Barrie Colts Weekend Preview (October 4th to 7th)

Only one home game this week for the Barrie Colts (2-1-1) as they host former Colt Kyle Heitzner and the Mississauga Steelheads Thursday night. They finish up the weekend with a road trip to eastern Ontario with afternoon matchups with the Ottawa 67s and Kingston Frontenacs on Sunday.

Going into this weekend the Colts are tied for the lead league in goals with Saginaw at 23 in one less game played.  Colts are ranked 6^th lowest in goals against thanks to their strong blueline and goaltending thus far by Kai Edmonds and Maksim Zhukov. Jet Greaves has not made an appearance this season as of yet. Sunday in Kingston might be a good game to get him in.

Special teams have been good, but not spectacular so far as both are ranked 8^th in the league. The powerplay is running at 20% efficiency so far, and the PK% at 87%. 

While the Colts lead the league in goals for, most of them came in two blowout wins. Look for the team to try and aim for a little more consistent offense.  The top line of Ryan Suzuki (4G, 7A, 11PTS), Lucas Chiodo (4G, 4A, 8PTS) and Matej Pekar (3G, 5A, 8PTS) are leading the way offensively for the team. Ben Hawerchuk is off to a good start offensively as well with 3 goals in 4 games. After an impressive preseason Aidan Brown only has an assist in 4 games thus far, but has hit multiple crossbars a game. Those should start going in soon.

Offense from the blueline has been no problem as Tyler Tucker and Joey Keane each have 5 points in 4 games which puts them in a tie for second in the league, one point behind Bode Wilde.

First up this week for the Colts…

Thursday October 4^th vs Mississauga Steelheads (2-1-1) at The BMC

Colts kick off the week at home against the Trout. Lots of Barrie connections to Barrie as Kyle Heitzner makes his return. 2018 first round pick James Hardie who was a member of last year’s minor midget Colts makes his first OHL visit at the Barrie Molson Centre. Steelheads starting goalie Jacob Ingham also from Barrie should get the start.

Who to Watch:

Ryan McLeod (Edmonton Oilers 2^nd Round Pick)

Owen Tippett (Florida Panthers 1^st Round Pick)

Thomas Harley (B Rated Skater, 2019 NHL Draft Watch List)

Get your tickets here: https://tprobarriecolt2018.ticketpro.ca/#def_1296788544

Saturday October 6^th vs Ottawa 67’s (3-3-0) at TD Place

The Colts head up to Ottawa for a good test against a solid 67s team. Up front they have a solid group lead by the likes of Austen Keating, Tye Felhaber and Sasha Chmelevski. On the blueline things look equally as strong with Noel Hoefenmayer, big 6’6 Kevin Bahl leading the way. If the 67’s have one big weakness, it’s their goaltending. So far between Will Cranley and Cedrick Andree they’ve combined for a 4.15GAA and 0.865 save percentage. Colts got to throw everything at the net and they should get rewarded.

Who to Watch:

Graeme Clark (B Rated Skater, 2019 NHL Draft Watch List)

Noel Hoefenmayer (Arizona Coyotes 4^th round pick)

Kevin Bahl (Arizona Coyotes 2^nd round pick)

Sunday October 7^th vs Kingston Frontenacs (2-3-0) at Leon’s Centre

The Colts will make their first trip back to Kingston since being eliminated back in April. Kingston is entering what is likely to be a full on rebuild. For now, they still have star forward Jason Robertson who has 5 goals in 5 games leading the way for the Fronts. That is 45% of the team’s goals for the season so far.

Who to Watch:

Jason Robertson (Dallas Stars 2^nd round pick)

Jacob Murray (2018 OHL 1^st round pick)

Tyler Burnie (Former minor midget Colt)