The Knights plan? To resume winning ways

They’re off to a hot start. It’s a new squad (but with some key returnees, including a star goalie). What should Knights fans expect from the 2021-22 team?

(Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

It was like they hadn’t missed a beat. 

The London Knights, some 19 months removed from playing OHL hockey games, picked up right where they left off – by winning, in front of the home fans, at Budweiser Gardens. 

Their 3-2 shootout win over the Owen Sound Attack on Oct. 8, in front of a (50 percent) capacity crowd of 4,500, served as a quick reminder of the good old days, before the COVID-19 pandemic kept hockey on the sidelines for over a year and a half.

The Knights did a whole lot of winning in 2019-20. When the sports world shut down in March 2020, London was 45-15-1-1, in top spot in the Western Conference and primed for a deep playoff run. Their final game? A home win over the Oshawa Generals.

They were back at home last Friday, and they got things off on the right foot. But while the winning was familiar to Knights fans, many of the players they watched on the ice that night weren’t necessarily all that familiar – at least not yet.

Just six players that hit the ice Opening Night were members of the 2019-20 team, including new captain Luke Evangelista, assistants Sean McGurn and Ben Roger, Stuart Rolofs, Gerard Keane and goaltender Brett Brochu (Antonio Stranges, a seventh returnee, missed the opener due to injury).

With such significant roster turnover, so many new faces wearing the green and gold, what will be the keys to a successful season for the Knights in 2021-22?

Rob Simpson, the Knights’ associate general manager, says it starts in net.

“I think whenever you have a good goalie, that gives you a chance to win,” said Simpson, who’s played a major role in building the Knights’ new roster, which includes rookies from two years of OHL drafts. “Definitely any time you have goaltending like Brett Brochu in net.”

If good goaltending is indeed the foundation of a hockey team’s fortunes, the London Knights are in luck, because they’ve got a good one.

Brett Brochu, the rookie record-breaker from 2019-20, the Pittsburgh draftee who practiced last year with the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, is back between the pipes this season, already the winner of three games in three tries.

And after that? It’s on to the ‘older’ players, those seven returnees (plus recently-acquired overager Cody Morgan), who will be looked upon to provide stability while the team’s younger players acclimate themselves to the league and come into their own.

Knights management got a glimpse of that veteran presence in each of the team’s first three games. Keane and McGurn stepped up in the opener, the former scoring the tying goal to send the game to overtime, the latter scoring the shootout winner.

The next two games it was Evangelista and Rolofs, who combined for six of London’s seven goals in two wins. And, of course, it was Brochu, who earned wins in each of the team’s first three games, posting a .920 save percentage along the way.

“It’s an interesting setup, because it’s really only the ‘02s [players born in 2002] that have played real minutes and been in the lineup before,” said Simpson. “We almost have three years of draft classes that really haven’t played any extensive time in the OHL.

“A lot of the ‘03s have only limited (junior experience), because they’ve only played their 16-year-old year. And both our 2005 and 2004 age groups haven’t played any games in the league, other than exhibition this year.”

Luke Evangelista, named the Knights’ 50th captain in franchise history this season, is the leading scorer among returnees from the 2019-20 season (61 points in 62 games). (Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

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That exhibition play did yield some interesting – and promising – results for many new Knights, though. Players like Ben Bujold, Landon Sim, Brody Crane and Colton Smith certainly fared well at different times during preseason games. Smith posted three goals and three assists for six points, tying him for second-most on the team.

And then there was Denver Barkey, the Knights’ first round draft pick (16th overall) in 2021. The Maple, Ont. native led the team in scoring during the preseason with seven points in six games.

“He’s been a real pleasant surprise for us,” said Simpson. “For a younger player, to be able to come in and show his amount of skill and hockey sense has been impressive. It also hasn’t seemed to bother him so far that he’s a smaller player. He plays much bigger than his size. He’s been a real good surprise out of our ’05 draft so far.”

Abakar Kazbekov, meanwhile, the team’s top pick (first overall) in the OHL’s U18 Priority Selection this year, has also shown early glimpses of his talent. He dealt with a minor injury during the preseason, so was limited to four games, but his promise was on display during a Sept. 30 shootout win over the Barrie Colts. In that contest, the 17-year-old tallied a goal and two assists (and also scored during the shootout).

“He came back (from injury), and I thought he didn’t miss a beat,” Simpson said of Kazbekov, who scored the game winner (his first official OHL goal) against Owen Sound last Saturday. “He’s looked good on the power play and made smart decisions with the puck all over the ice. I think he’s also very good down below the top of the circle and working from behind the net. We’ve been happy with Abakar so far.”

