Saginaw Spirit @ Soo Greyhounds, 11-21

The boxscore for this game is available from the OHL website.

Fritsch (7) reacts to tipping in Sproul's shot

I was privileged enough to see another great OHL game, this past Wednesday night. This time, the Saginaw Spirit made the trip up I-75 into Sault Sainte Marie, Ontario, to take on the Greyhounds at Essar Centre. The game featured the return of Greyhound defenseman and Detroit Red Wing prospect Ryan Sproul, back from some six weafraid to jump into the attack. Sproul has one of the nicest shots in the entire league and used it to record a goal and an assist on the night. He assisted the second Greyhound goal, when Andrew Fritsch tipped in Sproul's point shot, and his goal came off a blast from point that found it's way through traffic and through the legs of Spirit goaltender Jake Paterson. Probably the Greyhound that stood out the most.

Paterson looked like a different goalie than the one who played against Plymouth last week. He made several quick saves down low, controlled his rebounds well, and generally was seeing the puck better. His performance on the night showed why Detroit drafted him in the third round, whereas last week left me scratching my head, wondering if Detroit needs a new goalie scout. The Greyhounds started rookie Justin Nichols in place the ill Matt Murray. Nichols doesn't fill as much net as Murray, to his detriment on the first two Saginaw goals, where there was a ton of room open glove-side high. He did make several great saves, including a double save on a breakaway early in the first period, and is becoming more of a "1B" goalie rather than a backup.

The best part of the night was the third period scrap between Alex Gudbranson of the Soo and Gregg Sutch of Saginaw. Sutch had taken an earlier penalty that led to Sproul's powerplay goal. After exiting the box, he crossed paths with the Greyhounds as they were celebrating their goal. Upon puckdrop of his next shift, he was challenged to fight by the Johnny Upton look-alike Gudbranson. As if it were the LNAH, the two dropped their gloves and helmets and skated out to center ice. The fight was usual fare, until both players hit the ice and, as the linesmen tried to jump in and break the two apart, Sutch and Gudbranson continued trying to wail on each other. After what seemed like a good ten to fifteen seconds, the linesmen finally separated the two and Gudbranson skated away with a primal scream that brought an equally loud cheer from the Essar Centre crowd.

That fight seemed to either energize the Spirit or serve as the last adrenaline dump of the Greyhounds, as Saginaw would come back to tie the game at three and win the game on a two-on-one in overtime, final score 4-3. The Spirit never seemed to get too high or too low, playing the game at a steady pace with no player standing out from the rest, while the Greyhounds started the first and third periods by throwing immense pressure at the Saginaw goal, but would peter out by the end.

From the Memorial Gardens to Essar

The Essar Centre is one of my personal favorite buildings to see a game in. The staff is friendly, as are the majority of the fans. At one end, they have preserved a sculpture, stained glass windows and war flags from the old Sault Memorial Gardens, and they feature the Sault Sainte Marie Hockey Hall of Fame. In the lobby, opposite the ticket office, you can find a list of all of the soldiers from the Sault who gave their lives in the wars since World War I. My favorite feature of the rinkscape is the Memorial Tower, just outside the main entrance. The tower was located at the main entrance of the old Gardens and was saved when the rink was demolished. It illuminates the night of every home game, and photos don't do it justice. If you arrive early enough, you can get a spot in the rink's parking lot. If not, there is plenty of parking in the Station Mall lot across the street. The mall is packed with hockey fans before games, and the Tim Horton's in the food court is a great place to catch a glimpse of the visiting team getting their pre-game cup.

Memorial Tower

And they have an inflatable mascot, too.

Chuck Barris On Ice: Plymouth Whalers @ Saginaw Spirit, 11-14

The box score for this game is available on the official OHL website.

Wendler Arena @ The Dow Event Center

Apologies ahead of time, but I must admit I do not remember much about this game.

I spent nearly the entire game laughing.

What I do remember is two teams struggling to defend and help out their goaltenders, who were beyond help on the night. Saginaw saw off Whalers starter Matt Mahalak after twelve minutes and three goals against. Mahalak was not great, but neither were the defenders in front of him. Enter Riley Corbin. Look up "in over his head" in the dictionary and you will see his picture. A picture of him kicking a rebound out right onto the tape of a Spirit player. The goal judges needed treatment for their thumbs, and the Dow Event Center goal light switches have now been reinforced. Spirit goaltender Jake Paterson did not cover himself with glory, either. He fought the puck all night, losing the puck on a few occasions when it was shot high, and had difficulty following rebounds. Like the Whalers goalies, Paterson did not receive much help from the team in front of him. However, unlike Corbin, Paterson came on in the third period and made a few great saves down the stretch to keep his team ahead.

About the only other thing I can recall about the game is the bus that is Tom Wilson. Washington's first rounder from this past year's draft is pure hell on skates. He hits everything that moves and can contribute offensively, as well. Wilson lit up Marselis Subban in the first period, was lucky not to get a penalty for contact to the head on a huge hit at the end of the second, and finally got called for a head-check late in the third on an absolutely massive hit. If he doesn't take the penalty, Plymouth likely would have tied the game in the last two minutes, and the way the game went, they could've won it before overtime. Although a bit short on discipline, I really like Tom Wilson.

I liked The Dow Event Center, too. Perhaps the last nice thing left in Saginaw. A beautiful atrium as you enter the rink, which houses the ticket office and separates the theatre from the rink. The rink layout is like Joe Louis Arena, where you can walk around the concourse to your section, and you are right in the middle of the section. There is likely not a bad seat in the place, and the only negative from my seat was the railing in the sight-line of everyone sitting in the first two rows of the upper section.

What I took away from the game was the beauty of junior hockey. Even if you have no rooting interest in the teams, get out and catch a junior hockey game, you will be entertained. Think of it this way, if you watch a junior hockey game, you are going to see kids developing their skills; they are going to make mistakes, many more than in higher levels of hockey. Mistakes lead to scoring chances, scoring chances to goals. You may not see the individual brilliance that you will see in the NHL, but you will be entertained.

And you'll see a giant, inflatable mascot.