2024-25 Owen Sound Attack (Chasing the Memorial Cup)

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The Calgary Hitmen haven't been challenged by anyone throughout the first 3 rounds of playoffs, outscoring their opponents 57-29. The Hitmen are a team with great depth and a top line of Russel-Whynott-Smith which has powered the team throughout the playoffs. Quite possibly the the biggest contribution has been from big 6'3" 230 lb. 17 year old phenom goalie, Antoine Hadfield.

Calgary Hitmen (52-10-6)

WHL Playoff Results

RD1 - Brandon (31-32-5) - won series 4-1 GF: 18 GA: 11
RD2 - Swift Current (44-20-4) - won series 4-0 GF: 23 GA: 7
RD3 - Moose Jaw (33-31-4) - won series 4-1 GF: 16 GA: 11

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North Bay has gone on quite the remarkable run throughout the OHL Eastern Conference playoffs. Taking out the #4, #3 and #2 seeded teams while compiling a 12-4 record, the Battalion are a true team in every sense of the word. A team lacking in star power, the Battalion roll 4 solid lines and the hottest goalie in the OHL in Martins Prieditis. Gregory Blacksmith leads all OHL playoff scorers with 22 points and Corey Wilson (a 3rd round pick by the Avalanche) anchors the blueline.

North Bay Battalion (33-26-9)

OHL Playoff Results

RD1 - Hamilton (38-24-6) - won series 4-0 GF: 21 GA: 5
RD2 - Oshawa (39-23-6) - won series 4-2 GF: 18 GA: 12
RD3 - Niagara (41-23-4) - won series 4-2 GF: 22 GA: 18

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QMJHL Round 3 Game 7 Results

Val D'Or 2 Gatineau 1 (VD wins series 4-3)

WHL Round 3 Game 6 Results

Victoria 4 Tri-City 1 (series tied 3-3)

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Just call Cam Squires "Mr. Playoffs". The star of the defending Quebec league champs, Squires has again propelled his team into the QMJHL championship narrowly staving off an underdog Gatineau squad. In 62 QMJHL playoff games, Squires has potted 99 points. Val D'Or is also seeking their THIRD straight trip to the Memorial Cup with Charlottetown standing in their way.

Funny enough, Charlottetown ended up trading Squires to Val D'Or back in 2022. We will see who gets the last laugh here.


Val D-Or Foreurs (37-26-5)

QMJHL Playoff Results

RD1 - Rouyn-Noranda (24-38-6) - won series 4-0 GF: 21 GA: 6
RD2 - Shawinigan (46-20-2) - won series 4-2 GF: 23 GA: 22
RD3 - Gatineau (33-33-2) - won series 4-3 GF: 25 GA: 27

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Scouting Report on North Bay.

On paper, the Battalion do not match up with Owen Sound but when you dig deeper you can see why North Bay is having success.

1) They have the hottest goalie in the OHL. The Latvian Martins Prieditis stands in the way of the Owen Sound offence. Can Prieditis stop the vaunted Attack weapons?

2) Looking at their lineup, they roll 4 real solid lines with not a whole lot of weakness up front. They also ice 10 20 or 21 year old skaters so the Battalion have a ton of experience on their team. This matches up well with Owen Sound who have 9 20 or 21 year olds themselves.

3) North Bay features two really solid 17 year old forwards in Tim Mosley and Mark Stanford. Both of these players have had solid playoffs and will be back to lead the team next year. The experience they are gaining is immense.

4) North Bay's defence is strong on the right side with Wilson, Brandstetter and Brennan but their left side is where we can hopefully exploit. Clarke, Jolly and Waldoch are all defensive minded players but not as strong, although Clarke has chipped in 11 points.

In order to defeat North Bay we will have to match their depth, exploit the left side of the defence, stop Blacksmith and also find a way to score consistently on Prieditis.

