The competition was closer and definitely a lot fiercer in this years’ version of the Central Canada Hockey League. With only 6 points separating 1st and 4th place, the 5th and 6th seeds being just 1 and 2 points back from 4th and the 7th and 8th seeds being arguably the top teams down the stretch, no one ran away with anything in the regular season.
Fast-forward to the playoffs and everything seemed to level off, especially for the two-time defending Bogart Cup & Fred Page Cup Champion Carleton Place Canadians.
Fighting off a handful of injuries through out the season which included the likes of leading scorer Lucas Batt, captain Jordan Larson, NHL Draft Prospect Brett Murray, top-scoring defenseman Marcus Joseph, as well as assistant captains Andrew Dodson & Vinny Post, the Canadians could never be what they were expected to be. However, due to the teams strong recruiting and drafting efforts they were still a threat on a nightly basis, showing that they are one of the deepest teams’ depth wise in the entire CJHL.
In their first round playoff series they would take down a hard-working but offense-stricken Pembroke Lumber Kings team in five-games before sweeping 4th seed Brockville in the second round.
Rookie goaltender Colton Point has been a big reason for his teams’ playoff success as he has allowed just 11 goals through 9 games and has tied the CCHL single season playoff shutout record with 4. The Colgate University commit is on the radar to be selected in the upcoming NHL Entry Draft along with teammate & Penn State commit Brett Murray.
With Dodson, Batt, and Post still sidelined, Murray, along with Bryce Van Horn and Jordan Larson have continued their strong offensive play. Dryden, ON native Geoff Kitt, who played a bottom six role in the regular season has stepped up tremendously as he is riding a 5-game point streak totaling 8 points to lead the Canadians in scoring.
Carleton Place will sit and wait for their Bogart Cup opponent as the Ottawa Jr Senators and Hawkesbury Hawks are currently battling it out to clinch a birth of their own. Ottawa leads the best-of-seven series 2-1 with Game 4 going tonight at the Bob Hartley Arena in Hawkesbury.
