BRANTFORD, Ont. – In a showcase befitting the championship stage, Team East Red stormed past Team Black East 5-2 on Tuesday night to capture the Zach Hyman OJHL Prospects Series title before an energized crowd at TD Civic Centre in Brantford.
The game, the final of the inaugural seven-game series, was hosted by the Brantford Bulldogs of the Ontario Hockey League.
The series showcased the top 2008- and 2009-born players from across the 24-team league. Scouts from across the hockey world – NHL, OHL, CHL and NCAA – were in attendance at all seven games.
Logan Brown, who plays for his hometown Lindsay Muskies in the OJHL, came up big for the Red squad, potting a pair of goals including the eventual game-winner and adding an exclamation point with a power-play tally in the final frame.
Players of the Game: Team Black goaltender Owen Scott (Buffalo Jr. Sabres) and Team Red’s Logan Bennett (Trenton Golden Hawks) receive their awards from OJHl Commissioner Marty Savoy. (Photos by Tim Bates/OJHL Images)
After a tentative first period that saw Team Black take three minor penalties while managing just five shots on goal, the floodgates opened in the middle frame. Team Red’s Liam Campbell (Wellington Dukes/Saginaw Spirit) broke the deadlock at 15:06 of the opening period, finishing off a beautiful setup from Logan Bennett (Trenton Golden Hawks/Sarnia Sting) and Elijah Chavez (Stouffville Spirit/Peterborough Petes) to send Red to the intermission with a 1-0 advantage.
The second period belonged entirely to Team Red. Peter Koukouves (Toronto Patriots/Brampton Steelheads) struck just 46 seconds in, capitalizing on excellent work from Kayden Brand (Markham Royals/Brantford Bulldogs) and Oliver Tang (Mississauga Chargers).
Tang would add one of his own at 5:06, with assists from Markham’s Zach Gardner and the Caledon Admirals’ Connor Hollebek, extending the lead to 3-0.
It was a busy day for Tang who scored what proved to be the winning goal in the Chargers 3-1 win over the Georgetown Raiders during the afternoon in Georgetown before making the hour-plus drive in wintry conditions to Brantford.
Team Black finally solved Red netminder Thomas Lima (Lindsay) when the Buffalo Jr. Sabres Joey Banas, who has signed an OHL agreement with the Brantford Bulldogs, converted at 6:41, momentarily cutting into the deficit. But any hopes of a comeback were quickly dashed when Logan Brown scored what was labeled an insurance goal at 8:52.
Mickey Liu, also of the Mississauga Chargers, brought Black within two goals late in the second, but it proved to be too little, too late. Brown’s power-play marker at 4:02 of the third period sealed the championship and capped a dominant wire-to-wire performance.
Logan Bennett was the playmaker extraordinaire for Team Red, registering three assists to lead all players in points and earning Player of the Game award for his team.
“I pride my game on, you know, doing the hard work. Do what you have to do. And if it’s around the net, then that’s where I want to be,” Bennett said postgame.
Connor Hollebek added a pair of helpers, while the Red defense limited Team Black to just eight shots through the first two periods.
Owen Scott of the Buffalo Jr. Sabres was named Black’s Player of the Game. The Ohio State commit stopped 12 of 13 Red shots in relief.
“I want to give my team the best chance to keep them in there,” Scott said. “I keep focusing on that … and give them a chance to tie it, hopefully, push it to OT, but unfortunately, we couldn’t do it.”
Team Red finished the series with a perfect 3-0-0 record, while Team Black’s strong regular performance wasn’t enough to overcome Red’s balanced scoring and opportunistic power play, which converted once on their lone opportunity.
The Zach Hyman OJHL Prospects Series continues to serve as a critical development platform for Ontario’s top junior talent, and Tuesday night’s championship thriller proved once again why this tournament has become must-see hockey for the scouting community.
See the box score here: https://www.ojhl.ca/stats/game-center/16254