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OHL Championship Game 1 Results

Owen Sound 6 North Bay 3 (OS leads 1-0)

Someone forgot to tell Noah Cochrane about Prieditis. The all world defenceman scores 3 goals and adds an assist in Owen Sound's victory.

Robbie Carlson who was taken out of the lineup against Kitchener, gets inserted back into the 4th line LW role and responds with a goal and 2 assists.

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QMJHL Championship Game 1 Results

Charlottetown 5 Val D'Or 4 OT (CHA leads 1-0)

The Islanders win their 11th straight game in these playoffs. Val D'Or didn't have Cam Squires due to suspension and also a couple of other regulars out with day to day injuries and it showed. Despite only losing 5-4 in OT, they were outshot a whopping 55-9.

WHL Round 3 Game 7 Results

Tri-City 6 Victoria 2 (TC wins series 4-3)

Steve Kardashian scores 2 goals and 2 assists in the series clincher for Tri-City.

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NHL teams who pass up on Steve Kardashian in the upcoming 2025 NHL Draft might be kicking themselves for the next 20 years. Kardashian has tore up the WHL this season and also tormented goalies at the WJC tourney to the tune of 9-10-19 in just 7 games!

Tri-City's superstar outlasted the Victoria Royals Kalan Lind in an epic 7 game series to eliminate the defending Memorial Cup champs.

Tri-City will now try to stop the freight train known as the Calgary Hitmen.

Tri-City Americans (38-24-6)

WHL Playoff Results

RD1 - Kelowna (29-33-6) - Won series 4-2 GF: 23 GA: 17
RD2 - Spokane (34-25-9) - Won series 4-0 GF: 28 GA: 13
RD3 - Victoria (35-23-10) - Won series 4-3 GF: 26 GA: 25

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OHL Championship Game 2 Results

North Bay 3 Owen Sound 2 (series tied 1-1)

Owen Sound outshoots North Bay 38-22 but Prieditis comes up with 36 saves in a rough and rowdy fight filled Game 2. Terry Fulgham gets chased after allowing 3 goals on 4 shots. North Bay gets the split they want before going home for Games 3 and 4.

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QMJHL Championship Game 2 Results

Charlottetown 6 Val D'Or 2 (CHA leads 2-0)

Squires comes back for Game 2 but is ineffective surprisingly.

WHL Championship Game 1 Results

Calgary 4 Tri-City 3 (CAL leads 1-0)

The World Championships have started and a message popped up saying that Canada defeated Belarus 19-1. Connor McDavid had 5 goals and 6 assists. That has to be some kind of record for that tourney.

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OHL Championship Game 3 Results

Owen Sound 4 North Bay 2 (OS leads 2-1)

Game 3 looked like it was in the bag for North Bay with less than 2 minutes to play. In a shocking collapse, the Battalion allowed 4 goals in 1:22 to end up losing 4-2. What an epic choke by North Bay, leaving fans shocked as they left the arena.

Wade Chalmers led the way with 2 goals.

Madden Steen is once again out day to day so Luke Rovatti was inserted into the lineup with mixed results. Michael Blaisdell is another option as he is back from injury.

Andrey Misin went back into the net and made 21 saves for the win.

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QMJHL Championship Game 3 Results

Val D'Or 4 Charlottetown 3 (CHA leads 2-1)

Cam Squires with 2 goals as Val D'Or gets back into the series.

WHL Championship Game 2 Results

Calgary 6 Tri-City 1 (CAL leads 2-0)

Adam Bachmeier with 4 assists to lead the Hitmen in Game 2.

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OHL Championship Game 4 Results

Owen Sound 5 North Bay 2 (OS leads 3-1)

The Attack chase Prieditis from the net in Game 4. Getting out to an early 4-0 lead after the 1st period, Owen Sound controlled the entire game from the onset.

Captain Madden Steen was his usual true warrior self. Coming back after missing only 1 game with injury, Steen scored 2 goals and played his rambunctious style with 12 PIMs.

Owen Sound is only 1 win away from a Memorial Cup appearance!!

