Due to the storm Thursday evening the much anticipated Ontario
Hockey League (OHL) game between the Toronto St. Michael’s Majors
and the Oshawa Generals was postponed until Tuesday, March 6, at 7:30pm.
I say “much anticipated” since
it’s not every day that you see a clash between the Majors and
the Generals. Just hearing the team names implies a certain amount of
prejudice. Knowing the team’s standings also gives a hint as to
who might come out on top of this bloody battle, with the Majors being
19-38-3-2 and the Generals 27-25-3-5 going into the match.
Within twenty-three seconds of the puck drop
in the first period the Majors were ready to establish just where in
the ranks they sit—at the bottom. After exchanging a few heated
words with Generals’ Cal Clutterbuck
before the puck drop and then being levelled
in front of his own net, Majors’ Capitan Michael Haley jumped Clutterbuck from behind, taking on seventeen
penalty minutes, putting himself in the box for the rest of the period
and one of his teammates for seven to serve his fighting and
instigating penalties.
Haley’s unsportsmanlike behaviour allowed the Generals to score four goals,
three on his first period penalties, and another one in the third
period when Haley took another remarkably stupid penalty for
crosschecking. When a team has a Capitan as hotheaded as Haley,
it’s no wonder that the Majors are trailing behind the rest of
their division by ten points.
The Generals went on to win the game 13-3,
with Brett MacLean and Dale Mitchell scoring three goals a piece, Brett
Parham scoring two goals, and Cal Clutterbuck,
Igor Gongalsky, John Tavares, Corey Cowick, and Kyle Paige scoring one goal each. This
game marked the end of a seven game loosing streak for the Generals. If
you’re going to make any sort of comeback, annihilating your
opponent is a pretty good way to do it.
This win allowed the Generals to clench a
play-off spot, moving them into a tie with Kingston for fifth place in the
Eastern Conference, one point behind Sudbury, with the Generals holding
two games on both teams. If the Generals are able to secure fourth
place in the Eastern Conference, they will have home ice advantage for
the first round of the play-offs. The Generals still have seven games
remaining in the regular season, one of which will be against the
Majors. If the March 6 game was any indication as to what the next game
might bring, the Generals should have no problem in obtaining their
fourth place seat for the playoffs.
