Congrats @stromer19 2nd straight @ErieOtters earns Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy #OHL Top Scorer 129PTS (45G 84A) 68GP pic.twitter.com/xJoW7YXiTP
— OntarioHockeyLeague (@OHLHockey) March 23, 2015
Thanks, Sportsnet
I've been telling you for a month or more that Erie Otters snipers Dylan Strome and Connor McDavid were eyeballing the OHL scoring record. To say nothing of the Erie Otters team scoring record.
On Saturday night, Strome hit for a goal and three assists in Erie's win over Windsor. On Sunday morning, the OHL would take away one of his assists.
Like that mattered, right?
On Sunday afternoon inside the Meridian Center in St. Catherines, Strome won the OHL scoring title. He also earned the Otters' team scoring record.
The game began shrouded in suspense and controversy as Connor McDavid was a late scratch for the Otters. The team chalked it up to the flu. Me? I think that McDavid is such a humble, selfless superstar that he may have excused himself from the proceedings so that his great friend could bask in the solo glow of the solo spotlight without having to appear in McDavid's shadow. Strome ends the season having scored 35 points in the 21 games that McDavid missed this season due to injury, the World Junior, and "sickness".
Strome has been living in McDavid's enormous shadow all season long. McDavid will be the #1 pick in the 2015 NHL Draft. He has been making headlines and creating sonic booms all season long. Strome quietly and consistently has been carrying a heavy workload. He has been McDavid's equal in his offensive output and production.
McDavid's absence elevated Strome's expectations, and the Toronto kid didn't disappoint at all!
Strome potted 4 goals and 2 assists and in doing, he passed his best friend Mitch Marner (London Knights) and won the Ontario Hockey League scoring title.
The Strome-Marner-McDavid scoring race marks the first time in the OHL that the top 3 scorers are 17-year-old NHL Draft prospects. In 2010, the top-2 were Taylor Hall and Tyler Seguin.
The Otters nail biting concluded the comeback over the IceDogs by picking up their 50th win in the final game of the regular season 8-7. Strome secured the OHL scoring title and the franchise record with a six point game for 129 points. Rookie Alex DeBrincat scored a goal and added 5 asists in Strome's record breaking game. DeBrincat finished the season with 104 points on 51 goals and 53 assists.
The Otters crawled out fo a 5-2 ditch to tie the game at 7 in the third period.
They would go on to win it 8-7.
Puck that @stromer19 set the @ErieOtters franchise scoring record for a season. Congrats boli! pic.twitter.com/o0itNd1Z80
— Pugsley (@PugsleyOfficial) March 22, 2015
@stromer19 2015 OHL scoring champ! You wear it well, bud #Buffalo http://t.co/EcH6rElKuT pic.twitter.com/joXIs13VPR
— SabresBuzz (@SabresBuzz) March 22, 2015
#OTTERS WIN! The Otters get win #50 8-7 over the @OHLIceDogs! What a way to end the regular season! #onegoal
— Erie Otters (@ErieOtters) March 22, 2015
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Were I an NHL GM, I would seriously consider taking Strome #3 or #4 overall in the June NHL Draft. Strome's size, skill, skating and consistency is intoxicating. So much so that he may have just moved ahead of D-man Noah Hanifin in the draft eligible prospect Central Scouting rankings.
In the event that the Buffalo Sabres miss out on McDavid and Eichel, Tim Murray could select Strome with confidence at #3. Noah Hanifin is a D and Murray could opt to take the best forward available rather than taking the best D-man available. Strome would fit perfectly in Buffalo on a line with bNick Baptiste, his Erie Otters linemate.
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Speaking of McDavd, his final OHL season end with scoring 120 points in just 47 games played. He missed 21 games due to his broken hand that he suffered in a fistfight on U.S. Veteran's Day. He made his return to the Erie lineup after he and Team Canada won the gold medal at the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships.
McDavid ends his final season in junior with a 2.55 point per game average. By comparison, Crosby had a 2.7 point per game average in his final season of junior with Rimouski Oceanic. Eric Lindros had a 2.61 points per game average in his final season in junior hockey with the Oshawa Generals.
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Nashville's Craig Smith has been fined $5,000 for high-sticking Buffalo's Jerry D'Amigo.
— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) March 22, 2015
See the infraction below:
à VOIR | Jerry D'Amigo avait toutes ses dents au début du match. Il en a perdu quelques-unes : http://t.co/aT8nyl5QTS pic.twitter.com/m39PgJvax2
— TVA Sports (@TVASports) March 22, 2015My take:
I tweeted during the Sabres-Preds game that I hated the Smith stick foul on D'Amigo. Smith was assessed a double minor for high sticking. I would have given him a 5 and a game for his careless use use of his stick. There are only two acceptable function of the hockey stick. It is to be used to propel the puck forward and back and to shoot the puck. That's it. There is no good reason for Smith, or any other player's stick to be in the eye of an opponent.
I feel strongly about sending a harsh message to stick foul perpetrators.
D'Amigo left after a stream of blood rushed from his face and nose after the Smith stick foul.
D'Amigo would finish the game with a full plexiglass face shield on. He had cotton jammed in his nostrils to stop the bleeding which would suggest that his nose was broken by the slash/high stick.
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