CREDIT: AARON BELL/CHL IMAGES
London Knights' goaltender Tyler Parsons shined bright at this year's World Juniors playing for the USA.

In their last 11 games heading into Dec. 9’s tilt against the Mississauga Steelheads, the London Knights had won nine and lost two in a shootout. In the same span of games, the Steelheads had won just two games.

They were second to last place in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and yet they beat the Knights 7-3.

That’s just how the last few weeks have gone in the Forest City. Recently, London and Windsor lost their bid to host the 2019 World Junior Hockey Championships. The nod went west instead, to Vancouver and Victoria, B.C.

It was a disappointing turn of events for London hockey fans, especially as there’s no shortage of interest for hockey here. Fans pack into Budweiser Gardens every Friday night when the Knights take the ice.

For a few of the players on the team, the snub won’t matter that much. They’re already focused on the 2017 World Juniors, which began on Dec. 26 in Toronto and Montreal.

London had four players invited to preliminary camps. Smooth skating Victor Mete went to Canada’s camp, starting goaltender Tyler Parsons to team USA and Olli Juolevi and Janne Kuokkanen to Finland.

While Mete, Parsons and Kuokkanen will have to play their way onto the team, Juolevi is as much of a lock as you will find. He scored seven points in last year’s tournament, leading the way on the back end as Finland beat Russia in overtime to win on home soil.

Victor Mete is the only defenseman from the OHL to crack the preliminary roster. Of the 10 invited, five are from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, three from the Western Hockey League and one from the National Collegiate Athletic Association in the U.S.

It was disappointing to see Cliff Pu get left off the 18-man forward core that were invited, especially with the success he’s had this year. His 47 points in 28 games is good enough for sixth place in OHL scoring, and he’s led the Knights to the second highest point total in the league. It just goes to show the depth of talent that team Canada can call on, year in and year out.

While Mete left for Canada’s camp after the shocking loss to the Steelheads, it was all business for the rest of the team.

“We need to go back to what we’ve been doing,” captain J.J. Piccinich said after the loss. “We have to remember what we did to be this successful to start the season.”

With that in mind, the Knights went on a winning streak.

They combined for 10 goals in two games, as they rolled over the Sarnia Sting and Kitchener Rangers on Dec. 10 and 11.

Pu led the way in Sarnia, potting two goals as the Knights won 4-2. Evan Bouchard broke the tie with four minutes left, and Tyler Parsons made 28 saves for London.

The boys headed back home to take on division rival Kitchener Rangers the next day. In their third game in three nights, they showed no signs of slowing down. Josh Nelson scored two goals, Piccinich and Brandon Crawley had three points each, and the Knights crushed the Rangers 6-2.

It marked the 10th straight game London has beat the rival Rangers dating back to last season.

Even after a disappointing performance against Mississauga, London has still won seven of their last 10 games, and they’ve scored more goals than any team except Erie thus far.

But with their top goaltender, top two defensemen and one of their top forwards possibly representing their countries at the World Juniors, can the rest of the team keep up the success?

Only time will tell.