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QMJHL Championship Game 4 Results

Val D'Or 5 Charlottetown 4 2OT (series tied 2-2)

Cam Squires with 2 goals and an assist including the OT winner.


WHL Championship Game 3 Results

Calgary 4 Tri-City 3 (CAL leads 3-0)

Tri-City outshoots Calgary 44-22 but loses 4-3. Hadfield makes 41 saves for the Hitmen.

[Harveytime]

1-1 had me a bit nervous. Nice to take that 3-1 lead.
OWEN SOUND keeps on rollin

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OHL Championship Game 5 Results

Owen Sound 5 North Bay 2 (OS wins series 4-1)

Sigrist, Chalmers and Quinn lead the way as Owen Sound wins the OHL Championship in 5 games over North Bay!

The TSN turning point had to be back in Game 3 when North Bay blew that game. The momentum turned during that 1:22 span and that was all she wrote for the Battalion. Kudos to them though, they had a hell of a playoff run.

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The OHL announced that Noah Cochrane wins the Wayne Gretzky 99 Award as Playoff MVP.

Cochrane also takes home the Max Kaminsky Trophy as Leagues Best Defenceman for the 2nd year in a row. He is named First Team OHL All-Star Defenceman for the 2nd year in a row as well. I was extremely surprised to see the Oilers send Cochrane back to junior but we definitely reaped the benefits.

Playoff Stats for the Owen Sound Attack as they rest up for a few days before heading to the Memorial Cup! The competition will be fierce as the Attack will now take on the best of what the rest of Canada has to offer.

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QMJHL Championship Game 5 Results

Charlottetown 5 Val D'Or 4 (CHA leads 3-2)


WHL Championship Game 4 Results

Calgary 4 Tri-City 1 (CAL wins series 4-0)

The Hitmen make short work of Kardashian and the Americans in 4 straight. This Calgary team is the real deal, going 16-2 in the WHL playoffs.

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QMJHL Championship Game 6 Results

Val D'Or 5 Charlottetown 4 OT (series tied 3-3)

3 straight games ending in 5-4 as the teams switch wins. All comes down to Game 7, doesn't get any better than this.

QMJHL Championship Game 7 Results

Charlottetown 5 Val D'Or 3 (CHA wins series 4-3)

Charlottetown denies the Foreurs their 3rd straight trip to the Memorial Cup. The Islanders complete the QMJHL playoffs with an impressive 16-6 record.

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2025 Memorial Cup Contenders....

Calgary Hitmen (52-10-6) - WHL Champion

WHL Playoff Results

RD1 - Brandon (31-32-5) - won series 4-1 GF: 18 GA: 11
RD2 - Swift Current (44-20-4) - won series 4-0 GF: 23 GA: 7
RD3 - Moose Jaw (33-31-4) - won series 4-1 GF: 16 GA: 11
RD4 - Tri-City (38-24-6) - won series 4-0 GF: 18 GA: 8

Regular Season Record : 52-10-6 GF: 276 GA: 156

Playoff Record: 16-2 GF: 75 GA: 37
Combined Playoff Opponents Record: 146-107-19

The Hitmen are a scary team with everything you want. Star players? Look no further than Lucas Smith and Adam Bachmeier. Depth? They have a solid 4 lines to throw at you and as good of a top 6 defence as anyone. Goalie? 17 year old Antoine Hadfield put together an amazing regular season and playoffs with a combined 46-8-1 record and their backup Jordan Stromkins is only 16 and as good as anyone. Rookie Willie Tanner has put together a solid playoffs (11-12-23 in 18 games) after having 43 points in 62 regular season games. This is a team that can score and keep the puck out of their net, using their transition game to keep pressure on opponents. They cruised through the WHL during the playoffs and come into the Memorial Cup with a ton of confidence.

The Hitmen do have a key injury to contend with as one of their OA's, Brandon Whynott is out day-to-day with a bruised hand.