The next step is improving – in all facets of the game. Not just for Kazbekov, of course, but for all players. As Simpson says, everyone in junior hockey has improving to do, and skills to grow – whether they were the first pick in the draft or the last pick.

They need the work ethic, though, and a high ‘compete level,’ traits Simpson says are crucial for players to improve their skills and take their game to the next level. That means drafting players that fit that mould.

“We always draft for skill and hockey sense. That’s key for us. But you also need that foundation in compete,” Simpson said. “We’re happy with our draft class because they’ve got that. I think our younger players have already shown that high compete level, and we’re excited about that for this year and into the future.”

Denver Barkey is an exciting young player who the Knights hope will provide some offensive punch in his rookie season. (Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

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So, what are the early returns for the 2021 version of the London Knights? Simpson believes the players have shown they’re a skilled and fast team on the ice. As usual, the Knights play a puck-possession style of game, looking to maximize the time with the puck on their sticks – and get it back quickly when it’s not.

Simpson admits it was difficult to know what to expect from players after so much time off from playing real hockey games, but he thinks the Knights’ group has looked good early on.

“You never know what guys have done in the offseason, in training and skill development. Even in a regular year, that’s tough to know,” Simpson said. “At this age, certain players can take huge jumps in one year. It’s hard to predict.”

Work ethic and dedication can make it a bit easier to predict, which is why drafting the right players, the ones willing to put in the hard work, is so important.

Developing those players – and getting them firing on all cylinders in the Knights’ system – has been a major strength over the years for London, under head coach Dale Hunter. This year, though, it’ll be more challenging, given that two draft classes of new players – a large chunk of the team – are looking to immerse themselves into London’s system and style of play.

“I think it’s been a harder year for our coaches so far, because you only have so many hours as a staff to work one-on-one with each of these players,” Simpson said. “Our coaches have put in a tremendous amount of work already to get everybody acclimated as quickly as possible.”

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The new members of the green and gold looked pretty acclimated on Opening Night. It may have taken a couple of periods to find their groove, but the Knights dominated play in the third en route to their 4-3 shootout win over the visiting Owen Sound Attack at Budweiser Gardens.

It was a return to winning for the Knights, a return to some form of normalcy for the 4,500 Knights fans in attendance (that number will go back up to over 9,000 with the provincial government’s announcement of 100 percent capacity allowance last Saturday), and a chance for the community to come together.

After 19 tumultuous months, the night appropriately began with recognition – and a moment of silence – for the lives lost and impacted to COVID-19, as well as for the Afzaal family, four members of which were tragically killed in a planned terrorist attack when they were simply out for an evening walk in June (Salman Afzaal, 46; Madiha Salman, 44; their daughter Yumna, 15; and grandmother Talat Afzaal, 74, died in the attack. The couple’s son, Fayez, 9, was left seriously injured).

In other words, it was a somber night in many ways, and rightfully so, given how much the community has been through the last two years. But Oct. 8 was also a chance for the community to come together – and in a familiar way, supporting their beloved Knights.

Perhaps the puck drop – and a return to hockey – offered some healing for a community in need of it. It was certainly much anticipated, from the players, the coaches, the fans, and the list goes on.

From a hockey standpoint, the Knights didn’t disappoint. Trailing 1-0, rookie Landon Sim scored 7:47 into the second period to knot things up at one (it was the first Knights goal since March 8, 2020). London gave the lead back less than four minutes later, but veteran Gerard Keane tied things up on the powerplay – with 4:43 remaining in the game – to send the contest into overtime. After nothing was decided in 3-on-3 action, the Knights came away with a shootout win, with Sean McGurn scoring the winner and Brochu stopping all four shots he faced.

Over the next three days, the Knights won twice more – 4-3 in Owen Sound the following night to complete the home-and-home series, and then 4-3 (in a shootout) over the Windsor Spitfires on Thanksgiving Monday.

A quick start for a team looking to pick up where they left off in 2019-20. Though they began the year outside the CHL’s top 10 list, the Knights found themselves No. 6 in the league’s Week 2 rankings, the top OHL team on the list.

It’s a good start, and, for the Knights organization and its fans, a hopeful sign of things to come in this return-from-pandemic season. One thing is for sure: Everyone is simply happy to have hockey back.

“It’s nice to be able to get the season started. I know it’s been a long time coming,” said Simpson, “for our players, our staff, and all the fans in London. We’re excited.”