On Thursday January 22nd, 18 year old Sault Ste Marie native Blake Speers was in St. Catharines, Ontario, home of the OHL Niagara Ice Dogs along with 39 other Canadian junior hockey prospects at the 2015 BMO CHL/NHL Top Prospect Game.
5’10” and 180 lbs Speers was ranked 44th in the top 199 North American skaters in the NHL Central Scouting’s Midterm Rankings for the 2015 NHL Draft which takes place June 26th – 27th in Sunrise, Florida. Speers headed into the 2015 BMO CHL/NHL Top Prospect Game with 18 goals and 28 assists in 39 regular season games with the Soo that has the 18 year old in fourth in Greyhound scoring.
Speers was named to 2014 OHL All-Rookie Team, Hounds “Rookie of the Year” and “Scholastic Player of the Year” for the 2013 – 2014 season.
The Sault Ste Marie native was part of Team Orr who defeated Team Cherry 6 – 0 in St. Catharines with Speers finishing the 2015 BMO CHL/NHL Top Prospect Game with a plus/minus rating of +1.
Ontario Hockey League Press Release
The talented trio of Travis Konecny (Ottawa 67’s), Connor McDavid (Erie Otters) and Timo Meier (Halifax Mooseheads) led Team Orr to a 6-0 victory in front of a sold out crowd of 5,300 in St. Catharines on Thursday night at the 2015 BMO CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game.
The forwards generated instant chemistry and looked as if they’d had prior experience playing together, distributing the puck effectively to come up with three consecutive goals for Team Orr.
Goaltenders Nick McBride (Prince Albert Raiders) and Liam Herbst (Ottawa 67’s) combined for a 32 save shutout, the second in the 20-year history of the event as Bobby Orr’s group pulled out all the stops and made the most of their opportunities.
“I think our line did a great job of working in traffic tonight,” said McDavid who had an assist and a plus-minus rating of plus rating of plus-3. “Travis and Timo did a lot of work out there and we seemed to really be able to find each other.”
Travis Konecny was named the Jim Gregory Player of the Game for Team Orr with two goals and an assist. He spoke favourably of his two linemates.
“Being on a line with Connor (McDavid) is really incredible, you never know where he’s going to be and his breakaway speed is amazing so when I have the opportunity to give him the puck I do,” he said with a laugh.
Timo Meier had a goal and two helpers on Thursday, drawing praise from Konecny for his performance.
“Timo has great vision out there. He was putting pucks on our tape all night. All three of us played with speed and it was a game to remember.”
McDavid wasted little time in getting the fans involved in the game, blazing through the Team Cherry defence to register a quality scoring chance on goaltender Samuel Montembeault (Blainville-Boisbriand Armada) in the first minute of the game.
Team Cherry would get their early chances as well, as maritime standouts Daniel Sprong (Charlottetown Islanders) and Evgeny Svechnikov (Cape Breton Screaming Eagles) teamed up to nearly beat McBride but the big goaltender closed the door down low.
Team Orr carried the bulk of the first period play, forcing Montembeault into a pair of quick saves off Glenn Gawdin (Swift Current Broncos) and Paul Bittner (Portland Winterhawks) midway through the frame.
The first goal of the night came from an unlikely source as a defenceman broke the offensive silence. The Brandon Wheat Kings blueline pairing of Ivan Provorov and Ryan Pilon teamed up for Team Orr as Provorov stepped up on his man in the neutral zone to turn the play up ice for Pilon who beat Montembeault through a screen from the half wall inside the Team Cherry zone at 12:30.
The Team Orr line of McDavid, Konecny and Meier combined to add some insurance just prior to the expiration of the first. Moments after Konecny leveled his man in open ice to get the Niagara crowd engaged, the Ottawa 67’s sparkplug orchestrated Orr’s second goal of the night. Konecny dropped for McDavid who flipped to Meier for the finish with 14 seconds to spare.
Team Orr outshot Team Cherry 14-8 in the first period and led 2-0 heading into the second.
Team Cherry offered some pushback in the second, testing new Team Orr goaltender Liam Herbst (Ottawa 67’s) after McBride stopped all 11 shots he faced in the first half of the game. Herbst made a big save off Filip Chlapik (Charlottetown Islanders) with five minutes to play in the second before turning away Mitchell Stephens (Saginaw Spirit) on a breakaway to preserve the shutout.
A scoreless second saw Team Cherry wrestle back some control of the game, outshooting Team Orr 10-5.
Bobby Orr’s squad broke things wide open in the third as four goals propelled them to a 6-0 decision when all was said and done. Konecny opened the third period scoring with a pair of markers just 3:28 apart, six seconds shy of J.P. Dumont’s event record for fastest two goals by one player set in 1996. Konecny started by beating goaltender Michael McNiven (Owen Sound Attack) over the shoulder on a breakaway, taking a feed from Meier to break in alone. Meier and Konecny connected again a shift later on a give-and-go out of the corner, allowing Konecny to rip a shot past the blocker of McNiven at 9:01.
Nathan Noel (Saint John Sea Dogs) and Paul Bittner (Portland Winterhawks) would add goals in the latter half of the third to seal the deal on Team Orr’s fifth consecutive victory in the event, a trend that dates back to 2011.
The 20th annual showcase of the CHL’s top-40 NHL Draft prospects marked the 12th time in the event’s history that Don Cherry and Bobby Orr have squared off behind the bench, with Bobby Orr going 8-4 in those encounters.