OHL first half review (Part I)

The first half of the Ontario Hockey League season is in the books.

With the second half of the season set to open up this week, this story is the first in a series that will take a look at how the league is shaping up heading into the second half of the season.

Eastern Conference

Central Division

Barrie Colts (19-13-0-2, First in Central, First in Eastern Conference)

The Colts enter the second half of the season with the best record in the OHL, though the Kitchener Rangers are just one point behind the Central Division leaders. Canadian world junior team member Bryan Little leads the team in most offensive categories though the Colts have the fourth highest goals for (144) total behind Mississauga (160), Saginaw (147), and London (146).

Goaltending was expected to be a concern coming into the season but sophomore Andrew Perugini has posted solid numbers in seeing a bulk of the time between the pipes. Rookie netminder Michael Hutchinson's numbers are solid as well though he has seen very limited action behind Perugini.

Mississauga IceDogs (20-12-0-2, Second in Central, Third in Conference)

The IceDogs have been able to mask a defensive game that, at times, has struggled thanks to a league-best 160 goals for. Michael Swift, former Soo Greyhound Chris Lawrence, and Jadran Beljo pace the IceDogs. On top of their big three, the IceDogs feature offensively talented players throughout their roster. Draft-eligible forward Stefan Legein has 23 goals heading into the second half while Travis Fuller and Jordan Owens have also put up strong offensive numbers.

The offensive production takes the pressure off a pair of goaltenders – Andrew Loverock and Lucas Lobsinger – who have a combined goals against average of 3.49. The IceDogs feature a defensive corps that doesn't have a big name, but has been solid for much of the season.

Sudbury Wolves (18-13-2-2, Third in Central, Fourth in Conference)

With a group of defensemen that features New York Rangers prospect Marc Staal, overager Jonathan D'Aversa, and veteran Adam McQuaid and solid goaltending from veteran Kevin Beech, the Wolves are solid from the blueline in.

Offensively, the Wolves need more scoring from their depth. Nick Foligno has been posting strong numbers all season (17 goals and 51 points) but after that the offense takes a dramatic drop. D'Aversa has posted strong offensive numbers as well, but the Wolves have not received enough scoring from their depth players. Devin DiDiomete's 17 goals and Kevin Baker's 16 are a big help, but there isn't a whole lot from the rest of the group. Their 126 goals currently sits in the bottom half of the league in terms of goals scored and when it gets late in the season and teams begin to really clamp down defensively, the Wolves could struggle.

Brampton Battalion (13-20-1-2, Fourth in Central, Ninth in Conference)

Despite their struggles, the Battalion are just two points behind the Eastern Conference's fifth place team, the Ottawa 67's.

Goaltending has been an issue for the Battalion all season with Bryan Pitton struggling in his first full season as the No. 1 man. Despite a 3.65 goals against average and a .874 save percentage, Pitton has managed to win 13 games. His 13-15-0-2 record has helped keep the Battalion in the playoff hunt.

An early season trade for high-scoring forward John Hughes from Belleville has not helped as the team's offense continues to struggle. Hughes, after posting 20 points in 14 games with Belleville, has just three goals and 13 points in 16 games with Brampton. The man he was traded for, Aaron Snow, has not fared much better with the Bulls though with 2 goals and 11 points in 16 games.

Toronto St. Michael's Majors (13-20-1-1, Fifth in Central, Tenth in Conference)

An extremely slow start did not help the Majors as the team got off to a 1-4 start but managed to begin to turn things around with early season wins over Kitchener, Mississauga and Sarnia. The team never truly recovered though.

With the awaiting sale of the Mississauga IceDogs, who are rumoured to end up in a suburb of Buffalo, which would lead to the Majors moving into the Hershey Centre in Mississauga, the impending move could be somewhat of a distraction. It looks as though the move will not take place until the 2008-09 season, which could take some added pressure off the minds of the players.

On the ice, the Majors have received strong play from Matt Caria and Justin Donati. Caria burst out of the gate early in the season and posted 23 goals in the first half of the season. Donati, despite missing time due to personal reasons and playing for the first time without his twin brother Tyler who was dealt to Belleville in the summer, has posted 21 goals and 44 points.

Goaltender Wayne Savage has played in just under 1500 minutes this season and has faced over 1,000 shots, posting a .892 save percentage. The 1,021 shots he has faced is fourth among OHL starters.