Ontario Hockey League
Saginaw Spirit at Guelph Storm
Friday, December 10, 2021
A comeback win for the Storm in this game. Saginaw scored 3 in the first period and chased draft eligible Jacob Oster early in the first period. Guelph thoroughly dominated the second half of this game physically and on the scoresheet. The Storm scored 5 unanswered to beat the Spirit 5-3. There were a number of draft eligible players in this game who performed well and are written up below.
Saginaw Spirit
| Pavel Mintyukov | Saginaw Spirit | OHL | L | D | 6’1″ | 192 | Saginaw Spirit | 2020 | Moskva | 2003 | 2021-2022: A |
Mintyukov is a stud left shot defender with great size, mobility and excellent defensive gap control. This late birthday 2003 defender is playing in his first OHL season. He entered the game vs the Storm just under a point per game this season and plays in all key situations for Saginaw. He plays a heads up game and moves pucks crisply. He sees the ice well and gets pucks moving in a north/south game quickly before the opposition forecheck arrives. Defensively, he is fast, he engages physically, and he takes away time and space from opposition forwards with authority. He has excellent reach and length. He combined his size with his speed game tonight and created turnovers in all 3 zones of the ice. Mintyukov has offensive potential and is not afraid to jump in to support the attack. He scored in this game on the secondary attack where he jumped into the seam and rifled home a hard wrister. In our viewings so far this year he is one of the top draft eligible defenders playing in the Ontario Hockey League. Grade: A
| Matyas Sapovaliv | Saginaw Spirit | OHL | L | C | 6’4″ | 190 | Saginaw Spirit | 2021 | Kladno, CZE | 2004 | 2021-2022: B |
We saw great game from this lanky left shot center this evening. Sapovaliv opened the scoring for Sagniaw in the first with a power move from the left wall. He showed excellent net drive and power and skill to get to the net with a quality finish. At 6’3 he has good length and reach and was difficult for defenders to contain when he got a step on them. He was around the net all game for the Spirit and made a number of quality feeds to his linemates in good scoring areas. He scored and set up another in the first period and showed good pace for a big body in open ice. Sapovaliv is not the most fluid skater but he does get to top speed quickly and surprised a few defenders with his pace off the rush. He was the Spirit’s most effective player offensively in this game but pressed a bit too much in the second half of the game and was hurt by the Storm counter attack in transition on a few occasions. As he extends his stride and pays more attention to detail on the defensive side of the puck he has good upside. This young forward has made an excellent adjustment to the North American and has been producing at a point per game pace so far this season. Grade: B+
The Spirit have a number of other draft eligible players on their roster. Players not written up in this game were either out of the line up or did not show enough in this game to warrant write-up. We will review these players in future viewings and report on progress.
Guelph Storm
| Danny Zhilkin | Guelph Storm | OHL | L | C | 6’2″ | 183 | Guelph Storm | 2019 | Missassauga, ON | 2003 | 2021-2022: B |
Danny Zhilkin had a handful of quality chances in this game but had zero puck luck and was held off the scoresheet. Zhilkin was most effective on Guelph’s powerplay where his vision and offensive IQ gave him open looks consistently tonight. He showed an excellent shot and rang a few off the bars in this game with the extra man. He played an unselfish game and is a deceptive passer who found a number of his linemates open in good scoring areas. At this point in the season he is producing most of his offense on the powerplay but has been a consistent offensive threat with the extra man in all viewings so far. If he continues to gain more strength and power on his frame it would allow him to be more effective in the cycle game and generate more offense 5 on 5. He loves to play a puck possession game and his success in the face-off circle helped tonight. The Storm started the play with the puck more often than not in this game when Zhilkin was on the ice to start the play. Grade: B
| Matthew Poitras | Guelph Storm | OHL | R | C | 5’11” | 172 | Guelph Storm | 2020 | Brooklin, ON | 2004 | 2021-2022: B |
|Matthew^Poitras^#14| Poitras continues to show excellent speed and compete playing a 200 foot game. He has cooled off offensively in recent viewings but still has noticeable speed in his game and an excellent ability to win pucks in all zones of the ice. He has a strong motor on the forecheck and a low center of gravity and is very difficult to knock off pucks on the offensive zone cycle. No change to our recent viewings as he continues to mature in his first full OHL season. Poitras is playing a top 6 forward role for the Storm and can dominate at times with his high speed puck pursuit game. Once he gets a head of steam in transition or off the cycle he has enough power to overmatch older more experienced defenders. This is usually very difficult for young centermen at the OHL level. Grade: B
| Michael Buchinger | Guelph Storm | OHL | L | D | 6’0″ | 185 | Guelph Storm | 2020 | Markham, ON | 2004 | 2021-2022: B- |
Buchinger continues to elevate his game as his confidence grows this season. He is a young athletic defender who is improving his timing defensively and managing his gap more effectively as the season progresses. He has secured a top 4 defender role with the Storm in the first half of the season and his steady play has been an early season surprise for the Storm who continue to retool and put high quality teams together each season in the OHL Western Conference. Buchinger continues to show good hands and puck composure. He and his partner are effective at breaking down the opposition forecheck and are spending less time in their zone as the season progresses. His defensive gap and compete in his zone are improving as his strength increases and he has been very effective at using his body positioning and mobility to front opposition forward to prevent their net drive. Another solid showing for Buchinger in this game, he is providing a steady and consistent level of play with each new viewing. Grade: B-
| Jake Karabela | Guelph Storm | OHL | L | C | 5’11” | 170 | Guelph Storm | 2020 | Guelph, ON | 2004 | 2021-2022: C+ |
Another solid outing for Karabela in this viewing as he continues to show improvement in his all-round game this season. Karabela is more comfortable with the puck now and is seeing more time on the powerplay. He was snake bit in tonight’s game, he had a number of good looks in close but could not finish. Karabela’s key asset is his 200 foot compete game and this offers him a chance to play in all key situations for the Storm. He takes face-offs, plays the wing, kills penalties, and is moving up on the powerplay unit as his confidence grows. He had another strong game on the cycle tonight. The Storm dominated in his area in the second half of the game and outshot Saginaw 38-24 in the game. Karabela and the Storm offensive unit had a number of extended shifts with their strong cycle game all evening. Grade: B-
| Braeden Bowman | Guelph Storm | OHL | R | RW | 6’2″ | 205 | Guelph Storm | 2019 | Kitchener, ON | 2003 | 2021-2022: B |
Bowman is a second year draft eligible 2003 winger who plays a heavy skilled game. He recently returned from an injury but came into the game having scored 9 goals in his first 16 games so far in his rookie season. Bowman has a big body and plays a physical give and go game on offense to clear out space for himself on the net drive. He needed to hit the net in this game as he had a few chances in close but could not find an opening. Bowman was a favorite of Neutral Zone in his U16 season, he has always played a skilled edgy power game and is well suited for the physical play in the Ontario Hockey League. He did not score in this game but created space on a number of shifts and got his frame into the good scoring areas. Grade: C+
The Storm have a number of other draft eligible players on their roster. Players not written up in this game were either out of the line up or did not show enough in this game to warrant write-up. We will review these players in future viewings and report on progress.
Logo courtesy of the Guelph Storm
Stats provided by InStat
Evaluation: Paul O’Hagan