North Bay, Ont. – The Peterborough Petes found a way in Game 7, defeating the North Bay Battalion 3-2 to win the Bobby Orr Trophy for the 2023 OHL Eastern Conference Champions on Monday night.
A native of neighboring Selwyn, Ont. , JR Avon He emerged as the third-period difference-maker for his hometown team, scoring the game-winner 5:42 into the third frame before Bates North Bay grabbed six third-period shots just to preserve the win before a crowd of 4,219 in North Bay. Memorial Gardens.
“I’m so proud of our team. It’s a group that really came together here and I couldn’t be more proud of them,” said Petes head coach Rob Wilson.
“We managed to get some good formations in there and we knew we could play pretty much any player with everyone else and the guys did a great job with that.” “The bench was very lively tonight and you couldn’t save enough snow for some of our guys. It was a big goal from Beck, then Usman made up another goal for us and then JR got a huge goal to put us through to the final.”
Wilson praised the North Bay squad for a great season after the game.
“Both teams were great,” he said. “I have to tip my hat to North Bay. They’ve been exceptional and had an exceptional season. Back-to-back conference finals? That’s very tough.”
“This series could have gone either way at any time with a bounce either way. They put up a really tough fight and they deserve a lot of credit for the season they had.”
Josh Blum Troop opened the scoring midway through the opening period before Peterborough came out strong in the first half of the second half with goals from Owen Beck And Brennan Osman. Battalion captain Liam Arnsby The score tied at two points after the midway point of the second period before Avon scored the difference-maker with his sixth goal of the postseason.
Peterborough outscored North Bay 27-24 in Game 7, winning nearly 60 percent of the game’s face-offs Owen Beck He went 17-for-23 on point.
“Baker was amazing,” Wilson said. “His confrontation is through the roof, he blocks shots at key times. It was such a great pick-up with Avery (Hayes) and Gavin (White) from Hamilton.”
Bates lost the captain Sean Spring injury after he took a tablet on his face. Wilson complimented Spearing for the personality he displayed on and off the ice.
“Our captain has been great for us with all the qualifiers,” he said. “They love that guy, and he’s in the hospital now. Sean has been big for us in this qualifier and I know the players love him but the coaching staff thinks it’s his world too. Not a lot of guys will go into a game and block a shot to their face and he did that twice tonight. He’s in the hospital now but he jumped to the point that we won.”
Michael Simpson He stopped 22 of 24 shots he directed to secure the win as the Petes claimed their second Bobby Orr Trophy as Eastern Conference champions after they first earned the honor in 2006 when they went on to win the OHL Championship.
The Bates won despite trailing North Bay 3-2 midway through the third period of Game 6 when the defender Samuel Mayer He scored the equalizing goal, which paved the way for Avery Hayes to win the game in overtime and force a game seven Monday night in North Bay.
“Our players gave us everything they had,” said Battalion head coach Ryan Olahn. “We’ve been building this for four years now and it’s been a lot of work to get where we are. We really thought we had as good a chance as anybody to win at the end of the day here, so it’s tough.
“It’s a special group of men and it will be hard to say goodbye to many of them.”
The Battalion enjoyed a franchise-best 99-point season in 2022-23, capturing their second straight Central Division title with a record of 48-17-0-2. The Forces eliminated the Mississauga Steelheads in six games to open the playoffs before edging the Barrie Colts in seven games in the second round. They fall to Peterborough for their second consecutive appearance in the Eastern Conference Championship, with an overage Kyle McDonaldAnd Avery Winslow And Kyle Jackson They play in the final OHL competition.
The Bobby Orr Cup was presented to the Peterborough Petes by OHL Vice President Cole Butterworth. Bates faces the London Knights in the 2023 OHL Championship which kicks off Thursday night at Budweiser Gardens in London. Peterborough is bidding for its tenth Robertson Cup title after previous tournaments in 1959, 1972, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1989, 1993, 1996 and 2006.
Series summary:
Peterborough wins the series 4-3
Game 1, April 28 – Peterborough 3 in North Bay 2
Game two, April 30 – Peterborough 1 in North Bay 3
Game Three, May 2 – North Bay 2 in Peterborough 3
Game Four, May 3 – North Bay 5 in Peterborough 2
Game five: May 5 Peterborough 2 in North Bay 6
Game Six, May 7 – North Bay 3 in Peterborough 4 Aug
Game 7, May 8 – Peterborough 3 in North Bay 2