Meet the London Knights 2021-22 – London | The Canadian News

On a warm night in early March 2020, the London Knights left Budweiser Gardens after beating the Oshawa Generals 3-1.

Knights players thought they had a week of practice ahead of them to prepare for their next regular season game.

That game was supposed to happen five nights later against the Flint Firebirds.

The wait ended up being a bit longer than that. 574 days have passed since that spring afternoon, but that count is finally over.

The London Knights are about to play their next regular season game.

Nine players on the Knights roster as of March 8, 2020 are still on the team and will now form the veteran core that will lead two exciting rookie classes heading into the 2021-22 season.

The story continues below the ad.

Read more:

Downtown revels in the air as the London Knights return for the regular season

Brett Brochu of the London Knights. Photo by Luke Durda / OHL Images.

Photo by Luke Durda / OHL Images

The porters

Brett Brochu’s rookie story will always be without its last two chapters. London had six games left on their schedule, but Brochu had already set the Ontario Hockey League record for most wins by a 16- or 17-year-old rookie goalie at 32.

The more the 19-year-old goalkeeper from Tilbury, Ontario played, the more successful he was. Brochu played 22 of his last 23 starts in 2019-20. He was named a member of the OHL All-Rookie team and represented the Knights on the OHL All-Scholastic team. He is coming off a year with the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey League and an appearance at rookie camp in Pittsburgh.

The story continues below the ad.

Read more:

London Knights acquire Cody Morgan from Flint Firebirds

The Knights have 19-year-old Matt Onuska to back Brochu to start with. Onuska appeared in two regular season games for the Knights in 2019-20 and spent the remainder of his time with the St. Thomas Stars.

Onuska led Waterloo Siskinds to a Sutherland Cup championship when he was 16 years old in 2019.

Bryce Montgomery of the London Knights. Photo by Luke Durda / OHL Images.

Photo by Luke Durda / OHL Images

Defenders

London has three returning defenders: Gerard Keane, Bryce Montgomery and Ben Roger. Combined, they have 153 OHL games of experience to rely on.

Keane leads the way with 84 of them over two seasons. He attended training camp with the Columbus Blue Jackets and brings his courage and puck-swinging ability, plus that pro hockey flavor, back to London. Roger was selected in the second round of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft and will bring a consistent presence to the blue line.

The story continues below the ad.

Montgomery was selected in the sixth round of the NHL Draft and will have a great opportunity to use his size and ability to skate all over the ice. Joining that trio are Isaiah George, a great skater who is adept at making plays, Ethan MacKinnon who is from London, Ontario, the hard hitting Connor Federkow and the versatile performer Jackson Edward who can lead the race in one. finish and break it into the other.

Stuart Rolofs of the Knights of London. Photo by Luke Durda / OHL Images.

Forward

This group is a mix of youthful enthusiasm and veteran cunning, which will be led by NHL Draft selections Luke Evangelista and Tonio Stranges and newly acquired super Cody Morgan.

The story continues below the ad.

Evangelista was a block for the most improved player at OHL in 2019-20, Stranges is an electric offensive force and Morgan will play the role of big brother and looks forward to continuing the offensive success he showed in Flint, Michigan, two seasons. behind.

The Knights also have forwards Sean McGurn, Max McCue and Stuart Rolofs. All three were in the process of learning as rookies in 2019-20 and will now be trusted for big minutes. McCue is now a skilled fifth-round pick for the San Jose Sharks, while Rolofs brings size, speed and an accurate shot. He attended rookie camp with the Minnesota Wild. McGurn has outstanding vision on the ice and had six points in four preseason games.

Nineteen-year-old Jacob Chantler played a match for London in the 2019-20 season before sustaining a shoulder injury. It will be key in the death penalty of the Knights.

Eighteen-year-old Liam Gilmartin is entering his first year at OHL outside of the US National Team Development Program.He is a power forward who was selected by the San Jose Sharks in July.

Read more:

The second consecutive victory of the London Knights ends the preseason

The other eight forwards on the London roster are pure rookies, chosen in the 2020 or 2021 OHL Priority Selection.

The story continues below the ad.

Denver Barkey, selected in the 2021 first round, led London in preseason scoring with three goals and four assists in six games. Barkey tries to play the Mitch Marner-style game with speed, vision and skill. Colton Smith showed his shot throughout the exhibition schedule, finishing second in shots on target for the Knights. He also tied for second on the preseason scoreboard with three goals and three assists. Brody Crane can play the game any way he wants and will add skill and physique every time he’s on the ice.

Landon Sim froze the Londoners on shots on display and had three points from four games. You know where the net is and you can score when it arrives.

Abakar Kazbekov is another skilled striker with a fatal shot. It was the first overall selection in the OHL Sub-18 Priority Selection.

Ben Bujold was the Knights’ first-round pick in 2020 and has an excellent hokey IQ. He ended the exhibition schedule with an injury after taking a knee to the thigh from Londoner Liam Van Loon of the Hamilton Bulldogs.

The Knights begin the season with three games in four days starting Friday night at home to Owen Sound. London will be in Owen Sound on Saturday at 7:30 and then head to Windsor on Thanksgiving Monday for a game against the Spitfires.

All games can be heard on 980 CFPL, at www.980cfpl.ca and on the Radioplayer Canada app.

© 2021 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.



Reference-globalnews.ca

Leave a Comment