The Stouffville Spirit will have home ice in the first round of the Ontario Junior Hockey League playoffs.
The Spirit saw to that in emphatic fashion winning their final regular season game 8-0 over the Milton Menace at the Stouffville Arena Saturday night.
The Spirit will play the Wellington Dukes, from near Belleville, in the first round.
Both teams finished with identical 33-19-0-4 records. They also split the four-game series during the regular season. The Spirit earned fourth place and Wellington was relegated to fifth in the 12-team East Conference thanks to the OJHL’s third tie-breaker, a goal differential formula.
Stouffville won the percentage race .582 to .561.
The postseason in the 24-team OJHL begins Friday. The schedules for the eight first-round series will be announced early this week by the league.
Riley Pope earned the Player of the Game belt with his two-goal, two-assist night Saturday. Give Pope 72 points on the season.
Kyle Downey posted his fifth shutout of the year.
Rookie Josh Bonnyman had his second two-goal game of the week. Evan Breckles had a goal and two assists.
Danny Thomakos and Jacob Winsor had three assists apiece.
Stay tuned to the Spirit’s social media accounts (Intstagram, Facebook, X) and the team website for updates.
MEDIA
All Spirit games are broadcast on 102.9FM whistlefm.ca radio and FloHockey TV.
https://www.flohockey.tv/leagues/10826657-ontario-junior-hockey-league-ojhl (subscription required).
Chris Mayberry and Jason Rehel anchor the local broadcasts.
Spirit This Week is sponsored by Farmer Jack’s in Stouffville.
