts uniform to restore Barrie’s lead. Assists to Athanasiou and Aaron Ekblad.

“It felt pretty good.” Said Dotchin on getting his first goal as a Barrie Colt, “I didn’t know what I was thinking, what was going through my head when it happened but I know one thing and it felt good.”

Two late penalties by the Colts would have them start the third period down two men and the Generals made them pay just 13 seconds into the period.

Cole Cassels crossed the blueline and was allowed to walk in and wire a shot past Mathias Niederberger and the game was all square at two.

Both goaltenders stood tall the rest of the way and the game headed to a shootout. The first six shooters were stopped so the game headed to extra rounds. Cassels was stopped by Niederberger giving Bradford a chance to win it for Barrie.

Bradford skated in with speed and lost the puck for a moment and maybe through off Appleby momentarily as he pulled the puck back and snapped a low hard wrist shot just inside the post to give the Colts a 3-2 shootout win.

Friday night was a similar story for the Colts but they were on the losing side this time around. Brendan Lemieux had a rough night for Barrie as the rookie took three minor penalties and just four seconds into his first penalty of the game, Michael Kantor opened the scoring for the Wolves.

Barrie started this game very slowly as they were only able to muster two shots on goal in the first period.

The Colts got an added boost in this game as Anthony Camara returned from his two game suspension and made an immediate impact scoring his 23^rd goal of the year just one minute into the second period to tie the game at one. Zach Hall drew the lone assist on the goal.

Barrie would take the lead a few minutes later as Dotchin wired home his second goal in as many nights on a Colts powerplay to give Barrie a 2-1 lead. Athanasiou picked up another assist and Ekblad drew the other.

Before the period was out, Jeff Corbett beat Colts starter Alex Fotinos to tie the game at two.

Barrie controlled the game the rest of the way but couldn’t beat Franky Palazzesse as he stopped 28 of 30 shots in the game.

In the shootout, all three Barrie shooters were stopped and Nicholas Baptiste had the lone goal to give the Wolves the 3-2 win.

Fotinos made 34 saves in a losing effort.

The Kitchener Rangers made their lone visit to the Barrie Molson Centre Saturday night and it was certainly a game to remember.

Ben Thomson got the Rangers on the board first mid-way through the opening period before Anthony Camara ripped a shot through the mesh to tie the game. No goal light went on and the goal horn didn’t sound but Camara and the Colts celebrated and eventually after video review you could see the puck went right through the mesh.

Tobias Rieder scored a late powerplay goal to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead heading into the break as once again a slow start for the Colts as they were outshot 23-10 in the period.

The second period saw a parade to the penalty box for the Colts as twice they found themselves down two men. The one instance for a full two minutes after frustrations boiled over and the Colts bench took a bench minor.

“It was pretty intense out there, two top teams in the league and we’re just trying to battle for those two points out there and we’re coming down the stretch so those two points are huge and teams are just doing whatever they can to get those.” Said Camara on the intensity of this game.

They say your best penalty killer has to be your goaltender and Mathias Niederberger certainly was on this night. The German made save after save and held the Rangers to a dismal 1-9 on the powerplay in the game.

“Bergs (Niederberger) is just being Bergs. It’s not the first time he’s done that for us. He’s definitely stole us a lot of games this year and even last year at the end of the year, it’s just Bergy having another great game.” Camara said of the play of Niederberger.

Matai Marcantuoni beat Niederberger to extend the Rangers lead to two goals as the Rangers peppered 46 shots on goal through two periods and held a 3-1 lead.

The third period saw a much different Barrie Colts team and the tables had turned as Barrie was given back to back powerplays and were able to capitalize on both.

Camara hammered home his second of the game from his ‘office’ on top of the Rangers crease on a rebound off a Hall shot.

Then it was Hall finding Camara down low who feathered a pass onto the tape of Mitchell Theoret and he five holed John Gibson to tie the game.

Just over a minute later, the Colts broke out of their zone on a 3 on 2 and Beyers dropped a pass to the trailer Erik Bradford. His shot was stopped by Gibson but Athanasiou was there to put home the rebound and give the Colts a 4-3 lead.

All the momentum was on Barrie’s side and with a delayed penalty to Kitchener, Barrie controlled the puck in the Rangers zone. Aaron Ekblad held the puck at the point and had the Ranger forwards diving all over the place trying to get the puck.

The young defenceman showed great patience and found Tyson Fawcett beside the goal and he fooled Gibson with a quick backhand over the shoulder to make it 5-3. The Colts scored four goals in 5:56.

“I think between the second and third period we did a good team talk and said if we really want to win this we’re going to have to come together as a team and we played a really solid third and it worked out.” Said Colts forward Dylan Corson.

The Rangers pulled Gibson with over two minutes to go and had a 6 on 4 advantage with the Colts shorthanded.

