When Barrie Colts fans dream their dreams, Thursday night’s 5-2 win over the London Knights is a scenario they’d like to see happen again in May.
The game could be a preview of the league final. Much needs to happen to get there, but there is plenty to be hopeful for the Colts to at very least win their first playoff series in five years.
Let’s see. Evan Vierling with 18 points in his last eight games is one of the hottest players in the league. He and defenceman Brandt Clarke, with 16 points in that same span, pace the offensive attack, with considerable help from Ethan Cardwell and Jacob Frasca.
Declan McDonnell has not had the type of offensive season expected, but the Buffalo-area forward, the team’s third overager, has been better lately and scored the opener Thursday that put the Knights on the back foot from the outset. Beau Jelsma is turning into a fine two-way centre.
Not counting Saturday’s home game against the Sudbury Wolves, the Colts have won seven of their past eight games. But the lone loss was the sort of furball the Colts have had the propensity to cough up occasionally this year — a 7-5 home defeat to the defending league champion Hamilton Bulldogs that was almost as ugly as the alternate sweaters the team wore that night.
For now, the Colts are trying to reel in the North Bay Battalion for the division crown and home-ice advantage through two rounds in the playoffs. With seven games remaining and five points adrift, the Colts may need to run the table.
Beyond the big guns up front and Clarke, the Colts also have a stout defence aside from the Los Angeles Kings’ first-round pick. Artur Cholach is playing to get an NHL contract from the Vegas Golden Knights, who took him in the sixth round (190th overall) two years ago. Ditto for Braden Hache, taken 20 picks after Cholach by the Florida Panthers in the same draft.
Draft-eligible Beau Akey also plays a big role at the back end.
In goal, Anson Thornton notched his 25th victory Thursday night and has established himself as a solid starter. It’s not hard to imagine him stealing a game or two for the Colts on nights when goals are tough to come by.
Beyond injuries and catching a break or two — like, ahem, not having your best player injured when a linesman pulls him out of a scrum — along the way, it may be what certain Colts don’t do come playoff time that determines how far they can go.
For example, as good as Clarke has been, there have been some maddening brain cramps. For all of his breathtaking talent, knowing when to be merely Clark(e) Kent rather than Superman brings out the best in him. Such was the case Thursday. Or when he set up the winning goal for Canada in both the quarterfinal and gold-medal game at the World Junior.
Tyler Savard can be an effective physical force when he’s on. Unfortunately, the 19-year-old forward is prone to taking stupid penalties. That can’t happen in the playoffs. At least, it can’t happen often.
Come the post-season, things tighten up and games can turn on the narrowest of margins. For all the splendid play in the last six weeks or so, you don’t yet get the sense the Colts are the type of disciplined team playoff hockey requires.
Yet.
Looking beyond this year, next season will likely mean at least a small step back. Clarke, Vierling and Cardwell will be gone. It may require Cholach and Hache to be left unsigned by their NHL teams to be back in Barrie to play as overagers. The status of import pick Eduard Sale will have to be clarified. Sale will be taken somewhere in the middle of the first round of the 2023 NHL Draft but remained with Brno, his Czechia club, this season. If that yet-to-be-determined NHL club wants him to play in the OHL, it will affect the Colts’ deadline strategy as the calendar flips to 2024.
The 2024-25 season is when Akey and others, such as 2006-born forward Cole Beaudoin, along with a gaggle of picks/prospects, will come of age. But for a city and a hockey club that have already waited five years through a stalled rebuild brought by pandemic cancellations/restrictions, waiting another two years is an awfully long time.
Which makes the next two months so important.
