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On Tuesday, the OHL announced that the league will not be able to conduct a season this year after further COVID protocols were enacted in Ontario. The other major junior leagues in Canada are discussing playing some sort of small tournament for draft eligible players to show what they can do ahead of the NHL Draft in June. That idea is still in early days, however.
The Tampa Bay Lightning have two prospects who were eligible to play in the OHL this season: Jack Thompson (2020, 3rd) and Declan McDonnell (2020, 7th). Ironically, both are in the AHL at the moment. Thompson and McDonnell expect to be back in the OHL next season, when the league hopes to have a full season. After that year they’ll be eligible to go back to the AHL.
The OHL is expected to officially shutdown its season today. The league came very close to returning a couple of weeks ago, but wasn’t granted government approval. Tough on all involved, especially the players. Hope is to start fresh next season.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) April 20, 2021
The #OHL has announced an end of return to play plans for the 2020-21 season.
— OntarioHockeyLeague (@OHLHockey) April 20, 2021
DETAILS : https://t.co/NyOxCEoV5M pic.twitter.com/Eeuo9dXNYi
OHL Commish David Branch at a news conference today.
— Manny Paiva (@paivatheway) April 20, 2021
Asked if league missed an opportunity, Branch responds “Let me clearly state that if the opportunity had presented itself weeks or months ago, we would've taken it… I have no misgivings about how it was handled."
Lightning Links
The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Bolts 4-1 last night. [Raw Charge]
“Missing Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov is a clear issue for the Lightning offense. The creativity and puck control both of those players provide (both at even strength and the power-play) is sorely missed with Brayden Point carrying the offensive load. The Lightning buoyed themselves thanks to strong goaltending and a hot streak from Ross Colton, but that only holds for so long.”
It was a tough week for the Syracuse Crunch, but Taylor Raddysh put together an award-winning week to help buoy them to a 12-8-1 record. [Raw Charge]
“It was a busy week for the Syracuse Crunch, filled with frustration but also growth by the end of it. After games on Tuesday and Wednesday, I was worried the theme of the week was going to be penalties. The Crunch took way too many and got punished for those mistakes hard, but credit to them as on Saturday and Monday, the team really clamped down on their lapses and played a much more “normal” game against WBS and Utica for back-to-back wins.”
“Solar Bears Weekly Check-In: Brought to You By the Letter L.” Oh no. [Raw Charge]
“For the first time all season, Orlando plays a team that’s not in either Florida or South Carolina. They will head north to Indianapolis for a 3-game weekend set with the Fuel, who sit just two points head of Orlando for second place in the Eastern Conference. This has the makings of a first round playoff preview, perhaps?”
The Penguins vs Devils game was absolutely wild last night. First, the Penguins jumped out to a 6-0 lead, and then the Devils almost came all the way back, before eventually still finding a way to win the game 7-6. The Penguins were also the first team in NHL history to be outscored by five goals in the third period and still win. What a stat!
The Penguins are the 1st team in NHL history to win a game in which they were outscored by 5 goals in the 3rd period.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) April 21, 2021
Entering tonight, NHL teams were 0-270-0 in the regular season and 0-9 in the postseason when they were outscored by 5+ goals in the 3rd period. h/t @EliasSports