Ryan Murphy over skated the puck in his own end and Dylan Corson was there to fire it into the empty net and seal the win 6-3 with his 2^nd goal of the season.

Emotions were boiling as this was a very chippy game with lots of chirping from both teams and as the final buzzer sounded, Camara went right after Derek Schoenmakers and put him in a head lock resulting in both benches clearing and everybody was grabbing a dance partner.

“Just a couple words said, nothing too much.” A smiling Camara said when asked about the altercation with Ranger forward Derek Schoenmakers.

Nothing really resulted in the altercation and Barrie skated away with a 6-3 win and sweep the two game season series with the Rangers.

Although he wasn’t a star, Niederberger had his busiest game of the season stopping 58 of 61 Kitchener shots.

“I don’t think if Bergy (Niederberger) was in net tonight I think the score would’ve been a lot worse in the first two periods and we wouldn’t have been able to come back and win.” Said Corson, “He stood on his head tonight and we’re really thankful to have him as our goalie.”

Moving forward the Colts know they can score goals in bunches and their goaltending is solid with Niederberger and Fotinos but it was their defence that they really wanted to bolster and newcomer Jake Dotchin believes this defence corps is one of the best in the league.

“We have a bunch of skill back there, we have a rookie in (Michael) Webster and he’s playing like he’s a veteran. I definitely think we have one of the top D cores in the league and it’s going to help us going into playoffs for sure.”

Next up for the Colts (30-13-2): They hit the road for two weekday games starting Wednesday night in Owen Sound (28-12-4) and then they are in Niagara (23-20-3) on Thursday. The Colts round out the week Saturday night against Peterborough (13-25-7) at home.

News and Notes:

With addition of Jake Dotchin on the blueline and having a full roster of healthy bodies, the Colts have eight defenceman ready to play. Over the three games this weekend the two odd men out were second year Alex Yuill and rookie CJ Garcia. It appears they will have to wait patiently to get back into the lineup.

After missing all three games last week because of an upper body injury, newly acquired Devin Rymarchuk made his Colts debut Thursday night against Oshawa. Rymarchuk was a healthy scratch Saturday night against Kitchener as it appears him and Cody Brown will rotate in and out of the lineup.

Barrie Colts - Week 16 Review

by Taylor Pope (@TPope91)

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It was another busy week for the Barrie Colts both on and off the ice. Questions were swirling all around the team as the OHL’s trade deadline approached on Thursday on what the Colts would do.

Barrie’s first move came on Wednesday when the team addressed their need to get tougher and add some more grit to their fourth line. The Colts brought in Devin Rymarchuk from the Owen Sound Attack. Rymarchuk has one assist in 31 games this season to go along with 45 penalty minutes.

Barrie sent a 6^th round pick in 2013 and their 9^th round pick in 2015 in the deal and received Owen Sound’s 7^th round pick in 2013 and Rymarchuk in return.

Their next move made the most noise throughout the team as first round pick Brendan Perlini was dealt to Niagara for Mitchell Theoret.

Perlini had struggled at times in Barrie, registering just one goal and one assist this season but was used sparingly on the 4^th line and was never really given a true shot. Theoret is in the midst of a breakout year playing alongside Ryan Strome and Brett Ritchie in Niagara, posting 18 goals and 24 assists in 35 games. Theoret is in Barrie’s plans to return next year as on overager.

“It was a bit of a shock.” Said Theoret about being traded to Barrie, “I heard some of the rumours about the possibility of me coming here for Perlini but I tried not to get caught up in it too much but when it happened it hit me pretty hard. Spending three and a half years in one city it’s pretty tough to leave but I’m really happy to be here and be a part of a team that’s going to make a run at a championship.”

Barrie’s final move was to shore up their blueline and they did just that bringing in big defensive defenceman Jake Dotchin from Owen Sound. The 18 year old has a booming shot to go along with his physical play and toughness that he adds to the Colts backend. Dotchin has 2 goals and 12 assists this season with 41 penalty minutes in 40 games with the Attack.

Barrie had another busy week of games, playing three in three nights for the second week in a row. The reinforcements were back in the lineup on Thursday against Mississauga as Mark Scheifele and Anthony Camara were back on Barrie’s top line after returning from the World juniors.

Zach Hall opened the scoring in the first period with his 16^th goal of the year. Hall came right out in front and slipped the puck past an outstretched Spencer Martin.

Two quick powerplay goals by Dylan Demelo and Kristoff Kontos gave the Steelheads a 2-1 lead heading into the break.

Delmelo would score his second of the game early in the second as he fired a quick shot that squeaked past Mathias Niederberger to extend Mississauga’s lead to 3-1.

Justin Scott would respond for Barrie three minutes later as he tipped a pass from Ryan O’Connor past Martin to cut the lead to one.

