Knights' Night: Winning atmosphere taking over in London

When the news broke that Mitch Marner, Christian Dvorak and Matthew Tkachuk had left junior hockey for good, there was reasonable concern in London. But based on the play we’ve been seeing lately, the boys are just fine.

The Knights are 8-1-1 in their past 10 games, and have only lost once in regulation since Oct. 15. Their 27 points in 18 games played is good enough for fifth place in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) standings. And with three games in hand on the league best Erie Otters, a few more wins would put them into first.

One of the main reasons for the Knights success is the amount of goals they’ve been scoring lately. They’ve scored four or more goals in their last six games; they’ve put up seven in two of them.

As per usual, Cliff Pu is at the centre of it all. The Buffalo pick has 30 points in 16 games this season; that’s good enough to tie him for fifth place in league scoring. Even more impressive is his 14 game point streak, the longest of his junior career so far.

Max Jones has 20 points in just 10 games since his return from Anaheim’s camp. His average of two points per game is third in the OHL; the only two who have better are league-leading Otters’ Taylor Raddysh and Alex DeBrincat.

There have also been a few firsts in the Forest City recently. Rookie Liam Foudy scored his first OHL goal in a 4-1 rout of the Guelph Storm on Nov. 12.

Meanwhile, the Knights sent goaltender Emanuel Vella to the Owen Sound Attack for an eighth round pick in the 2018 OHL Priority Selection. That opened the door for Jordan Kooy, who made 32 saves on Nov. 12 to earn his first OHL win in his first ever game.

The leadership group has also been named for the 2016-2017 Knights. J.J. Piccinich will wear the “C” for London, while Owen MacDonald and Victor Mete will serve as alternates.

All three players were members of the Memorial Cup winning Knights last year.

The decision was left to a team vote; a tradition that has been commonplace since Mark and Dale Hunter purchased the team in 2000.

With the OHL’s top line from last year officially gone to the NHL, London needs its best players to be at their absolute best if they want to have continued success this season. And based on the way they’re playing, it isn’t an issue.

Year after year, the London Knights have had excellent players, who have gone onto excellent NHL careers. From Brendan Shanahan to Corey Perry to John Tavares, there is no shortage of talent coming out of London. And they’ve always had contributions from all aspects of the rink.

It’s time for the future NHLers: the Cliff Pu’s, the Max Jones’, the Olli Juolevi’s, to prove that they can compete at the highest level. If they keep up the level of play they’ve shown over the past few weeks, it wouldn’t be a shock to say London could compete for another Memorial Cup this May.