Then it was the newly acquired Theoret making a one handed pass into the slot where a wide open Mark Scheifele stood. Scheifele snapped a high shot over the glove of Martin to tie the game at three.

The Steelheads would regain their lead with 30 seconds remaining in the period as Delmelo completed the hat-trick with another powerplay goal. Mississauga went 3 for 3 with the man advantage as Barrie’s penalty kill slipped to dead last in the league.

In the third it was Captain O’Connor tying the game at 4 and sending it to overtime. The Colts dominated the third period outshooting the Steelheads 14-2.

Nothing was solved in the extra frame so the game headed to a shootout. The first five shooters were all unsuccessful and that set the stage for Steven Beyers to win the game for Barrie.

Beyers made a move and fired the shot on Martin who appeared to save it but the puck squirted out from under his arm and rolled just over the goal line to give the Colts a 5-4 come from behind win.

The game would be Mark Scheifele’s last as a Barrie Colt...at least for now. Scheifele was headed off to the Winnipeg Jets training camp with the hopes of making the team that drafted him 7^th overall in 2011.

“I want to go to Winnipeg and make that team but it was good that we got the win tonight and it’s definitely been a great time in Barrie.” Said Scheifele on the possibility of this being his last game in the OHL.

The Colts headed to Guelph Friday night without their star Scheifele and the Storm came out flying, putting the Colts back on their heels early on.

The Storm were throwing their weight around but it was rookie Brendan Lemieux who had the biggest hit of the night for Barrie. Lemieux sent Chadd Bauman up and into the Barrie bench showing he’s not afraid to play a physical game.

Patrick Watling struck first for Guelph, snapping a shot far side on Alex Fotinos from the slot.

The Colts would tie things up on a powerplay early in the second when Beyers blasted a shot past Garret Sparks.

Scott Kosmachuk would then take things over scoring twice within a four minute span. First firing a shot past Fotinos after carrying the puck over the blueline and the second on a shorthanded breakaway as he stripped Dotchin right at center ice.

Barrie would press hard in the third but could only get one more past Sparks. A great individual effort by Tyson Fawcett going end to end and roofing a shot past Sparks.

Things heated up late and Anthony Camara was ejected for abuse of the officials. Camara has been suspended for 2 games as a result and the Storm skated away with a 3-2 win.

“I think we just got outworked a little bit, they were skating harder and finishing their checks and we weren’t ready out of the gate and fell behind and were never able to get back into it.” Said Fawcett on the loss.

Saturday night saw Brendan Perlini make his return to Barrie just 3 days after being dealt to Niagara.

This game was all Barrie from the opening puck drop as Niagara was very shorthanded missing Ryan Strome, Brett Ritchie and Dougie Hamilton who are all away at their respective NHL camps.

Beyers opened the scoring and then assisted on Fawcett’s powerplay goal just minutes later to open up a 2-0 Barrie lead.

Shayne Rover would cut the lead in half and the Colts took a 2-1 lead into the second.

Beyers would get his second goal of the game with the Colts shorthanded. Beyers shielded the puck from his defender and fired a shot past Christopher Festarini.

Early in the third Erik Bradford took a hit from Aaron Haydon and Lemieux stepped in for his teammate, dropping the gloves in a spirited tilt.

Beyers would pick up his fourth point of the game on a 2 on 1 as he fed a beautiful pass to Andreas Athanasiou as he picked up goal number 20 on the season.

Right off the ensuing faceoff Zach Hall and Mike Robinson dropped the gloves and Hall laid a beat down on Robinson in what has been one of the fights of the year. The BMC was the loudest it’s been in a while as Hall gave the Barrie fans even more to cheer about.

Then it was former IceDog Theoret picking up his first goal as a Colt as he received a pass from Cody Brown and snapped a shot through the legs of his old teammate Festarini to give the Colts a 5-1 lead and that’s the way things would finish.

“It was a little emotional.” Said Theoret about playing his former team, “I’ve had so many memories with those guys over the years and I can’t say enough about that organization and the way they run a hockey club there but it feels nice to beat them, I can say that.”

Next up for the Colts (28-13-1): They will host the Oshawa Generals (24-16-3) on Thursday then travel to Sudbury (20-17-7) on Friday before returning home on Saturday to host the Kitchener Rangers (24-13-6).

News and Notes:

Defenceman Aaron Ekblad was named the Central Divisions Academic Player of the Month for December. Ekblad was able to maintain a 90% average as well as Captain Team Ontario at the Under 17 tournament.

Defenceman Alex Lepkowski sat out Saturday’s game due to a shoulder injury. Lepkowski returned to the lineup Thursday after missing the last three weeks and may have returned a bit too soon.

Devin Rymarchuk who was acquired on Wednesday missed all three games over the weekend as he is still recovering from an upper body injury. Rymarchuk is expected to be in the lineup next week.